$2 Million a Year From 5,000 Subscribers

When Gerald Roush picked up a 1958 issue of Sports Car Illustrated and saw the Ferrari 4.9 Superfast on the cover...

His lifelong Ferrari obsession started.

Whether it was car races, shows or even classified Ferrari ads in the newspaper...

Whenever he saw a Ferrari - he'd make a note of all its details on 5x7 index cards - identified by its serial number.

Over the years, he never worked for Ferrari... Going on to become a university history professor instead.

That is, until a job in the parts department of a Ferrari dealership opened up.

Here, he recorded even more information to his database of Ferrari index cards.

In 1976, he started the 'Ferrari Market Letter' with his wife...

It soon became the go-to place for detailed Ferrari information and classified ads.

By the time of Gerald's unfortunate death, Ferrari had manufactured 130,000 vehicles, and Roush had details of the original specifications, later modifications and ownership history of almost all of them.

You can imagine, this information was valuable. Especially as the internet wasn't around back then...

And especially to Ferrari collectors.

But how valuable exactly?

To this day, the 'Ferrari Market Letter' has around 5,000 subscribers.

But their yearly revenue is estimated to be over $2,000,000.

And the funny thing is... It has only 2 people running the whole operation.

So what can we take away from this?

And how can we do this for ourselves?

Let's break it down to three key takeaways, and how you can apply it to your own business...

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How To Apply This Lesson

1. Pick a Small Niche

Gerald started the newsletter in the mid 70's.

Back then, how many popular car magazines were around?

A lot!

But how many of them specialised in Ferraris... With specific information and detailed classified ads for Ferraris only?

None.

It was a small niche, but completely underserved.

Gerald could've competed with all the other popular car magazines... But he picked a small niche he was obsessed with himself - and he stuck to that.

Ask yourself, what small niche or hobby are you OBSESSED with way more than the average person?

And how can you provide value for others who are also obsessed with this exact niche?

2. Match Your Pricing To Your Customer

Before you start your business, you probably have a good idea of how big you want it to be.

Some want 6 figure businesses, while some want 9 or even 10 figure businesses.

But before you get into those details...

Think about how much your product costs and how much is reasonable to charge your customers.

$400 for valuable Ferrari information and rare classified ads isn't much to a Ferrari collector.

$10,000 for an analytics app that provides competitor information isn't much to a big company like Google or Microsoft.

But charging $1,000 for a notebook with slightly better paper than average and aimed at high school students is doomed to fail.

So before you set up the business, think about WHO your customer is, and what they would HAPPILY pay for your product.

Just put yourself in their shoes, and imagine if your product came along...

At what price would you IMMEDIATELY and HAPPILY pull out your credit card and buy it?

3. Solve a Specific Problem For Your Specific Customer

When I was training to be a copywriter, it was drilled into our heads that the three big categories that people are happy to buy products for are...

Health, wealth and relationships.

If your product helps people LEVEL UP in any of these three categories, it's generally easy to sell.

Think about the 'Ferrari Market Letter'...

Let's say you're a Ferrari collector and you buy a subscription for a few hundred bucks...

It will help you level up in both the wealth and relationships categories because:

• It helps you make money by showing you rare classified ads for classic Ferrari's you can't buy anywhere else

• It helps you get detailed information on various classic Ferrari's so you won't get ripped off

• It helps you save money by providing information on maintaining and caring for your classic Ferrari

• It helps you connect and build relationships with other passionate Ferrari owners

So you see...

A few hundred bucks for these wealth AND relationship benefits is a 'no-brainer' offer to a Ferrari collector.

But in every niche... There's 'no-brainer' products waiting to be made - where the specific customers would be GLAD to pay you for it.

By creating 'no-brainer' products, you'll set yourself up for success from the start.

And...

That's it.

But before I go, let me ask a personal favour...

Please share the Player Zero newsletter with your friends and family - because it really helps us grow!

Till next time my friends...

- Bezan

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P.S follow us on Twitter - for more bite sized business tips!

This Letter Made $2 Billion Dollars for The Wall Street Journal

It's 1975.

A copywriter, Martin Conroy, sits in his kitchen and racks his brain for an idea to use in his next assignment.

His next assignment is for The Wall Street Journal.

And he's tasked to write an advert in the form of a sales letter.

This advert must be so persuasive... That were someone to read it... They'd immediately want to buy a subscription to The Wall Street Journal.

Quite a task, indeed.

He goes to his book of old ads, hoping for inspiration... When he finds exactly what he needs.

