It’s About Value
May 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
*** Who Pays This Kind of Money for Copywriting?
*** This Isn’t Smoke and Mirrors
*** If Someone Dropped Gold on Your Doorstep, Would You Know?
— Special Offer —
This is your last chance… to invest $47 in your copywriting business education and get an IMMEDIATE return on your investment of $400. Some people have called me crazy for ever offering that in the first place. I may be crazy… but in about 16 hours, I’m “coming to my senses” and taking it off the table.
So there are only a few hours left before the “complimentary month of mentoring” (a $400 value) disappears from the offer.
Most of my mentoring clients have their worlds turned upside down (in a good, painless and profitable way), during the first few weeks.
So you’re going to see results fast… if you take action.
———————
Dear Copywriter,
So today’s issue is about one of the only things that matters to your success as a freelance copywriter. (Well, except for writing good copy of course…)
How to get compensated for the VALUE you deliver to your clients.
You can be the best copywriter in the world, but no matter how many homeruns you hit (by luck or by skill), you’ll most likely struggle if you don’t get the VALUE thing down pat.
So let’s jump in…
Who Pays This Kind of
Money for Copywriting?
When I got started in freelance copywriting, I always wondered how the heck people were charging $10,000… $20,000 and more for a salesletter.
“What type of client PAYS that kind of money? And where are they hiding?”
And then things even got weirder…
Because I started running into those same clients. Clients who’d tell me they paid a well known copywriter $20,000 or so… the promotion FLOPPED and the copywriter blamed the client.
“How are they getting away with this?” That was my next question…
The answer to BOTH questions is the little secret not too many people seem to be preaching. And it’s the whole reason I started this business.
It’s just like my former life as a musician.
The best players didn’t get the best jobs. The best “players of the political game” did.
I hated it. And that’s why I left. Not because I couldn’t play the game (OK… I couldn’t at first.), but more because I hated HAVING to play the game.
I either learned how to play the system or I’d spend my life getting PLAYED by the system.
Well this copywriting business is DIFFERENT. One of the greatest things about it is that YOU can create your OWN system. And in your system, people play by YOUR rules.
I like that 
But there are certain rules that will raise your income and certain rules that will keep it low.
And the biggest rule for MAXIMIZING your income is to develop your skill at communicating the VALUE of your services to your clients.
This Isn’t Smoke and Mirrors
I’m not talking about learning how to milk your clients for a big one-time payday.
You might make some money, but that’s hardly a way to build a stable copywriting business.
You need clients who come back again and again. You need clients who hire you 10, 20 or even 30 times…
To do that you need to DELIVER consistently.
That’s how you create wealth in this business.
BUT… what I’m talking about here is getting that FIRST sale. The FIRST time you get hired by a client (unless you’re a big name), something extra is required.
That something is your SELLING skills.
You use those skills to build value.
Because your fees will depend DIRECTLY on your ability to build the value of what you offer in the MIND of your prospects.
If Someone Dropped Gold on Your
Doorstep, Would You Know?
Would you know if someone dropped an ounce or two of gold on YOUR doorstep?
What if that gold was in the shape of a bottle cap… and what if it was covered with DIRT?
Would you know just how valuable that little piece of gold really is?
Probably not.
In this case, the “gold” is YOU… a copywriter.
It’s your responsibility to communicate the VALUE you’re delivering to your client.
If you don’t do it, no one else well. And you’ll end up getting peanuts for your gold.
So how do you communicate value?
Take my “special offer” up at the beginning of this letter. I could have just said, “Look… you buy my book, you get free mentoring. That IS in fact what you’re getting.
And a lot of copywriters say that very thing to their clients. “I’ll write a salesletter for you for $X and I’ll even throw in an extra ______.”
But that’s really shortchanging yourself and your clients.
Back to my example…
You want value… and a return on your money.
So to communicate that, I put the value details in black and white.
You invest $47… you get an IMMEDIATE return on your money of $400 because THAT’S the market value of the complimentary mentoring.
(Not to mention the pay raise you’re going to get when you start selling VALUE.)
But to start talking with your clients in VALUE terms, you need to get the right information to make your case.
For starters… you need to know where they are now in their business (in dollars and cents) and where they’re going (in dollars and cents).
You’re part of how they’re going to get to their goal. But you have to communicate just how VALUABLE the role you play really is.
