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    The S.W.I.P.E.S. Email (Friday May 3rd, 2024)

    • Neville
    • Neville
    • Last Updated:

    swipes-Double-line-SPLURGE.gif

    Edition: Friday, May 3rd, 2024
    An educational (and fun) email by Copywriting Course. Enjoy!

     

    🎤 Listen to this email here:

    Swipe:

    You know your Uncle Neville, he loves a good graph. Especially when a graph conveys a large amount of info...but simply!

    I liked a blog post about your maximum power through different ages.

    1.) It starts with a simple graph showing your maximum strength:

    fitness-graph-1.jpg

    2.) Then it breaks down differences between out-of-shape, average, fit, and athlete:

    fitness-cardio.jpg

    3.) Then it categorizes only men:

    cardio-of-men.jpg

    4.) Then it categorizes only women:

    last-fitness-graph.jpg

    Image Credit: Why I Exercise

    Looking at these charts conveys so much helpful information!

    Wisdom:

    Here's how to get more Twitter/X followers:

    Step 1. Be Nick Gray:

    nick-gray-on-plane.jpg

    Step 2. Invite a blind date for all-expenses paid trip to Tokyo. 

    twitter-blind-date.jpg

    Step 3. 400+ women from the internet apply to go.

    upate-blind-date.jpg

    Step 4. He selected one, they arrived in Tokyo and he live-posted the date.

    photo-of-live-date.jpg

    Step 5. Thousands of people were reading the live updates and loving it!!

    nick grey twitter followers.jpg

    Nick is one of the most interesting people I've ever met, and this story captivated the internet on Twitter and Instagram!

    The blind date he picked wasn't revealed at first, and he gave updates with teaser photos like this:

    ConvertKit (2).png

    Turns out the woman was a 27 year old engineer who went to Stanford, and eventually was revealed to the tens of thousands of people getting live-updates of this public blind date:

    ConvertKit (4).png

    What a fun little internet story!

    Interesting:

    How I thought I’d use Al:
    Asking ChatGPT to do stuff and create content.

    How I’m actually using Al:
    Using Google’s generative results to do research and answer questions from the web.

    For everyday use I’m using 90% Google and 10% ChatGPT at this point.

    How about you?

    Picture:

    This week I went to a morning Writing Club (hosted by @taskett).

    It was hosted at a coffee shop, there was a short amount of socializing followed by 1 hour of silent writing time.

    ~20 people were there, and everyone writing something!

    writers-community.jpg

    Fun idea!

    Essay:

    "Getting front of the right eyeballs" has always been the main goal of marketing.

    It's been a continuously developing thing over the years:

    1920: Get into the top radio programs or newspapers.

    1980: Put “AA” in biz name to be first in phone book.

    1990: Get on TV and radio ads.

    2000: Stuff webpages with keywords (SEO).

    2010: Add the right tags and keywords Google says.

    2024: Be at the top of their social newsfeed + own their email.

    Next: ???

    Splurge:

    Question for people with a home sauna, do you lay down in it?

    I’m debating between: 1-2 person sauna I can sit but not lay, versus a 3 person sauna I can easily lay down in….but it requires more space and electrical wiring.

    Wondering if laying down is worth the extra effort 🤔

    GMgHZnHXwAAEbsi.jpg

    UPDATE TO THIS QUESTION: So I ended up buying a 3-person Finnleo Hallmark 55c:

    sauna-picked.webp

    The laying down + being able to fit more people was worth the extra complexity for me.

    I'm adding a 220v outlet, and it BAREEELLYY made the cut size-wise (see white string outline):

    GMgVvK-XYAA7P94.jpg

    I wanted a rectangle shaped one originally, but the size made it hard to park my car in the garage (too tight of a squeeze).

    This corner model sauna seems to be the right size to still fit a car there:

    GMgVw6wXwAAraTa.jpg

    I originally wanted a small sauna because 4' x 4' size was perfect for my garage...BUT it's too small for 2 ppl.

    I went to a store to test it, and in perfect position I'm still taking more than half the bench 😂

    nev-testing-sauna.jpg

    When I spread out comfortable I basically took up that whole bench.

