Eric Booker · Founder, EB’s Place
Most people think good copy is about finding the right words. It isn’t. It’s about asking the right questions first — and the words are what you write after you have the answers.
I’ve been studying persuasion, buyer psychology, and the craft of writing since before I launched EB’s Place. And the single biggest lesson from all of it is this: the writers who consistently produce copy that converts are not the ones with the largest vocabulary or the fastest turnaround time. They’re the ones who do the strategic work before they ever open a blank document.
This post is about that work. It’s a look inside how I approach every project — the philosophy that shapes my decisions, the process I follow from first conversation to final draft, and what I’ve come to understand about what actually makes copy convert.
I’m sharing this because I think you deserve to know what you’re getting before you decide to work with someone. And because the thinking behind the copy is just as important as the copy itself.
Strategy before sentences. Every time. That’s not a tagline — it’s the actual order of operations.
My Writing Philosophy: Three Beliefs That Shape Everything I Do
These aren’t principles I put on a wall. They’re the lens I look through on every project, at every stage — from the first client conversation to the final line edit.
Belief 1: Copy is a thinking problem, not a writing problem
Before a single word goes on the page, I need to know who I’m talking to, what they’re afraid of, what they want, and what’s standing between them and the decision I’m trying to move them toward. Most weak copy is weak because the writer skipped this step. They sat down to write before they sat down to think. I don’t. The writing is the last thing I do — and because of that, it’s usually the fastest part of the process.
Belief 2: The reader is always the hero
Every piece of copy I write puts the client’s customer at the center, not the business. The business is the guide. The customer is the one with the problem to solve and the journey to take. When copy forgets this, it becomes about credentials and features — and it stops converting. I constantly ask: whose story is this sentence telling? If the answer is ‘the business,’ I rewrite it until it belongs to the reader.
Belief 3: Every word has to earn its place
I don’t write to fill space. I write to move someone from one mental state to another — from skeptical to curious, from curious to interested, from interested to convinced. If a sentence isn’t doing that work — if it’s throat-clearing, filler, or corporate speak — it goes. This is why my copy tends to be tight, direct, and confident without being cold. Brevity isn’t about word count. It’s about respect for the reader’s time.
The Process: How a Project Actually Works at EB’s Place
I want you to know exactly what it’s like to work with me — no mystery, no guesswork. Here are the five stages every project moves through, from the first conversation to the final delivery.
1. The discovery conversation
Before I write anything, I listen. I ask about the audience, the offer, what’s worked before, what hasn’t, and what the business owner wants people to feel when they read the copy. This conversation goes deeper than most clients expect — I’m not just collecting facts. I’m looking for the emotional truth of the business. Most of what I learn here never appears directly in the copy — but it shapes every decision I make.
2. The research phase
I go deep on the audience — their language, their objections, their aspirations, the exact words they use when they describe their problem. I look at what competitors are saying (and not saying). I look for the gaps, the unsaid truths, and the emotional hooks that make copy resonate rather than just inform. This is the phase most writers skip. It’s also the phase most responsible for copy that actually works.
3. The strategy brief
Before I write a single word of copy, I build a one-page document that captures the core message, the tone, the structure, and the intended emotional journey of the piece. This brief is what separates copy that has direction from copy that wanders. I share it with the client so we’re aligned on strategy before execution begins. If the brief isn’t right, no amount of good writing will fix the page. The brief is the foundation.
4. The draft
Now I write — and I write fast. The research and strategy work means the first draft comes out with real direction rather than starting from a blank page. I write the whole piece through without stopping to polish. Then I go back and cut, tighten, and sharpen. The first draft is for getting it down. Every pass after that is for making it right.
5. The review and refinement
I read every draft out loud before it leaves my desk. If it doesn’t sound like a confident, specific human being speaking directly to another human being, it gets rewritten. I check every sentence against the brief. Then I deliver, explain my thinking, and refine based on feedback — because great copy is collaborative, not transactional.
The writing is the last thing I do. And because of that, it’s usually the fastest part.
What Actually Makes Copy Convert
I’ve written enough copy — and studied enough that didn’t work — to know that conversion isn’t magic. It’s the result of four specific things being done well, consistently, across every element of the page or email or campaign.