That takes practice and creativity.
So who pays $25,000 to a copywriter WITHOUT a big name… WITHOUT any controls?
The client who perceives that his investment of $25,000 has a good chance of returning many times that investment.
Where does that perception come from?
It comes from YOU.
The Moneymaking Scale
May 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment
*** Where Do You Weigh In?
*** It’s NOT About the Writing
*** Why Copywriters Are Nuts
— Special Offer —
Copywriting is one lonely profession. So wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place that brought all of the professional direct response copywriters together? A place that kept copywriters on their toes and gave them access to expert knowledge from big name copywriters… plus a bunch of other benefits?
Wouldn’t it be nice if something like that existed?
Well now it does:
———————
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.
Will You Know It When You See It?
May 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
*** A Ship Without a Harbor
*** Bugs on the Windshield
*** Goals Aren’t Forever
— Special Offer —
I only have 3 spots left for SERIOUS action takers who are ready to grow their freelance copywriting business:
———————
Dear Copywriter,
Do you know where you’re headed?
Will you know it when you get there?
What’s it going to look like?
What’s it going to feel like?
A Ship Without a Harbor
As the old saying goes, “When a person does not know what harbor he or she is making for, any wind will do.”
Even though I’ve only been freelancing a short while, I’ve run my business “without a harbor” for way too long.
I’ve let my client projects grow far too large in my mind… so large that making the project a success became my #1 goal.
Now I’m all for wowing your clients with great work and results… but I went further than that.
I lost track of the reality that any one client of mine is really only a stepping stone for me to reach my REAL goals. The BIG goals I’ve set for me, my business and my life.
But to reach those goals, I have to actually set some.
You see, for a while, my number one goal was to “get copywriting clients.”
But the longer I kept doing that, the less satisfied I felt.
Because “getting copywriting clients” really isn’t a goal. There’s no way to measure it and there’s no destination to arrive at. It never ends.
It’s just a continuous rat race for MORE.
I finally realized one day that I would NEVER reach that goal. And if I didn’t readjust, I’d spend my days chasing after something that really didn’t exist.
I’d keep running to get to a destination that wasn’t real.
“More Clients” ISN’T a destination.
Bugs on the Windshield
So I started setting some real goals. Not goals for the rest of my life, but goals for NOW. For the next 12 months. For the next 24 months.
This took time. And it took a lot of thought. Figuring out exactly what you REALLY want isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
But as I did that work, I realized there was another HUGE benefit to actually having some real goals:
The HUGE size of my real goals made all of my challenges, roadblocks and problems with my clients seem a whole lot smaller.
It made them seem like bugs on the windshield.
I saw them for what they were and I kept on trucking towards what I really wanted to achieve.
Goals Aren’t Forever
Here’s the best part about setting clear goals in your business:
You can always change them… at any time.
But specific goals give you structure. And they give you a VERY easy defense system to stay away from clients you shouldn’t be working with.
Here’s how it works:
For every client or new project that shows up on your doorstep, you just ask yourself this question:
“Will working with this client move me closer to my goal or farther from it?”
All you have to do is listen to your gut. It will tell you the right answer every time.
How much can I reasonably charge my client?
May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
That’s the question I got from one of my customers recently.
Here’s my answer:
Setting your fees can be challenging. Because for most people, the fees they set get all wrapped up in their self-confidence and what they feel they’re “worth.” I’ve done it. And in my opinion, it’s a huge mistake. And you’ll end up shortchanging yourself and anyone who depends on your support.
A simpler way to do it is to say, how much CAN I charge for this? Or how much do I want to make?
The worst your market can say is NO.
Sounds like you want $4,000 right now for a salesletter. So just ask for it. It’s not about what you’re worth at all. It’s about how much your CLIENT perceives your services will be worth to his business.
Running a business is a risk. Selling a product is a risk. You can’t accept responsibility for results you can’t ultimately control. That letter your wrote for the free trial. Maybe it was your letter… or maybe it was his product… could be either.
Be sure you watch the video on the businessofcopy.com homepage about the proposal. Using a proposal takes all of the fear out of setting fees because you THINK about it beforehand, then you prove that your argument is sound on paper.
You need to set your fees based on the argument you can make for what they are worth in the marketplace.
That’s simple business thinking. I’m not talking about trying to milk your client. But I AM talking about receiving as much money for your service as the market will allow.
