The Promise
April 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
*** The Promise… and Why It’s a Lie
*** You’ve Been Framed… (Now What?)
*** Two “Rules” for Turning the Promise on Its Head
— Special Offer —
“Experience is NOT the best teacher because the tuition is too high. Learn from other people’s experience!”
-Cavett Robert
Founder of the National Speakers Association
Want one-on-one help to grow YOUR copywriting business?
———————
Dear Copywriter,
I can be a pretty naive person sometimes.
You see, I have this nasty habit of actually believing what people tell me. Now as a personal quality, I imagine it’s not such a bad thing. But as a business skill, it’s been a huge (and expensive) liability.
Here’s just one example…
It has to do with something I call, “The Promise.”
The Promise… and Why It’s a Lie
I’ve fallen for “the promise” time and time again.
“The Promise” is the name I’ve given to those times when you discount your copywriting services in return for “the promise” of future business.
Your client says something like, “If this works out well, I have A LOT more work to send your way. Consider that when you send me your quote.”
So you offer a discount in exchange for the future work. You feel good. Your client gets what he wants. Everyone’s happy.
But here’s the real question:
What is the value of something that doesn’t yet exist?
Just how valuable IS the “future work” that you don’t have yet? The “future projects” that don’t exist?
Can you pay your bills with that?
Can you feed your children?
And what happens when that “future work” doesn’t show up for 9 months?
Sometimes it takes that long. And other times the future work just vanishes…
Frankly, the only reason I’ve ever discounted my services is because I was SCARED. Scared of losing the business. And by doing that I violated a very important “rule of business” we’ll get to in just a moment.
But first, here’s the reason that “discounting” creates a problem that is actually much much worse than the dollar value of your discount.
What might not be obvious is that along with your agreement to accept “the promise” and provide a discount, something else ALSO happened.
Here’s what happened:
You’ve Been Framed
You’ve been framed as a discounter. Deep in the dark corner of your client’s mind, their perception of you has forever shifted.
And whether or not you realize it, you’ve set the expectation in your client’s mind about what it means to do business with you.
You’ve planted the seed in their mind that discounts are possible. That it’s possible to have you give them “free money” without offering anything in return.
And the question they’ll be asking themselves from this point forward is, “Just how low will he go?”
Once you’ve been framed, it’s very difficult to alter that perception in your client’s mind.
Now let me be clear here…
It’s not really discounting that’s the problem. Discounting CAN be a very powerful tool in your business bag of tricks. You just have to use it in a smart way.
The problem though is that many times, copywriters discount their services without getting anything CONCRETE in return. That shifts the scales and makes the overall value exchange completely lopsided. And when the value exchange is lopsided, you hurt your credibility, your bottom line and your prospects of future business.
You’re in effect moving BACKWARDS in your business.
How do you discount your services in a way that actually helps you?
How to “Discount” Your Services
and Make MORE
So what do you do the next time your client says, “How about a discount?”
The first thing you do is wake-up and realize that there are more than two answers to this question. Yes or No are NOT your only options.
A better option is to use that question as YOUR cue to get creative.
If there is future work, how about offering a 25% discount in exchange for payment for the next project NOW?
That’s a real value exchange. The client gets their discount. You get a boost to your cashflow.
The bottom line is really very simple:
Never EVER screw up the value exchange in a business relationship. If you give something, ask for something. It doesn’t always have to be dollars and cents. It could be specific payment terms (upfront payment) or it could be something else.
Where you get into trouble is when you offer a concession to your client (lower price, etc.) WITHOUT receiving anything in return. As nice as that sounds, it’s a business killer.
Here are my two mantras for EVERY client negotiation. These are the two things I repeat to myself over and over until I FEEL them.
1. I don’t need the business.
2. I don’t need the money.
I’m not playing make believe here and suggesting you go around chanting phrases like “I’m rich, unlimited money is flowing to me” even if you’re struggling to keep the lights on.
That’s crazy talk.
I simply use these two ideas to keep me from making stupid decisions when I’m talking with prospects.
If those two mantras are TRUE, would you EVER find it necessary to discount ANYTHING in return for the promise of future work?
No… there’d be no logical reason to. Unless you were making a deliberate choice to do it for no other reason than to be NICE.