    Excited to start sauna'ing more!

    Sincerely,
    Neville Medhora

    nev-head.webp

     

    P.S. Checkout some wins from Copywriting Course members:

    wins-this-week.png

    The SWIPES Email (Friday April 19th, 2024)

    swipes-Double-line-SPLURGE.gif

    Edition: Friday, April 19th, 2024
    An educational (and fun) email by Copywriting Course. Enjoy!

     

    🎤 Listen to this email here:

    Swipe:

    I propose a toast to the single-image-that-teaches-you-something. 

    Here's some examples:
    images-that-teach.png

    To me, being able to transmit information in a single blink of an eye is a superpower.

    Wisdom:

    The new AI writing assistant Google launched is embedded in Chrome, making AI stuff even easier to use. 

    To use it first turn it on: 
    Settings → Experimental AI → Help Me Write. 

    Use it anytime: 
    Right click on a text field → Help Me Write

    Here it is in action:

    writing-ai.gif

    Neat!

    Interesting:

    Google Keep is low key the most useful note taking app out there:

    - Super easy to save notes and pictures.
    - Masonry layout is easy to browse.
    - It’s free.
    - Natively ties into all Google products.
    - Can export everything into a Doc.

    It's so much easier to use than Notion for me!

    google-notes.jpg

    I'm surprised more people don't know about it.

    I've been pushing it forever....and what makes it WAY MORE USEFUL than all other note taking apps is the native integration into every Google product:

    google-keep.gif

    Picture:

    I didn't Xweet for 5 days because I was in Mexico recently for a vacation and it was awesome 😎

    Checkout this ridiculous cave spa:

    mexico-pool.jpg

    Another part of the spa where you hang out under each different type of water fountain:

    spa-waterfall-mexico.jpg

    Washing off before a massage:

    washing-off-before-spa.jpg

    Cool view out my room of this spiral pyramid thingy:

    pyramid-mexico.jpg

    I loved the cave-y architecture all throughout the resort, I wish I was able to see how they built all these structures!

    mexico-cave.webp

    They had so many of these cave-like natural walls which I "think" are artificial but TBH I couldn't tell:

    cave-water-canal.jpg

    It was a fun trip!

    nev-on-beach-mexico.webp

     

     

    Essay:

    I started noticing the term "Full Stack Writer" start popping up since about 2019. 

    triple-threat.webp

    I think it's a great term because it means "a writer who can mix in other skills."

    For example if you can write, but ALSO use Wordpress, cook, know photography and video, use Excel really well........this means you can potentially be a better writer because of your breadth of experiences:

    full-stack-writer.webp

    A Full Stack Writer would be someone who knows multiple skills related to writing such as:

    📝 Writing text in an editor.
    🖼 Creating and editing images.
    🖥 Knowing how to create/manage/publish websites.
    🕵️♂️ Understanding very basic SEO.
    🌅 Knowing how to write on social media platforms.
    📊 Understanding how to promote an article once released.
    🎥 Knowing how to create videos.
    🎨 Design, UI, UX.

    Obviously if a writer knows all these other related skills they will be a much more powerful force!

    full-stack-writer-getting-big.gif

    Splurge:

    I'm still surprised how hard it is to write, design and organize a sales page from start to finish.

    5_sales-page-arrange-content-cc.gif

    Yes there are templates and stuff you can start from, but you still need to know A LOT of things to do this well.

    I currently use LeadPages, and as a hobby project I'm currently learning to use Framer.

    I am re-doing our own Sales Page and it's a big project! I'm breaking it into several steps:

    Step 1.) I made these slides in Google Presentation that outlines the flow of the entire sales video and sales page.

    This by itself took a long time:

    sales-page-slide-show.webp

     

    Step 2.) Mocking up the design section-by-section.

    This is where I'm using more help than other areas because I want to improve my own design sensibilities:

    sales-page-before-and-after.webp

     

    Step 3.) Recording a new sales video. 

    This is being made out of the slides, then further animated in editing. It was also recorded in 4 separate parts. These are hard 😳

    Hopefully it turns out great, and I can report back on conversion findings next month!
     

