Guest: Brian Czekanski & Mindset Copywriting

24 Jun Guest: Brian Czekanski & Mindset Copywriting

My guest on today’s episode is Brian Czekanski,‎ a Direct Response Copywriter for Mindset Coaches. Brian is experienced in email marketing and direct response copywriting for email campaigns and sales funnels, and he specializes in working with coaches.

Key topics we cover:

✔️ It’s Sa-Can-Ski. (Не Чикански, despite my best efforts to Russian it up LOL).
✔️ What led Brian from Wall Street to copywriting? And did he throw hundred dollar bills around like the Wolf of Wall Street? (No, sadly. It was not Hollywood.)
✔️ Why transferable skills are so important.
✔️ What exactly is mindset copy and why does Brian work specifically with coaches.
✔️ What are some of the most common mistakes around sales copy or copywriting that Brian sees.

You can find Brian online at: https://www.mindsetcopy.com/
And on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-czekanski/

Transcription by Otter.ai:

Hello, hello and welcome to today’s episode of the Causey Consulting podcast. I’m your host Sara Causey and I’m also the owner of Causey Consulting, which you can find online anytime at Causey ConsultingLLC.com. I’m very happy to welcome my guest today, Brian Czekanski. For the longest time Brian had a problem. The voice of social doubt throbbed in his head like a screaming newborn baby. It robbed him of the opportunity to meet so many people and engage them in conversation. What changed for him was learning that he was not alone. Funny enough and listening to a few podcasts he started hearing the stories of others being held back by the limiting voices in their head. It led him to A long line of helpful books and hiring a series of coaches which changed everything for him. He left a career on wall street that he never enjoyed and finally discovered the life that he always wanted. That path pointed him towards a career in direct response copywriting, a field where he helps personal development coaches connect with their dream clients online so that they can experience the same breakthroughs that he did. First off, welcome. Welcome, Brian. I’m so glad that you’re here. Thanks for having me on, Sara. Awesome, so I’ll pull the curtain back a little bit. Brian was kind enough to help me with the pronunciation of his name. Some of you who know me particularly in real life, off LinkedIn, off this podcast know Я говорю по русски и так, я хочу сказать <<Брайан Чикански.>> But fortunately, Brian was able to coach me through it like, “No, it’s sa-can-ski,” so If anybody sees his name in print and you’re wondering, what’s the official scoop on that? Brian Sa-Can-Ski. If I could say that you can! So, Brian, I I would love to know more about your Wall Street days, I think especially after the popularity of the Wolf of Wall Street, people hear Oh, this guy worked on Wall Street and picture of you throwing hundred dollar bills out the window and having a glorious time, but tell us what you were doing and what your life was like at that point. Yeah, I guess it wasn’t. It wasn’t as movie like as that but I certainly had a very good career. I guess I really got into it. As you know, kind of coming out of college. I was very much an introvert and I always viewed kind of being an introvert is something that I had to get over. So when I came out of school, I always needed like, what is the one thing that could be the most uncomfortable and kind of get over this introvert thing is like, let me go into direct sales and let me have to talk every All day and when we have to present, and that’s really what it became, like through practice and everything else, not that I, you know, kind of got over my introvert ness, but I kind of just was able to kind of get in certain settings and show my more extroverted side. And, you know, it was a good practice. And certainly there was more lots of uncomfortable moments. But, you know, at the end of it, I did pretty well, by just, I think, you know, by kind of showing the strength of me being an introvert of kind of being out there kind of understanding the audience, doing a little bit more listening in certain meetings versus versus talking and really trying to get, you know, building those deep relationships with with some of my clients that really proved to be beneficial, especially in kind of the ups and downs of markets that we had, particularly over the last decade that I’ve worked in that, you know, some of those, you know, just putting in the effort to kind of get to know people on a deeper level was certainly important. And for me, it was Yeah, the day to day was kind of selling investments that were kind of more retirement oriented. So selling the pension plan selling to individual investors that were looking to, you know, continue to invest towards that retirement date or, you know, or allow these retirement plans to get higher and higher returns to meet their benchmarks that they’re looking for. So that was kind of the day to day is kind of representing a series of investments and trying to grow that book, but also kind of defending that over time. And not throwing hundred dollar bills out the window. Unfortunately, yeah, I mean, we what we wanted to kind of collect and preserve as many countries as possible for our clients. So it wasn’t, it wasn’t Wolf of Wall Street, like in that in that nature. But yeah, I certainly did well over that period by just kind of hitting my sales targets and as much as possible, trying to get my clients into the best investments that would get done return. So what was your breaking point? What was that moment or that experience that made you say, you know what, I just cannot do this anymore. I guess for a while I kind of just, I kind of lost the passion into it’s like did the things that I was selling, I didn’t directly. You know, if anybody asked me, would you have these investments in your portfolio? I couldn’t. Nobody. Unfortunately, nobody really asked that to me. But my honest answer was I just didn’t fully believe in what I was doing and what I was selling. And after a while, that kind of just took a toll on me it was kind of a compounding effect where you kind of go out there speak passionately about products. And as I got to, as I got to know the competitive landscape, and things like that, you can just see that there was other choices that are out there, whether it was passive products or active products, where I kind of just new thing in the meetings that I was, I was pitching my product as the best but I didn’t feel The full causes behind that there was just something that, you know, after a while, it’s just I knew there was a better way to do not a better way or a better landing spot for me to to kind of bring forth my passions help people in a positive way and not have that kind of conflict