Hello. My name is Jim Speakman.

You likely do not know my name. But I have written or contributed

creatively to direct response promotions that have sold over
$580Million in products and services.

Now for the first time in my career, I have the time to create
compelling copy and direct response offers for a few select clients.

What areas do I have proven experience in?

• Over-the-counter nutraceuticals
• Small home appliances
• Collectible items
• Financial services

What formats/media do I have experience in?

• Newspaper advertorial
• Direct mail
• Radio commercials
• Video streaming ads (OTT)
• Social media ads

Want some examples?

Ok, there is one product that I am guessing you may be aware of, in
fact, you may even have one. Back in the day, one unit was selling
every 19 seconds. A national rollout would include 600 newspapers
with full page advertorials, TV with 2 minute and 30-minute
infomercials, Home Shopping Network, direct mail in the millions, and
online. Every year for several years in a row, that product sold
nearly $200 million each year!

The product was the Amish fireplace. This was a brilliant marriage of
true Amish craftsmanship (and yes, those mantels were really built by
the Amish!) with a state-of-the-art electric insert. That insert got
better every year and – at the time – was truly superior to any rival
on the market. And that is no small point. In the early going there
were not many rivals. We basically invented this product category.

So back to my personal contribution to the creative that sold millions

of these incredible products. I staged and shot dozens of photos.
Those hero shots were the stoppers that got people to stop turning the
newspaper pages and drew them into the ad.

In addition, I contributed my copywriting to the efforts as well. I

was trained as a copywriter by some of the absolute best in the
industry. I will always be grateful to them for noticing something in
me that I continue to work on to this day. I had a strong curiosity.
I had a drive to make it work.

I suppose I should tell you how I came to have any skill at

copywriting. The company that had the Amish Fireplace also had other
companies and the owner was a brilliant man. His highest and best
skill was persuasive copywriting and offer construction. He found a

like-mind in a creative partner that he worked with for many years.

The two of them would often work for days together on the next new
“breakthrough” creative. As I watch their early promotions, I new I
wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to learn what made those
promotions work. Eventually, I was the only one sitting at the table
with them when they worked through these long creative writing
sessions. The arguments they would have were fascinating. Sometimes
they would argue over ONE WORD. Those days were the best. I did a
lot of listening. I learned so much as I helped coordinate the
testing, and sometimes the national rollout of the promotion. The
winners were exciting. The losers were confusing at first, but often
VERY revealing about why we think they missed the mark.

How I got started

One day, I called to “informationally interview” the founder. We
scheduled 30 minutes, but it went 90 minutes. He gave me a book at
the end of that interview (that I still have to this day). That book
was eye-opening for me. It was written by the man who taught the
founder of the company how to craft compelling offers and how to write
the copy that could tell the story and sell it. I still refer to that
book to this day.

About a year went by. I watched what the company was doing. Then, I
reapproached them and told them I think I might be able to contribute.
And, once I had the chance, I told them exactly what I think I could
do for them and how it would help them to become even more successful.
They listened. They hired me and gave me the chance to prove it.

I started writing the scripts for the call centers to use. One of the
key areas of growth that I identified was converting that “interested”
caller into a “buyer”.

My scripts worked. That got the attention of the founder and Chief of
Creative. They recognized that I would write the words that moved
people to act (and buy). They immediately began training me as a
copywriter. To this day, it was one of the best experiences of my
professional life.

It was the everyday interactions with these creative giants that

helped me cut my teeth. In the beginning, my efforts caused them to
empty a couple of red pens as they would correct and point out the
reasons why what I wrote was not going to get the result.

I remember one time specifically where I wrote a direct mail package

that I thought was good (of course!). As I handed it to the head of
Creative, I started to explain some things about the outer envelope
copy. He snapped back at me in the loudest possible way! I was
stunned. Then he asked me (rhetorically) if I was going to be in
Harry and Mable’s kitchen when they had the envelope in their hands.
My blank stare was my answer. He then said, you are not. So, your
envelope and everything inside it must convey the offer – on its own.
Period. You cannot (and will not) be present. That was a lesson I
will never forget.

 It turns out that the direct mail package we were working on went on
to sell over $80million. It worked! I learned so much. That was in
the collectibles space.

Solved a problem
Also in the collectibles space, we discovered a problem with a
shipment of a product. It had a defect. We did not know what to do
as all normal options had been exhausted. We could not return them.
We could not fix them without further damaging the product. So, it
sat. Finally, we drug a table out and put it outside the doors of the
copywriter’s offices. We told them to ‘think creatively’ and come up
with a solution to solve this issue. A couple of weeks went by and
they did not come up with a solution.