1. Specificity over superlatives
‘Industry-leading results’ means nothing to anyone. ‘Three clients who doubled their inquiry rate within 60 days’ means everything. Specific claims are credible claims. Specific outcomes are believable outcomes. Every time I’m tempted to use a superlative — best, most powerful, unparalleled — I ask myself: can I replace this with a number, a name, or a concrete example? Almost always, I can. And almost always, the concrete version converts better.
In practice: Instead of ‘our proven system delivers results,’ write: ‘fourteen of our last sixteen clients reported a measurable increase in inquiries within the first 30 days.’
2. Emotional logic before rational logic
People make decisions emotionally and justify them rationally. Copy that leads with features and follows with feelings is working in reverse order. I lead with the feeling — the desire, the frustration, the aspiration — and use features as the proof that the feeling is justified. The product or service is the vehicle. The emotional outcome is the destination. Great copy sells the destination first.
In practice: Instead of ‘our platform has 47 integrations and a 99.9% uptime guarantee,’ write: ‘you’ll never worry about a tech failure derailing your client presentation again — here’s why.’
3. Friction reduction at every decision point
Every moment a reader pauses and thinks ‘I’m not sure about this’ is a moment they might leave. Great copy anticipates every hesitation — about price, about fit, about whether this will actually work for them — and addresses it before it becomes a reason to close the tab. Objection handling, guarantees, specific social proof: these aren’t nice-to-haves. They’re load-bearing elements of converting copy. I treat every moment of potential doubt as an engineering problem to solve.
4. Voice that sounds like a real person wrote it
AI, committees, and corporate style guides all produce the same thing: copy that sounds like no one. The single most powerful thing I can do for a brand’s copy is make it sound like a specific, confident, opinionated human being who has thought carefully about what they want to say and who they want to say it to. That’s what trust is built on. And trust is what converts.
In practice: The best copy I’ve written doesn’t read like copy at all. It reads like the most useful, honest conversation the reader has ever had about their problem.
Who I Work Best With
This isn’t a pitch. It’s a genuine description of the clients and projects where I do my best work — because the fit matters as much as the fee.
- Business owners and marketing leaders who understand that copy is a strategic investment, not a commodity
- People with a real offer, a real audience, and a genuine desire to communicate with clarity and confidence
- Clients willing to share the truth about their business — the wins, the losses, the customer frustrations — because that truth is exactly what makes copy real and resonant
I work across industries, but my deepest experience sits at the intersection of three worlds: hospitality and gaming, where I understand the industry from the inside out; sports and athlete brands, where the personal narrative is the product; and technology and professional services, where the challenge is translating complex value into language real people actually respond to.
If your business lives in one of those worlds, you’re starting this relationship with a writer who already understands your landscape. If it doesn’t — that’s fine too. The process works regardless of the industry, because the fundamentals of what makes people pay attention and take action are the same everywhere.
The right client relationship feels less like hiring a vendor and more like bringing in someone who genuinely cares whether the work performs. That’s what I’m after on every project.
One More Thing
I started EB’s Place with a specific conviction: that the quality of a business’s copy is one of the highest-leverage investments it can make, and that most businesses are significantly underpowered in this area — not because they don’t care, but because great copy is genuinely hard to produce without the right thinking behind it.
I built this business to close that gap. For the hotel that’s losing group bookings to better-positioned competitors. For the athlete whose talent isn’t reflected in their brand. For the small business owner who knows their offer is strong but can’t figure out why the words aren’t working.
The words matter. The strategy behind them matters more. And when you have both — that’s when copy stops being a cost and starts being an asset.
This is how I work. Every project — whether it’s a sales page, an email sequence, a suite of athlete brand copy, or a monthly content retainer — gets this same level of thinking, research, and craft. Because copy that doesn’t have a strategy behind it isn’t copy. It’s just words.
If that’s the standard you’re looking for, I’d like to hear about your project.
Start with the free copy audit at ebsplace.com — I’ll review what you have, tell you exactly what’s working and what isn’t, and we’ll go from there.