George Ten had been teaching copywriting for years when a student asked a question that changed it all: “But will it sell?”
She’d spent eight months perfecting her fitness course. Beautiful sales page. Compelling copy. Zero sales.
Now she was asking the question she should have asked first.
George realized he’d been teaching backwards for years. His students mastered copywriting but launched products nobody wanted. They blamed their writing when the problem was their offer.
The $50 Validation Method That Killed 8 Months of Wasted Work
George had built his reputation teaching copywriting frameworks. His “Grammar Hippy” brand attracted thousands who wanted to write better. But something kept failing.
Students would take his courses, learn his “10 Timeless Email Frames,” write gorgeous copy. Then crickets.
They’d come back defeated, thinking they needed more advanced techniques. George saw the pattern clearly.
They were solving the wrong problem first.
In March 2020, George posted something different on Twitter.
Instead of a copywriting tip, he shared a simple validation process. “Before you write a single word of copy,” he wrote, “spend $50 on a Facebook ad. Send traffic to a basic order form. See if anyone tries to buy.”
The response shocked him. Within hours, his DMs exploded. “You can test without building?” “This would have saved me months.” “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?”
One message stood out.
A student had been perfecting her fitness course for eight months. She ran George’s $50 test. Red light. Nobody wanted it. She pivoted to a nutrition guide, tested again. Green light. Built it in two weeks. First launch: $8,400.
That’s when George understood his students needed validation before education and he rebuilt his entire business around this insight.
But validation was only half the equation. What George did next broke every rule of course creation.
Why Testing Beats Teaching Every Time
Most copywriting teachers start with words. George now starts with data.
His “$50 Launch Lab” walks students through validation in 48 hours. No product needed.
Just a simple offer, a micro-budget ad, and three metrics that tell you everything. Red means kill it. Orange means adjust. Green means build. The clarity is immediate.
But here’s what makes this brilliant. Once students know their offer has demand, they’re ready to buy his frameworks. They NEED to write copy fast because they’ve proven people want their product.
The “10 Timeless Email Frames” ($397) suddenly becomes essential. It provides instant structures for immediate use.
“The Invisible Guest” frame. “Death by Comparison” frame. “The 4th Wall” frame. Each one is a container you fill with your message in minutes.
Students report writing complete email sequences in under two hours. Why? They’re not second-guessing their offer. They’ve already proven demand…
The real breakthrough comes from understanding why this sequence matters more than the frameworks themselves.
The Conversion Strategy That Breaks Every Marketing Rule
So George has a great product. Yay!
Let’s dive into how George is actually getting traction in the market and making bank.
You see, George discovered something unexpected about selling copywriting courses. The more he taught publicly, the less he sold.
Until he made one change.
“I send the link to the email list only. Not sharing it on Twitter.”
This single decision transformed his business.
Social media became pure value delivery.
Email became the exclusive purchase channel. No exceptions.
Even when people begged for direct links. No public links. No open cart. Just value on Twitter, transactions on email.
The psychology works – when something becomes less available, we want it more (remember David Senra’s scarcity strategy with his podcast?).
But George takes this further. His public content demonstrates expertise. His private emails reveal the system.
Watch how he structures this. Monday’s tweet might share one email frame. Wednesday’s goes deeper into the psychology. Friday’s teases the complete system. But you can only buy through email.
The numbers prove it works.
His “10-Minute Email Storytelling” course ($397) consistently sells out during email-only launches.
His “Belief Matrix” workshop ($197) fills through list promotion alone.
This exclusivity principle extends beyond just links. George’s entire speed system challenges what you think you know about quality.
Recording Sales Pages Instead of Writing Them
Most creators are OBSESSED with perfection. They’ll tweak a headline for weeks, rewrite sales pages endlessly and polish products that nobody wants.
George’s model destroys this completely.
“I’m no longer writing my sales pages in 2025,” he announced. “I’m recording them.”
Think about that. While others labor over every word, George talks his sales page into existence. Record. Transcribe. Launch.
The time saved compounds into more tests, more products, more revenue.
This is strategic. His frameworks eliminate decision fatigue. His validation process eliminates wasted effort. His recording method eliminates perfectionism.
Students using his “CopyThinking” approach report launching in days what used to take months. Not because they work faster, but because they skip unnecessary steps. Validate first. Build second. Write last.
Your 48-Hour Implementation Plan
Here’s exactly how to steal George’s model this week:
Day 1 Morning: Pick one offer idea. Write a simple promise in one sentence. Create a basic order form (use Gumroad or Stripe). Don’t overthink this.
Day 1 Afternoon: Set up a $50 Facebook or Instagram ad. Target your exact audience. Send traffic to the order form. Let it run for 48 hours.
Day 2: Check your metrics. Did people click? Did they try to buy? Green light means build it. Red light means pivot. Orange means adjust and test again.
By Day 3: You’ll know if your idea has legs. No more guessing. The average creator wastes 4-6 months and $2,000-5,000 on untested products. This stops that completely. Just clear data about what your market actually wants.
As an aside – this is how Tim Ferris tested book titles for 4 Hour Work Week back in the early 2000’s.
Then, and only then, do you need copywriting. Use simple frameworks. Record your sales page and transcribe it. Launch to your email list only. Create scarcity through exclusivity, not fake timers.
The Truth Nobody Wants to Admit
Most experts fail because they solve problems in the wrong order. They perfect their teaching before validating demand. They write beautiful copy for products nobody wants.
George Ten flipped the sequence. Test first. Build second. Write last.
His students who follow this sequence report something unexpected. They stop feeling like imposters. Once you know the market wants what you’re building, the writing becomes secondary. The confidence becomes primary.
This week, pick one idea. Spend $50. Test it. You’ll either discover your next revenue stream or save yourself months of wasted effort.
What will you validate for $50 this week?