Over the past 50 years, hundreds of men have played quarterback in the NFL. But there will only be one Joe Montana.

After all, his ability to engineer 31 fourth-quarter come-from-behind wins is not only legendary but also contains a copywriting lesson you'll never learn in a book or in a course.

As his critics would often write, Joe didn't have the strongest arm in the league nor did he have the fastest feet. What he did have was the ability to spot an open receiver in the field and get him the ball. He could do this better than anyone I've ever seen.

As his hall of fame head coach Bill Walsh would say, "At his best, when Joe was in sync, he had an intuitive, instinctive nature rarely equaled by any athlete in any sport."

It was Joe's instinctive ability to spot opportunities and seize them that was Montana's secret to success that you'll never find in a copywriting course.

You can learn all the tricks in the world but applying them in real time is something few people can do at a Joe Montana level.

The only way you will learn this, my friend, is the hard way. And not by bleeding all over the page, as some copywriter coaches would tell you.

Spilling your guts on a page seldom results in a widely successful promotion.

If it did, then Joe Montana would have scampered around the field like a madman throwing balls into the air...

...instead of focusing on his target and firing a bullet at the perfect moment.

Learn to Read Defenses

Therein lies Joe's greatest gift.

He didn't just run a play and throw the ball. He learned to read the defense--to look for openings where he could run or throw the ball successfully.

That is the problem with all the trickster courses and gurus today. They simply want to teach you how to steal a John Caples headline. It doesn't matter if that doesn't work for your product.

Which is why depending on copywriting tricks of the trade will never ever take you to the top.

If you want to play the copywriting game like Joe Montana played football, then you have to learn how to read defenses. To custom direct your plays in real time.

There is only one way to do that: understanding your prospect and the forces of mass desire in your marketplace.

This instinctive ability to understand the momentum in the marketplace and focus your copy on it is a skill that can't be taught in any course, online or off-line.

It can be learned only by getting to know your market and your prospect and speaking to them on an emotional and rational level.

I said speaking, not writing. Because that is what great copy does--it speaks to its readers just like I am speaking to you now.

Once you tap into these great forces, you will see your results and your success take off--even if you're just starting out in this business.

Get the Vibe Right, and the Victories Will Follow

If you've been on the A-list for some time, then you know that I've always maintained there are hundreds of copywriters who are more gifted with words than I am.

(And, by the way, the best of the best are right here on the A-list!)

However, they simply can't spot the opportunities the same as I do. Or as I like to call it, "the vibe of the marketplace." Which is why I've won so many controls over the past 20 years.

My success came from understanding the vibe of the marketplace, not from the words. I simply got into the heads of my readers and channeled their hopes, wishes, and dreams onto the page.

Can India Stop China?

One of my most successful promotions of 2005 was an investment newsletter promotion with that simple headline.

I realize that many of you reading this might wonder, "Where's the benefit?" Or how come I didn't say something like "Big Profits in Hot China Stocks"? Yet, this magalog rocked in 2005 as one of the publisher's most successful mailings of the year.

Why?

Because I took a page out of Joe Montana's playbook and read the defense. I got to know everything I could about China investors and the market in general.

From there I saw an intriguing opening to fire a message directly to their greedy little hearts, using both the fear of loss and the opportunity of gain in one simple question.

You'll be glad to know that this promotion continued to score financial touchdowns for me for more than 12 months, until the vibe in the marketplace shifted.

"This 120-Year-Old Technology Will Soon Turn Every 
Single Electrical Outlet in the World into a High-Speed 
Internet Connection"

This is another winning headline that I wrote for a different publication in 2006.

Yet, it breaks about every headline rule in the book.

The reason why it worked?

It simply targeted the internal wants, needs, and curiosities of those who invest in advancing technologies. Or as Joe Montana might have put it after scoring another touchdown, "They left a man open in the end zone--I just got him the ball."

Therein lies the key to greater copywriting success and what a Joe Montana can teach you that no course ever can.

You've got to know whom you are playing, read the defenses, and take advantage of the openings as you see them in real time.

The victories go to the copywriters who see the openings others cannot see--and seize them.

All good wishes,

Doug D'Anna

P.S. I was supposed to retire in 2021 but I loved copywriting so much that I simply could not quit.

You see, I love, Love, LOVE this profession.

Because of it I was able to work from home, type letters for a living, and get paid like an author. I had the freedom to take my kids to and from school, coach their sports, go to jiu-jitsu at lunch and ultimately earn a black belt.

More than anything, I was able to do what I wanted, when I wanted. I want you to know I wish the same thing for you.

My ultimate goal with my coaching program is to leave behind a legacy that you can achieve the same kind of success that I have if you can follow the path that I pioneered for myself.

If you have come to a point in your copywriting career that you could use a guiding hand from someone who has built a $1 million copywriting business, I invite you to join my coaching program for 2023.

So when you grandchildren ask you what made you so successful in 2023, you will say, "The copywriting coaching I received from Doug D'Anna."

Blessings for a great year ahead!