“Girls that would never use online dating are on Tinder—and this is the absolute best part of the app.”

– Masculine Profiles, The Tinder Template

The Tinder Template: A $10 alternative to a $500 product

Tomorrow Real Social Dynamics will be releasing an “exclusive” project to teach men about online dating. This course specifically deals with Tinder.

Looking at the company’s past pricing structures I’d guess that  this item, titled: “The Program,” is going to cost at least $100 to $200. And judging by all the fancy marketing and copywriting that went into the advertising campaign, there’s a good chance that you’ll be forking over $500 or more.

(The Tinder Template has better information for a fraction of the price)

How to get the better advice for $10

Shelling out $200 for an eBook and video series is ridiculous. If you want to get good at online dating buy a copy of The Tinder Template  instead. Then use the rest of the money you would have spent on actual dates.

The Tinder Template is a wonderful little guide that can really help you to meet better, and hotter, women online. One of the main advantages that Tinder has, as the author notes, is a lack of social stigma:

“Tinder is not seen as traditional online dating. Instead, it is socially acceptable. If you are single, chances are you have dabbled with Tinder. And no one judged you for it…”

This means that you’ll be able to meet a wider variety of women. And there’s a larger number of attractive girls than most other websites.

Another thing that I liked about this book was the fact that it contains information that is applicable to everyone. Most books on meeting women or dating only work for a certain group of guys. Factors like height and energy level play a big role in meeting women offline. A joke that might be funny if a high energy guy said it won’t get the same response when an introvert uses it.

Since The Tinder Template is concerned with online dating, it can give advice that works for a wider range of readers.

For example, the section on profile pictures can help almost anyone:

“You need a minimum of three photos on your profile. I’ve found the sweet spot to be 3–5 photos, although I’ve occasionally had 6 photos on my Tinder profile.

Also, make sure to diversify your funds. Don’t have three of the same photo types. One face selfie is great. Five of them makes you look like a narcissist with no friends. Just make sure to have a few different types of photos.”

If you’re looking for a great guide to online dating click here and pick up a copy of The Tinder Template.

“You don’t need a coach to learn power cleans, because we fixed things up so that you can learn them out of the book. And what exactly is the downside of trying to learn them and failing? Firing squad? The f*cking bodybuilders making fun of you from the safety of the dumbbell rack? Loss of wages? Just try them before you decide you can’t learn them without a coach.”

– Mark Rippetoe

Fitness secrets you won’t find on any blog

You’re looking for a way to switch up your workout. New lifts or routines. Maybe a “hack” that can help accelerate your progress. After doing some research you discover an exercise book that has exactly what you need. So you do what everyone does. Go to a different site that lists the book’s routine and copy it down.

Congratulations, you just saved yourself five bucks.

However, you’ve also passed up about a million dollars in information and context. Doing squats three days a week and eating huge amounts of protein sounds like a good strategy, but do you really know why you’re doing it?

Context is everything

Reading a routine and watching some YouTube videos is a poor substitute for real exercise books.

I’ve swung my kettlebell for two years without any real instruction. My “expertise” came from a few blog posts and two-minute videos.

While this didn’t hurt me, I did miss out on some great information.

A few weeks ago I bought The Russian Kettlebell Challenge: Xtreme Fitness for Hard Living Comrades on a whim. The book opened my mind to a whole bunch of cool new routines and exercises. It also gave some really interesting insights into how I could use a kettlebell to train for combat sports, or improve my arm wrestling abilities.

A 1,000 word blog post or five-minute YouTube video will never give you as much information as a 200 page book. The video maker or blogger might be able to cover some basics, but they’ll leave out a lot of extra information. That same kettlebell book had some surprisingly good information on deadlifts that I would have missed out on otherwise.

A big book will always have more to say than some flimsy article. Blog posts might give you some basic information, but they can’t contain everything.

One door leads to another

Blogs rarely contain any real fitness secrets because of their limited space. A post on squatting techniques can’t really branch out into other stuff. And while some authors might link to a different article, many lack the back catalog to do so. A lot of fitness bloggers haven’t been working out for a long time. I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else.

When you’re 21 or 25 and have been lifting for a couple of years there’s a lot you don’t know. A guy who trained for decades and became a coach is going to have way more experience under his belt. He’ll be able to share wisdom that you wouldn’t come across otherwise.

Going back to the kettlebell book I read, the author was able to incorporate information on deadlifts because he wasn’t limited in space. He didn’t have a 1,000 word limit that he couldn’t exceed. If he wanted to take a detour and talk about compound lifts for a chapter he could. No one was going to post an angry comment and it wouldn’t affect his search engine rankings.

