I don’t know his net worth, but I suspect Mike Palmer is the richest copywriter I’ve ever worked with.
(And I’ve worked with MANY rich copywriters.)
Who is Mike Palmer?
Well…
He was the Copy Chief and a partner at Stansberry Research — one of America’s largest and most profitable publishers of financial newsletters (which recently IPO’d).
Over his career, he’s sold *hundreds* of millions of dollars worth of product — most notably from his “End of America” package and the countless iterations (and copycats) that spawned from that.
He’s truly a Master of the craft.
You can see it in his leads, his proof, his structure.
…Which is why his controls were rarely challenged.
But when I think of the ONE thing that separates him from the really “good” copywriters, it’s this:
Mike Palmer is PROLIFIC.
Not only does he write world-class copy, but writes it FAST.
In fact, I vividly remember Mike’s habit of leaving on Friday, then coming to copy review the following Monday with a brand-new headline and lead that would’ve taken a newbie copywriter months to get so polished.
Dan Kennedy says that “money is attracted to speed.”
And Mike took that message to the bank.
So when I first started working with Mike, I asked him about his secrets for writing words in a hurry.
For starters…
Mike recommended setting a timer — typically from 25 to 90 minutes (depending on your endurance) — and then forcing yourself to cut out all distractions when it’s on.
It’s a technique he picked up from the great David Ogilvy.
And while it’s not the easiest habit to hold…
And it’s sure not “sexy”…
Boy do timers work wonders on productivity.
And since learning this approach from Mike, I’ve found that these simple clocks are critical to my success when conducting “deep work.”
Ignore this advice at your peril.
Your pen pal,
Matt Rizvi