     

    Sincerely,
    Neville Medhora

    nev-head.webp

     

    P.S. Checkout some wins from Copywriting Course members:


    ConvertKit (1).png

    The S.W.I.P.E.S. Email (Friday February 23rd, 2024)

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    Edition: Friday, February 23rd, 2024
    A fun email for Friday. I hope you enjoy!

    Swipe:

    If someone hits a vape during a call I don’t think I’d mind that much 😂

    Music in the background? Well that’s just rude.

    Here's an interesting "Zoom Etiquette" chart of behaviors that people don't think are acceptable:

    zoom-etiquette-chart.jpg

    Wisdom:

    When self publishing a book a few years ago I decided to A/B split test two different covers and titles.

    Version A: "The Ten Commandments of Copywriting"
    Version B: "The Book Will Teach You How To Write Better"

    The result from 842 votes was:
    Version A:
    21% votes (loser)
    Version B: 79% votes (winner!)

    books-split-test.png

    This version of the book cover was just quickly drummed up as the placeholder for the book cover until I could find a better one.

    But of all the book covers and titles we tried this one just dominated every time!

    book-winner.png

    Interesting:

    Exactly two weeks ago I decided to cold turkey stop drinking caffeine. I made sure I had a free-ish weekend to lay in bed and do nothing to cope with the caffeine withdrawals.

    caffine-withdrawl.gif

    The first few days I had minor headaches and felt lethargic, this lasted about 3-4 days, then I started feeling a bit better.

    Basically it took ~5 days to feel normal.

    I've been finding it super easy to wake up in the morning and just start my day without caffeine.

    One morning I woke up around 4:30am (HIGHLY HIGHLY UNUSUAL FOR ME!) and was able to just start working, and had steady energy throughout the whole day.

    My energy each day just seems "stable." It doesn't have the wild spokes up and down as when on caffeine.

     

    Conclusion: My goal was to just break my morning dependency on caffeine by stopping for two weeks....well TODAY I AM ALLOWED TO HAVE COFFEE!

    But it's weird.....I really enjoy not having to rely on it: I like being able to just get up and start the day. I like not having to worry about acquiring 2-3 cups of coffee per day. I like the steady amount of energy I have from morning till night.

    Not sure if this will be a permanent stop, but I could get used to this!

    I'm writing this on a plane headed to Costa Rica right now, and I was able to wake up at 6:15am and workout before my flight without any caffeine (that is unusual for me).

    Picture:

    My friend Noah did a fun b-day party where he did "Birthday Olympics"

    • We all met up in a park and did games like:
    • Who can hold the longest plank challenge (I got 3rd)
    • Who can throw a kettlebell the furthest (I got 3rd)
    • Which team could throw a frisbee furthest (I won this one)!
    • A team "hold a kettlebell and run a lap"
    • A 2-lap sprint and you have to chug a beer or sparkling water before 2 the 2nd lap (I lost this one bad bc couldn't chug the bubble water that fast)....the guy who won had to leave early because he felt sick 😂

    It was fun!

    noah-birthday-olympics.jpg

    Essay:

    Last week I posted this homepage a/b/c/d split test, and asked which you thought would win??

    split-test-cc-signup.webp

    Most people guessed A or D....

    Here's the results →

    It was C!

    split-test-results.jpg

    And it boosted my homepage conversion rate from about 14% to 23%. 

    This means if 100 people come to the homepage, instead of 14 of them signing up to my email list, 23 of them signup. A ~60% increase.

    This was designed in Figma by @benpixel and it looked awesome.

    final-split-test-results.jpg

    Here's the final numbers....and to be fair "D" came in reallllyyy close....almost the same.

    A) 14.51% conversion
    B) 20.52% conversion
    C) 23.69% conversion
    D) 23.20% conversion

    conversion-copywriting-course.jpg

    This simple split test resulted in a 60% improvement for relatively little effort.

    It comes back to the old principle that if you give people less options on a page, they'll take the one you give them.