Books might be longer and more boring than some video or blog post, but they also contain way more information. A good blog post might teach you one new thing. A good book will expose you to 20 new ideas.

Forums are never reliable

Sometimes I read this one forum where guys talk about exercise and fitness. One of the posters always argues with everyone else about over-training. He cites all kinds of arguments about how bad going to the gym is. “If you lift more than twice a week you’ll die”  is pretty much what all his posts say.

This poster had been on the forum for years and held a lot of rep points for sharing “quality information.” I thought that he was going to be some big dude with a lot of exercise knowledge.

Eventually this fitness guru posted a picture of himself. He was in no way qualified to give any advice. The only time this guy could have ever seen a gym is when he was sitting at a buffet across the street from one. Had I been younger and dumber I might have gotten suckered into listening to him. And it would have really hampered my progress.

On another popular men’s site someone wrote an article titled: Bodybuilding Vs. Building Your Body.

In it the author talks about how two 45 minute gym sessions every week have turned him into some jacked superman. While all the other lifters are incompetent losers this guy is at his physical peak:

“If you’re doing bodybuilding the wrong way, you’ll end up just as my personal laughing stock in the gym did: huge Arms, bulging chest, no upper back, well advanced beer gut and toothpick legs. And I forgot to mention: An inferiority complex to match his arms.”

At the end of the post the author decided to share a picture of himself:

Not exactly a paragon of fitness. Listening to this guy would leave you looking like him. And I think most gym-goers would be disappointed.

Bonus: How to pick quality fitness books

There’s a lot of garbage floating around out there. Scam products, overpriced DVD’s, and “expert advice” from heavy steroid users. It can be hard to find the good stuff. Fortunately I’ve come up with a few pointers that can help you to locate exercise books that really work:

• Buy an actual book

With the rise of self-publishing there are a lot of junk eBooks. Some guy can hire a freelance writer to do a Google search about a topic and then use the information in his guidebook. Go on Amazon and look at all the cheap $0.99 and $2.99 fitness books. Most of them are churned out by big writing houses looking for a quick buck.

Don’t purchase anything under 100 pages. And make sure to avoid products that aren’t accompanied buy a blog or website. A guy who runs a high quality fitness site, and posts pictures of himself, will be more knowledgeable than some fly by night book written by a disinterested freelancer.

Spending $15 on a useful book like Super Squats is going to give you a huge return. You’ll bulk up and be able to understand the science behind your actions. Buying a 20 page title like Muscle Hacks Exposed! for $0.99 won’t give you any new information.

• Look for actual reviews from trusted sources

Mike from Danger & Play is one of the few guys who I always listen too. Go check out How to Gain 10 Pounds of Muscle Without Bulking, or any of the other fitness podcasts, and you’ll learn a ton of exercise secrets.

If Mike said “buy this book” I would. And that’s because he’s a source I trust. By the same token, if some shady Internet marketer endorsed something I’d roll my eyes.

When you’re unsure about a product email a blogger or person that you trust. Ask them. They’ll give you an honest answer.

Obviously you shouldn’t be spamming people with questions, but making one or two inquires won’t hurt.

• Find an author who you want to emulate

I’ve been enjoying Pavel Tsatsouline’s books. The man weighs the same as me but has a better physique. And he’s been training special forces teams, like the US Navy SEALs and Soviet Spetnaz, since the 1980’s.

I’ve gotten a lot of value from his blog and decided to pick up a few books to support him. I purchased The Russian Kettlebell Challenge, Hard Style Abs, and Power to the People Professional: How to Add 100s of Pounds to Your Squat, Bench,and Deadlift with Advanced Russian Techniques.

The total cost: nine dollars.

And I got 610 pages of content out of the deal. Even if I only get a handful of new techniques from each book it was still worth the money. Nine bucks is less than a giant latte from Starbucks.

You really can’t go wrong with an investment like that.

“We are not in the business of being original. We are in the business of reusing things that work.”

– Robert W. Bly, The Copywriter’s Handbook

Why you have to read the “The Copywriter’s Handbook” right now

I didn’t know anything about copywriting until March of this year. In fact, when I first heard the term I thought that copywriting had to do with patents and intellectual properties.

Learning that copywriting is sales writing was a huge surprise to me. Even more shocking was the pay. A simple content writer will only make pennies an hour. Two bucks for a 500 word article, five if he’s lucky. A copywriter, those guys can basically print their own money. There are men who rake in millions every year.

Once I heard about the pay I decided to try it out.

How “The Copywriter’s Handbook” personally affected me

Below is my actual story of how this book helped me to become a successful freelance writer. I went from doing okay to roping in some big jobs that paid incredibly well.

