Jon Buchan – Converts Like A Charm
Learn how to write charming copy that gets positive replies and enthusiastic buys.
The Charm Offensive copywriting style began its life as a way to get responses from cold emails and other cold pitches.
This context is very different from writing pitches to an existing opted-in email list or by posting a pitch on social media.
In the last year or so, I’ve blended my disarming humorous style with rhetorical devices and the persuasive concepts of direct response copywriting to great effect.
I’ve developed a style which stands out, entertains, and most importantly, converts.
I’ve never released a training that specifically talks about this potent blend of charm and persuasion.
Until, as you may have guessed, now…
Does humour & persuasion work?
There are studies on the use of humour in the world of advertising and persuasion.
I have included a few succinct cherry-picked tidbits from these studies below:
“Humour attracts attention.” ~ Weinberger and Gulas, University of Massachusetts.
“Humour does not harm comprehension.” ~ Weinberger and Gulas, University of Massachusetts.
“Humour is a tool that can enhance a well-crafted persuasive message.” ~ Lyttle (2001)
“People who are in a good mood are less likely to disagree with a persuasive message.” ~ Freedman, Sears, and Carl Smith (1978)
”The use of self-effacing humour by a source would increase the effectiveness of a persuasive message.” ~ Lyttle (2001)
“Humour enhances liking. In fact, the link between humour and liking is stronger than for any of the other factors.” ~ Freedman, Sears, and Carl Smith (1978)
“One positive quality in a person causes us to assume that the individual has many positive qualities.” ~ Seiter and Gass (2004)
My Experience of Using Humour & Persuasion Together
Well, it’s changed my life.
No joke.
It started with my drunk cold email, which got responses like the ones below, and led to meetings with some of the world’s largest brands.
These were companies I didn’t deserve to be in the same room as. It allowed me to punch way above my weight.
In March 2017, I started my Facebook Group, Charm Offensive. Soon after, I started my email list. I began the task of promoting my irreverant approach to business communications.
The message resonated and people started listening to me. And most importantly, they started giving my weird ways a shot.
If I was to make money off my new fledging endeavour, I had to start selling products.
I’d never sold an information product before.
I’d never even studied direct response copywriting before…
And I’d never read a single book on the topic.
… So when I tell you, “Take imperfect action everyday”, you know I am speaking from experience…
The Charm Offensive style is great for getting responses, but does it work for making sales through opt-in email marketing and social media pitches?
Good question…
What do you think? You see where you are on the scrollbar. If the answer was “no”, this page would be far shorter.
I’ll get back to the question.
YES. It does.
BUT… (I know…)
It’s different.
The Charm Offensive approach to cold email is all about getting attention and making the best first impression possible.
A lot of why it works is BECAUSE the approach is cold, not in-spite of it.
As I started selling information products, I knew I had to learn Direct Response Copywriting.
I had to learn how to write sales letters and emails that aimed to get people not to reply, but to buy. That is a different ask. The context is different.
This approach doesn’t fit when emailing an opt-in list or writing a post for your Facebook Group.
I’ve done an enormous amount of flash sales, bundle offers, and product launches over the last year.
That includes the CLANGERS. The absolute flops where for a short moment, I yell at the screen, unable to contain my annoyed confusion as to why you’ve not taken me up on such a marvellous offer.
Of course, I quickly realise, “Ah. You made the offer nobody wanted, Jon.”
These moments are important.
It’s helped me figure out what works and what doesn’t.
I’ve been able to create my own style of copywriting that blends Direct Response principles, rhetorical devices, and humour writing.
This approach helps me:
- Write pitches without hesitation. I enjoy writing them. I get to be myself. As such, they actually get sent. Which I’ll admit, helps…
- Stand out from the boring masses of generic copy
- Make me more likeable, even when being a flagrant-pitchy-inbox-pest
- Maintain people’s attention so they read my emails & posts
- Get far greater engagement and reach on my social media posts, including flagrant pitch posts.
- My content gets remembered
- Subscribers / Group members comment that they even enjoy reading my pitches!
- I get a huge amount of word of mouth referrals because people like to refer content that entertains as well as educates
- Oh…. and then, there’s the one you probably care about the most… I can press the ‘Send’ button and make my phone do this…
What is “Charm Offensive Conversion Copy”? Is this some kind of pesky marketing bollocks?
Well, it is marketing. Is it ‘bollocks’?
No. I’ve thought about this and I genuinely need to make a distinction. There is a difference between writing to prospects cold and to writing to an email list or to a Facebook Group.
Over the last 18 months, I’ve sent a lot of pitch emails to my list. I’ve posted a lot of pitches in my group.
The response was not always as overwhelming as I had secretly hoped.
But I stuck with it.
And now I’ve got a style of writing copy that people enjoy reading, share with their friends, and yes, charms people to reach into their pocket, pull out their wallet/purse/money-clip, and hand me their hard earned money without a second thought.
I’m aware of the objection that is perhaps inhibiting your mind as of right now.
“Impressive, Jon. Verrrrrrrrrrry impressive, you handsome devil. But I bet it won’t work for my boring business.”
Thank you, I appreciate the surprising kind words, imagined voice of the reader / innovative entrepreneur / enthusiastic customer.
I’m afraid if you have this objection, I have some good news and bad news.
The bad news: You are wrong.
We’ve seen this in the last year. Charm Style cold pitches work across sectors, seniorities, and most surprisingly to me, it even translates into other languages successfully.
