Kim explains to her new mentees how the Office Hours and Copy Critiques work, and answers several questions in this "ask me anything" session.
The session covers program logistics including copy submission guidelines, practice assignments, hot seat opportunities, and the use of AI tools in copywriting.
Kim discusses her approach to learning copywriting through studying swipe files and reverse engineering successful promos, emphasizes the importance of daily writing practice, and provides guidance on pricing short-form copy and bundling services.
The call concludes with an extended copy critique of Debbie's investor letter for a healthcare initiative, where Kim provides detailed feedback on headline structure, opening paragraphs, understanding the target audience, and framing the investment opportunity.
Kim reviews several copy submissions from her mentees on a wide range of promos and topics -- and gives on-the-spot feedback, suggested revisions, and spontaneous teachings. She also answers questions along the way and other mentees also provide valuable feedback.
The session covers various direct response marketing projects including email sequences for an LSAT prep program, practice emails for a sleep supplement sales page, a breathwork coaching program landing page, bullets for an insomnia report, a copywriter's homepage, and the beginning stages of a perfume sales page.
Kim provides detailed feedback on headlines, subject lines, bullet copy, story structure, calls-to-action, and overall copy strategy, emphasizing the importance of understanding target audiences, agitating pain points effectively, and creating compelling offers with clear benefits.
During Office Hours, Kim provides feedback and suggestions on copy submissions. She also does Hot Seats with mentees who submit a specific challenge they want help with, which they get from Kim as well as the other mentees on the call.
In this session, Kim introduces new member Gordon from Scotland and facilitates three main segments: Jill's hot seat about starting an email list (addressing imposter syndrome and the technical/strategic challenges), Jill's breathwork coaching program landing page copy review (focusing on headline structure, opening pain agitation, and pricing reveal), Debbie's brief update on recruiting doctors for a healthcare initiative via full-page journal ads, and Jay's extensive perfume sales letter critique (working through lead structure, copy organization, and direct response principles for e-commerce).
The session emphasizes the importance of clear copy structure, avoiding AI-generated copy verbatim, reading copy aloud to catch run-on sentences, and organizing copy points from most to least important.
Kim reviews several copy submissions from her mentees on a wide range of promos and topics -- and gives on-the-spot feedback, suggested revisions, and spontaneous teachings. She also answers questions along the way and other mentees also provide valuable feedback.
This session opens with Kristen sharing news about potentially losing a royalty control, leading to Kim's advice about not basing lifestyle on royalty income.
Kim then reviews multiple projects including Jill's capital-raising funnel landing page (focusing on headline structure and qualifying the right audience), Donovan's email promoting Kim's Get Dangerously Good course (working on story flow and transitions), Megan's SEO website copywriting service page (refining headlines and value propositions), Folarin's LSAT coaching launch emails (improving transitions and benefit framing), and Masa's CircO2 supplement emails (leveraging unique mechanisms like saliva activation and mouthwash concerns).
Throughout the session, Kim emphasizes key principles like avoiding overly long sentences, reading copy aloud, smooth transitions between ideas, and making benefits prospect-focused rather than feature-focused.
Session 5's Office Hours call features six copy reviews and strategic discussions. Kim opens with Kristen's update about potentially losing a royalty control, reinforcing advice about not basing lifestyle on royalty income.
The session includes reviews of Megan's revised SEO website copywriting service page (incorporating artistic background and personality), Gordon's digital marketing landing page (developing the three-step "power system" positioning), Donovan's VIP day service offering (leveraging 30-year psychology background as differentiation), and Mandy's trumpet lesson sales letter (transforming generic goals into specific competitive band scenarios).
Kim also addresses Folarin's question about downsell page strategy and Ken's question about email angle congruency with sales page headlines. Throughout the call, Kim emphasizes the importance of differentiating through unique expertise, avoiding generic positioning, and making business-to-business copy conversational rather than corporate-sounding.
In Session 6, Kim provides detailed critiques of participants' copywriting submissions during a group coaching call. The session covers a diverse range of projects including health supplement emails, perfume marketing research, capital raising platform launch emails, LSAT coaching downsells, and copywriter service pages.
Kim emphasizes tightening copy, avoiding redundancy, leading with benefits over features, using emotionally compelling language, and ensuring proper citation of claims. She also demonstrates the PRISM research exercise and discusses creating effective subject lines, bullets, and calls-to-action while maintaining FTC compliance.