Trust me, it’s no harder to sell a $10,000 salesletter than it is one for $1,000. You just get better clients when you charge more. That’s my experience.
Don’t shortchange yourself, even at the beginning. It won’t help anyone.
Good Luck!
Freelance Copywriters on Speed
May 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
*** How Do I Get Clients?
*** How Much Does It Cost to Wait for Success?
*** A Day in the Life of a Speed Addict
— Special Offer —
For less than your monthly Starbucks bill, you can get access to what took me a YEAR to learn about hitting six-figures as a freelance copywriter:
———————
Dear Copywriter,
The biggest question I get from subscribers of this e-letter, from my coaching clients and from customers who buy my copywriting guide is this one:
How Do I Get Clients?
Now I’m not sure what the “marketing gurus” would say about disappointing your readers so early in a newsletter, but I’ve never been one to go with the flow… so here’s my answer to that question:
There is no good answer to that question.
Here’s the reason.
I know how I get copywriting clients.
But I don’t know how you should get copywriting clients. Not without talking with you and/or working with you one on one.
And despite the fact that there are people out there happy to have you pay thousands of dollars to learn the “latest way” to get copywriting clients, there’s a good chance that their “system” simply won’t work… for you.
(But you won’t know that till after you spend the money.)
So instead of learning how to get copywriting clients, invest your resources to discover how you should do it for your business.
Some strategies I use to get copywriting clients simply won’t work for you. And vice versa…
Take posting on web forums as an example. I’ve never once gotten a client from any of the forums that I’ve ever visited or posted on.
For me, it’s just not effective.
Same with seminars.
I’ve only ever been to one. Probably won’t go to another one. Just not interested.
But that doesn’t mean it won’t be profitable for you to do those very same things.
You just have to find out… quickly.
And that brings us to the subject of today’s letter. It’s a subject that is responsible for more of my success than absolutely any other.
That subject is:
S-P-E-E-D
How Much Does It Cost
to Wait for Success?
I’m not talking about the drug. I’m talking about how fast you go from idea to action to proof that your idea is a winner or a dud.
How fast can you go through that process and how many times can you go through it at once?
Success is very expensive if you sit around waiting for it. But start your engine, particularly your marketing engine, and you can bring it to you a whole lot faster.
If it’s not happening for you online… if the clients aren’t calling, then get offline.
There’s a huge world outside of this little internet thing. A huge world filled with clients who wouldn’t know an internet guru if they slammed into one in broad daylight.
And these folks have businesses. REAL businesses. By that I mean they have more than a big list that they use to sell their friend’s cutting edge (recycled with a pretty face) marketing junk.
And these people are successful too. Often times far more successful (in money terms) than a “million dollar marketer” making 5 Million a year.
A lot of business owners in the “real world” make that amount of money without working… People like real estate investors, etc.
Different strokes for different folks.
The point is you’ve got to find what works for you and stop listening to the noise around you.
So here’s an example of SPEED from my own world:
A Day in the Life of a Speed Addict
I admit it.
I’m addicted to speed. I like to do a lot of things quickly. The only requirement is that I also have to do them well. No shoddy work for the sake of speed.
Here’s just one example.
(If you think I’m trying to impress you here, you haven’t been on this list long enough. Stick around… you’ll discover that’s not my style
The goal here is to open your mind and get it moving faster. Do that and your results will come… faster and BIGGER.
Take a minute to download this:
This is my monthly newsletter I send out to prospective clients. Every month it’s something different.
This went out last week.
I knew I’d be writing about this, so I timed the whole process. From idea, to layout, to printing, to folding, to stapling, to in the mail.
It took 6 hours 30 minutes (including putting on the postage). It would have been quicker, except my 3 year old son Egan went with me to the post office. And he insisted on putting the couple of hundred booklets in the box on his own. That slowed me down because he preferred to do it one at a time
All I needed for the project was this:
A pretty low-tech setup for 2008.
A printer, paper and some staples.
And out the door it went. Another “ball” that I hit up in the air to get some clients. After I was done with that, I started on another “ball.”
How many balls can you get up in the air?
The more the better, especially at the beginning. Pretty soon, you’ll notice the pattern. You’ll notice that some of your marketing efforts are easier, quicker and more effective than all the rest.
But you’ve got to try them all to figure that out.
Don’t wait. Get started today.
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.
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