Direct Response Copywriter on Clayton Makepeace. Additional Thoughts.

My blog about Clayton Makepeace led to a significant “spike” in my traffic and so I’d like to add some additional thoughts for those interested. Hopefully, these additional musings will help your direct marketing and direct response copywriting.

As I mentioned, I purchased Clayton’s “Quick Start” copywriting system. I refer to it so often that some of the pages are falling out. I don’t remember ever seeing the “b” word.

BRANDING.

It’s clear that Clayton never thought about branding. He was a pedal-to-the-metal direct marketer. However, through his copy, he helped to build some massive brands: Boardroom and Weiss. There's a valuable lesson right there.

I mentioned it’s difficult to find the Quick Start program. I lied. AWAI currently offers it for $1295. The sales page is below. Total disclosure: I’m not getting an affiliate commission.

https://www.awai.com/p/is/qsc/

Strangely, the copy isn’t that good. Take my word for it as a working direct response copywriter: spend the money.

One of the freebies is a conversation with my good friend, and elite-level copywriter, Brad Petersen. There’s only one freebie that’s rubbish. I won’t go there here.

When Clayton interviewed Gary Bencivenga on his blog, they didn’t talk about branding once. They discussed generating revenue and how to make that happen.

Clayton had an interesting approach to writing headlines. Here’s a Clayton headline block.

*

FORBIDDEN CURES!

Confidential Report Inside

Remarkable Cures CENSORED By Knife-Happy Surgeons and Greedy Drug Companies!

*

And here’s a subhead I love …

ALSO INSIDE: 129 Amazing Medical Secrets Your Doctor Won’t Tell You!

His headline deck had a one or two word headline with a longer subhead.

Compare and contrast to a Dan Kennedy headline which can be really long.

But there’s a commonality. Both copywriters follow the John Caples headline formula:

Curiosity + Self-Interest = Compelling Appeal

What do I like the most about Clayton’s copy? Clarity. It’s something I strive to achieve. You can read Clayton’s copy and instantly understand what’s going on. It’s not easy. That clarity is one of the hallmarks of an "elite level" direct response copywriter.

Every single part of the copy was vital to Clayton. The headline was vital but the guarantee was vital, too. I pity the copy cub who provided Clayton with a guarantee like: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK.

A Clayton Makepeace guarantee was almost an essay.

The same with freemiums. “Put big effort into selling the freemiums,” said Clayton.

I’ve worked very hard over the years to become a super-fast copywriter. I used to say, “there’s only one copywriter who is faster than me and that’s Clayton Makepeace.” Your direct response copywriter should produce revenue-generating copy quickly. The faster the copywriter gets the copy to you, provided it's solid, the faster you're making money.

Clayton said “I’m not the most expensive copywriter but I’m the fastest.” It’s hard to imagine that anyone would charge more than Clayton. That took some cheek.

Let me give you the link to Clayton’s blog one more time.

http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/archives/gary-bencivenga-with-clayton-makepeace-part-1/

My condolences to family and close friends.