Session 7 includes an office hours session where Kim answers questions about copywriting careers and provides detailed critiques of participant submissions. The session begins with an extended Q&A about opportunities in email marketing, including email marketing manager roles, revenue-sharing arrangements, and common client complaints about copywriters.
Kim then reviews two major submissions: Jill's launch email sequence for a capital raising platform targeting real estate investors, and Folarin's cold email sequence for a dating app review site. Throughout the critiques, Kim emphasizes the importance of tight copy, clear CTAs, appropriate tone for the audience, proper transitions, and building urgency in launch sequences.
In Session 8's copy critique call, Kim reviews five participant submissions covering diverse projects. The session begins with a brief Q&A about compliance issues for shoe companies, then moves into detailed critiques including a dating profile coaching landing page, a copywriter's homepage featuring neuromarketing, Facebook ads for a colon cleanse supplement, a newsletter email for a visual impairment symposium, and investment report bullets.
Kim emphasizes proper market targeting, avoiding vague promises, making copy specific and actionable, proper headline structure, and understanding market sophistication. The session concludes with advice for a new participant about launching an essential oils e-commerce product, discussing lead magnet strategies versus direct sales approaches.
In Session 9, Kim leads a special office hours session featuring guest Jeremey Hunsicker, former CMO/CEO of Green Valley Naturals who recently transitioned to working as a senior copywriter.
The session covers extensive Q&A about what clients look for when hiring copywriters, the importance of networking, how to handle client introductions, building portfolios, and the role of AI in copywriting. Jeremey emphasizes that most successful client relationships come through networks rather than cold outreach, and stresses the importance of relevant samples and creative thinking over pure writing mechanics.
The session also includes a discussion about freelancing versus in-house positions, with multiple participants sharing their experiences. The final portion features copy critiques of two Heal & Soothe email sequences from Kristen and a tripwire sales page for a visual impairment workshop from Folarin, with detailed feedback on compliance language, transitions, and copy tightening.
In this session, you'll discover why the former CMO of an 8-figure supplement company never once searched Fiverr or LinkedIn for copywriters—and why being in the right network is literally 50% of the battle for getting hired—plus the exact cold outreach strategy that actually led to paid work (hint: it's not another "I can help you" email but a 5-minute Loom video that makes clients think "this person might be onto something").
Jeremey reveals what separates the 2,000 interchangeable writers from those with a creative spark worth hiring, why he'll look at your practice samples even without performance data, and the follow-up system that keeps your calendar booked by positioning you as a partner instead of a word producer (including the calendar reminder trick that protects your royalty income from control fatigue).
He explains why a client's attempt to replace him with ChatGPT became a "complete train wreck," the one way Jeremey actually uses AI successfully (completing sentences when his brain goes dead), and why AI confidently told him that carrots, spinach, and blueberries are terrible for your vision before admitting "oh, those don't harm your vision at all, I just used them as examples."
If you think you need A-list status and 25 controls to break in, or that brand voice means perfectly impersonating someone's syntax, this transcript will show you what clients actually value—and why the quick-buck copywriters chasing the easiest money will be gone in six months while you're building something that lasts.
During Session 10's group copy critique call, Kim reviews six participant submissions covering a variety of projects. The session begins with a quick marketing Q&A about adding early bird incentives to event invitations, then moves through reviews of a LinkedIn profile for a copywriter emphasizing neuromarketing, and LSAT coaching email sequences focused on urgency and deadline copy.
Kim then critiques copy for a digital marketing services page for trade professionals, a financial health report bullets requiring tighter phrasing and better curiosity, sleep remedy emails needing stronger problem agitation, a welcome sequence for field service software that was too generic, and perfume sales page angles exploring scent longevity.
Throughout, Kim emphasizes tightening copy, eliminating vague language, leading with benefits over features, using active voice, creating proper transitions, and organizing content into logical outlines before writing full drafts.
During Session 11's office hours session, Kim Krause Schwalm hosts special guest Ben Settle for an interview, followed by copy critiques for group members.
Ben shares insights on building and maintaining profitable email lists, his approach to email campaigns and launches, the importance of daily emailing, and his productivity secrets.
In this session, you’ll discover the counterintuitive email strategies that allowed Ben Settle to sell a complex options trading program to his marketing list—despite openly admitting he has "no idea" how options work—all because of one powerful principle that trumps every copywriting trick in the book.
You'll learn why Ben sends up to 8 emails in a single day during launches (to his entire list with zero segmentation), his "brain fart" subject line method that guarantees you'll never sound like anyone else in the inbox, and the shockingly lazy way he writes client emails by making them do most of the work.