It's an ad for The Alexander Hamilton Institute, written in 1919 by copywriter Bruce Barton, which starts…

“From a certain little town in Massachusetts two men went to the Civil War. Each of them had enjoyed the same educational advantage, and so far as anyone could judge, their prospects for success were equally good. One man accumulated a fortune. The other spent his last years almost entirely dependent upon his children for support.”

He's found his angle.

Struck by inspiration - he spends the next couple of hours writing out his 2-page sales letter.

Here it is...

The Wall Street Journal mails it out, and...

And over the next three decades, it generates more than $2 billion in subscription sales!

Still to this day, it's considered one of the best sales letter adverts ever made.

So why was this so successful?

And how can you do this for your own business?

Let's break it down to three key takeaways, and how you can apply it to your own business...

How To Apply This Lesson

1. Immediately Show A Visual Of What Could Be

The letter doesn't start with the features of the product...

Instead, it starts by painting a visual of what could be.

We all have a subconscious portrait in our head of the person we are - AND the person we want to be.

The letter paints both those visuals and lets you imagine it...

Two nearly identical men... Working at a midwestern company... Except one is a manager of a small department, and the other is the president of the whole company!

You can visualise the difference immediately... With the small time manager stuck in a small stuffy office... Whereas the president is in a big airy corner office, flying to meetings in a private jet and so on.

And you probably already know who your customer is... So draw them in by showing them a grand vision of what COULD be.

2. Use The Power Of Contrast To Sell

Notice how the letter doesn't paint a visual of the presidents life only?

It also shows the visual of the somewhat mediocre small department manager.

The letter shows you the big contrast between the two of them DESPITE both men having the same starting conditions in life...

It makes you wonder, where did it diverge? Why did the president reach that level when the small time manager didn't? What was the missing ingredient?

And they answer further down...

"Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And it's application."

And of course, by that they mean their very own product.

The reader now sees the big gap between person A and person B.

But the reader is then shown that the missing ingredient to become person B (the president)... Is actually The Wall Street Journal.

And that's how using simple contrast... The reader associates The Wall Street Journal as the missing ingredient of super success.

Once it dawns on you - you immediately want to buy a subscription!

3. Emphasise One Unique Selling Point

Customers want to know how they'll level up if they buy your product.

But a mistake I often see is that businesses bombard customers with too many selling points. This often leads to customers being overwhelmed and confused about the product.

So find your big, main unique selling point that will help your customer to level up in life... And pitch that ONLY.

In this letter, you can clearly see one unique selling point being pitched about The Wall Street Journal... And that's "Useful Business Knowledge".

The customer immediately gets it... Then they quickly decide whether it's for them or not.

And that's it for today.

But before I go, let me ask a personal favour...

Please share the Player Zero newsletter with your friends and family - because it really helps us grow!

Till next my friends...

- Bezan

How To Test Ideas Quickly

Save time & test ideas in a few days using this method.

If you're like me, you run into new ideas constantly (and most of them suck!).

But sometimes... An idea sticks in your head and compels you to try it.

So how do you test the idea in a couple of days, to see if it's worth pursuing?

Three steps:

1. Create a Landing Page

2. Drive Specific Traffic

3. Measure the Result

Let's go through these three steps now...

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1. Create a Landing Page

There's many drag and drop site builders you can use. Off the top of my head, some of them are:

• Carrd.co

• Wix

• Squarespace

• Webflow

I like Carrd.co as it's the simplest. But whatever gets the job done is ok!

If you can swing the few bucks for a cheap domain, it will look more professional. If not, no problem.

And the name? Keep it super simple and specific to your niche.

But let's check out the Loom landing page here for a solid example to see how we can create it...

It's simple, straight to the point with a clean design. That's all we need.

First thing we see is a big simple 4-word headline describing the main feature of their product. Then, they have a subheadline for some context.

See if you can do that for your idea. Ask yourself... What's the MAIN feature of my idea that I can describe in 4 words or less?

Write that down. This will be the big headline people see on your page.

That's the first section done!

When you scroll down, they tell you how you can 'LEVEL UP' your life with this product. Here's what they say:

1. Take back your time

2. You talk faster than you type

3. You could be doing real work rather than wasting time in meetings

Notice how the theme here is that this product will save you a lot of time? That's a great 'LEVEL UP' for many people.

So think of how your product helps people level up their life, and make three paragraphs about that.

Another section done.

Next section is much simpler; How your idea works.

Just a couple of paragraphs to explain how your idea works will do. Keep it as simple as possible.

And the final section... The email collection section.

In this section, be straight forward and tell the customer:

"We know your excited about this product, but it's not quite ready for release yet. Please sign up for the beta list below and we'll email you when it's ready!"