Those two phrases will keep you out of trouble and they’ll keep your focus in business where it should be: on the exchange of REAL value between you and your clients.
Interview with AWAI Executive Director Katie Yeakle
April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today’s interview is with Katie Yeakle, Executive Director of American Writers and Artists Inc. in Delray Beach Florida.
Katie works with people from all walks of life who are looking to leave the rat race behind and live “the writer’s life” as freelance direct response copywriters and artists.
Since 1997, Katie and AWAI have helped thousands of people with no prior writing experience successfully launch freelance writing and graphic design careers and prosper in the $1.8 trillion direct response industry.
(I’m one of them…)
I recorded this interview for Copywriter Catalog… so the focus is really on helping business owners find and work with freelance copywriters…
But Katie also has tips for freelance copywriters as well… including her best advice for finding clients and getting noticed. And some ideas about what to charge.
Get a pen and some paper and enjoy the interview…
The Land Deal: Turning a Mole Hill into a Mountain
April 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
*** Why Prospects “Lie”
*** “The Question” and One Way to Answer It
*** What Clients Really Want
— Special Offer —
The rumors are true…
There IS a lot of money to be made as a freelance copywriter. But the folks spreading the rumors probably aren’t going to be the ones to pay you the big dollars.
But there are plenty of other clients who will. You just have to find them…
Here’s how… click here
———————
Dear Copywriter,
It cost me about $.87 on Google AdWords to get the phone call from my prospect in the land business. We’ll call him LS…
“I’m looking for someone to help me get my website going. I need someone to rewrite it so that it makes sense.”
That’s how the whole adventure began.
That “adventure” is how an investment of $.87 turned into a $1,000 project and then into a $14,000 project + 5% commission. (We’re talking about 5% on high ticket items here–anywhere
between $10,000 and $250,000.)
Funny thing is, it all began with my prospect telling a “lie.”
Why Prospects “Lie”
In my experience, here’s a shortlist of why prospects “lie.” I’m not saying they do it intentionally (although some probably do), but the end result is the same either way. You don’t get the truth.
So here are three reasons why prospects might “lie” to you:
1. They don’t know you.
2. They don’t trust you.
3. They don’t know enough to understand what the truth is.
In LS’s case, he didn’t know enough to ask for what he wanted.
He was just trying to find someone to rewrite his website. He explained to me that he knew the internet was going to be a powerful way to expand his business, but his current results were nonexistent. His website was just sitting there.
So he asked me for a quote. How much would it cost to redo it?
I said… “What does redo it mean to you?”
He said, “I mean rewrite it.”
“What makes you think that’s going to make any difference?” I asked…
He didn’t have a good answer.
And that’s how it began. With QUESTIONS.
The answers to those questions are what you turn into gold. In this case, LS’s answers to my questions gave me a good idea about how to proceed.
The thing is, he needed to understand just how much money he was leaving on the table (millions) and get some sort of clear plan for how to reclaim some of it.
I offered to show him how to do it in the form of a “Marketing
Plan.”
He paid $875 for the Marketing Plan I created.
He wanted that for f*ree… so that’s when he asked me… THE QUESTION.
“So why should I keep talking to you and not the other copywriters on my list?”
One Way to Answer “The Question”
I paused for a minute, and gave my answer: “I’m not sure that you should be talking to me.”
[This space left blank to represent the long pause where I bit my tongue hard enough to keep from making a stupid mistake by talking.]
Okay… well I’ll send the $875 via Paypal today.
And that’s how the whole thing got started.
After the “Marketing Plan” came the proposal to implement the Marketing Plan…
In the end, the project fee was $14,000 + $875 (for the Marketing Plan) + 5% of the new business I generated.
Here’s what I learned:
What Clients Really Want
The thing is, rewriting a website isn’t a high value project.
That’s what LS said he needed. But that’s not what I sell. And in the end, that’s not what he wanted either.
Here’s what he wanted:
1. He wanted to stop having to work so hard to turn prospects into clients.
2. He wanted to have some form of leverage in his business so that he didn’t have to be 100% responsible for every dollar that walked through the door.