Ben also reveals the joint venture hack that added thousands of subscribers without spending a dime, why quitting social media and reading biographies transformed his productivity through an obsession with mortality, and the Facebook group question that literally handed him a winning headline on a silver platter.
If you think email marketing requires complex funnels, elaborate segmentation, and perfectly crafted subject lines, this brutally honest conversation will flip everything you know upside down—because Ben's built a thriving business by breaking nearly every "rule" the gurus teach, mailing daily without apology, and proving that relationship and presence matter infinitely more than technique.
The session then transitions to Kim reviewing several submissions: Nolan's welcome sequence for a dog subscription box service, Donovan's LinkedIn profile for copywriting services, and William's two email drafts—one for Santa Claus coaching and another promoting a breathing course for liver health. Throughout, Kim emphasizes strategic thinking, clear positioning, understanding target audiences, and ensuring every element of copy serves the ultimate conversion goal.
During Session 12, Kim Krause Schwalm provides detailed copy critiques and strategic guidance to multiple group members.
The session covers various projects including Nolan's dog subscription box welcome emails (revised from a previous session), Folarin's webinar registration page for teachers of visually impaired students, Jill's launch email sequence for a 14-day online business challenge, Pete's first-ever sales letter for a debt recovery program, and William's email promoting a liver support supplement.
Throughout the critiques, Kim emphasizes tightening copy, using specific rather than general language, creating clear calls-to-action, understanding target audiences deeply, and ensuring every element serves the ultimate conversion goal.
The session also includes discussion about charging appropriately for strategy work, the importance of research and client interviews, and practical advice on using Slack channels for peer feedback.
During Session 13's office hours, Kim Krause Schwalm conducts multiple copy critiques and hot seat consultations. The session begins with Jay's perfume product copy focusing on scent longevity as the main pain point, followed by Debbie's hot seat reviewing her client's English language coaching sales page that needs restructuring and clearer positioning.
Sonny presents his hot seat for a real estate/finance workshop focused on finding hidden money in businesses through tax strategies, requiring better headline development and clearer positioning. Folarin submits a revised webinar registration page for teachers of visually impaired students with improved burnout-focused messaging.
The session concludes with William's last-minute email submission for a fiber supplement targeting constipation, which needed better audience focus and clearer explanation of the product mechanism.
Throughout the session, Kim emphasizes understanding target audiences, avoiding overly general language, creating clear unique mechanisms, and maintaining empathy for prospects while writing compelling copy.
During Session 14's copy critiques, Kim Krause Schwalm reviews six copy submissions, beginning with a discussion about research and organizing prospect insights.
The session covers Masa's emails for an Italian bergamot supplement emphasizing fish oil comparison, Folarin's pre-launch email sequence for LSAT one-on-one coaching using personal struggle stories, Donovan's inaugural email for a mindfulness meditation newsletter about keystone habits, Nolan's email series for an anti-aging supplement focused on hidden deficiencies, and Megan's coaching business email addressing the catch-22 of needing systems before success.
Throughout the critiques, Kim emphasizes tightening copy, removing filler words, painting dream scenarios before problems, using specific rather than general language, creating proper email-to-sales-page transitions, and ensuring subject lines are compelling yet concise.
The session also includes strategic advice about email sequences, when to reveal solutions versus building curiosity, and how to position offers to different audience awareness levels.
Session 15 features an interview with special guest Angie Colee, followed by copy critiques. Angie shares her journey from submitting 400 job applications to becoming a successful marketing strategist and business coach, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, treating resumes as sales letters, and not being afraid to push back professionally.
She discusses working both in-house and freelance, managing client relationships, handling difficult feedback conversations, and leveraging personal networks for opportunities. The conversation covers topics like non-compete agreements, dealing with burnout, and knowing when to quit a role.
You'll discover how Angie Colee landed a job after being rejected by turning "no" into a conversation that got her resume forwarded to the creative director who hired her after just three questions, and how she built her entire career by treating her resume as a sales letter that transformed firefighter and trash-picker-upper experience into compelling proof she was hire-worthy.
Angie also reveals the mandatory pre-writing step that prevents the dreaded "crickets" response when you submit copy (hint: get them to sign off on your strategy BEFORE you write a single word), the exact framework for submitting copy that removes clients' fear of giving feedback by telling them they can say anything except "you're a sucky person," and why telling a story about getting punched in a mosh pit at a corporate event—despite immediate regret—became the turning point that taught her authenticity beats professionalism every time.
