How Eddie Shleyner “Quiet Sold” a Black Friday offer with AI

Steal these 3 classic Direct Response techniques to make more sales this holiday season

Yesterday, Eddie Shleyner sent a clever email promoting his Black Friday sale.

Inside, he shared a simple, time-saving AI prompt you can use right away.

The prompt is useful on its own.

BUT the real reason I’m sharing Eddie’s email is to show you 3 classic Direct Response techniques he used to quietly promote his Black Friday offer without sounding like a pitch—and how you can use them to sell your own products and services this holiday season.

In case you’re not familiar, Eddie is a best-selling author, conversion copywriter, and the founder of VeryGoodCopy, a newsletter about copywriting and creativity read by millions of people each year. He’s worth studying.

Let’s take a look at his email.

On the surface, here’s what Eddie did:

1. He fed ChatGPT his library of customer testimonials

2. Then he isolated the big recurring themes across the reviews

3. Then for each theme, he pulled five quotes that supported each theme

Boom. 40 testimonials organized by benefit.

This prompt is perfect if you want to quickly leverage testimonials in your sales copy.

But there’s more going on this email than just an easy way to organize a massive library of customer reviews and comments, and that’s what we’re stealing today.

Let’s look at the techniques.

Technique #1: Demonstration As Proof

Eddie shows you his actual process for analyzing customer feedback.

This is classic “show, don’t tell” copywriting.

One of the most famous examples is this 1940s Zippo ad: “The amazing story of a Zippo that worked after being taken from the belly of a fish.” The entire ad is a story about a fisherman who dropped his Zippo overboard, a fish swallowed it, the fish was caught months later, and when they cleaned it off, it still worked. The ad “demonstrates” one of the huge benefits of a Zippo. It lights…even when it’s wet.

Eddie does the same thing in his email.

By pulling back the curtain and letting you watch him work, he does something brilliant: your brain stops categorizing this as “promotional content” and starts filing it under “useful tutorial.” Which means your sales resistance never kicks in - even though you’re reading 40 testimonials for his product.

• He creates curiosity (how does he organize all this feedback?)

• He builds credibility (the results are legit)

• He makes you think “I could do this too”(which is the magic phrase that makes readers lean in)

The behind-the-scenes angle transforms promotional content into a mini case study. You’re absorbing his social proof while learning a useful technique.

Technique #2: “Timely” Interest

Without AI, Eddie’s email is just “I organized my testimonials by theme.”

Yawn. Who cares?

WITH AI, it becomes: “I fed 200 testimonials into ChatGPT and discovered these patterns.”

Now it’s interesting because it’s timely and anyone else who is selling a product during the holiday season and knows the power of using testimonials in their copy will find his email incredibly useful.

AI is the Trojan Horse that gets you to engage with what is essentially a testimonial wall.

Which takes us to the last technique.

Technique #3: Indirect Advertorial

He promoted his Landing Page product without selling.

In the advertising world, this is called an “advertorial”—an ad disguised as editorial content.

Here’s a class advertorial you’re probably familiar with:

This ad promotes Dale Carnegie’s book. And the copywriter, Victor Schwab, leveraged testimonials from people whose lives were improved by Carnegie’s strategies in the “ad” to sell more books, while at the same time educating you on the principles of influence.

This ad promotes Dale Carnegie’s book. And copywriter Victor Schwab leveraged testimonials from people whose lives were improved by Carnegie’s strategies to sell more books while simultaneously educating you on the principles of influence.

Here’s why this works:

Eddie could have written an obvious sales pitch.

“Hey! Here are 40 testimonials for my course. See? Proof it works.”

But nobody really wants to be “sold.” We’re complicated creatures. Most people want to come to their own conclusions without anyone telling them what to think. (Me included.) So instead, Eddie wraps his testimonials in a simple story: “Here’s how I used AI to analyze testimonials for my product” It’s useful content that HAPPENS to include 40 testimonials. And if you’re at all interested in his product, he just gave you 40 reasons why you should buy it without saying it.

The AI angle gives you “the reader” a story reason to read what is essentially a sales letter. You came for the AI tip. And your guard stays down the entire time because it feels educational, not promotional.

The testimonials do the selling.

Eddie gets to teach while his social proof does the heavy lifting.

Now here’s how YOU can use this technique to help you sell your own products and services:

You can use these three techniques to reframe ANY promotional content as educational content.

If you’re running a holiday promotion this season, this prompt will come in handy for you if you’re looking for a few new ways to promote your offer via email.

The challenge is finding the right “wrapper” for what you’re selling.

So, I created a prompt to help you find 5 different ways you can promote your product, service, or content without triggering sales resistance.

You’ll need two things before you run this prompt.

