GFL 075: The Power of Direct Response Copywriting

Get ready to learn about the power of direct response copywriting from one of the masters of the craft, Scott Martin, founder of Scott Martin Copywriting. He joins me on today's Go For Launch podcast.

Scott has been a professional copywriter for his entire career. He was born in America, spent his formative years in England, then moved back to America where he lived in Charlotte, North Carolina for 27 years. He now lives in Aspen, Colorado.

He has taken detours into corporate communications, magazine publishing, and writing books but he has always written copy.

Today, he’s a direct response copywriter. His clients include direct marketing giants like Agora, The Motley Fool, and Ryan Deiss’s Digital Marketer. But he also writes for much smaller businesses including a local pub. He has helped this small establishment build an opt-in email database of 2,500 people.

Scott is a member of the Titans marketing group run by former boardroom executive Brian Kurtz.

He conservatively estimates that his copy has generated over $50 million in revenue in the last four years. One of his clients was named the fastest growing business in the Charlotte area by The Charlotte Business Journal.

He’s written 17 books, including a book about Caddyshack, published by Taylor Trade.

Right now, he’s focusing on direct response copy—plus he just launched two websites with resources for direct marketers and direct response copywriters.

Topics we discuss include:

How Scott was spurred to become an entrepreneur after being laid off as a corporate copywriter

How he decided to write the book The Book of Caddyshack: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Greatest Movie Ever Made and what it was like to track down some of the people who made the movie

The basics of the craft of copywriting

Specifics of Scott’s specialty, direct response copywriting

Why direct response copywriting is critical to selling products and services

Scott’s process for engaging with his direct response clients

Why testimonials are so vital (“like snow at a ski resort”) and how to improve them

Why Scott does not write branding ads and branding copy (and how these differ from direct response copy)

The origins of direct response copywriting (in the 13th century!)

Some of the reasons why it has remained powerful and effective for thousands of years

A timeless example from the Gary Bencivenga, considered the greatest living direct response copywriter

Other masters of neurolinguistic programming

How to measure the ROI of direct response copy

A great exercise to hone your direct response copywriting skills