Angie shares tips and stories, like how threatening to send Parris Lampropoulos a bag of dicks established a peer-level relationship that had him seeking her out between sessions, why she quit her dream job with Jeff Walker before burning out turned it toxic, and the "cool ass party invitation" email strategy that landed her the Christina Aguilera Masterclass project through a friend's brother she'd never met.
If you think you need to hide your purple hair, tone down your personality, and follow all the rules to succeed in copywriting, this interview will shatter that myth and show you that being boringly professional is actually the riskiest strategy of all.
After Angie's segment, Kim reviews three copy submissions: William's email for liquid zinc supplement addressing side effects, Nolan's anti-aging supplement emails focusing on hidden deficiencies, and Folarin's sales page for a TVI conference with new VIP coaching option. The session concludes with William asking about negotiating retainer agreements and revenue share arrangements with long-term clients.
Session 16 features Kim Krause Schwalm conducting copy critiques and strategy discussions with her mentoring group. The call covers diverse topics including SMS copywriting strategies, email promotions for coaching services, financial newsletter emails, habit-building content, faith-based leadership coaching website copy, and supplement marketing SMS messages.
Kim provides detailed feedback on headlines, structure, compliance issues, and marketing strategy while encouraging collaborative input from group members. The session emphasizes practical techniques like creating curiosity, matching copy to audience pain points, and balancing urgency with congruency between promotional messages and landing pages.
Session 17 features Office Hours with Kim Krause Schwalm working with a smaller group to review Donovan's lead magnet draft, followed by an in-depth presentation of Perry Marshall's "Swiss Army Knife" method for generating emotionally resonant ad angles and copy ideas.
Kim explains how this research technique helps copywriters map their target customer's emotional world by exploring different relationships (best friends, worst enemies, things they love/hate) and combining them with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic language to create more powerful copy.
The session concludes with an extended discussion where Kim solicits feedback from participants about the program structure, length, pricing, and potential future formats, including considerations about call frequency, program duration, continuity versus cohort models, and the possibility of travel retreats or higher-tier mentoring options.
This copy critique session features Kim Krause Schwalm sharing updates from her recent trip to Anguilla where she made progress on a children's book project about a local reggae star's dog, with plans to donate proceeds to an animal shelter.
The main focus is reviewing Donovan's email promoting a glutathione supplement for the "Live to 120" sales page. Kim provides detailed feedback on subject lines, opening hooks, and email structure, emphasizing the importance of showing rather than telling, addressing objections about quality of life in old age, and creating curiosity without revealing too much about the solution.
The discussion includes insights on AI's impact on copywriting careers, the importance of understanding strategy beyond just copy, and the value of maintaining consistency in terminology throughout promotional copy. Kim also shares a humorous revelation that one of the testimonials Donovan selected was actually written by her years ago under a pseudonym.
This extensive copy critique session features Kim Krause Schwalm reviewing multiple projects including Debbie's comparison of two English language learning sales pages, Donovan's revised glutathione supplement emails exploring both miracle molecule and celebrity angles, Jill's voiceover training webinar promotional emails and landing page, Nolan's and Folarin's citrus bergamot supplement emails for cholesterol health, Masa's sleep supplement report bullets, and Mike's dental mastermind membership renewal email series.
Kim provides detailed feedback on headline effectiveness, reading level appropriateness, the importance of calling out specific problems like cholesterol rather than generic heart health, proper use of testimonials and credibility elements, compliance issues with supplement copy (avoiding disease claims), creating urgency in renewal sequences, and the need for clear calls-to-action with secure payment options.
The session emphasizes the ongoing relevance of copywriting skills despite AI advancement, the importance of understanding strategy beyond just copy, and techniques for tightening verbose copy while maintaining emotional appeal.
This office hours session begins with copywriting mentor Kim Krause Schwalm conducting brief copy reviews of Jill's webinar email series and Donovan's glutathione supplement email before welcoming legendary copywriter Parris Lampropoulos as a special guest.
Parris shares extensive insights on his copywriting process, including how he evaluates when copy is ready through checklists focusing on clarity, transitions, and Cialdini's influence principles. He discusses his comprehensive research methodology involving reading controls, testimonials, Amazon reviews, and Reddit forums to understand audience pain points and language.