1. What you’re promoting (your offer, product, service)

2. Who your audience is (what they care about)

Once you have these two details, all you have to do is add them to the prompt and AI will generates 5 different ideas that match your audience’s interests while naturally incorporating what you’re selling.

For example:

Here’s what we’re promoting:

The Write With AI Founding Member Program. This is my flagship paid subscription to Write With AI. You get full access to our extensive library of ChatGPT and Claude prompts (2 New AI-Powered Writing Prompts Weekly) plus 1-2 New Paid Products Per Year ($500+).

Here’s my target audience:

Content creators and entrepreneurs who publish frequently (newsletters, LinkedIn, X/Twitter), feel overwhelmed by content creation demands, and are interested in AI writing tools, frameworks, and techniques so they can ultimately make more money with their skills and / or business.

When you run the prompt, you get 5 different ideas you can use in your emails.

Like this:

Let me break down what you’re looking at:

1. Narrative Wrapper: This is your angle. The story that gives you permission to promote without pitching. In this case: “Proven frameworks” becomes the content hook.

2. How the Promotion Fits: This shows you exactly how your product/offer integrates naturally into that story. The prompt library is a “crystallization of these frameworks.”

3. Subject Line/Title: Your hook. This is how you get people to open/click. Notice how it promises value (hidden patterns) before revealing it’s promotional.

Once you have your list of ideas, pick an angle you like and then proceed with writing your email.

Tip: If you need help writing the email, grab the Case Study newsletter prompt from The Ultimate Newsletter Prompt Library to create your first draft.

Ready to give this a try?

Copy the prompt below to get started:

I want to promote a product, service, or piece of content to my audience, but direct promotional messaging feels inauthentic and risks being ignored or dismissed. My audience values genuine, educational, or entertaining content over overt sales pitches. I want to create a narrative framework that positions my promotional content as valuable editorial content that readers would actively choose to engage with.

**Your Task**

Generate 5 distinct “story wrapper” angles that reframe my promotional content as editorial content. Each angle should provide a narrative structure that gives me editorial permission to naturally showcase what I’m promoting without triggering sales resistance.

**Your Goal**

The goal is to help me promote my offer in a way that feels authentic, valuable, and reader-first while maintaining credibility with my audience and achieving my promotional goals.

**Here’s what we’re promoting:**

{INSERT YOUR OFFER}

**Here’s my target audience:**

{INSERT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE}

**Story wrapper archetypes to draw from (use these as inspiration, not rigid templates):**

- The Experiment (”I tried this and here’s what happened”)
- The Behind-the-Scenes Process (”Here’s how we actually do this”)
- The Mistake Story (”Here’s what I got wrong and what I learned”)
- The Contrarian Take (”Everyone says X, but actually Y”)
- The Data Deep-Dive (”I analyzed [X] and found surprising patterns”)
- The Case Study Breakdown (”How [person] achieved [result]”)
- The Historical Context (”The forgotten origin of [concept]”)
- The Comparative Analysis (”I tested 5 approaches, here’s what won”)

**Output Format**

For each of the 5 story wrapper angles, structure your response as follows:

**Angle [Number]: [Hook/Angle Name]Narrative Wrapper:**

[2-3 sentences explaining the overarching story structure and why it works for this audience]

**How the Promotion Fits:**

[2-3 sentences showing specifically how your promotional content integrates naturally within this narrative without feeling forced]

**Suggested Subject Line/Title:**

[One compelling subject line or title that captures the angle and creates curiosity]

**Rules**

Ensure each angle feels editorially legitimate and passes the “would I click this even if I knew nothing about the product?” test. Each wrapper should be distinctly different from the others, covering varied emotional and intellectual entry points. The promotional element should feel like a natural component of the story, not the forced conclusion. Prioritize angles that align with what my specific audience cares about based on the information provided. Avoid generic marketing language—write titles and descriptions that sound like content from trusted publications or creators in my space.

One last thing:

The goal here is to give your reader a reason to care about your email beyond “I’m selling something.”

Eddie’s AI tutorial is genuinely useful. The Zippo fish story was genuinely entertaining. The Dale Carnegie ad genuinely taught influence principles. Your story wrapper should deliver value and not just be a clever disguise for a sales pitch.

If you do it right, people will thank you for the content AND consider buying what you’re selling.

That’s when you know you’ve nailed it.

Chat soon,

—Dickie & Cole

Co-Founders of Ship 30 For 30

Co-Founders of Premium Ghostwriting Academy

Co-Founders of Typeshare

Co-Founders of Write With AI

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PS…Whether you are selling your own products, providing services, or just creating content, copywriting can help you get more attention and put more money in your pocket.

And if you’re interested in knowing how to get more mileage out of your writing…

Click the link below:

The Copywriting Leverage Formula