3. He wanted a plan to ensure he wouldn’t have to run the business for the rest of his life in order to make money.
That’s what he bought. He bought the hope that I could create the systems to deliver those kinds of results.
If you think you’re just a copywriter, think again. That might be what you think you’re selling, but that’s probably not what your clients are buying.
Finding the Right Copywriting Clients: Some Target Practice
April 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
When I first started my freelance copywriting and marketing business, I really had no clue what I was doing…
You THINK I’m just saying that. Trust me… I’m NOT.
Again and again, I’d invest my marketing dollars, time and effort chasing after prospects who had no business becoming my clients.
I did this for two main reasons:
1. I didn’t know EXACTLY what I was looking for.
2. I had no filters in place to qualify my prospects. I was the filter by default. [BAD MOVE]
So when I finally got my act together, I developed a few tools that do the filtering FOR me.
I’m going to show you just one of them.
And that’s the purpose of this message. To get you thinking about how YOU can develop some of your own tools.
Of course, now things are different. Prospects pretty much have a very clear idea of what I’m about and what I offer… from the very beginning.
How do they get that idea?
I tell them straight up… I TELL them what type of client I’m looking for.
So visit this page and turn up your speakers… you’ll see just one of the tools I’ve developed to help with my “filtering.”
Again, don’t just copy it. Not because I really care, but because you’ll be shortchanging yourself…
You need to create what works for YOU.
But here’s a start to get your brain cranking…
http://www.businessofcopy.com/targetpractice
Ever Had a Copywriting Prospect Who Disappeared?
April 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today’s tip is about something that can absolutely kill your copywriting business, not to mention your morale.
And that is WAITING for your clients.
Here’s what I mean.
Just a few months ago, I had a “client” on whom I was waiting for $16,000.
The check or wire was coming. That’s what I was told.
Now maybe when I’m a multi-millionaire, $16,000 will barely be a blip on the radar. But for now, it still gets my attention.
So I called. I wrote…
“Are we moving forward?” I asked?
“Yes… just give me a few days…” comes the reply.
So my question to you is:
Who’s acting like the idiot here?
The thing is, I can listen to what he says or I can watch what he does. If the check shows up, it shows up. If it doesn’t it doesn’t.
Gotta move on. There’s other money to be made.
And here’s the lesson to take away from my “client.”
You control what you put in to your business. You don’t necessarily control what comes out. So don’t beat yourself up.
Stay emotionally detached from the results. It’s important when results are bad. And even more important when they are good.
Focus on keeping your lead generation system humming. Keep creating new leads. And never, ever get emotionally connected to the outcome of ANY of them.
Stop waiting, keep moving… your success is out there.
It’s About Leverage
April 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Busy day… I’ve got a lot of projects going and a lot of balls in the air.
And that got me to thinking. Just how big can a copywriting business grow with only 24 hours in a day?
And what happens if you actually get all the business you can handle (and more)?
What happens when a good month comes along and you close tens of thousands of dollars of business?
Sure it’s nice to pay the bills… until you start to pay the bills. Then the next hurdle isn’t about making the money, it’s about how you make the money.
But even if you’re just starting out, there’s no reason you can’t plan well from the beginning. That way, once your copywriting business starts to grow, you won’t be scrambling to figure out how to fit it all in.
So what’s your strategy for dealing with business overload (even if it’s not a reality for you yet)?
Well, you can stay up till midnight writing (I did last night) and you can be up the next morning at 5 to do some more (I did that this morning).
The point of telling you that isn’t to impress you or show you how busy I am. You see…
I Don’t Really Consider That
a Badge of Honor
I kind of consider it proof that I still have growing to do when it comes to being a smart business person.
Now some copywriters will recommend that an overload of work means you should raise your prices until some of the business disappears. While I think that’s fine in the short term, overall it’s a pretty short sighted strategy.
You’re not really solving anything… you’re just prolonging the inevitable.
And you’re still trading time for dollars. You’re just getting more dollars.
Success in business is about leverage. It’s about accomplishing more by investing less time and effort.
That’s something I’m working on… 
But I’d like to introduce you to someone who has the whole concept down pat. And someone who’s been using leverage successfully for years.
You’ll hear various gurus pop up now and then reselling his strategies that have trickled down over the years. One just popped up with a new program about this a few months ago.