And have the email collecting element below.

BUT, remember to connect Google Analytics as well.

We'll need this for Step 3. It's easy to do, and most of the 'drag and drop' site builders will have instructions on how to do it.

That's it for the landing page, onto step 2.

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2. Drive Specific Traffic

Now it's time to invite potential customers!

Here's some of the best places to get free specific traffic to your site:

• Reddit subreddits

• Facebook groups

• Twitter with specific hashtags

• Forums related to your idea

I'm sure I'm missing other places, but let's use these for now.

Go to each site and find the specific 'corner' where your potential customers are...

If it's Reddit and you have a dog product, go to the subreddit for dogs. If it's Facebook groups, go to the specific dog groups. And so on.

Post a simple 2-3 line explanation for your new idea, and a link to sign up for the beta/early release list.

Do that across all these platforms... And sit back for the traffic to come in.

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3. Measure the Result

What results are we looking for? What results can be considered a success?

Wait 4 days to give people a chance to visit. Then hop into Google Analytics and check you have at least 1000 views for a fair analysis.

(If not, share keep sharing your link till you have)

We need at least a 6% conversion rate.

That means that out of 100 people, at least 6 gave their email to know when your product is released.

In case you don't know how to calculate conversions, it's just:

Conversion Rate = (Emails collected / Page Views) * 100

Now did your page convert at 6% at least?

If so, you've got a good idea on your hands!

And if your page converted at 10% or above... Congratulations you've potentially got a MASSIVE winner!

At that point, you know your idea is worth pursuing, so go for it and create the full thing.

If it's below 6%, no worries. It sucks but no biggie. Onto the next one and KEEP testing till you have a winner!

And I'll leave you with a Steve Jobs quote (cliche, I know)...

“I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance...."

Till next time my friends…

- Bezan

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P.S. need help for marketing or copywriting? Feel free to reach out at contactbezan@gmail.com for any enquiries.

24 High Converting Email Titles To Get Sales Today

After a while, most entrepreneurs build up an email list of customers and clients.

Even if you do freelance work, you'll likely have a small email list to contact.

And if you keep that email list engaged and active, it's one of the best ways to keep monetizing your business.

But as we know with our own email inboxes...

Most emails go unnoticed, ignored or straight up deleted.

So I wanted to share 20 email titles with really high open and conversion rates...

But before I show them to you...

I need to warn that you should use these titles very sparingly - and ONLY when you want to make a sale.

If you use these email titles constantly, your email list WILL get annoyed and unsubscribe.

So only use these once every 2-4 weeks at the most!

Here they are:

• Important Account Information

• RE: sorry

• URGENT: Your Account

• ⚠️ This offer self-destructs at 11:59PM

• Don't delete till you see this...

• DON'T delete, deadline TOMORROW

• (Name), Quick Question?

• RE: Incase you missed it...

• (Name), don't wait till midnight

• Only 5 left

• This is gone today

• 🕒 Now or never, (Name)

• REPLY NEEDED: Your Account

• RE: did I offend you?

• MIDNIGHT DEADLINE: XX% off (Your Product)

• This pic look strange to you?

• ACTION NEEDED: Cancel Offer?

• I admit, there's a catch...

• OK OK... There's a small catch

• RE: e-ticket

• For a LIMITED time

• My gift to you

• Your subscription is running out

• Should I cancel?

I've tested these email titles... And they pretty much always have very high open rates AND sales conversions.

But before you use these, there's a few best practice methods...

First, always make the email relevant to the title.

For example, if you used the "RE: sorry" title...

Then your email should immediately mention how you're sorry if they missed your previous email about the sale you have going.

Don't just use the title as bait - actually make the email relevant as well!

Second, these titles always work best when you actually have a time-limited offer happening.

Say you're a software company that has discounted their app for a week...

Then you can easily use the "⚠️ This offer self-destructs at 11:59PM" title on the last day of the discount.

This will get people wondering - wait, what is this offer? I better open the email and find out before it self-destructs...

Thirdly, always keep it light... Keep it fun... And in the BEST interest of the customer.

There's a lot of scammers that use these high converting emails to trick people. Never do that.

Remember, you want to give value to your customer...

You want them to walk away very happy with their purchase...

And most of all, you want to build positive LONG-term relationships with your customer.

That doesn't happen when you try to trick them for a quick dollar.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.

Let me close off with some bullet points on how to write these titles yourself...

