This Saturday I had a bit of a fuck around.

I had a few hours free.

No plans.

And I was feeling a bit “creative”.

So I decided to put on my copywriting hat, “treat” myself, and see what magic I could spin up for my newsletter landing page.

For reference, here’s what I came up with:

And, although it’s only been a few days, this has increased conversions by 41% compared with my old landing page.

In other words…

I now get 41% more newsletter subs every day.

And since a lot of you are interested in copywriting, I thought I’d use this email to explain the “why” behind all the changes I made.

Hopefully it helps you design better landing pages (and hence get more newsletter subs) for yourself in the future!

So, here goes.

Here’s your “landing page 101” tutorial all wrapped up into one big, fat email.

Let’s dive into how I got here…

Step 1: Renaming this bad boi

My newsletter used to be called “The Beadle Newsletter”.

And this always felt a bit self-aggrandising (read: feeding my massive fucking ego).

Plus, the purpose of a personal brand is to spark change. To start a movement. To give people a message to rally around.

And I think it’s quite unlikely that “Beadle” will ever become a movement, lol (as much as I’d like it to).

So I thought to myself…

What’s a message people can rally around that:

• Feels like “me”
• Relates to my content
• Stands the fuck out from the crowd

And that’s when it hit me…

• I drop F bombs constantly
• Everybody wants to be a “fuck it, why not” kinda guy
• My ICP is people desperate to say “fuck it” and quit their 9-5

So it only seemed fitting that I rename this puppy…

The “Fuck it” News

I gotta admit, when I thought of that a little smile crossed my face.

Because it’s unprofessional AF.

It’s the opposite of what all the squares on LinkedIn would like.

It’s everything you “shouldn’t” do.

And that’s exactly what I enjoy doing as a creator. Perfect.

(Plus it also gives me the perfect excuse to bring back my “Fuck it Friday” emails I used to publish and genuinely loved writing - the real OGs of this newsletter will be pleased to hear they’re making a comeback I hope…)

Next, I needed to build my landing page around that concept…

Step 2: Oi, You! Listen up!

Landing pages get more signups when you call out your ICP.

Who’s my ICP?

• 9-5 haters
• Self-starters
• Over-achievers

So that’s exactly who I call out above my headline:

“Self-starters, over-achievers and cubicle non-enjoyers. What if you could…”

Because here’s what will happen:

• They’ll read “self-starter”
• They’ll identify with that message
• They’ll go “Oh, cool! A newsletter for people like me!”
• And then they’ll be 100x more likely to sign up (we all want to be round people we have stuff in common with)

Next, I needed a juicy headline…

Step 3: An eye-fucking headline

There’s a great mnemonic for creating an attention-grabbing headline.

It’s called the “4U rule”.

Basically, your headline should be:

• Useful
• Unique
• Urgent
• Ultra-specific

Typically, it’s the “unique” part that’s the hardest thing to come up with.

And, I’ll be honest, I was struggling with this too.

I kept coming back to stuff like “ditch your 9-5” or “quit your job”.

And while these aren’t bad, they’re nothing special.

They don’t stand out.

They aren’t special.

They wouldn’t shock your mum into dropping the big dish of pasta she’s carrying over to the dinner table.

And so I started to think outside the box.

Here was my internal dialogue:

“Well, it’s called The Fuck it News. And what does saying fuck it really mean? Well, it feels a bit like saying ‘fuck you, world, imma do it my way’. Except I’m not trying to get people to say fuck you to the world. I’m trying to get people to say fuck you to their 9-5. And when you say fuck you to someone, what do you often do as well? That’s right - you flick ‘em the bird. Bingo.”

And, thus, the “Give your boss the finger” opening line in my headline was born.

I won’t go into the full thought process behind all the other parts, but here’s a quick summary using the 4U’s…

• Unique/ultra-specific: “Give your boss the finger”
• Useful: “build your own thing” (emphasis on own to highlight their desire to take control of their life)
• Urgent: “finally” (read: you’ve been thinking of this for a long time now, don’t you think it’s about time you take action)

Next, I needed to explicitly tell people what they can expect…

Step 4: Here’s what you’re getting…

Just before your signup button you want to tell people:

• What they’re getting
• Who this newsletter is for
• Why they should sign up

I focused on 3 things here:

1) How many subs I already have

“Join 2,200+ readers”

This serves as social proof. If 2,200+ people are already reading my emails, they can’t be that shit (right?)

2) Introducing the newsletter message

“Fuck it”

I’m using inception here. Getting the name of my newsletter name in their minds early. After all, I want people to remember me…

3) Explain the benefit of signing up

“…ditching their 9-5 and becoming full-time creators instead.”

I know 99% of people landing on this page are here because they know me on Twitter and want to make this transformation themselves. So I’m appealing to their top of mind desire right before I present them the signup button. 

Next we need a popping signup button…

Step 5: Push the button harder than the Sugababes

When someone sees your signup button, there’s only one thing that crosses their mind:

What’s in it for me?

So if your subscribe button says something like:

• “Submit”
• “Subscribe”
• “Sign up here”

Then you are bleeding conversions.

Instead, reframe it.

Suggest a benefit of signing up (or at least make it funny ffs):

• “Give me the sauce!!!!”
• “Join 1,000+ creators inside”
• “Claim your FREE [lead magnet]”

I went with:

“Get your $10k Accelerator (it’s free)”.

Why?

Because:

• Everyone and their nan wants to hit $10k/month
• The parentheses highlight the fact it’s FREE (stole this from Matt Gray’s site…)
• “Claim” makes it feel like this is something people “rightfully” own (and hence want)

Simple, really.

Next, onto my image…

Step 6: Bringing things to life

I always think landing pages work better with images.

And, in my ever-so-humble opinion, you have 2 options:

• An “inviting” picture of your cheesy grin
• A picture that “represents” your newsletter

Both have their pros and cons.

But door number 2 is so much more fun.

So that’s what I went with.

And I thought to myself:

“What image would represent someone quitting their 9-5?”

Took me 5-10 minutes of brainstorming, but it quickly hit me:

What’s the one thing you do when you quit a job?

You send a resignation email!

Ding.

Lightbulb moment: unlocked.

So I decided to create an screenshot of someone sending a rather “sassy” resignation email to their boss.

Seemed pretty apt to me at least.

(Hidden easter egg: my old boss’ name was Richard. And, yes, he was an absolute tosser. So I got a kick out of leaving that in there hahaha.)

Finally, I wanted to scare off the freebie-seekers and squares…

Step 7: Do NOT enter if you’re a boring bastard

You might not realise this, but more subs is not always good.

Why?

Because if someone signs up to your newsletter and hates it, then they’ll report you as spam. And if enough people do this, it can absolutely CRUSH your reputation with your ESP. Which means you’ll end up in the people’s spam/promotions inbox. And then no-one will read your emails. And then no-one will see your offers. And then you’ll make no dolla dolla. No bueno.

Which is all a long-winded way of saying…

You only want the right people signing up to your newsletter.

So I used my “PS” to swat away all the squares that are going to hate the “fuck it” nature of my newsletter and get offended when I tell them to pull their finger out of arse, lol.

Note: I also need to collect some social proof to stick on the landing page too. But, to be honest, I was just too lazy to do that this weekend. I’ll save it for a slow day.

Right, that’s me done for today ladies and gents.

A different style of email today.

But I hope you enjoyed it (or at least found a couple golden nuggets in my ramblings…)

Talk soon,

Harry

PS. I built a $10k/month personal brand in under 4 months.

Want to do the same?

Join 2,200+ creators here: The Fuck it News.