But he’s where it all started.
In fact, he’s the guy that mentored Jay Abraham when he was struggling.
If you haven’t read this before, here’s a guy who knows about leverage.
His Name is Harvey Brody
He doesn’t make his money copywriting… even though he is a proven copywriter.
Harvey makes his money by working ONCE and getting paid over and over again… for years.
Well, I think he worked a few decades ago anyway.
Now he literally gets paid without working.
You can download an interview with him at the bottom of this post.
Listen to the interview, then ask yourself, “How can I apply this idea to my copywriting business?”
Be sure to write down whatever ideas come up.
My First Copywriting Client
April 10, 2008 | 3 Comments
I’m sure you’ve heard the stories.
- I made $300,000 my FIRST year as a freelance copywriter.
- You can become wealthy by writing a simple letter just like this one.
- All you need to do is BELIEVE. If you’re not seeing success, you just aren’t believing ENOUGH.
- I used to clean up after dogs at the kennel… but now, only a year later, I’m living on the ocean in a beachfront mansion! All thanks to my copywriting business. And you can do it too!
Bull SH(*@#!
My first months in the copywriting business are still clear enough in my head to remind me what a load of junk that is.
And let me tell you, in my experience, a new freelance copywriting business just doesn’t start out that way.
You start where you ARE. You leverage what you’ve GOT. (Sometimes, that’s not much.) And you build from there.
Almost everyone I know who “blasted off to success” in the copywriting world got there because of who they KNEW, not what they could DO.
It’s like that in just about every industry I’ve ever experienced. And if you’re older than 12 years old, then you’ve probably experienced the same thing.
Here’s an example…
When I got out of college with a degree in Pipe Organ Performance (don’t laugh), I was told I had such “potential.”
And I did. I won national music competitions. Beating out folks almost TWICE my age and experience.
If you’re curious, here’ a clip of me playing a live recital with my wife in NYC. She’s playing the oboe, I’m playing the harpsichord.
Big Deal…
It didn’t pay the bills. Not the bills I had. Like the $100,000 tab for my “priceless” education.
Because when I got out into the real world, I realized something shocking about the “music business.”
It wasn’t the best player that got the job.
It was the best CONNECTED player that got the job.
And the copywriting world is similar…
So let me tell you about my first paying “copywriting” client. I want to give you a dose of MY reality. To show you where I started.
I had no connections and little experience.
And if you’re starting from square one, it should make you feel pretty good. And that’s the point.
So what did I deliver to my first PAYING copywriting client?
- I wrote 2 sales letters (about 15 pages each).
- I coded a website and membership system (I’m a former geek. Shhhh…)
- I spent HOURS on the phone consulting on internet marketing.
My fee?
A whopping $3,200.
Payable in INSTALLMENTS
Why was the fee so low? Why were the payment terms so terrible (for me)?
Because I didn’t have the balls to ask for anything more than that.
Instead of asking for a fee that was in line with the VALUE I was delivering, my fragile self-esteem asked for a fee I thought would be accepted.
My goal was to avoid conflict, not make money. Big mistake.
Listen up…
This is business. You don’t become a millionaire overnight. You don’t develop a network of connections overnight. You don’t become a master of your craft overnight.
It takes time.
But the good news is, you can start NOW. You can start from WHEREVER you are… at this very moment.
All you need is DESIRE and a little GUTS.
I didn’t have much more than that at the beginning. Heck, I didn’t even have guts.
But I figured it out… and you can too.
You just have to take one step at a time.
Your Problem Clients: Use Them to Your Advantage
April 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
How many “problem” clients do you have?
You know, the ones that call all the time. The ones that are never satisfied. The ones that always pay you late…
Well, my problem clients used to annoy me.
Until I discovered how to turn them into real opportunities to improve my business and my income.
I do it by using a muscle I don’t pay nearly enough attention to… at all.
In fact, it’s probably the least used muscle in most people’s bodies.
Actually, it’s not really a muscle. It’s a whole lot more powerful than that.
What I’m talking about is your IMAGINATION.
And not many people have one these days. Even fewer people use the one they’ve got.