    Less options and text meant more people just plunked in their email:

    final-result-changes-split-test.jpg

    Splurge:

    I'm currently reading Read Write Own by @cdixon:

    read-write-own-breakfast.jpg

    I like how it breaks down complex topics into simple elements, like this chart of different networks:

    • Protocol is like SMPT email.
    • Corporate is like creators on YouTube.
    • Blockchain is like BTC or ETH.

    protocal-page-sjare.jpg

    He says there's been 2 eras of the internet and we're moving into the 3rd era called "Read Write Own."

    “Read” Era: You could put up a static website. Little to no interaction on websites.

    “Read-Write” Era (current): Posting and publishing for anyone to a large audience. You can use and interact on networks like X, Amazon, or YouTube....but not own them.

    “Read-Write-Own” Era: You can own pieces of the network you participate in. This is like the Ethereum network where you can interact with it, use it, but also own pieces of it as tokens.

    Good book so far!

    I hope you enjoyed these Friday tid-bits!
    Sincerely, 
    Neville Medhora

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    The SWIPES Email (Friday April 26th, 2024)

    swipes-Double-line-SPLURGE.gif

    Edition: Friday, April 26th, 2024
    An educational (and fun) email by Copywriting Course. Enjoy!

     

    🎤 Listen to this email here:

    Swipe:

    On one hand, this seems like a bad billboard....
    No description.
    Not obvious what the product is.

    On the other hand, it got me to Google "Really . com" while pumping gas and looking at this thing....so maybe it worked!

    really-billboard.webp

    Turns out it's some sort of privacy-based phone service.

    However if I was just driving by in my car and couldn't Google this right away I doubt I'd care enough to look it up.

    Wisdom:

    The standard AIDA Formula is still one of the most useful things in copywriting a person can learn, look at this result:

    Gus-twitter-post.webp

    It's probably the lowest effort to learn, yet highest impact concept:

    aida-template-new.webp

    Just remember "A.I.D.A" and you've got it memorized!

    5_aida-formula-list.gif

    Interesting:

    Last year I was excited about self publishing another book, but I never put it out because:
    The subject matter wasn’t that big.
    I doubt this could be an all-time best seller.

    ...but I still wanna do it!

    It'll be only 50 pages and I am setting the pencils-down date for end of June 2024.

    I'm just putting it out there so I'm shamed into working on it harder!

    nev-book-title.webp

    Picture:

    My buddy Noah Kagan moved his YouTube studio to a different room, and this is the barebones V1 getting it setup.

    I can’t wait to see progress and final result! Seeing behind-the-scenes of video studios is fun.

    noah-studio.jpg

     

    Essay:

    ....speaking of watching the progress of video studios, here's a Before/After of my own home office:


    BEFORE:
    Just a raw 13' x 14' room with concrete floors (extremely echo-y).
    nev-studio-before-photo.webp

     

    AFTER:
    1. Added wallpaper
    2. Put a big ass rug down
    3. Positioned desks to face pretty wall
    4. Hue lighting to control everything

    nev-studio-after.jpg

     

    This one room actually multi-functions as a:
    - Home office
    - YouTube studio
    - Co-working space
    - Overflow guest bedroom

    Here's how it's setup:

    home-office-galery.png

    I like how the space is multi-functional. For example if I have the whole family over and we need more bedrooms, the couch folds out into a Queen-sized bed and makes another guest room:

    guest-bed.webp

    I can also adjust the lighting with one touch so the color range can change instantly like this...

    lighting-1.webp

    ...to this:

    lighting-2.jpg

    Fun!

     

     

    Splurge:

    I found a weird snack I’ve been enjoying a lot (no affiliation to this): It's called Obleas by ConsciousSnack and it's got:

    • 6 ingredients.
    • 42 calories for entire package.
    • It has about 25 ultra-thin wafers.
    • You can snack on these for like an HOUR.
    • Can crack into small pieces with almost no crumbs.

    consviouSnack.png

    I love snacking on stuff, but if I were to just sit for 30 minutes popping Pringles, I'd eat 1,000+ calories EASILY.

    I can sit there snacking on these, breaking them into pieces, and get only 42 calories. There's also very little sweetness so I don't get sugar cravings after these.

    Fun little find I randomly found at a store in Austin!

    Sincerely,
    Neville Medhora

    nev-head.webp

     

    P.S. Checkout some wins from Copywriting Course members:

    wins-new.png

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