“Unbelievable…”
“Unreal..”
“WTF… Dude!”
That was me exclaiming to nobody in particular besides my morning espresso buddies at a Helsinki coffee shop.
They glanced at me… I shrugged… we all took another sip.
So why the extraneous caffeinated exclamation?
I’d just remembered where this whole journey of marketing and copy started for me.
20 years ago… no way it’s that long… but it is!
20 years ago sharp, I’m pretty sure it was in August of 2005…
Was when I made my first actual money online.
Sure, I’d dabbled in e-commerce in the late 1990s and actually made some money for a health supplement operation I was part owner of, around 1998/1999. Plus made some tiny trickles in affiliate sales, whatever.
However, 2005 was a different ballgame!
It was my very first sales letter, yes generously swiped from the greats but still.
AND it made some good money out of the gate.
Something like 6000 buckaroos over a weekend.
All from a licensed 29 dollar ebook (yeah, not even mine).
At the time it felt like a lot of money, but more than that…
It was proof that hey – maybe I got what it takes to do this!
It was also my first time enlisting affiliates, and I bagged some whales who generated sales for years.
In other words, beginner’s luck… but still, it’s what started it all and it worked out
So What’s Different In Internet Marketing 20 years on?
Well, a lot has changed since then:
- Affiliates no longer run the info business (still important but not the same)
- Nobody codes their own landing pages anymore (and other infra, it’s all systems now)
- Low ticket (ebooks etc.) is looked at strictly the lossless way to start up a funnel that ends with 5 figure coaching (not a business in itself)
- Online gurus are dime a dozen; you have to really dial in your process (yes some names still pull but it’s not the same)
- AI is speeding up every aspect of the business (except a very very chosen few)
- Content is becoming more and more fragmented (TikTok, doom scrolling etc.)
HOWEVER… some things have stayed the same:
- Copy still comes first, even more so (with so much competition, you have to have top tier copy)
- Storytelling is still the way to grab the attention of your market (the formats change but still)
- Unconscious mental and emotional triggers still activate buyer behavior (as long as you know your customer)
These last three is where I’m still quite focused, and doing tremendously well for me and my clients.
And yes, there is a fair bit of tech wrangling, AI processes and strategy plays involved too.
But at its core, human nature never changes – even though it evolves! (selling to boomers vs selling to Gen X/Y/Z etc.)
EVEN if agentic buying becomes a thing (not sure about that just yet), there are ways to insert true marketing into it.
So rest assured, whatever you’ve learned from myself and other industry stalwarts let’s say…
All of that is STILL valid and continues to work.
And to that end, you’ll be seeing some new offerings from yours truly.
Entirely new information and tools that help you drill deep into the core of making sales online.
Until then, do less and achieve more! (IYKYK)
Talk soon,
-Juho
PS. In the mean time, if you need help increasing the actual results from your marketing (you know, like, c-ash), we just might have some capacity left within the upcoming two months. Sales letters, VSLs, email, social copy… it all needs to convert, right? Get in touch, have a chat, then we’ll see if we can help you out.
PPS. If you already know you need help with your copy NOW, not some day in the future, why don’t you take a deep breath and book a Live Sales Copy Fixing Call (2 hours). You’ll be amazed how much sales-generating improvement we can pack into just a couple of hours!
PPPS. There’s a good reason why my Copywriting Mentorship comes up on first page (if not the first result outright) on Google if you type in Copywriting mentoring. It’s been one of the best programs out there for a LONG time now. I think we’re coming up on the 8 year mark now.
And also the most insane value for money, to be honest. Many others charge double or triple what I historically have. Which is why I definitely have to raise the prices soon, but for right now, I’ll be grandfathering in any new students who qualify… at the old, supremely affordable price.
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