John Carlton

John Carlton slyly refers to himself as "the most ripped-off copywriter on the Web", and almost no one on the inside of the online entrepreneurial world disagrees.

His sales copy has been stalked for decades by many of the best marketers both online and offline… and they freely admit using John’s ads as templates for their own breakthrough pitches.

Marketers model John’s hard-hitting copy because it works. As a freelance copywriter, John has remained one of a handful at the top of the game for his entire career — commanding fees that cause unprepared clients to choke, sought after by the largest mailers in the world, and consistently writing pitches that sell like crazy.

However, he has focused on teaching copywriting and marketing for the last few years… and is responsible for helping a verifiable mob of otherwise clueless marketers to get their act together. The rabid testimonials on his home site marketing rebel include nearly every famous (and infamous) online entrepreneur worth knowing about. He’s touched a lot of lives. (His blog, at john-carlton . com, is considered "must reading" by the cream of the marketing world.)

John’s career arc is now legendary. He started out as the hot-shot "secret weapon" freelance copywriter that Los Angeles direct response ad agencies snuck in the back door to write the hard-hitting sales copy their own staffs couldn’t pull off… worked closely with direct response giant Gary Halbert for years (with whom he helped perfect the "Hot Seat" seminar model that is now so common)… was a pioneer in online marketing (among the first to use blogs, podcasts, email and virtual seminars as effective sales tools)… and remains at the cutting edge of Internet entrepreneurial adventures.


Recent Articles

How to Survive Excessive Recession Hand Wringing
by John Carlton (08/21/2008)

Has the looming recession got you scared yet? The mainstream media sure hopes so. Sells more newspapers, boosts cable ratings on CNN and Fox and MSNBC, makes the populace hyper-aware (like jittery squirrels gathering nuts in a dog park), and gives advertisers a tidy little narrative to help position their products.

Walk a Mile in a Jerk’s Shoes
by John Carlton (07/22/2008)

Without the insights of good pop psychology, I cannot fathom how my neighbor isn't wracked with shame every second of his miserable life. Because he truly is a Grade A a-hole.

Bring Your Story Home to Your Reader
by John Carlton (06/04/2008)

Today, if you're up for it, I have another exercise that will help hone your writing chops to dangerous "street-wise salesmanship" levels.

You, the Movie
by John Carlton (04/25/2008)

Have you ever wondered where the knack for finding stories and hooks — the main ingredients of any great copywriter's bag of tricks — comes from?