After all, we weren’t taught to have an imagination. We were taught NOT to have one.
“Look at what everyone else around you is doing and act accordingly.”
“Don’t step out of line.”
“Make sure you fit in.”
Little did anyone know that those are the absolute worst skills for business. Sure, you’ll blend in… and go broke in the process.
And without an imagination, you’ll be stuck working for problem clients for a very long time.
So how do you use your imagination to uncover the opportunity hiding in your problem clients?
Simple.
Every time you figure out you’re working with a “problem client,” you simply ask yourself this question:
“What would my business have to look like to make sure this never happens again?”
Then just let your imagination go. If you work on it, you’ll find your answer.
It sounds very simple. Almost too simple. And it is. But it is also extremely powerful.
Here’s a quick example from my own business.
NOTE: My example has to do with a prospect, not a client. I don’t want to give you any ideas about my problem clients, simply because I don’t want to influence YOUR imagination about how to deal with yours.
Your imagination will come up with the right solution for you.
So back to my example…
One of the things that really makes me mad, is when a prospect strings me along for weeks before making a decision about a proposal I’ve submitted.
Common sense will tell you that stuff like this is simply the cost of doing business. I choose to ignore common sense. Dealing with time wasting prospects simply isn’t how I’m going to run my business.
So it finally hit me one day that this was my fault. It was my fault for putting up with lazy behavior like this on the part of my prospect.
He contacted me. I gave him the information he wanted. It was time for a decision. But no decision happened… I called, I wrote. Nothing.
So I sat down and used my imagination to come up with a solution to keep this from happening.
Here’s what I do now:
My goal with a prospect is to get a decision. It is not to sell.
I have a time table I follow to get the decision. And I make it clear when I want the decision and what will happen if I don’t get one.
I make it clear I don’t really care what the decision is. Either way, I’m moving forward and working with someone.
That’s a small example, but hopefully you can use it to get your imagination going.
You can make your own “problem clients” a thing of the past.
Just fire up your imagination. Imagine your business without them. Then take the steps you see in your mind to create that business.
And if you think you’re putting your imagination to its fullest use in your business…
I’m confident you haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.
Because once you do, your true genius will make its way out into the world. And once that happens, you’ll be unstoppable.
Now imagine that.
When Copywriters Collide: My “Meeting” with Copywriter Ray Edwards
April 4, 2008 | 1 Comment
About two weeks ago, I was in Sedona for the day, hanging out at my portable office in the picture there (also known as the nearest coffee shop with internet access).
I was standing at the counter waiting for some caffeine and a hunk of sugar cleverly disguised as an apple danish… That’s when I looked over my shoulder and saw copywriter Ray Edwards right there in the middle of the coffee shop.
Turns out, we were sharing offices for the morning.
But Ray doesn’t live in Sedona, or anywhere close. He’s on a month long “mini-work-vacation” in Sedona. He picked a good time to come too… it’s beautiful there right now.
We sat and talked for a bit and when I left, I got to thinking about just how great this business really can be.
And here’s the biggest reason why it’s so great:
There is no better freedom than being able to decide how each and every minute of your day is spent.
That’s the life of a freelance copywriter. Sure you can get busy. You can have deadlines hanging over your head almost every day of the week… but you choose to have those deadlines. You can always undo that choice.
Sure, millions of dollars in your bank account is nice. Nice cars, a nice house (or three of them)… Maybe that stuff is nice. I don’t know… it’s not my top priority.
But I think it all pales in comparison to what it means to be in control of your time.
After all, that’s the only real asset each of us has. And it’s priceless.
Another Way to Get Copywriting Clients
April 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment
If you’re looking for a way to get copywriting clients contacting YOU, take a look at Copywriter Catalog. A lot is happening over there right now… including a huge change. Instead of a month to month subscription, you pay one fee for an entire year.
So the question is: “Does it work?”
Here’s what one subscriber has to say:
“I was delighted to discover a service dedicated to helping copywriters market themselves. I signed up without hesitation and landed a client within two weeks of signing up. I’m very impressed with the Copywriter Catalog and Jason’s business model.”
Anita Ashland
Freelance Copywriter
See My Copywriter Catalog Profile
Get all the info at Copywriter Catalog
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