The title of your email should be:

• Eye catching (stands out amongst other emails in their inbox)

• Unique and different

• Potentially look important

• Hook their interest & create curiosity in the reader

• Use scarcity (E.g. offer runs out at midnight)

Keep these guidelines in mind and give it a try. It's much easier than it looks.

Enjoy, and I hope you make a lot of sales with these titles!

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P.S. want to hire me for consulting or copywriting work? Feel free to reach out at contactbezan@gmail.com for any enquiries.

Sorry, Not Interested... (Plus You're Boring)

Jeff sees your link... He's intrigued... He clicks it.

Your beautifully designed site opens up.

"I like the colours!" Jeff thinks to himself.

5 SECONDS LEFT

Jeff looks at the tagline on your site and is confused...

"I don't get it." he thinks.

4 SECONDS LEFT

Jeff glances the description of your product when his inner voice says...

"Huh... I kinda get it? I think?"

3 SECONDS LEFT

Jeff scrolls down to the images of your product.

He's got an icy, blank stare on his face... Almost as if he's growing tired and bored.

2 SECONDS LEFT

As Jeff scrolls down your page...

His face is definitely starting to SCREAM "I'm Bored."

1 SECOND LEFT

Jeff's right eyebrow flinches up and down, unconsciously.

He kind of gets your product... At least, the features of it...

But he thinks "Eh, is this really useful for me? Do I want to pay for this?"

0 SECONDS LEFT

Before Jeff figures out if your product is right for him or not...

He has an AMAZINGLY exciting epiphany.

"I wonder if my favourite YouTuber has uploaded a new video?"

And as he closes the tab with your site on it, with ZERO remorse...

He thinks "Sorry, not interested... (Plus you're boring)"

And just like that...

Another potential customer of yours goes away.

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All that preparation you did...

Weeks... If not MONTHS of trying to get your landing page looking PERFECT...

And Jeff (our typical human being) gives you JUST 5 seconds of his day to impress him.

After that 5 seconds, if you don't do it...

He's GONE.

5 seconds and Jeff went from potential customer - to "Sorry, NOT interested.".

You might have seen the study a few years ago that mentioned the average attention span of humans has reduced to less than the attention span of a GOLDFISH...

So what is an entrepreneur to do?

Should we give up?

Should we flush our dreams down the toilet?

Should we pack it up and head to the nearest office job?

How can we make sure the people that land on our website will convert into loyal customers - as often as possible?

(Whether its Jeff... Lucy... Samuel... Stacy... Steve (and on and on...)

There's actually a REALLY simple method to it.

(And you DON'T need to be a Copywriting expert or anything)

Here's how...

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You see, when Jeff lands on your page...

There's only ONE subconscious question on his mind.

"How will this help me LEVEL UP?"

That's it.

And it's not just Jeff... It's ALL humans.

Me... You... Your family... Your friends...

Whenever we see a product, this is the only question at the front of our minds...

"How will this help me LEVEL UP?"

But we often default to this following mistake when we try to sell our product...

We tell the customer what our product does.

Which is a BIG mistake.

What we should do instead is this...

Tell the customer how they will LEVEL UP with your product.

Our job as entrepreneurs is to tell them that. Over and over again.

It's the old "Sell me this pencil" example that sales people love using.

Don't tell them:

"This pencil lets you make notes on paper! You can also rub out the lines with an eraser, because it's made of graphite. It also is long lasting, so you don't need to worry about buying another pencil for a long time!"

Instead, tell them:

"This is the pencil you'll use to write the business plan you've been meaning to! And if it succeeds, this business will take you further than you EVER imagined. More money than you know WHAT to do with! Schmoozing with elites at fancy exclusive parties! NEVER having to worry about another bill payment! And it all starts HERE today... With this single pencil. This single pencil will get you the life you DESERVE... The life you were DESTINED to live."

Here's another quick example, with an imaginary product...

Say this product is an analytics platform tailored for content creators.

Don't tell them about all the various numbers they can track and whatnot (at least not in the beginning).

Tell them how this product will get them THOUSANDS of new subscribers every week... And how they can make SO much more MONEY through big brands wanting to work with them... And yada, yada, yada.

You get it, I'm sure.

Now after the big pitch telling them how they will LEVEL UP with your product...

Of course, you need to get show the features of your product.

But always... ALWAYS...

Lead with telling the customer...

How THEY will LEVEL UP with your product.

If every single line of your initial pitch should addresses that question...

I assure you, you'll have a MUCH easier time selling.

- Bezan

P.S. join my free newsletter to get more of these methods to LEVEL UP your entrepreneurial skills BEYOND your WILDEST dreams!

See what I did there ;)?