2024 Copywriting Lessons from the WORLD'S BEST | Alen Sultanic, Trevor Crook, Nabeel Azeez

SUMMARY

Alen Sultanic, Trevor Crook, and Nabeel Azeez share transformative copywriting strategies for 2024, emphasizing economic trade-offs, irresistible offers, hidden sales processes, and email's revenue power to build six-figure careers.

STATEMENTS

• Marketing cannot exist without a strong product; without one, it's merely a scam, leading to customer complaints when expectations exceed experiences.
• Every sale involves trade-offs, where getting a "yes" for money means asking for "no" to other purchases, and understanding these trade-offs is key to effective selling.
• Funnels are series of decisions that accumulate fatigue from computing trade-offs, explaining why upsell paths simplify choices as buyers tire.
• An irresistible offer prompts the question: Would you trade anything in the world for this? It focuses on transformative value that sells itself without elaborate big ideas.
• People love buying for the good feeling of choice but hate being sold to because it implies loss of control; modern sales must hide the process to regain that control.
• Direct response success requires steady, controlled sales—not erratic peaks—achieved by innovating formats like disguising ads as articles, letters, or podcasts.
• Innovation in marketing leverages human novelty-seeking for survival, using emerging platforms like TikTok or podcasts to deliver hidden sales messages.
• Copywriters must prioritize strengthening offers before writing; a weak offer undermines even the best copy, like serving a burger without the patty.
• Referrals and competitions, such as rewarding contractors with a truck for leads, can generate massive returns by analyzing numbers and testing boldly.
• Email is the bread and butter of direct response, often underutilized by creators who neglect lists, yet consistent sends can add 30-50K in revenue weekly.

IDEAS

• Sales hinge on economics of trade-offs: Every "yes" to your product forces "no" to alternatives like new gadgets or family gifts, which sellers often overlook.
• Decision fatigue in funnels builds from endless trade-off computations, making upsells irresistible by reducing choices when buyers are exhausted.
• Hiding the sales process, as in historical tactics like ad-as-article or webinar-as-podcast, ensures steady revenue by preventing customer control over timing.
• Human brains crave novelty for safety and survival, turning addictive platforms like TikTok into prime vessels for innovative, disguised marketing.
• Transformative products sell without "big idea" copy; if it doesn't demonstrate value instantly, it's not truly valuable—marketing just amplifies scams otherwise.
• Strong offers are foundational: Copywriters should rework them first, as a juicy promise without substance dooms even flawless writing.
• Granular business analysis reveals overlooked edges, like converting declined payments or referral incentives, often invisible to insiders after years in the game.
• Legit email lists, warmed up and used for lookalikes on Facebook, plus value-adding in groups, build relationships without spamming—rushing trust fails.
• Email copywriting dominates because it's easy to fulfill, teach, and enter via referrals; long-form is harder for newcomers due to high-stakes hiring networks.
• Mastering sales pages unlocks all copy types—emails, ads—as they're mere snippets, making broad skills accessible once the core is nailed.

INSIGHTS

• True sales mastery lies in framing purchases as controlled choices, not impositions, by embedding persuasion invisibly within familiar, novel formats that exploit human novelty bias.
• Offers must transcend hype to deliver transformative value, ensuring expectations align with reality and avoiding the scam trap that plagues overpromised marketing.
• Economic thinking in copywriting reveals trade-offs as the hidden currency of decisions, where fatigue becomes an ally for guiding buyers toward inevitable "yeses."
• Referrals and granular tweaks, backed by data, yield exponential growth in any business, proving that bold, low-cost innovations often outperform complex strategies.
• Email's untapped power stems from its intimacy and low barrier—consistent, value-driven sends turn dormant lists into revenue engines, outpacing flashy launches.
• Niche specialization emerges organically from successes, not intent; starting with accessible formats like email builds credibility faster than high-risk long-form gigs.

QUOTES

• "The numbers don't lie leads conversion whatever."
• "Marketing without good product is called a scam."
• "Would you trade anything in the world for this?"
• "People love to buy because it feels really good to buy right like it's a good feeling right because we can choose what makes us feel good but we hate being sold to."
• "If you're in the direct response space email is our bread and butter right that's where like the money is made."

HABITS

• Analyze personal and business numbers rigorously before any offer tweak, ensuring decisions are data-driven rather than intuitive.
• Start with the offer's foundation, reworking it for maximum strength before drafting any copy to guarantee client results.
• Hide sales processes in innovative formats like podcasts or letters, studying historical direct response tactics for inspiration.
• Send weekly emails to underutilized lists, focusing on value to add consistent revenue without overhauling funnels.
• Seek external perspectives on daily operations to spot overlooked basics, creating SOPs that capture skipped steps.

