Dan Nelken

Senior 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

Author | Speaker | Brand Consultant

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

How I write posts that never fail.

I have brainwashed myself into believing my algorithm matters more than LinkedIn’s.

And my personal algorithm tells me every post is a winner.

I posted. That’s a win.

It helped someone. Win.

When people read my post and think to themselves, “Who TF does this Dan guy think he is?”, that’s also a win.

Or when I share a post and the response is crickets, that’s a win.

Because either of those last two reactions might make those people think, “Hell, if that Dan could do this, I could do this!”

And if anything I share (whether it’s good or bad) inspires someone to create for themselves and get over their (FOPO) fear of posting online, easy win.

Yes, I’ve had posts go viral, and I’ve made sales through posting on LinkedIn. But I’ve also made some pretty damn good friends. Like, real ones.

Oh, and there’s one other metric LinkedIn could never measure… if one day, my kids grow up and see how their old man put himself out there, maybe they’ll think to themselves, “If Dad could do that, I can do this.” 

And all of these things make it a no-brainer for me to continue creating here, there and everywhere.

I cannot lose.

So, embrace those likes or the absence of those likes and keep on truckin’.

Because understanding LinkedIn’s algorithm is important. But it sure as shit ain’t everything. 

P.S. To become a future unsubscriber to my newsletter, there’s a link around here somewhere.

Dan Nelken 

Kevin Casey

Account Director and some other wild titles

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.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

You didn't leave your corporate job to spend Sunday nights rewriting follow-up emails.

You left for freedom. For flexibility. For dinner with your kids without replaying a blown sales call in your head.

But somewhere along the way, "running your own business" turned into a second job you never wanted:
Salesperson.

The chasing. The "just checking in" emails. The proposals that disappear into silence. The pit in your stomach before every money conversation.

You're not broken. You're just using a playbook that was never built for people like you.

Here's what I know:

→ I grew my first agency from a kitchen table to $5M+ using zero cold calls.
→Then I tripled the market value of an insurance brokerage by teaching the team how to sell like humans — not robots.

Now I help kitchen-table entrepreneurs who are great at what they do but exhausted by the chase.

No pressure tactics. No fake urgency. No pretending to be someone you're not.

Just a way to land clients that doesn't make you hate yourself.

I'm not your guy if:

You want boiler-room tactics
You're looking for "one call close" scripts
You think sales is about convincing people

I am your guy if:

You'd rather attract than chase
You want to sell without selling out
You're done replaying conversations at 2am wondering what you said wrong

Want a taste?

Join 3,000+ kitchen-table entrepreneurs getting my free "Sunday Espresso Shots" at www.kevincasey.ca/unselling

Or grab my best-selling book (un)selling — it's the playbook I wish I had 20 years ago.

Partner

I had a half-baked idea collecting dust in my notes.

Stumbled upon this powerful AI prompt that puts Jobs, Musk, Bezos, Godin, and Sinek in a room together. 

Not to coach me. 

To fight about my idea. 🥊

Jobs called my idea boring. 

Bezos asked 3 questions that made me realize I was solving the wrong problem entirely.

10 minutes. No cost. 

Best meeting I've had all year.

The Billion Dollar Boardroom.

I recorded a short 'over-my-shoulder' video and you can grab along with the exact prompt to stress-test your own ideas.

Drop "Boardroom" in the comments. I'll fire it over. 

P.S.  We need to be connected for me to send it. Hit follow or connect if we're not already.

#unselling

Kevin  Casey 

You built a business. Ended up with a second job you hate: Salesperson. You can sell without begging, chasing, or hating yourself after. | Best-Selling Author of (un)selling

Let me tell you about the 11 seconds that won a presidential election.

It's October 1984.

Ronald Reagan just had a terrible first debate. 

He looked tired. Confused. Old.

He was 73. 

The Wall Street Journal ran the headline everyone was thinking:
"Is the oldest president fit for office?"

His advisors were panicking.

Then came the second debate. And the question everyone was waiting for.

"Mr. President — you are already the oldest president in history. Is age a concern?"

Every camera. Every reporter. Every voter watching at home.

This was the moment.

Reagan paused.

Then smiled.

"I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

The room exploded.

Mondale — the guy trying to beat him — laughed and shook his head.

He knew. 
Everyone knew. 
It was over.

In 11 seconds, Reagan took his greatest vulnerability and turned it into his greatest weapon.

Not with anger. 
Not with defense. 
Not with a 10-point rebuttal.
With humor.

I think about this every time I watch a salesperson panic when they get a tough objection.

"Your price is too high." 
"We're already working with someone." 
"Send me some info and I'll look at it."

These are just frames. They're not facts. They're positions.

And whoever controls the frame controls what happens next.