Then, one day, I got an idea. I will point out the flaw. So, I
created a full- page advertorial-style ad that sold every single one
of them. We made over a million dollars out of something that was
going to be a loss.

I realize that a shortened story like that makes it sound easy. It

was NOT easy. There were many experiences of failure. We became so
focused on testing and not trusting our gut, that testing became our
culture and way of thinking.

Back to the fireplace …

I coordinated testing of over 40 versions of the full-page newspaper

ad. We would change one word vs another. We would run true newspaper
A/B tests (at the time there were only 7 papers in the country that
could do this). We proved the power of individual words. We
experienced that changing one word was literally worth millions in
sales. We were competing for attention, and the mix of the powerful
pictures, the headline words and the story thread that pulls it all
into one incredibly persuasive ad was the result.

The combination of picture, headline, and story

In my career, I have coordinated the hero-photo of many multi-million-
dollar campaigns. I have traveled to diverse locations. From Amish
barns to the Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington
D.C. There have been so many photos shot, tested, and perfected. The
images – whether online or in print, communicate so much that they are
critical.

The copywriting itself is a huge task. I have personally been

fascinated with the power of words for as long as I can remember. I
can prove this is true as I included a list of the 12 most persuasive
words in advertising in my book, titled Covert Persuasion. (I co-
authored this book with Kevin Hogan, published by John Wiley & Sons in
NY, available on amazon.com)

That book talks about the 55 tactics that are so subtle (covert) that
they largely go unnoticed. Executed skillfully, they can help you get
your way. I involve some of those tactics in my copywriting.

 Hidden
You might say that I am a hidden force. I have been a very strong
contributor to multi-million-dollar campaigns. I like to see these
campaigns produce a result that helps people.

The Financial sector

I have written for several years in the financial planning space.
Specifically writing the ads that attract retired seniors to live
seminars where they learn how to properly plan their retirement income
while maintaining qualification for the federal and state benefits
that can cover the cost of long-term care should it ever be needed.

I wrote full page newspaper advertorials and they ran in papers across
the county. This made sense because the target was a RETIRED senior
who needed to make decisions about protecting assets and guaranteeing
retirement income. Those people still read the physical newspaper!

The writing I did directly contributed to building the company from

$30 Million in annual to $106 Million in annual revenue in just 30
months.

When I take on a new industry, product, or service, I dig in deep. I

find out everything I can about it. I research the competition. I
research every option a potential customer has at their disposal
(including the option of doing nothing). I cite sources, I dig up
quotes, I get my facts straight. Then I dive into the emotional side
of the decisions. I find out what is at stake if they DON’T choose to
buy, try, vote, or contribute. Motives and story are powerful.

My preparation normally results in a 3-inch binder full of the

research, the sources, and the facts that substantiate all claims made
in the creative. This process has always proven helpful.

There was a time in my past when every ad went through an extensive

legal review. This was usually 2 of our in-house counsel. Copies of
the final creative (whether it was newspaper, direct mail, online,
etc.) _were given to the legal team. The focus on each word was
designed to help the legal team literally defend this creative and the
claims made in it from any legal or regulatory challenge. These legal
reviews would range from two to four hours. The result was a stronger
ad. These reviews often forced us to sharpen our language or the
point we were making. It usually resulted in crisp, compelling copy.

The preparation of my substantiation book always paid off. It

certainly helped to justify claims to any publication or site that was
questioning the claims. It also was a strong visual signal in any
live meeting I was a part of that I had done my homework and have my
facts straight.

Even with the facts straight, there were other things to consider.
Our legal team was strict on the proximity of claims meaning they had
to appear within a certain order and cannot be separated by too much
irrelevant (to the claim) information or copy.

The level of scrutiny was different based on the type of offer and
style of copywriting I was creating. For the ingestible products for
weight loss, joint pain, and joint health, the claims allowed and the
proof necessary was a much higher bar than for the collectibles space
(coins and currency). And, in the insurance space (the financial
area), the claims needed an extremely specific level of detail.

Reach out to me if …
If you are a company that needs a professional copywriter that knows
the psychology behind the decisions to buy or not. I have the
experience in multiple areas to tell a powerfully persuasive story
that converts interest into dollars.

Here is how to reach me:

Send an email to: [email protected]

Additional information about me can be found on my LinkedIn profile.