Four U’s formula

The four U’s are, as I mentioned in my video, tools that will make you money forever. Once you know what each one is you can become an unstoppable salesman.

Honestly, these four tips alone will probably put you in the top 25% of all salespeople.

Urgent

You need to have a deadline. “Make $10,000” doesn’t have any urgency. “Make $10,000 by Tuesday” does.

People need some kind of reference. They have to have a set time-frame. 30 Days of Discipline lasts for a specific duration. Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks gives you a time-frame.

By having a deadline or end date your product or claim will come across as being more effective.

Unique

“How to meet women” is old news. Nobody finds that interesting anymore. “How to meet women at chili cook-offs” gives a tired genre new life. Even if some of the information is still the same, the overall package and delivery looks different.

“How to raise testosterone” is another horse that’s been beat to death. “This $5 product restored my testosterone levels” sounds way more novel.

You need to have an edge. Otherwise you’re just another generic face in a sea forgettable content.

Ultra-specific

You need to dial-in to a certain audience. While I hate their site, BuzzFeed is a master at this. “Five songs only 90’s kids will understand” and “10 weird things that Russians think are normal” are a great attention grabbers. When you write you need to grab your reader by the balls and drag him into your world.

Obscure language or vague titles will get passed over. “Discover the impeccable literary sensation that will allow you to inflate your ledger” is a horrible title.

“Why you have to read the ‘The Copywriter’s Handbook’ right now”  gives you the name of the product, a teaser showing value (the “why” portion), and even a time-frame. There’s specific information that appeals to a certain group of people.

Useful

“How to hot glue top hats onto stray dogs” might have some shock value, but there’s no practical appeal. If you’re trying to sell something and make a living you need to provide value.

“How to meet women” and “How to raise your testosterone” both solve a certain need.

Even The Copywriter’s Handbook itself addresses an issue and solves it. You need to learn about sales, here’s a book that can help.

Anyone who can’t create value will lose their audience.

Six other helpful lessons

There are a lot of other great lessons in here too. Flipping through the book, I found six important pieces of information that you can benefit from. These tidbits were all taken from single sections within chapters. If you like what you see you’ll really enjoy The Copywriter’s Handbook:

1. Always ask yourself “Who is my customer?”

The wrong product with the wrong audience makes selling near impossible. Be sure to appeal to the people you are trying to persuade.

2. Most people will never read anything.

A bank in Minneapolis gave out some 4,500 word booklets about their services. At the end of each one was a coupon for a free ten-dollar bill. If you brought this in the bank would honor it. Nobody read to the end of the book and the bank never had to give out any of the money.

3. When you finish your thought stop writing.

A “good” sentence is usually less than 16 words in length. Even academic writing and scientific papers gets tedious beyond this point. Try to make your thoughts concise. Nobody wants to wade through a long-winded rant.

4. Don’t be a clown.

Trying to be funny or entertain readers will usually backfire. You’ll come across as desperate, or people will forget about your message. There are tons of funny ads every year and they rarely convince people to buy something.

5. More readers doesn’t mean more business.

If you have a blog, increased readership doesn’t automatically translate to more money. There are lots of tire-kickers and lurkers who will never spend a nickel. These people will also clog up your email with stupid questions, and they’ll leave all kinds of spam comments. As The Copywriter’s Handbook notes: 99.9% of people online will never become one of your customers.

6. Blogging is a great “testing area.”

Blogs are cheap. If you have an idea for a book or product you can easily start a site and put up some ideas. By looking at traffic and readership you can see if your idea is worth following through on. If no one reads your site you aren’t out much, if thousands of people start clamoring for more content than you’ve got a winner on your hands. Blogs are like free PR for whatever else you are working on.

Downsides

There are a few let downs in here. The Copywriter’s Handbook is great, but the first chapter is a slog (the author just gets all his sales friends to pat him on the back) and the sections about Internet marketing are a little lacking.

Most of the information on websites just feels a bit dated. Making banner ads and pop-ups is a little excessive for the average man who is running a simple blog or website. While this is disappointing, the rest of the material is pretty timeless and can easily be used for web marketing and blog promotion.

Closing thoughts

The Copywriter’s Handbook is a good book. It helped me immensely and really allowed my business to grow. If you have an interest in sales, advertising, marketing, or blogging this is the perfect book for you. Every chapter, save the first one, has great information and you’ll learn how to captivate an audience without having to resort to trickery or shady practices.

If you have a blog, work as a freelance writer, or have any ties to sales you’ll get a lot out of this.

Anyone with eight dollars to invest should be checking out The Copywriter’s Handbook. It has a lot to offer and will  pay for itself in no time at all.