FACTS

• A pest control business gained 100,000 net profit by testing a referral truck giveaway, costing about 17-18,000 despite initial partner skepticism.
• Italian finance client spends 1,000 euros daily on ads, returning 15,000 on the front end using podcast-disguised sales, achieving 15x ROI.
• Many course creators with 10,000 CRM contacts email only once a month or during dry sales periods, missing 30-50K weekly revenue potential.
• Historical direct response innovators like Johnny Kennedy boosted reads by making ads resemble newspaper articles in the early days.
• Facebook lookalike audiences from legit email lists can scale traffic affordably, while groups foster organic reaches through value provision.

REFERENCES

• Alen Sultanic's full interview on making 8-figures selling online.
• Trevor Crook's interview on why 90% of copywriters fail.
• Nabeel Azeez's interview for overseas copywriters and marketers.
• Joe Rogan podcast as a model for long-form content packaging.

HOW TO APPLY

• Examine your current offer critically: Identify weaknesses like missing bonuses or guarantees, then strengthen it by aligning with customer pain points and testing small changes for immediate impact.
• Map out funnel decisions: Break down each step into trade-offs, then simplify upsells to combat fatigue by offering binary choices or bundles that feel effortless.
• Conceal the sales process: Choose a novel format like a podcast episode or article-style email series, embedding your pitch subtly to mimic editorial content and build trust gradually.
• Build an email habit: Acquire a legitimate list if possible, warm it with value-driven sequences, then schedule weekly sends tracking open rates and revenue to refine over time.
• Leverage referrals innovatively: Analyze referral sources in your industry, design competitions like gift incentives, and test with a small budget while monitoring net gains against costs.
• Specialize organically: Start with low-stakes copy like emails via referrals, using successes to build case studies that attract broader projects without cold pitching high-risk launches.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Master copywriting by prioritizing transformative offers, hidden processes, and email's untapped power to drive steady, ethical revenue in 2024.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Always vet and enhance offers before writing copy to ensure they deliver real value and avoid FTC complaints from unmet expectations.
• Embrace economic trade-offs in sales narratives, getting "no's" first to make "yes's" feel liberating rather than pressured.
• Innovate delivery formats continually, drawing from history like ad-as-article to disguise persuasion in addictive, novel mediums.
• Focus on email as an entry point for new copywriters—it's referral-friendly, easy to fulfill, and turns idle lists into profit centers.
• Analyze granular business data externally for fresh insights, uncovering simple tweaks like decline recoveries that yield outsized growth.

MEMO

In the high-stakes world of direct response marketing, where fortunes hinge on words, three elite copywriters—Alen Sultanic, Trevor Crook, and Nabeel Azeez—distill 2024's essential lessons from their eight-figure triumphs. Sultanic, a master of psychological funnels, argues that sales are battles of trade-offs: Every dollar committed to your product means forgoing a phone upgrade or family gift. "The numbers don't lie," he insists, urging creators to scrutinize data before innovating. His approach flips the script—seek the "no" first, easing into "yes" amid decision fatigue that plagues long funnels. By crafting irresistible offers that demand, "Would you trade anything for this?" he transforms buying into a euphoric choice, not coercion.

Crook echoes this with a focus on offers as the bedrock of success. Too many writers polish copy atop weak foundations, like a burger sans patty—juicy promise, empty delivery. He recounts revamping a Florida pest control firm's referrals: A truck giveaway for top-referring contractors netted 100,000 after costs, despite initial outrage. "Look at your own numbers," he advises, revealing how granular audits unearth overlooked edges, such as converting payment declines by 5-10%. For startups, he recommends legit email lists for Facebook lookalikes and value-adding in groups, building relationships over rushed pitches. Email, he notes, is direct response's "bread and butter," often squandered by creators who email lists sporadically, missing 30-50K weekly.

Azeez bridges to practical entry, explaining his email niche's rise through referrals in masterminds—not intent, but momentum. Long-form sales pages intimidate newcomers; they're high-stakes gigs doled out via trusted networks, not cold DMs. Yet mastering one unlocks all: Emails are snippets of that core narrative. He warns against overhyping launches while neglecting lists—10,000 contacts sit dormant post-webinar, emailed monthly at best. Consistent sends add revenue effortlessly. As AI advances, copywriting endures; it's about human psychology, not automation.

These insights converge on a timeless truth: Marketing without product is scam artistry, breeding complaints when hype crashes into reality. Hide processes in podcasts or letters, innovate relentlessly, and prioritize transformation over tricks. For aspirants eyeing six figures, start granular—data, offers, emails—and scale ethically.

The trio's wisdom promises not just survival, but dominance in 2024's attention economy, where novelty lures and control wins. As Sultanic's Italian client proves, spending 1,000 euros daily yields 15,000 back by podcast-masking sales in finance niches. Copywriting evolves, but its soul—persuading through value—remains eternal.