Savoring downtime

Ahhh...the feeling of finishing the first draft of a letter I thought I'd never see done.

And three more projects on the burner this month.

Yesterday I worked a half-day. I turned off the computer after finishing that letter. I ordered in, read a book and watched a movie.

Today it's back to work. And, after taking a little time off, it's time to get into the next project while I wait for comments on the last one.

It's these times that make freelance copywriting so great. Time off without the anxiety of lack of work in the future. Plus royalties. Not too many writing genres offer perks like that, unless your last name is Salinger.

If you're having trouble finding clients, or if you're confused about the process of setting up shop in general, be sure to check out Freelance Writing Success in a Box (link in the sidebar). It will really help you get on your feet.

I wish I had it back in April when I quit my job to pursue freelance full-time. Freelance Writing Success in a Box has taken the mystery out of the process of finding clients and getting paid.

Have a great week.

Beyond marketing

Many of us fall into the trap of thinking that copywriting is all about making the sale.

That is only partially true. Sometimes our copy generates a lead. Other times a click. But copywriting is much more than that, also.

The best copywriting I've seen involves the reader in an intimate way and offers a solution to some real problem.

As copywriters, we have a responsibility to our clients, but also to our readers. When I first started, my sole allegiance was to my client, often creating for the reader a "need" that didn't exist. And sometimes I went to bed at night feeling as if I was trying to swindle someone's grandmother out of her social security check. I was glad to have writing work, but a voice nagged me that I was causing problems with my writing, not solving them.

Times have changed, and so have I. These days I try to engage the reader in a story and offer a solution to a real problem, not a fictional problem created solely to make money. The best way to do this is to be your customer -- only write for products you use yourself, or you would consider using if your situation were different. (I don't take arthritis supplements, for instance, though if I had arthritis I would certainly consider an alternative approach.)

Have a good day and be sure to wash behind your ears.

How your copywriting can save lives

You might have heard about the earthquake this fall in Pakistan. Over 80,000 people died. Nearly 3 million are homeless, with nowhere to go.

Winters in the high mountains of northern Pakistan are harsh, and I've seen estimates that as many as 1 million people are at risk of dying from exposure this year due to lack of shelter. The International Red Cross/Red Crescent has managed to put up about 40,000 shelters. That's a lot, but not nearly enough.

I traveled in Pakistan 10 years ago. I backpacked around the mountains and hitch-hiked up the Karakoram Highway into western China. I got rides on everything from tractors to jeeps, went trout fishing in the Hindu Kush, and met a wonderful, resilient people.

Despite our sometimes negative impression of Pakistan, politics aside, Pakistanis are among the most hospitable and welcoming people I've ever met. I got sick at one point on the trip, and a family moved a bed out onto their front porch (closer to the "toilet") and let me stay there until I recovered.

Near the end of my stay there, the head of the household asked if I'd like some chicken soup. Next thing I knew, a gang of kids were chasing a chicken around a courtyard until a burqa-clad woman popped out of the house, grabbed the chicken and retreated inside. Best chicken soup I've ever had.

Last night, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was on t.v. begging for aid, saying that relief is not only necessary, but it could turn the sentiment of his populace towards better views of the U.S. That could be our best bet for anti-terrorism ever.

My first reaction was that I should fill a shipping container full of winter gear and head off for the Karakoram range. Not only is that a risky idea, but there is something even more effective I can do from home: Write a fund-raising letter.

I'm compiling a list of fund-raising contacts for organizations operating in Pakistan. I'll share them with you here. Jack Forde will also put them in a coming issue of the Copywriter's Roundtable.

What I want to know is -- are you in?

Beauty of the copywriter's schedule

Well, I'm off to Knoxville (10 minutes away) to "greet" VP Dick Cheney on his 10-minute visit to our town.

The "First Amendment Zone" is nowhere close to the event. Hmm. I thought this whole country was a free speech zone. Not anymore, apparently, despite federal court rulings that view censoring protests as unconstitutional.

So. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, it means I'm either in jail or was beaten by a band of redneck frat boys. I don't know where the pollsters are getting their numbers -- obviously they haven't called anyone down here, where pro-administration sentiment is still the overwhelming majority. I'd say 80%. An inverse correlation to the number of people who have all their teeth.

What does this have to do with copywriting, you might ask?