Parris explains his criteria for taking on clients (payment structure, product quality, personal interest, and client relationships) and emphasizes the importance of royalty-based compensation for establishing ongoing partnerships. He shares memorable examples including his "killed by conventional medicine" celebrity death promo and Warren Buffett's "cockroach strategy" headline, demonstrating how to create breakthrough ideas by combining timely news with proven mechanisms.
The conversation covers bullet writing techniques, the value of his Copy Cubs training program, and practical tips on public speaking and maintaining audience attention through movement and physicality.
You'll also discover unfiltered copywriting secrets where Parris reveals exactly how he's kept controls running for 15+ years with nothing more than fresh headlines. Plus you'll hear about his counterintuitive approach to writing bullets that sell and why he forbids his Copy Cubs from using certain techniques until they master alternatives.
If you've ever wondered what separates amateur copy from controls that generate millions in royalties, this session delivers the brutally honest, tangent-filled masterclass you won't find anywhere else.
This copy critique session features Kim Krause Schwalm reviewing four submissions including Folarin's landing page for a free TVI (Teacher of Visually Impaired) workshop series, Donovan's three emails covering web marketing mistakes, Navy SEAL copywriting secrets, and Saudi Arabia's dollar decision, plus bullet writing exercises from both Nolan and Masa on memory supplement reports.
Kim provides detailed feedback on headlines, fascination bullets, subject lines, logical flow, and the importance of clarity over cleverness. The session includes discussions about "copy brain" and constant idea generation, the disappearance of Kim's husband's memory supplement bottle highlighting the product's need, transitions and logical connections in email copy, compliance differences between information products and physical supplements, and strategies for writing nurture/value emails.
Kim emphasizes working with actual report content rather than overpromising, keeping single ideas focused throughout emails, and ensuring bullets open compelling loops while providing enough specificity to intrigue readers without giving away too much.
This is the final office hours session of Kim Krause Schwalm's Copy Champions program, featuring a hot seat with Jill on writing newsletters in someone else's voice, followed by a special guest presentation from Bond Halbert.
The session begins with Jill seeking advice on writing twice-weekly newsletters for Richard Grove's Autonomy course while maintaining his intellectual voice, and whether she should also write in her own voice to the same list. Kim provides guidance on creating voice guides, conducting discovery calls, and positioning herself authentically.
The highlight of the call is Bond Halbert's comprehensive presentation on writing better bullets, where he shares his "bullet matrix" framework that goes beyond basic features and benefits to include emotional benefits and their consequences.
Bond demonstrates how to transform bullets into headlines, explains the importance of the headline-bullets-PS trio (which captures 80% of ad power), and shares insights about his father Gary Halbert's teaching methods, client management strategies, and the evolution from client work to owning your own campaigns.
You'll discover the "Bullet Matrix" system that Bond uses to systematically engineer fascinations so powerful they practically write your headlines for you, including the secret fifth level most copywriters never reach that taps into the deepest emotional triggers.
Plus you'll find out why 80% of your ad's power comes from just three elements (and how to exploit the four different types of readers who interact with them), the brutal teaching method Gary Halbert used that involved crumpling up his protégés' work without feedback, and why Bond's father admitted the only copywriter he feared going up against was Gary Bencivenga—not because he was better, but because of one specific habit that made him unbeatable.
Bond reveals the "I vs. You" formula that flips conventional wisdom on its head by assigning all negative emotions to yourself and positive ones to prospects, why researching seven times more than you'll use is the secret weapon that lets rookies crush veteran copywriters who've gotten lazy, and the product development strategy his father used to create blockbuster supplement controls by writing the promotion first and engineering the product second.
If you think you understand bullets, fascinations, and research, this transcript will shatter your assumptions and hand you a systematic framework that transforms copywriting from art into replicable science—complete with emotional mapping wheels that tell you exactly which psychological buttons to push.
This is the final session of Kim Krause Schwalm's Copy Champions program, featuring copy critiques and awards for top participants. Kim announces the winners based on submission consistency, with Donovan taking first place (16 submissions), and Jill and Folarin tied for second (14 submissions each).
The session includes detailed critiques of various copy pieces: Jill's CRM flash training landing page, Donovan's promotional email for Kim's book, Nolan's Citrus Bergamot sales page, Masa's health report bullets, Debbie's book advertisement copy, and Folarin's copywriter services homepage.
Throughout the critiques, Kim emphasizes the importance of writing daily, understanding client needs, proper headline construction, smooth transitions, and strategic positioning. The call concludes with reflections on the program's success and information about future mentoring opportunities.