🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner

Founder of VeryGoodCopy.com, essayist

Hello, thanks for stopping by. I’m Eddie 👋🏼

I’m a conversion copywriter, content marketer, and the founder of VeryGoodCopy, a newsletter about copywriting and creativity read by millions of people each year. Join over 80K email subscribers—including copywriters, marketers, entrepreneurs, and other smart folks—who've subscribed to the VeryGoodCopy Newsletter and bought 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘺: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬:

◾ “VeryGoodCopy shows you how to write, and how not to write. How to think, and how not to think. Eddie is a damn good marketer. I recommend him.”
—𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗗, 𝗢𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿

◾ “Please, God, can everyone involved in advertising—and not only copywriters—just read this book…I loved every moment.”
—𝗥𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗦𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗, 𝗢𝗴𝗶𝗹𝘃𝘆 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻

◾ “Eddie is a fantastic copywriter.”
—𝗔𝗡𝗡 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘𝗬, 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙒𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨

◾ “Eddie Shleyner. Where to begin? Not only a fantastic writer, a historian, a gentleman, someone I'm proud to call a colleague. VeryGoodCopy is a copywriting goldmine. I often go there for inspiration. Eddie is the real deal.”
—𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗗𝗥𝗬, 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺

◾ "Eddie Shleyner is one of the few people who can articulate what makes great writing great."
—𝗝𝗨𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗢, 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲

◾ "Eddie Shleyner is a brilliant writer who understands the art of persuasion — and teaches it — in a way few people can. I'm jealous of how he can say so much in so few words. Big fan!"
—𝗞𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗡 𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦, 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳

◾ "Eddie Shleyner, now there's a fella who knows something about copywriting."
—𝗗𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗧, 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲

◾ "VeryGoodCopy is likely the very best reading you'll do on any given day about copywriting."
—𝗞𝗜𝗠 𝗞𝗥𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗠, 𝗔-𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿

◾ “Eddie gets it. He’s a joy to work with and does so at the highest level.”
—𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗧𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗞𝗞𝗘𝗥𝗦, 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿, 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻

Read hundreds of free "micro" lessons, interviews, and courses about copywriting, creativity, and storytelling on VeryGoodCopy.com.

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Thanks again for being here—and enjoy!

Founder

"One of the best copywriting blogs around." 
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VeryGoodCopy.com is a blog about the art and science of written persuasion. Over 53,000 people subscribe to receive weekly micro-articles about copywriting, content marketing, and psychology.

It's also a direct-response copywriting and content marketing agency that ships clear, concise words that sell.

Click the link below to learn more.

Hey folks! Many months of work went into this thing. I'm very proud of it, and excited to finally share with you all: https://lnkd.in/dgTWp2jp

Please help me spread the word 🙏🏼 

And as always, enjoy!

- Ed

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VeryGoodCopy Audiobook is Now Available

How to find the words again (without AI):

Growing up, it felt like Babushka had a saying for every problem. 

Every bad or uncomfortable situation I faced was met with some expression about resilience or patience or effort. Probably because my grandma’s own childhood in Stalinist Russia was so hellish and sad, so she had these set phrases, I guess, these little rhyming quips that brought levity or perspective when things were hard. 

I remember when I cut my lip on a 7UP can. She held a napkin to my mouth and put her cheek against my head and said, “Doh svahd-by zah-zhee-vyot.”

It means: “It’ll heal before your wedding.”

Or when I stormed into the living room and told her that I couldn’t do it, that I could not possibly memorize “Falling Up” by Shel Silverstein. I remember she looked up at me from her book and said, “Trood vsyo peh-reh-troot.”

It means: “Hard work grinds everything down.”

Or when there was heartache. She opened the door to my room, and that devastating song, “Color of Your Blues” was playing through the stereo, slow and soft…

𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴/ 
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴/

I remember she hugged me so and said, “Vsyo pra-ho-deet, soln-sa.”

It means: “Everything passes, my love.”

And of course, I remember the thing she told me almost every night, no matter the circumstance, like a mantra. “Oo-truh vye-cheh-ruh moo-dreh-nee-yeh,” she said. 

It means: “The morning is wiser than the evening.”

I think about this often. 

I think about it in all sorts of situations, but especially when it’s dark outside and the house is still and my brain is still, but I’m still writing, still trying—and the words won’t come. 

When this happens, I hear Babushka. I swear to God I hear her voice: 

“Oo-truh vye-cheh-ruh moo-dreh-nee-yeh.”

And so I listen. And I rest. I let my subconscious drive for a while. 