Self-scheduling. The beauty of working for yourself. And if you schedule in a day off here or there for jail or vacation, it doesn't hurt anyone, so long as you make your deadlines.

See you tomorrow. Hopefully.

Copywriter: Work on retainer

Good Monday to you.

Here's an idea to help you keep paychecks coming in regularly: Work on retainer.

I'm not talking orthodontics.

If you have a client or two who regularly ask you to do work for them, this is an idea for you. Especially if they need your work quickly, but your calendar starts filling up to the point that you can't do a 2-week turnaround.

Ask if your client will "retain" you for work worth a certain number of dollars every month. That way they can come to you for work on the fly, and you've already alloted (and gotten paid for) a certain number of hours every month.

Don't forget about your royalties when you strike a retainer deal -- make sure you'll still get them.

And, to make this more appealing to your clients, you might offer a 10% or 15% discount on your rates just for having regular work every month. Money in the bag, so to speak.

You might also want to build in a deadline a few days toward the end of the month so that if they don't have a project for you next month, they won't have to pay you (so long as they give you sufficient notice). That way they won't feel hemmed in, and you can add a more lucrative project from time to time.

I'm using this strategy myself to make sure I never have "downtime" without a paying project.

I hope today has been an excellent start for the rest of your week, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Copywriting products

I have a very determined cat who apparently wants to be a copywriter. I can't keep him off my keyboard.

Anyway, a friendly word on copywriting products.

If you've already started making money as a copywriter, the products I've written about here in this blog and in my weekly newsletter can be very helpful.

If you're just starting out, however, the single most important thing you can do is finish the AWAI copywriting course. That is all you need to get started.

After that, I would recommend the Freelance Writing Success in a Box. I know the "business in a box" idea is kinda hokey, but this is a good one. It guides you through setting up your home office, different business structures, contracts, promoting yourself, getting clients, and lots of stuff you will need to know. It gives you the basics for running a freelance business. Eventually you will want more in-depth information, but it is a great starting point.

Once you have your business set up and you're making money, I'd look into Internet writing courses, either AWAI's or Yanik's or both. No matter what your specialization is, alternative health, finance, or whatever, the majority of your promotions will start on the web before going into the mail. So knowing how to write for the Internet is key.

Possibly the most important thing you'll learn to do is a keyword search. To hit two birds with one stone, the program you should use to build you self-promotion website will also allow you to do keyword searches for all of your writing. It's called SiteBuildIt, which I wrote about a few days ago.

It's important to take all of this one step at a time. Buying products, going to conferences, etc. is all great stuff. But if you're not already in the practice of writing -- by taking a hands-on course like Michael Masterson's AWAI course -- you may very well be wasting time and money that should instead be spent on learning the basics and getting yourself out there.

One thing at a time, right? Have a great weekend.

Copywriter: Find a niche

Starting out, I took most any writing job that came my way. Now I can't afford to do that. Nor would I want to.

Being the general go-to cheap copywriter for your clients has its benefits. You'll learn a lot about a bunch of different stuff. You'll learn to churn out copy quickly and effectively. You'll make good money. And when you start to beat control packages on a consistent basis, your career will take off.

Then it's time to take yourself more seriously. Things you didn't have time or balls for before suddenly become more important -- creative briefs, contracts, and terms of acceptable payment. You'll start to have to turn down work because you don't have time for new projects. Eventually you'll be able to pick and choose which projects you want to do. And even some that sound interesting, you won't have time for.

This is exactly what's happened to me here lately. Earlier this week, for 2 days in a row, I turned down 3 jobs each day. That is a record for me. I'm taking my career much more seriously now, and it's time to specialize.

By specializing in a specific industry, car insurance or group travel, for instance, you slowly become known in that industry as an expert. And once you're an expert as opposed to a generalist, that's when the money comes in.

In "Freelance Writing Success in a Box," there's an interview with Bob Bly about specializing. He recommends specializing in one or two specific areas, but also staying open to jobs outside of those specialties when something interesting comes along.

I've been thinking about what I want to specialize in, and what seems to make more and more sense to me is either income-opp (which is what I write you about everyday anyway) or alternative health, another personal interest of mine. I love writing travel copy, but there's not much money in it, at least compared to other industries. So I think I'll keep writing travel copy for the clients I have, but I won't go looking for new travel clients.

Makes sense, right?

Now, a quick poll...

a. What are some things you're interested in (horses, church, hiking, etc.)...
b. And can you think of a way to turn your interests into copywriting profits...