between Yeah, what my products were and what was out there. So why copywriting? What, what got you interested in that field? And then from there, how did you hone in on coaches in particular? Yeah, so for me, it was kind of a it was a kind of a long road of figuring out like, what, what’s next? So it probably took me four or five years of trying to get into, you know, various different areas of thinking, Okay, if I’m going to make a complete career shift at this point, you know, at the same token, I had one kid and I another kid on the way so my wife was looking at me and saying, Let’s not make it complete. Let’s try and use those sales skills that you have. marketing skills that you have. So we’ve kind of trying out a series of different things that are out there. I think what got me into copywriting initially was kind of running Facebook ads for local companies very early on a couple years ago and, and seeing, you know, just how much that kind of online marketplace that online presence is so important. So it was kind of early days of people thinking about, you know, going out there and and starting that relationship with people online. And they just had no no idea how to do that. So as I kind of dug in a little bit more, and kind of showed business owners how to kind of step away from that in person face to face conversation with their, with their clients or potential clients. How can we do that in a way online that is very authentic, kind of speaks to their voice, but still has the same level of success and how can we get you know, new business and the doors are just kind of a very different environment and different techniques and as dug in more and more into that, that’s kind of where I discovered copywriting was, which is kind of the foundation for a lot of online marketing is really what, what is your message that you’re going out to your audience with? You know, who are those people that you’re trying to serve? And and, you know, how are we kind of building that relationship over time? So there’s so many strategies that are potentially out there. A thing about the internet is there’s so many things that business owners can do. It’s kind of really honing in on to, you know, who are we trying to build a relationship with? You know, what’s that message? And what is that language that they’re speaking in terms of their words and phrases? And then how can we build that relationship with them over time, because certain people aren’t going to be ready to buy from you right away, they might need a little bit more time. So how can we kind of nurture them over time so that you’re top of mind with them. So when the moment is right, they’re ready to buy from you or hire you in that framework. And then as I got into Coaches I did you know did a lot of work with e commerce companies as well like selling products. I think one of the things that really resonated with me in terms of coaches is really kind of selling a purpose, a person and kind of the process behind that I find to be very rewarding, versus like an e commerce or a product where you’re kind of just selling a single thing or more of a commodity, or as a person obviously has a unique process, some some unique things that are out there. I just find really rewarding and then just a positive impact for me, I’m helping coaches go out there and make it make positive change with your prospects and clients and making again kind of the same breakthroughs and I went through like getting over those limiting beliefs get to that that life that they’re really looking for. So me sitting here I can see that positive impact that I’m seeing every day because I’m seeing it in the testimonials I’m seeing it and talking to from their clients that they’re not just you know, providing a service they’re providing something thing that really allows people to get out of their own way and generally find that life that they’re always looking for. Well, that’s terrific. And I really like something that you touched on about transferable skills, because there will be a lot of people who, you know, as cities are opening back up, some people are being pressured to go back to the office already and kind of resisting that idea. They’ve gotten accustomed to being at home. And so I think as people take the entrepreneurial plunge or as people listening to this or thinking about opening their own coaching business, it is so important to be able to look at the skills that you already have the things that you already know how to do and how those can sort of transmogrify from one industry to another. I mean, in your case, it helped you to make the shift from being on Wall Street to being a successful copywriter. Yeah, I mean, it’s one of those things like the the word you know, the word imposter syndrome was was something that I didn’t know before becoming an entrepreneur like, yeah, the feeling inside of you that was just like, are you really ready for this or things like that. And it’s kind of just like, looking at it and having confidence and kind of going out there to the market. And one of the things that kind of has helped me is kind of having those conversations with people, like, you know, kind of realizing that the knowledge that you do have and is a lot greater than what you think it is, like, you know, I know initially when I first started out as a copywriter, I thought I wasn’t sure where I kind of started out, I knew I wasn’t starting at zero. I know, I wasn’t, you know, come in as a copywriter. But, you know, I kind of found my footing along the way by just going out there and having conversations with people and seeing how some of the things that I thought that were just kind of like little, you know, to, you know, like little tips and things that I was putting out there like how much of a breakthrough that was for certain people like something that I would kind of just skip over people are just like, Oh, hold on, let’s go back to that. That’s, that’s, you know, a needle mover for me. Certainly was kind of just, you know, kind of demonstrating the expertise that I did have. And like seeing, you know, having this face to face conversations, right now those zoom conversations where you’re just seeing the other side and how much your expertise is a little bit higher than, than the rest of the, you know, everybody can kind of find that in one area of their life where they can, they can, they’ve done a little bit more work than others. And that’s really all it takes is, you know, a little bit more than the person you’re having conversation with. And if you can bring them up to your level, that can be something that you can, you know, run a business on or have expertise on or make that job switch, if you’re looking for it. So don’t kind of underestimate the perspective that you have, but also the skills and knowledge that