And when I return to work, the words are there again.

A warning to writers:

I read Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk.

In it he talks about philosopher Martin Heidegger, who postulated that humanity sees the planet as a standing reserve of raw material—as resources, basically, inventory just waiting to be collected and processed and converted into something else, something useable:

Cows into meat. Forests into lumber. Mountains into minerals and metals. Etcetera.

Heidegger called this standing reserve “Bestand.”

“It seems inevitable,” writes Palahniuk, “that people without access to natural Bestand such as oil wells or diamond mines, that they’d turn to the only inventory they do have—their lives.”

Yes. Most people don’t own massive quantities of raw materials, but all of us, every single person, owns their story, their life, everything they’ve savored and suffered, the beautiful things and devastating things and everything in between, too.

Our Bestand is our lived experience—and to harvest it, we can write.

We can notice our life, and we can write about it.

“Put yourself into your work,” said the late, great copywriter David Abbott. “Use your life to animate your copy,” he said.

Some of our greatest artists have echoed this advice:

Writer Anne Lamott said, “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories.”

Comedian Norm Macdonald said, “My strongest material comes from real life.”

Director Bong Joon Ho said, “The most personal is the most creative.”

But at what cost?

Heidegger warned that viewing the world this way, as Bestand, can be incredibly dangerous because it reduces Mother Nature to a mere resource, something expendable to exploit and subjugate.

And therefore, as writers, it’s also possible to exploit ourselves, to collect and process and convert everything that happens to us—be it love or children or divorce or cancer or existential dread—into material: every moment examined for its potential as a headline or chapter title.

And what happens then?

“[Then] we might hurry through life,” warns Palahniuk, “enduring event after event, in order to build our list of experiences. Our stock of stories. And our hunger for stories might reduce our awareness of the actual experience.”

And what happens then?

What happens when the material supplants the moment itself?

Folks, would you call this asset a LANDING PAGE or a SALES LETTER: https://lnkd.in/gnHcEwQp

Note: this asset is designed for folks familiar with my work, mainly past buyers, current newsletter subscribers, and avid followers.

Please feel free to share your take in the comments...

Another note: I may quote and/or screenshot your comment in an an essay I'm writing about this topic for my newsletter. (I will of course link back to your profile if I do.) But if you do NOT want me to use it, please just say so in the comment 🙏🏼

Thank you!

Is this a LANDING PAGE or is it a SALES LETTER? (See above)

Choco Up

Strategic Partnerships Manager

Formul8 Pte Ltd

Copywriter

Working on projects with friends.

Clients: The Mold Fix, Ruach Counselling

Singapore Institute of Architects

I learnt to make things simple and easy for people to understand and act, which got things moving.

Wrote the job description to hire a new executive, as the department grew with the consistent revenue from the sponsorships and partnerships I secured. We handled projects like industry talks, advertising in our publications, event sponsorships, and a new project which is now our flagship business event having 3 successful runs.

Marketing Manager

Society of Interior Designers Singapore (SIDS)

I had a steep learning curve and a curiosity to grasp it, or what employers might call the "can- do attitude".

Worked on almost all aspects of a trade association, being involved in administration, sponsorship outreach, PR, and big projects like a charity fundraiser and a festival.

Project Executive

TAC-Group Pte Ltd

I worked solely on the Society of Interior Designers, Singapore (SIDS) account (see above). 

Was occasionally roped in to support events by other associations the company manages, improved my spoken Mandarin language, and learnt to make coffee.

Executive (Events and Secretariat Services)

Display Science

I managed the growth of display units installed in taxis to three time its size, while working on sales and marketing — social media content, cold emails, calls, and appointment setting.

When I wasn't doing the above, we had drinks, played chess, had more drinks, and attempted to automate repetitive tasks.

Marketing Intern

Fave

I was the bringer of good deals, dishing out promo codes while people queued to get their food or drink.

Was always happy to connect with the merchants and accept a drink or snack on the house.

Brand Ambassador

Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)

I was the go-to person when people needed any logistics; from (fixing) chairs, to papers, pens, to metal detectors.

We did well for the annual audit, scored the best grade, and I was awarded the Commanding Officer's (CO) Coin.

Supply Supervisor

Toy Tag International Pte Ltd

I explained board games I've never played to people I've never met before.

Watched Wil Wheaton's TableTop series on YouTube to at least know what I'm talking about, sometimes.

Retail Assistant

Let's partner up

Partnerships, marketing, getting stuff done.

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The Battle

🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner

James Wee

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner's LinkedIn Performance

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