Have a great day!

Copywriting: Inventing a lightbulb

The old adage goes, Thomas Edison didn't fail at inventing the lightbulb 1,000 times. He found 1,000 ways not to build a lightbulb. And, finally, he found a way to build a lightbulb.

Now, I doubt seriously he tried 1,000 times. But the point of the story is well taken.

The road to success is built on the back of failure. Every pavestone represents an experiment or writing project gone awry. The only key to success is determination.

And, in your determination, I would suggest trying different approaches to getting where you want to be. Edison didn't try building the lightbulb the same way 1,000 different times, and neither should you.

Build your lightbulb a different way each time, and you'll eventually succeed. Here's what I mean:

Having trouble getting up early? You might try setting an alarm clock.

I know from experience that alarm clocks don't work for me. They might work for a day or two, but then I relearn the beauty of snooze.

So, to get up earlier, I gave up on setting my alarm clock early. Here's something that works: Set your alarm clock for the time you normally get up, minus one minute. Every day or every couple of days, set the alarm back another minute.

And something that works even better than that is going to bed earlier. And even better than that? Kids, dogs, and spouses who make lots of noise early in the morning. Encourage it.

And the best way? Love what you do, and showing up for work is never a problem.

My best advice is to keep failing. Stick your neck out. Make mistakes. And you'll build your road to success.

Copywriter: Profitable side business

There is probably no better endeavor for a copywriter to add to his/her business than affiliate marketing.

It's a natural fit -- writing about products then taking a large percentage of the profit, generally 20-50%.

I've tried affiliate sales a number of ways. But what it comes down to is this:

You need a high traffic site and a newsletter with lots of subscribers to do it well. It's a numbers game.

Now...I have a few websites and a newsletter. The problem is, they're anything but high traffic. And my newsletter subscriber list isn't exactly bursting at the seams.

Here's what I did wrong: I didn't optimize them for the search engines when I was building them, nor when I was writing content for them. I went back to do it later, which is time consuming and can also be expensive. Better to do it right the first time. The way to write for the Internet -- to get traffic and sales -- is to write keyword first.

But even this can be tricky. You search a keyword and think you've struck gold when you see 10,000 requests for that word in the last month. Then you come to find that 40,000 sites list that keyword, and you have a problem. Even though the keyword demand is high, the supply far outweighs the demand. Better start over.

I've found a tool to use for building my next site -- and for writing all of my copy that will appear on the web in some form or another. You can use it to search keywords vertically and laterally, then you search the results against both demand and supply to find "profitable" keywords...keywords with more demand than supply.

This is no big surprise for copywriters who have been producing content for the web for years now, but for me, this was a eureka! moment. From now on I'll write keyword first.

I've already started in my new affiliate website. And this same tool replaces the need for designers, programmers and optimizers. It's called SiteBuildIt. Check it out.

Good afternoon, copywriters!

I apologize for not getting my blog out earlier in the day these past couple of weeks. I've had a lot going on...illness in the family...computers dying...trying to buy a house...getting my side businesses started.

I've been going to bed late and getting up early. It's taking a toll, so I'm starting to slow down.

I've been talking with a company called the Hypnosis Network about some writing projects for them. I've gotten some meaningful insights out of our discussion to this point, some of which might apply to you, so I hope you find this helpful.

First, do no more than one spec assignment per month, especially if you have other clients willing to pay you. I am always eager to pick up a new client who values quality copy. Sometimes you have to do some spec work to get a client like that, especially when you're new. This month I took on 3 projects with no up-front pay. One spec assignment for the Hypnosis Network...another spec assignment for a client I lost during my boozing days that I'm trying to court back...and another for a new product idea I pitched to a publisher -- and because I was the idea guy and I'll be doing the soup-to-nuts, they're giving me a very favorable profit split instead of a fee. Still, that's no immediate income, which can be stressful. Moral of the story? To stay sane, my end-of-the-year resolution is to take on no more than one project per month that doesn't have assured income.

Two: Ask for help. If you're stuck on a project, the first person you should go to is the marketing manager of the company you're writing for. The more questions you can ask the better. Don't worry about sounding like an idiot. They'll thank you in the end.

