Dan Nelken

Senior Copywriter

Nelken Creative

Author of A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters, Creative + Brand Consultant for Hire, Available for talks + workshops.

Author | Speaker | Brand Consultant

Creative Director

lululemon

I've been a bit of a Swiss Army Knife for lululemon. I've acted as a bridge between strategy and creative to help articulate the brand's overall positioning as they take aim at some big, humongous goals. I've been a creative lead on several global marketing campaigns and most recently helped launch them into a completely new category (lululemon selfcare). The work's been great but it doesn't hold a candle to the amazing people the brand attracts and grows. Free fitness classes don't hurt either.

Creative Lead/Copywriter

Arrivals + Departures

Worked closely with the creative and strategic leadership teams to create brand campaigns for their most important clients.

Freelance Associate Creative Director

Grumo Media

During my time at Grumo Media we helped start-ups all over the world, and a handful of Fortune 500 companies, tell their stories in the form of fun, playful animated videos. These videos played a small role in helping so many genius founders raise over a billon (raises pinky to mouth) dollars collectively.

The Goat Farm

Founder + Creative Director

TBWA\Vancouver

Cossette Communication-Marketing

Copywriter

I lead talks and workshops on professional creative development.

This journey started with me writing and then self-publishing the book, A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters, one many call a "modern classic".

In the last few years, I've given talks to several of the world's best creative, schools, ad agencies and brands (lululemon, Mattel, North Face, Arla Foods, Nutrafol, Whirlpool and more).

In 2024 alone, I've been a keynote speaker at CopyCon, the American Writers and Artists Institute, the Frontier Summit, and several others.

My online course, Writing Under Pressure has been taken by over 800+ creatives from the world's top brands and agencies.

“When you need insight, intelligence and inspiration for your creative team—bring in Dan.” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

“A notebook full of notes! Really down-to-earth, easy-to-follow presentation. Wouldn’t mind having him back again” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

"Dan’s course is the difference between “the client wants more options” and “the client can’t pick a favourite. If you suffer from the cramps of crossed fingers or the pinch of prayer beads in your palm, this is how to reclaim your confidence." ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

“The only course I’ve taken and blown through front-to-back. Dan just gets it!!!” - Harry Dry, Marketing Examples.com ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

For talks, creative development for your team, and/or group access to the online course, send me a DM or email dan@nelkencreative.com

Kevin Casey

Account Director and some other wild titles

Cal LeGrow Insurance & Financial Group

 Partner

Senior VP, Sales and Marketing

The Idea Factory

A group of 20+ wildly passionate marketers who love partnering with clients who want to stop being just average and ready to truly stand apart of the sea of sameness out there. While we plant ourselves in historic downtown St. John's - 40% of our revenue is from clients outside the province. We love to live here, but ready to put our fingerprints anywhere on the planet. That's the world we live in.  No Boundaries.

Co-Founder and Director

Labatt Breweries of Canada

Managed marketing and promotional activities for Newfoundland and Labrador including leading launch of Bud and Bud Light brands to the marketplace.

Marketing Manager

M5 Marketing Communications

Started working with Market Quest Research for 2.5 years and then worked with provincial and regional clients from Credit Unions to beer to car dealers - managing with a great team of talent fully integrated campaigns.

14 (un)conventional principles to reduce sales anxiety & increase sales.→ (un)selling® → the book → the page has turned.

READ THIS FIRST: 

I don’t teach pressure, convincing, or chasing. 
If that’s what you want, I’m not your guy.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Let’s be real…

If sales makes you sweat, stall, or want to disappear into a cave—you’re not broken. 

You’re just not wired for boiler room tactics.

I help entrepreneurs who hate selling...stop hating it.

No fake urgency. No pushy scripts. No pretending to be someone you’re not.

I grew my first agency from a basement to $5M+ using zero cold calls. 

Then tripled the market value of an insurance brokerage by teaching the team how to sell like humans, not robots.

In my spare time, I coach founders and solo business owners how to get more yes’s—without chasing, begging, or burning out.

Join 3,000+  and get my free “Sunday Espresso Shots” at www.kevincasey.ca/unselling

Partner

Year 25 as a business owner.

2 “hell yeahs.”
7 “oh, f*cks.”

Still all in.

Which square are you today?

Kevin  Casey 

Hate Selling? Helping Anxious Entrepreneurs Land More Clients Without Cold Calling | Best-Selling Author of (Un)Selling | I don’t teach pressure, convincing, or chasing. If that’s what you want, I’m not your guy.

Salespersoon: spends 40 minutes crafting the epic narrative email. 

Prospect: sees the preview, declares time of death, moves on with life.

———————————————————-

Nobody’s reading your 9-paragraph confession. 

You get 60 words to make their brain itch… after that, your email’s not outreach, it’s a eulogy.

#deadonarrival
#unselling

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Entrepreneurs and Founders...

If you need to follow up 9 times, you don’t have a buyer.

You have a hostage. 

If selling feels like a hamster wheel, you’re not growing a business.

You’re doing cardio for strangers. 🥵

Here’s the insanity loop most founders get stuck in 
👇

→ Make a call
→ Hope you don’t get hung up on
→ Force fake small talk about the weather
→ Ask 1–2 weak softball questions
→ Get grilled for free advice
→ Vomit answers to feel smart
→ Then cave in and put all the vomit in writing
→ Log it in as a “lead” (when it's really a "lie")
→ Call
→ Chase
→ Chase more
→ Borderline stalk
→ Convince yourself it’s “relationship building”
→ Hope
 → Pray
 →Repeat

*No thanks.*

That’s how good humans start to hate selling.

It drains your dignity. 

It trains prospects to see you as a vending machine.

Here’s the (un)Selling path instead:

👉 Connect only with people who are highly likely to have the pain you solve

👉 Drop an illumination hook that joins a secret conversation going on in their head so clearly they flinch a little

👉 Tease a hypothesis of how you solved that problem for people like them and then poke the bear a little

👉 Make it clear that this isn't for everyone -  invite them to say 'no' - and declare you might say 'no' also. 

👉 If the pain is real and the stakes are high enough, then continue

👉 Decide next step: Nurture, Continue, or Run like hell. 

No chasing. No weirdness. 

Doing less, Getting more. 

_________________________________________________________________

P.S. Full disclosure: (un)selling is 411 pages. It won’t fit in a stocking unless you upgrade your fireplace, but it's still on Amazon and hated by delivery drivers globally. https://geni.us/unselling

Our Dog Bella. 

Cute to Cujo in seconds.

Desperately trying to inhale one pasta strand is every needy salesperson ever.

Pawing. Lunging. Eyes locked on the noodle like rent is due.

That’s how those 'fast closes' and empty "checking in" and "circling back" attempts feel to the prospect.

Prospects smell the hunger.

And they pull back.

Calm sellers don’t worship one noodle.

They make more pasta.

An abundance mindset. 

Detach from the outcome.

#unselling

taplio

The Battle

Dan Nelken

Kevin Casey

Followers

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Performance ScoreKevin Casey's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Dan Nelken

Kevin Casey

Followers

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);}Kevin Casey's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreKevin Casey's LinkedIn Performance