The Moneymaking Scale

May 19, 2008

*** Where Do You Weigh In?

*** It’s NOT About the Writing

*** Why Copywriters Are Nuts

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Dear Copywriter,

If your copywriting business isn’t generating the type of income and lifestyle you want, then today’s issue of IN THE BANK could give you the reason why…

So let’s jump in and talk about the Moneymaking Scale.

Where Do You Weigh In?

Did you know there’s something called the “Moneymaking Scale?”

It’s not actually a scale of course. And the only place it really exists is in the minds of your prospects and clients.

But don’t let that fool you.

Because where you weigh in on the Moneymaking Scale has EVERYTHING to do with just how much money you make as a copywriter.

Here’s how this works:

On one end of the scale are your client’s expenses… the things that eat away at his profit. The things he doesn’t want to spend money on but does because they’re necessary.

On the other end of the scale is the income… the profit GENERATORS.

Where do YOU fall? Do you make your client money or do you cost him money?

What would HE say if someone asked him?

The big mantra from the gurus, of course, is that copywriters “make their clients money.” That’s why copywriters are so valuable, right?

Well that’s not been my experience with actual reality.

If that was really true, then why do so many clients pay copywriters PEANUTS?

Why do some BIG name mailers (I’d name them here but I don’t really want to get sued) pay copywriters “pennies” to write a salesletter?

Do you really think that it’s an equal value exchange for a company to pay a copywriter a few thousand dollars to help them make HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars?

Maybe… maybe not.

It’s not because the copywriter isn’t good that they get peanuts. And it’s NOT because the copywriter isn’t producing results.

It’s because the copywriter is positioned on the WRONG end of the Moneymaking Scale.

And it’s because you can find a competent copywriter almost anywhere these days.

But mostly, it’s because the copywriter is positioned as a COPYWRITER and not a MONEYMAKER.

It’s NOT About the Writing

Look… you can be the world’s number one copywriter (whoever that is).

But you’re STILL going to fail. You’re still going to write promotions that bomb. And you’re STILL going to miss the mark more times than you’ll hit homeruns.

Because in the end, the actual copywriting is only a SMALL piece of the puzzle.

(If you don’t believe me, that’s no problem. It just means that you’ve never actually put your money on the line to write a promotion for YOUR product.)

You’ve got to have the right product, with the right offer, aimed at the right group of buyers.

Business owners KNOW that.

Reminds me of the Bill Bonner (Agora Founder) quote where he said (I’m paraphrasing here…), “No one wakes up and says, ‘Honey, let’s buy some newsletters today.’”

Same with copywriters…

Business owners wouldn’t hire copywriters if they could get the job done some other way. And that’s because it’s not the copy that they’re after.

They’re after what the copy DOES. They’re after the SALES.

So why not cut to the chase and start talking about what your clients actually WANT?

They want sales. They want customers. How they get them is just a tool. Copywriting is just a TOOL.

Why Copywriters Are Nuts

I think most copywriters are nuts. (Present company INCLUDED.)

Because so many copywriters think that they’re selling copywriting services.

That’s what I was selling when I got started. And that’s what I was still selling months later, until I happened upon the truth.

Copywriting services are NOT what clients are buying.

At least that’s not what the GOOD clients are buying…

Here’s an email I got from a medium size mailer (we’re talking like 20 million in sales)

“If your price is too high, we’ll just go somewhere else…”

These folks hire a lot of copywriters. And now it’s clear exactly why they do that.

Because that one phrase shows their hand pretty clearly.

They throw stuff up against the wall and hope that some of it sticks. They’re dealing with such a volume of copy that they hire a ton of folks (pay peanuts) and make out VERY well every now and then.

That’s certainly good for them, but hardly the type of client I’m looking for long term.

They’re looking for COPYWRITERS, not Moneymakers.

Despite what you hear the gurus say (the ones who are trying to sell you a copywriting course), every business owner I’ve ever spoken to puts the “COPYWRITER” line item squarely in the EXPENSE column of their Profit and Loss Statement

At least at first…

And that’s because as valuable as the copywriting is, you can’t count money in the income column if it doesn’t exist yet.

So why do I feel that most copywriters are nuts?

Because most of them are limiting their prospects to people who are looking for COPYWRITERS.

Ah… the marketing gurus will tell you, “If you’re a copywriter, then don’t waste your time with folks who don’t already understand the value of a copywriter.”

That’s hogwash.

Pure frickin hogwash.

Clients don’t necessarily need to understand the value of copywriting to be great clients for you. They just need to understand what they’re willing to pay to get more SALES coming in the door.

The trick is to figure out how to position what you do so that it’s clear that you can help deliver what the client actually wants.