🗞️Why I Started Studying Copywriting?

Here’s why you’re not earning as much as you could...

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Samuel G & Tyson Graham
October 08, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

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Why I Started Studying Copy in Secret

My name is Samuel Grisanzio. I went from a single cold DM to, at 21, becoming the CMO of the biggest financial agency on X. When I came on board, we were a marketing agency with a great CEO and great COO, but we needed to take a real step into performance marketing. I started tracking clicks, impressions, creator CPMs, all of it. But something was still missing.

Traffic wasn’t a problem. We were pushing thousands of clicks for companies across X. Our problem, specifically, their problem, was their websites… their funnels… their copy.

EVERYTHING SUCKED. We were selling views, not outcomes. These companies were losing customers at their door.

I needed answers. I didn’t need more fluff or content tips from gurus. I needed the real principles behind conversions. That search led me to someone who had built 7-figure businesses with just copy. No personal brand. No followers. Just conversions. I had met this guy on a client call months earlier, a slightly weird interaction. Sounded like he knew what he was talking about. But did he?

Turns out, he did. Somehow after that one call, he agreed to weekly meetings, diving into how copy and conversions actually work.

Each week, we break down what actually drives conversions: headlines, offers, guarantees, closes, and upsells. Just what gets people to buy.

This is what led to this newsletter. He once told me he has nightmares about dying with all the knowledge he’s built. Since then, he’s sent me 25 books, and I’ve spent hours reading and applying them. Each week, my goal is to take those books and break them down into simple, easy-to-digest lessons you can use right away.

What is copy? Do you even know?

Claude Hopkins said it best in Scientific Advertising: “Advertising is salesmanship in print.” And he meant that literally. Copy isn’t about creativity or clever phrasing; it’s about doing the job of a top-performing salesperson, at scale. A good ad doesn’t just inform or entertain; it also engages. It moves someone one step closer to making a purchase.

Hopkins believed every ad should be measured by one thing: its ability to generate action. He ran tests using coupons and direct mail offers, tracking every headline, image, and word down to the cost per sale. If an ad didn’t drive results, it was scrapped, no matter how “good” it looked.

Most startup copy today would fail his test. It’s vague, unmeasured, and often written to impress peers, not convert buyers. Hopkins pushed the opposite: be specific, focus on benefits, remove friction, and test everything.

His core rules still hold: Specificity beats fluff. Clarity beats cleverness. And if it doesn’t convert, it’s not a copy, it’s just decoration.

Copy exists for one reason: to generate a measurable result. EVERYTHING else is wasted space.

“The Book you need to write 7 times as a marketer.”

- David Ogilvy

Why Does Copy Even Matter?

Claude Hopkins said it best in Scientific Advertising: “Advertising is salesmanship in print.” That wasn’t a metaphor, it was the foundation of his entire approach. To Hopkins, copy wasn’t about creativity or brand voice. It was about doing the job of a top-performing salesperson, at scale. Its only purpose was to generate a measurable result. If it didn’t drive action, it wasn’t advertising, it was wasted space.

Hopkins treated advertising like a science. He tested everything: headlines, offers, layouts, guarantees. He ran controlled experiments using coupons and tracked every variable down to the cost per sale. There were no opinions, no guesses, no aesthetics for the sake of aesthetics. Just data, behavior, and performance.

That’s why copy matters. Because no matter how good your traffic is, how great your product is, or how clean your design is, if your words don’t move people to act, none of it works. You’re just pouring clicks into a leaky funnel.

Hopkins didn’t believe in cleverness. He believed in clarity, specificity, proof, and constant testing. Every sentence had to earn its place. Every claim had to be backed. Every piece of copy had to convert, or it was cut. His principles weren’t just smart, they were profitable. And the truth is, most startup copy today would fail his test.

That’s why this newsletter exists. It’s the single most important lever you have to turn attention into action. Copy matters.

Why Even Read This Newsletter?

I’ve read Scientific Advertising seven times. That’s about 14 hours of underlining, rereading, and applying the principles inside. And it’s not theory, I’ve taken what I learned and used it in funnels that drive thousands in revenue today.

But I get it, you’re busy. You probably don’t have 14 hours to study a 100-year-old book line by line.

So I boiled it down for you.

In this issue, you’ll get the most important principles in under 10 minutes. The key lessons that actually move the needle. You’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of what makes copy convert, and why most startups today are getting it wrong.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • Why specificity beats creativity

  • Why copy is your most important salesman

  • How to eliminate friction in your funnel

  • Why testing and tracking are non-negotiable

  • How Hopkins’ approach still beats most “modern” marketing today

  • And why I read the book 7 times

If you want a shortcut to everything it took me 14 hours to extract, this is it.