The good news: You can learn how to write emails and posts that charm, disarm, entertain, and convert.
And this skill will benefit you not just your emails and posts.
You’ll be able to write more entertaining, charming, and persuasively in any medium.
With sufficient effort, you’ll even find these skills transfer to speech too. It will help you become more likeable and persuasive in every area of your life.
I’ve worked hard over the last 18 months, testing, tinkering, and optimising this weird blend of humour and persuasion with much enthusiasm and obsession.
I’ve got something that works, reliably.
And something that’s unlike any other copywriting course on the market.
I’ve always said that I like to help people get to the place in which I’ve found myself.
I feel now is the time to spread the word about Charming Conversion Copy.
So what’s included in the pack?
This ebook and training video pack is actually two products, so is split into two sections:
How I write pitch emails and social posts that convert FAST
I get up in the morning. I have to write emails. This section shows you how I do that. The ebook and hour-long video training covers:
- Where do I get my ideas?
- How do I get a first draft done.
- How do I ruthlessly edit them at speed.
- Thwart The Enemies of Good Copy: The Immovable Object (Writer’s Block) And The Irresistible Force (Imposter Syndrome).
How to write disarming pitch emails and posts that convert like a charm
This awesome pack will go into great detail, as it includes an expansive 95 page ebook, and 5 training videos totalling over 3 hours, covering:
- How to use these crafty coy little bullet points that evoke curiosity with their combination of vagueness and specificity. *ahem*
- Incorporate easy to use joke formulas such as “The hyperbole pack pedal”, “Words in their mouth”, “2 Hands” and a variety of others to add spunk, chutzpah, and moxie to your copy.
- Use conflicting word combinations to make copy to maintain attention and make people smile
- The counter-intuitive way of talking up your own self-interested goals to great persuasive effect
- Quash your prospects objections with the “absurd scenario” technique
- Deploy unorthodox calls to action to maximise click-through rates
- Make the use of scarcity far more fun for everyone involved, while still maintaining its efficacy
- A simple clever trick that uses informal and formal copy together to create humorous sentences
- The common mindset issue that people have that prevents them from writing high-converting, charming, funny copy
- How to provide ‘silly’ reasons for sales offers that make people laugh and reach for their wallets
- A few crafty tricks to maximising open rates on your most crucial, time-sensitive pitch emails
- The 5 key elements you need in any charming sales pitch
- The ‘scenic route’ tactic to celebrate your successes without appearing arrogant, and to criticise others without being direct.
- The ‘creative pattern interrupt’ techniques I use on social media to stop people from scrolling
- The charming little lines I add to social media posts to boost engagement and reach significantly.
- The clumsy, herky-jerky, sentence structure that when used, adds a sort of ‘comic-timing’ to your copy
- The weird ‘metric humour’ trick I learned from watching my favourite sitcom growing up, Cheers.
- A cunning, but lazy technique that uses specificity to make your copy resonate with more of your audience
- An unorthodox post you can make on Facebook that will get enormous reach and promote whatever you want
- A simple tactic you can use to generate a huge level of responses from the first email in your autoresponder sequence
- How to write emails even when you’re in a bad mood or have no motivation or are recklessly hungover
- The key elements to ask to be included in your client testimonials that will maximise their persuasive effect
- How to make people want to click on links to your video testimonials, and engage with them on social media
- The most cost-effective cosmetic that anyone can add to their copy to make themselves more likeable and to drive a ton more sales
- Use the power of recognition to write funny in-jokes that will resonate with your audience, building a strong level of rapport in the process
- Most effectively incorporate humorous storytelling into your sales copy, allowing you to generate an ROI from your memory of your life experiences. (Even some of the bad ones!)
- The clever little rhetorical trick used by a former UK Prime Minister and several former US Presidents to make them appear more likeable, and how you can use this tactic in your copy
- Write funny P.S. lines to finish your email with a wry smile
- An overview of the various types of email I send, and their structure
- The writing mindset I learned from one of my favourite authors, Hunter S. Thompson and how you can use it to write more captivating and entertaining copy
- What my top selling products are, why they are the top sellers, and how to create your own versions of these for your market
- The amusing “tenuous transition” technique you can use to not so gently move in to your pitch
- The tiny but crucial change I made to my pitch emails after seeing Ben Settle’s that completely changed how I wrote emails to my list
- How to maximise the reach of any social media pitch post by doing one thing a little differently
- How to do subtle “soft” promotion of your new product to build awareness and and anticipation
- Generate genuine testimonials for your product before you’ve even sold a copy
JON BUCHAN // Founder, Charm Offensive
A good few years ago, I was desperate for sales after my word of mouth work dried up.
I got hellishly drunk one night and wrote a completely absurd cold email. I was still tipsy the next morning and decided it was still a good idea to send it to pretty senior Marketing Directors at big brands.
To my astonishment, it worked. I got the most amazing complimentary responses and requests for calls/meetings, from senior decision makers at RedBull, Pepsi, Symantec, Hewlett-Packard, HSBC, Barclays and countless other global brands. Symantec and Hewlett Packard became clients.
All because of a crazy cold pitch.
I decided to start teaching others my unorthodox approach to cold pitching. People listened to my weird advice and found that it worked for them, too.
That’s what Charm Offensive is all about: getting the attention of busy people.
Jon Buchan
Sale Page: https://www.charm-offensive.co.uk/converts-like-a-charm/
Archive: https://archive.ph/wip/KuwsK
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