I don't know if you've read the comments by Demian Farnsworth under the "Embrace Failure" post a few days ago, so if you haven't, please do that now. Demian did a very smart thing by asking for help from a master copywriter when he had a question as to whether what he had written would work. This is smart, very smart. I am lucky in that many of the country's best copywriters are personal friends of mine -- Michael Masterson, Don Mahoney, Mike Palmer and John Forde, especially. But these guys are very busy.

Michael is always telling me I need to find a mentor as well as a protege. I have a smorgasbord of copywriters I can go to for help on individual projects, but no one to go to on a consistent basis. So, last night, I signed up with Chris Marlow to talk about coaching on a weekly or biweekly basis. It's expensive, but I have a feeling it will be worth it. Full report to follow.

Three: Embrace uncertainty. The best way to get to know any product you want to sell is to use it yourself. I bought a hypnosis CD from the Hypnosis Network to help me write their copy. It's called "Preparing for Uncertainty." I got more than I bargained for. Not only do I have a better understanding of hypnosis products, but after listening to the CD, I was much more relaxed. And instead of worrying about what the future will bring, I'm ready to enjoy the ride. Two thumbs up. Here's my affiliate link for Preparing for Uncertainty. I'd like to hear what you think about it, so I encourage you to give it a test-drive (comes with a 1-year guarantee). Personally, I think it's perfect for anyone facing uncertain challenges, like a new freelance career. I would add that people who haven't done some soul-searching on their own probably won't like it.

Until tomorrow! And as always, comments please.

Self-promotion update:

By the way, that self-promotion letter I put on the job boards? So far a 10% response rate to the people I forwarded it to. That's wicked!

I'm taking my post down, so jump in there, Skippy!

Copywriter: Safe list riches -- MYTH!

Where did everyone go? Things are just now getting interesting.

I bought some safelist software that will send email to over three million subscribers -- I wanted a list to email some of my affiliate offers to plus build my own list, so I thought I'd try it.

The way it works is this: The software automatically signs you up on thousands of opt-in safelists. (Afterall, for the right to send emails you also have to be willing to receive them.) It automatically verifies your membership on the safelists (double opt-in). Then it automatically emails your sales letter to all those lists -- plus it goes into your inbox and deletes the messages you get from the other subscribers so you don't have to read that junk.

The software worked perfectly. The problem is, I think everyone else on that list was using similar software, so my 3 million emails were promptly deleted without being read. The email I sent was good -- but by the end of the day, not a single response.

The safe list heydays seem to be over. Used to be that you would have to at least see the subject lines of the messages you're deleting, and you'd end up opening a few of the more interesting ones. You might even end up buying something. But new software allows your prospect to delete every message in their inbox without even opening it.

Advice: Don't buy any safe list automatic submission software. It's a total waste. I think the only people making money on the safe lists are the ones selling safe list memberships and the software itself.

I'm experimenting with a few other "subculture" marketing approaches, and I'll keep you informed.

My preliminary report? The easy way still doesn't work. Damn!

Survey:

1. Have you ever marketed to a safe list?
2. How much money did you make?
3. What product did you sell or presell?

See you tomorrow!

Safe list experience?

Does anyone have experience mailing to a safe list? I just used some software that claims it mails to 3.6 million opt-in names. I have no idea what to expect.

I'll keep you informed. I'm curious to see how it will work.

Comments, please.

Copywriting Success: Embrace Failure

It happens to the best of us: failure.

In my early days of copywriting, I made a couple of clients very unhappy. One said my sales letter made him sound like a used car salesman. Another said I was an idiot. Still a third cursed me in French (I do copy translations, too).

These helpful critiques sent me into downward spirals for days. Looking back, they were minor setbacks that allowed me to grow. Slowly I improved at my craft, and I learned how to get better clients with easier products to sell. And I started to learn how to do what the client pays me to do instead of doing my own thing and getting shot down. Brainstorming new ideas is good, so long as your client is in on it.

Even with practice, you will still fail. Just yesterday I wrote new web page copy on spec, just because I really wanted the client. I probably won't get paid for it. Even though I think I nailed it, the client sees some problems -- and they know their product better than I could in a few minutes on the phone with them.

We might be able to revise the copy into something they can use. But maybe not. If it turns out they can't use it (and I don't get paid), it might work out for the best for all parties. I won't waste time on projects I can't get my head around, and they won't waste money on copy they can't use. That sets both of us free to pursue success in other venues.

Do you have a copywriting failure to tell us about? Stick it in the comments section. Have a great day.