Having John Carlton Review Launch Copy?

I think you should split test first

In my view, that would be an insane waste of money.

Why?

Because you're not ready for it.

Before you go to Carlton, your copy should be far better than just "decent." It should already be excellent.

What happens if he says (as I fear he will) that your copy is low-grade dog food? Unless he's also going to rewrite it for that fee, you'll have wasted your money.

What will you do then? Have it rewritten and go back to him for yet another $2,500 consultation?

In my opinion, before you go to him you need excellent copy that has been split tested and refined.

At that point -- if you still think you need his advice -- at least you'll be in a position to benefit from it.

John

I don't if you've heard of Alan Forrest Smith?

I've been coached and mentored by him and he is in the same league as John.

Both came online around the same time.

He might give you time for a little less of an investment if u tell him I sent u.

Personally, being coached by John was one of the best investments I had ever made in my business....

BUT....

I already had a few years of testing my sales letters under my belt. My time with John was spent trying to get to the next level... it is NOT worth it if you're sorta new, or haven't gotten some feedback to your site, or tried sending some traffic, etc...

John talks fast and he gives out a shitload of value... BUT a lot of it will probably go right over your head if you're not at a level where you can understand it, implement it, apply it, and know exactly what he's talking about.

If it were me, I'd use some of that money on traffic, to get some valid real world results before investing in John's consult.

That way, you can talk about what's worked, what didn't, some of your results, what you used for traffic, etc...

I just think you'll get more "bang for your buck" if you've gotten some real world results and feedback from sending traffic and being in the biz a while.

If you're at ANY point in your career where you're not pretty seasoned, or have some experience, or have some real world results... I just don't see it worth dropping 2k on John right now.

When you're ready to go to the next level, then by all means.

But an hour consult with John isn't going to magically solve your problems... which I've talked to some marketers and they think it will be the solution to their woes.

Nope, you'll still need to understand it, apply it, test stuff, and see what works.

I agree, John's course is probably one of the most valuable I own... but there's a time and a place for the $2,500 consult. If you have a shitload of money to spare and invest, then it probably isn't a huge deal.

But if you're like most entrepreneurs who are bootstrapping it, I'd invest some money in traffic and getting "dirty" in your biz before calling Carlton.

Test out the copy and see what happens... at least that way you can tell John "I've tested it with 5,000 clicks and nothing"... or "I tested it with 5,000 and made X sales"

Try out a few different headlines, some new leads, etc... get some real world results on your own and take it about as far as you can.

Then, that's when I'd invest more with John or other's who can take you to that next level.

Unless you're at a certain "seasoned" and experienced point... going with John or other top-tier coaches may result in a lot of stuff going over your head.

I had a six figure business that I wanted to take to 7 and beyond when I started reaching out to guys like John, Rich Schefren, Eben Pagan, etc...

It all made so much more sense... because I had some real world experience under my belt and could relate better to what they were telling me to do.

If I had made that big investment in them earlier... most of my reaction probably would have been "Huh?"

Who do you guys recommend?

To everyone that replied, thank you. Over the last few days I have been researching copy and I have a LOT to learn. I've ordered several of the books mentioned above and started making swipe files of many of the elements in the "Copywriting checklist" posted as a sticky above as well as swipes of copy written for other industries.

No wonder there is so much bad copy out there....just getting the basics together is a lot of work before one word on a sales page is written.


Eric

Honestly... John's course gives you all you need to know to create copy that's good enough to put out there and test.

After all, the WORST version of your copy will probably be the one you first put out.

John's course does a great job at giving you what you need to create a winning sales letter.

So why not just use that to create your first version... test it out and THEN invest in your continuing education.

Honestly, if you keep investing in copy books right now, you may start to suffer from info overload... and worse, paralysis by analysis.

Meaning... you're taking MORE time reading about copy than you are putting it together, getting it out there, and testing it out.

Again, if you have John's course... he gives you a few starter templates.

That's good enough right now... create your copy and get real world feedback WHILE you invest in other books, read them, and immediately APPLY what you read.

I've been learning copy since 2001.

I wrote my first sales letter around that time, and did it after reading one copy book.

Then, I put it out and got real world feedback and results. Initially, it sucked and I made less than $50 a week the first month or two.

THEN I'd invest in a new copy book, read it, apply what I read, and would make changes to my copy. That $50 a week grew to $50 a day, then $500 a week, then $500 a day, and then $5,000 and up per week.

I feel that if I had bought a ton of copy books right off, and tried to read them all before writing copy, I probably would have felt overwhelmed... and probably would have procrastinated a bunch.

But I read one book, put my first sales letter out and started getting results and feedback, and then invested in all the copy classics over time.

I've probably read and gone through 50 books and courses on copy... but all were one at a time, after I had read one, applied what I could, and only then moved on.

I just don't want to see you get overwhelmed with too much reading and study... when the real learning comes from putting your first letter out and getting real world feedback.

If you had never read about copy, I'd say you have to do that first, or you're wasting your money.

But if you have John's course, you have all you need for your first good ad/sales letter.

From there, once you get it out and circulating... then you can continuously invest in your copy education.

That's my thoughts, anyways...