I first discovered Ian Stanley via his work with Derek Johanson in the Copy Hour course. From the Copy Hour course, I found out about his 80/20 Email Copy Crash Course. Later on, I found out about this book that he wrote.
This 118-page book is part autobiographical, part educational & part mini persuasion + copywriting course. Ian’s conversational writing style really drew me into his world. The lessons that he shares really does stick. From his experience running a lemonade stand as a kid, to his time selling DirecTV and even his time coaching tennis. Yes, he’s done a lot of different things!
Ian distills 13 rules that he learned over the years through his experience as a copywriter and as a ‘persuasion hitman’. He does this via personal stories and anecdotes that make the information easier to understand.
I love how so many of the lessons are what he learned on the job. This makes it very fun to read rather than a dry list based teaching approach. His personality oozes out with every sentence in the book.
In many of the chapters, Ian also includes mini lessons that are in text boxes. These relate to the chapter but also give more related food for thought.
The format of the book (both the writing & the overall book structure) really flows. This makes it a book that I plan to read again & again. So far, I’ve read it 3 times (at least) and I plan to read it again and take notes the next time.
In conclusion, out of many copywriting books I’ve read over the years, this is one that I would gladly recommend to friends who are curious about the topic. It’s a book with great insights and is well written. Congrats on the book Ian!
Pros: Easy to read, lots of good lessons, fun to digest.
Cons: If you’re uncomfortable with swear words, be warned Ian does include them a fair bit as part of his writing style.
TLDR: If you’re even remotely interested in copywriting, persuasion or sales, this book is a great one to read.
You can get the book here: https://www.persuasionhitman.com/
[Review Archive]
I wrote a lot of other book, course and video reviews too.
Check out the rest here:
[Read more reviews]
[Submissions for Review Consideration]
- Are you an author who wrote a jazz, guitar or music book?
- Have you created a DVD or an online video course or subscription based website?
- Would you like me to review your book/course?
Please send me a message at azsamad2 at gmail.com with:
For courses: a link to the course/video/product + access info etc.
For books: a link to the book (Dropbox) or PDF attachment (if it’s small) for review consideration.
Depending on whether I dig the book/course, I’ll let you know if I do plan to review it!
I cannot guarantee a review for every submission & if I’m not too into it, I may opt not to review it. I mean, it’s better to get a good review that for me to write a bad review just because it’s not a match for the kind of stuff I dig right? :p
NOTE: All reviews reflect my honest personal opinion so be aware that I will point out both cool Pros and Cons that I see in the work. You dig?
Leave a Reply