6 Marketing Tips — Link building, direct sales, copywriting, and more

Hey — Harry here.

For anyone who missed last week, I've changed the format. Every Monday — 3 short examples, 2 copywriting tips, 1 favourite tweet.

Three short examples

1/ Magic Veggies

June 2018. Belgian supermarket Delhaize changed the names of their fruit and veg to encourage more kids to eat them.

Carrots became Orange rockets. Courgettes became Troll Bats. Sales increased by 151%.

Creativity is the last unfair advantage we're legally allowed to take over our competitors — Bill Bernbach

2/ Seven links in twenty-seven minutes

When I made Copywriting Examples the goal was to rank #1 on Google. I need backlinks. So last week...

• I texted anyone who'd “interviewed” me in the last two years
• Asking if they could update the article
• With a “P.S.” about Copywriting Examples
• And woke up to seven new links

This isn't clever, it's obvious. That's why I'm sharing it.

“What obvious thing are we missing?” is a better question than “What exciting thing could we be doing?”

3/ How Convert Kit grew from $1.5k to $100k MRR

This week I read an excellent thread from Nathan Barry explaining how he used direct sales to grow his email marketing platform. Here's four lessons:

a) Start with a niche

When Convert Kit launched it was just for bloggers.

There's a big difference between “want to try this random new tool?” and “want to try this new tool made specifically for people like you?

b) Don't sell. Ask about frustrations.

Here's Nathan's first email.

He'd then offer a call to help people through their frustrations and show off Convert Kit.

c) Remove the biggest objection

Most calls would end with “Sounds great but switching is a hassle...” So Nathan offered to migrate customers for free.

Forms, sequences, templates. One by one.

d) Always ask for referrals

Once one blogger was set up Nathan would ask for intros to others.

It's 10x easier to persuade a friend's friend than it is to persuade a stranger. Soon referrals drove as many leads as cold outreach.

Today, Convert Kit makes $29M/yr. To quote Nathan,

“My rate was $5/hr. But you do things that don't scale. Because that enables channels that do scale.”

Two copywriting tips

1/ Simplify, then exaggerate.

2/ Narrow your scope until you're number one.

One favourite tweet

The one and only George Mack with a lesson in contrast.

That's everything. Have a great week — Harry

PS — Enjoy the newsletter? Please do share with a pal. It really does make a big difference. Cheers.

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