Most people fight the frame. That's a losing game.

The best? 
They flip it.
 With calm. 
With confidence. 
With a well-timed line that makes the other person smile.

Humor disarms. 
It resets the room. 
It says "I'm not threatened by this."

And when you're not threatened — neither is your prospect.
That's when real conversations start.

Reagan didn't need a better argument that night.
He needed better frame control.
So do you.

#unselling

I audited my team's follow-up emails.
Yikes. 😳
I owe about 200 people an apology. 

Turns out most follow-ups are just a polite version of:

🔴  "You ghosted me and I'm panicking."

That's not a follow-up. 

That's a pest control problem.
And you're the pest.

The ones that got ignored all had the same problem:

They were about US. 
Not THEM.

No new info. 
No value. 
No reason to reply.

So I built The Anti-Pest Follow-Up Filter.

Four gates before you hit send. 
Fail any gate? 
Rewrite it or kill it.

Your challenge:
→  pull up your last 2 follow-ups. 
→  run them through those 4 gates.

I bet this little test might hurt a little.

I turned this Anti-Pest Filter into a decision tree you can pin next to your screen.

Now here's where I'm supposed to say reply with "ANTI-PEST" in the comments and I'll DM it to you so I can harvest your reply like a farmer collecting LinkedIn leads in February.

Nah.🙅‍♂️

It's in the comments. 
No DM. 
No email sequence. 
No 47-step funnel.

Screenshot it. 
Print it. 
Tattoo it on your forearm.
Whatever works for you. 

Just stop sending pest emails. 🪳

#unselling

3 years. 
3,003 subscribers. 
My accountant has questions.🤔

Grant Cardone has 2.2 million.
Gary Vee has 10 million.
Grant also owns a private jet.

I drive a reliable Genesis.

And I couldn't care less.

Because every one of those 3,003 people is here for the same reason:

They want to land clients without begging, chasing, or pretending to be someone they're not.

That's the whole room.
And it's exactly the room I wanted to build when I wrote (un)selling in 2023.

4 quarters over 100 pennies.

Link below if you want in. No velvet rope. No waitlist. 👇

P.S. Not a course. Not a cohort. Thank f*ck. Just one free sales fix every Sunday — for 3,003+ founders who've decided selling doesn't have to feel gross. →

Open article: BREAK FREE FROM SALES ANXIETY by kevincasey.ca

🔴 The Prospect Bullsh*t Translation Guide.

WHAT THEY SAY → WHAT THEY REALLY MEAN

“Circle back next quarter.”  
→ I’ll have a restraining order by then.

“We're fine with our current provider.” 
→ We hate them, but change is scary and I’m tired.

“We’re not making any changes.”
→ We still fax things. Change might kill us.

“We’ll keep you in mind.”
 → Same way I keep kale in my fridge—until it rots.

“No budget this year.”
 → But I just got a $3K standing desk.

“This isn’t a priority.”
 → You’re just below “restock the Splenda.”

“I’m not the right person.”
 → But I’ll smile, nod, and suck 40 minutes from your soul.

“We’re researching.”
 → Free consulting, baby. Keep talkin’.

“We’re going in a different direction.”
 → Yeah… away from you.

The Way Out?

Embrace the No. 
Gently push for no.   
Invite no. 
Sifting > Selling. 

That’s not losing.
That’s selling like a grown-up.

#unselling

Leads vs Lies 

The day I stopped chasing every lead and started with a disqualifying first mindset everything changed.

Well, not right away.

At first it felt like I was quitting and leaving money on the table. 

I watched the “Cardone” salessluggers  out there grinding while I was disqualifying people, stress testing the truth and walking away.

But here’s what I didn’t expect:

✅The calls got easier.

✅The conversations got better 

✅ I reclaimed my dignity. 

Because when you’re not white-knuckling every opportunity, you show up differently.

You ask better questions. 
You actually listen. 
You stop performing and start connecting.
You make sure people feel comfortable telling you no.  
You even suggest it. 😱

And the prospects feel safe. 

They’re not being sold to. 
They’re being understood.

That’s the whole game.

I spent 12 years thinking I needed to hold on tighter.

Turns out the thing that was making sales hard was the “holding on.”

Let one go this week. 

On purpose.


#unselling

Detachment. 

A fancy word for not giving a f*ck. 

Took me 12 years and a therapy bill to figure that out that the secret to selling more is giving a f*ck less. 

P.S. 7,001 humans already tossed $25 into Jeff Bezo’s money money machine to learn how. → geni.us/unselling

taplio

The Battle

Dan Nelken

Kevin Casey

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreDan Nelken's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKevin Casey's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

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);}Dan Nelken's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreKevin Casey's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDan Nelken's LinkedIn Performance