Hey Reader,

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an email for a client that I thought was pretty banger.

Like I do with all my projects, I put my ass into it. Meaning, this wasn’t some 15-minute smash the keys and cash-out job. In general, that ain’t my style. I am more of a slow and steady, think about it, rewrite it, edit it, edit it some more, tweak a few more words, then finish it off type of writer.

Anyway… I was pretty pleased with how this effort turned out.

I thought I finally had my audience right where I needed them to send this message.

So, I figured I had a hit on my hands.

Turns out, not so much.

All my hard work delivered ONE single sale. Yuk!

So what was the problem?

Did I send the message at a bad time? Nope. No such thing as a bad time for a good sales message.

Was the copy weak? I don’t think so. (But I’ll let you be the judge.)

The problem was something that trips up marketers and copywriters more often than they’ll admit.

Failing to adhere to Eugene Shawartz’s famous 5th Rule of Marketing:

In this instance, I was trying to sell my audience on a feature that they don’t, at this time, desire.

Is it a good feature? Yes.

Speaking from personal experience, it's an incredibly valuable feature.

But right now the audience’s desire is 100% focused on other attributes of this product.

Does that mean sending this message was a mistake?

Was all my hard work a big waste of my time and the client’s money?

No. I don’t think so.

The message was worth testing.

Truth is, most sales messaging fails to channel mass desire.

By and large, the 80/20 rule holds true in copywriting just like it does everywhere else.

80% of the sales will come from 20% of your emails, or ads, or social content.

And when you drill down even further, you’re likely to discover that the “20%” of your top-money content all focuses on a similar sales hook.

So, what should you do when your message flops?

First, shake it off. You're gonna fail more than you succeed.

It’s okay to feel a little bad about your losses.

But don’t let it get you down. Instead, use your frustration as fuel for your fire.

Second, if you know the copy is good, figure out why it flopped.

Did you have a bad offer, a dead list, or bad strategy?

All those things can kill good copy.

I’ve seen it.

I have published copy that’s delivered an outpouring of elated responses…

… accompanied by a conversion rate so low you need a microscope to see the sales numbers.

It happens.

But that doesn’t mean the copy sucks.

It just means something you tried didn’t work.

It could even be… and this has happened to me too… you resend the same message that flopped months to years later when the market is in a different mood.. and the copy will crush.

Learning from your failure is the fastest path to your next success.

Or, as my favorite comedian likes to put it:

Until next time…

Rock on,

Kyle Jordan
The Full Funnel Copywriter
​