TCC Podcast #53: The 7 deadly email funnel sins with Ryan Johnson - a podcast by Kira Hug and Rob Marsh

Ryan Johnson, Head Copywriter at IWT (short for I Will Teach, Ramit Sethi’s company) steps up to the microphone with Kira and Rob for the 53rd episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. This interview covers a lot of ground, including:
•  how after a grueling interview in his car, Ryan failed to get a job with IWT only to get hired a few months later (never give up)•  how to get inside the head of your client so you can speak with his or her voice
•  his process for laying out all the moving pieces of a launch, and•  how he maps emotions to his launch plans so customers can’t wait to respond
•  the 7 deadly email funnel sins•  two reasons to use long-form sales pages
•  the “leap stacking” technique he uses to help his writers uplevel their skill (and what doesn’t work when trying to improve)Plus Ryan shares the “copy levers” that Gary Bencivenga used to get better at his craft, how he avoids writer’s block, and the one thing he would do if he had to start his career all over. Lots of good stuff packed into this episode. To hear it, click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript.


The people and stuff we mentioned on the show:Sponsor: AirStory

Ramit SethiThe Briefcase TechniqueJay Abraham
IWTAIDA
Gary BencivengaAbbey Woodcock
Justin BlackmanThe Headline Project
Kira’s websiteRob’s website
The Copywriter Club Facebook GroupIntro: Content (for now)
Outro: GravityFull Transcript:
The Copywriter Club Podcast is sponsored by Airstory, the writing platform for professional writers who want to get more done in half the time. Learn more at Airstory.co/club.Rob: What if you could hang out with seriously talented copywriters and other experts, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes and their habits, and then steal an idea or two to inspire your own work? That’s what Kira and I do every week at The Copywriter Club Podcast.

Kira: You’re invited to join the club for episode 53 as we chat with in house copywriter, Ryan Johnson, about he became a copywriter and landed a job writing for Ramit Sethi, how he tackles a massive launch, capturing the voice of your client, and how long it takes him to write a 50 plus page sales letter.Ryan, welcome.

Rob: Yes, welcome Ryan.Ryan: Thank you for having me. Glad to be here.

Kira: Yeah, it’s great to have your here, and I think a great place to start is just with your story of how did you end up becoming a copywriter?Ryan: It was kind of a circular process to copywriting. I didn’t even know what copywriting was at the very beginning. My original interests were in film and creative writing, which led me into a delightful career waiting tables. After a few years of that, my first real job was in instructional design, and I was editing textbooks, and building training programs. I actually ended up designing an associates degree in business. I packaged and edited textbooks on business, and economics, and entrepreneurship before I realized that doing that was with no experience was totally crazy. But it was a good baseline.

But while I was doing this, I can still remember. I was in the middle of editing this 500 page textbook on economics, which is about as exciting as it sounds, and my wife was working as a creative copywriter, and she was getting paid much, much more than me to edit this glossy one page ad. It looked like so much fun and so much easier than what I was doing. I’m like, “I’m doing something wrong, ‘cause there’s clearly a cap on where I am, and there’s no clap over here.” So shortly after I figured out how I could transition into marketing, into copywriting. It’s been a race every since.Rob: You’re working as an in house copywriter, but what does that look like today? What is the day to day ... How do you spend your time? What are you working on? Those kinds of things.

Ryan: Yeah, so with Ramit at IWT / Growth Lab, I am the head of the sales team and the editorial tea...

Further episodes of The Copywriter Club Podcast

Further podcasts by Kira Hug and Rob Marsh

Website of Kira Hug and Rob Marsh