This week I'm giving you a simple, 5-step process to help make 2024 the best year your business has ever had. Of course, I said "simple"...not easy.

The toughest pill for most business owners to swallow is this: You probably need to stop doing 20-50% of what you're doing right now.

In other words, take a look at 2023 and figure out what things gave you the least ROI. What things took the most of your resources and returned anything less than "worth it".

That's the prep work...Listen to get my 5-step plan.

Key Insights

• ​Stop doing the things that don't produce a good return on your time and efforts
• ​Plan Your Year
• ​Plan your time off (commit!)  
• ​Plan for the things you can't control (holidays, etc.)
• ​Plan your content schedule
• ​Plan your promotional schedule
• ​Setup accountability and guidance for you as the leader (e.g. a coach or mentor)

Links

 
The Copywriting Academy Live 2024 - As a listener of my podcast, you have earned a free invitation to experience my flagship training, live, with no investment other than your time and attention. The Copywriting Academy Live happens January 3-6, 2024. If that date has not yet passed, I strongly advise you check this out.

Video and Transcript

https://www.rayedwards.com/646

How You Can Help

Subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will definitely mention you on this show.

Questions or comments?

Connect with Ray on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Visit Ray's community on Facebook – This is a friendly group of writers, entrepreneurs, and coaches who share ideas and helpful advice.

In this week's episode, I'm talking about a single, magic word that has the power to reduce your stress and give you more time to do the things that matter to you.

What is this "Magic Word" ?

"No"

People seem to have no issue asking for our time, our attention, our money, etc. But for some reason, we often feel bad about saying no. It makes us feel like we're not doing our part, or being negative, or a bad person. "No" is just a response. It's neither good nor bad, but learning to use it can have a huge impact on your life.

Key Insights

• ​Saying "no" doesn't mean you're a negative person with a negative attitude...it's just a response
• ​No need to make up excuses. This is a complete sentence: "No."
• ​Using the word "because" in your response can lead to less pushback
• ​Saying No to things you don't want to do gives you more time to say yes to the things you do want to do
  

Video And Transcript

https://www.rayedwards.com/645

Links

​The Copywriting Academy Live:  Kick off 2024 with radical change and massive progress. Join me for The Copywriting Academy Live virtual event, January 3-5. We'll get your copy finished and ready-for-launch, plus you'll master some incredible tools that will make you more productive than ever before.

How You Can Help

Subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will definitely mention you on this show.

Questions or comments?

Connect with Ray on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Visit Ray's community on Facebook – This is a friendly group of writers, entrepreneurs, and coaches who share ideas and helpful advice.

It's almost that time of year...

Time to declare big changes for 2024! And then abandon those declarations in a few short weeks. 

I'm not trying to be negative, but the reality is: It's hard to make significant changes in ourselves. Only 3% of people stick to their big resolutions. But why?

That's what we'll take a look at in this week's episode. Change is possible...and it can be much easier than you think.

Key Insights

• ​ Change happens when the pain of not changing is greater than the difficulty of making the change.
• ​The fear of not changing is often overshadowed by immediate gratification, making it difficult for people to prioritize long-term consequences over short-term pleasure.
• ​To change, you need to make the future pain of not changing more real than the current pleasure.
• ​People don't change unless they associate significant pain with not changing and take ownership of their ability to change.
• ​Some people can learn to love pain through conscious choice and association with pleasure.
• ​Choose activities that you enjoy to make change easier.
• ​Enjoy the process of pushing yourself to achieve your goals, not just the end result.

5 Steps For Real Change

1. Decide what it is you want to do
2. Get clear on why it's important to you
3. Figure out how you're going to get to the outcome
4. Associate massive pleasure to the process of getting there
5. Associate massive pain to not doing the process
   

Links

The Copywriting Academy Live - Kick off 2024 with radical change and massive progress. Join me for The Copywriting Academy Live virtual event, January 3-5. We'll get your copy finished and ready-for-launch, plus you'll master some incredible tools that will make you more productive than ever before.

Video And Transcript

https://www.rayedwards.com/644

How You Can Help

Subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, and give us a rating and review. Make sure you put your real name and website in the text of the review itself. We will definitely mention you on this show.

Questions or comments?

Connect with Ray on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Visit Ray's community on Facebook – This is a friendly group of writers, entrepreneurs, and coaches who share ideas and helpful advice.

The P.A.S.T.O.R. Framework® is the formula I use to craft every piece of sales copy I write. It is also the most "borrowed" piece of knowledge that I've ever taught. I've seen it shared in countless blog posts, videos, and forums around the net (often without proper attribution, but that's okay...I guess).

The thing is, to really use this formula effectively, you need to learn a little more than just what each letter of the acronym stands for. This week, I'm diving deeper into each step of the process with a P.A.S.T.O.R. "mini" Masterclass.

Listen carefully, put these concepts to work, and you WILL sell more of your stuff.

Key Insights

• ​A review of the PASTOR Framework®
• ​Diving Deeper ... Talk to your "Right-Fit" client
• ​KNOW Your Person as well as possible, then talk to THEM, not to a group - Describe THEIR problem
• ​Describe the Pain as they perceive it
• ​What's going to happen if the problem (the Pain) goes unsolved?
• ​Show them what's possible when the problem is solved
• ​Tell them the story of Why they should listen to
• ​Describe your experience...tell the story of how you discovered the solution
• ​Show the transformation that happened for you (AND share the stories of others when you have them)
• ​Paint the picture of possibility - What would their life look like once your product has solved their problem
• ​Always focus on the benefits - Even if the offer
• ​Reframe the objections as questions...and answer them
• ​What are the reasons they should act Right NOW?
• ​Explain the cost of waiting
• ​Don't forget to actually ASK for the Sale 

Video and Transcript

https://www.rayedwards.com/643

Links