you’ve developed over time. What are some of the most common mistakes that you see I mean, you’re out in real time in the market, talking to people that you serve. What are the most common mistakes that you’re seeing as it relates to sales copy or copywriting? Yeah, I think generally, with coaches and businesses, they all try and target as many people I like the broader audience as much as possible, because I think that there are missing opportunities that their audiences and, you know, this mass audience, but that’s really where I spend a good deal of my time and sitting down with clients and coaching coachings. Like, who do we specifically want to work with, and, you know, to kind of take away that assumption that you’re not going to be able to get clients, I kind of sit down with them and say, you know, that that problem of you getting clients is something that I can solve for you. So let’s actually focus on those people that you want to work with the most it might be looking at your past clients, like Who are those type of people in terms of characteristics personality, and it kind of goes beyond you know, demographics. And tomorrow, those people like, Who are those people that have generally you know, light up your environment or you really enjoyed working with them and how can we get some more people just like them, and then you know, in your sales copy, that’s, that’s is really important as you’re really speaking kind of their language. And that’s kind of how it, you know, comes out is, you know, everybody, you know, within the US has kind of speaking English language, but different words and phrases kind of connect with certain people, as you get more specific and if you can do that on your website or with your marketing message, that’s gonna, you know, and they come to your site, they’re going to say, Okay, this feels like home this is finally feels like the solution that I’m looking for. Some of the other ones that I see all the time is, from an audience perspective, recognize that for a long period of time, they might have been going through this pain point and struggled with it, they might have been reading a lot of books, and might have hired a lot of other coaches. So just assume that they’ve been going through this pain point for a long period of time. So they’re coming to your site or coming to your marketing message with a degree of skepticism and saying, you know, I’ve tried that before, it didn’t work for me. So you kind of have to, you know, go out there and put a message that’s forward that isn’t as full on how you’re going to help them, but a little bit more focused on what are their pain points right now? And how can you get them to the other side of that? What does that life look like for them in particular? I think that’s an excellent point. And I know, in my experience, I’ve had some really terrific clients who they had worked with a coach before. I heard a great analogy, use that if you are selling cars, it’s a safe assumption that the person who’s coming onto the lot to look already has a vehicle or they’ve bought a vehicle in the past, the odds are good that they are not just walking everywhere on foot, or by bicycle. It’s possible, but you want to assume that they already have a car. So I mean, one of the objections that I’ve gotten from time to time is well, I’ve used a coach in the past and it didn’t go well or I’m working with a coach right now and I’m not sure I want to take somebody else on. So I what you’re saying is, is definitely resonating with me and it’s making a lot of sense so that that’s a very good tip. I want to especially highlight whenever you are on a call, or you’re speaking with a prospect, it’s good to assume that they’ve been dealing with this pain point for some length of time. And it didn’t just start five minutes ago. Yeah, I think the key thing is a lot of coaches want to focus on, you know, like, What is that, you know, recognize that certain people don’t like actually going through the process of coaching someone focus less on that. So think of it like, okay, you’re going to, you’re going to go on this dream vacation that you’ve been looking forward to for a long period of time, but it takes a long plane flight to get there are you going to really be excited about sitting on that plane flight for 10 or 12 hours to get to that destination or you’re going to really be focused on getting through that and ultimately getting to your, you know, that destination that you really want to so in your marketing message, you have to be talking about the actual vacation destination that you’re trying to get these people to, rather than kind of that, you know, the the nuts and bolts. So for a lot of coaches, there might be a lot of hard work in that. But in your marketing message, if you focus on that, you’re going to turn a lot of people That’s, that’s not to say that you’re going to be, you know that, that you’re going against that, but you really just kind of have to put the focus on, you know, getting through that process and getting them to that key benefit or that destination that they want to go to, to get their curiosity to get them paying attention. And then you can fill in those details, you know, as you go through and build that relationship on a on a discovery call and things like that, but, you know, put the put the hope and destination first, and then kind of work and fill in the details from there. So, if any coaches are listening to this episode, and you’d like to leave them with one free tip or hint to take with them today, what would that be? Yeah, so you know, think about your business, your unique perspective, your unique approach is what’s going to differentiate you from all the other coaches out there and embrace that and don’t just try and copy other coaches processes or you know what they’ve done to be successful. You kind of have to find your own process and you Use your unique approach and personality to really differentiate yourself and don’t just do it on price. Think about your unique process and how you can get there and put that out to the market. Fantastic. If someone is listening to this in the coaching profession, and they would love to know how to connect with you, even if they are not sure how to say Czekanski correctly, but they’re like, Brian, I can remember Brian, and I want to find him online right now. Where should they go? Yeah, it’s http://www.mindsetcopy.com Excellent. Well, Brian, I appreciate you taking time out of your day to be my guest. I appreciate it. Thanks very much. Thank you for joining me on today’s episode. Again, our guest was Brian Czekanski and you can find him online at mindsetcopy.com. If you haven’t already, please take the time to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review For us on iTunes. I’ll see you in the next episode.