Hey Chase, happy Friday!

Well, I couldn’t be more excited about this.

Today is my first ever copywriting newsletter (by popular demand), and the first edition of Alex In My Inbox. 

In case you missed it, Alex is an expert copywriter who’s been sending me copywriting tips since October 2021. 

Some people thought it was Alex Becker, but it’s not — (I wish).

I’ve searched far and wide to find who this person is, but I can’t find him anywhere. He’s just some guy who uses a burner email and happens to know a lot about copywriting that is completely off the grid. 

He’s anonymous, but he’s talented. I’ve taken his tips and implemented them. I’ve watched my numbers increase. 

I have his permission to share his emails with this list, and I will be all but abusing that privilege. 

Here’s an email I received from him right after Christmas. I figured that this would be a good way to introduce you to him.

Check it out:

Dear Chase, 

Hope this email finds you full of mashed potatoes. Merry belated Christmas.

Guess what?

I found myself scrolling Instagram for too long today. 

Again.

I had no intention of going through posts for this long, but I had no choice. 

I was playing a little game with myself: scroll until I find an ad that isn’t garbage. 

And it only took 3 hours.

You know the problem with ad copy these days? Check it out. Two-fold.

#1. People still write ads the way they did in 2018 and they think it’s working for them. 

Overly hypey, no actual information, just a bunch of emojis. 

#2. There’s no HOOK.

When you’re writing ads on Facebook or Instagram, time is of the essence. 

You have to be as entertaining as a 5-minute ramen recipe, because that’s what’s competing for my attention when I’m on Instagram 95% of the time.

Before anything else, you have to think about what generates curiosity. 

It’s the ability to be vague without infuriating your audience.

There are two sides to this:

There’s the ad for skincare that gives you the solution to your acne in the second line of the ad (boring and unoriginal).

And then there’s the VSL for Vshred that literally takes like 45 minutes to tell you what the solution to your love handles is (just tell me which $800 supplement I have to buy from you and I’ll just do it). 

You’re not trying to convert people in the ad. You’re trying to convert them on the website/sales page, because that’s where the credit card processor is. 

Figure out that “one weird trick”. 

Or if you’re writing ads for a skincare brand, it’s that “one weird ingredient”.

That mechanism should be kept off of the ad. 

The ad should reveal as little as possible to keep you curious, but give away as much as possible to get you engaged and invested. 

People say this isn’t rocket science, but I think it actually might be. 

Funny story, the ad that finally satisfied me enough to log off from my 3-hour doom scroll?

It was one of Structured’s brands. 

Someone on your team saved my life. Tell ‘em thanks for me.

Good talk, Chase. 

I have leftovers from last night in the fridge from my mom, so I’ll crush those now and I’ll see ya around. 

Yours truly,

Alex.

Sent from my Flip Phone

I really hope you learned something from that!

This was a great tip from Alex that I’ve been using for a while now.

Finding the balance of curiosity is what makes someone an expert-level copywriter, and the only way to do that is to test hundreds of different ad variations.

Sometimes copywriting is a science. 

Happy Friday, and I hope you have a great weekend!

Best, 

Chase.