Entries from June 2008 ↓

When I was 18 years old, I joined Amway.

I called close to 100 different people in my warm market, and I even hunted down unsuspecting “prospects” in public places like Barnes & Noble.

Embarrassing, I know.

During that time of my life (from age 18 to 21), I listened to scores of motivational tapes. One of them, more than any of the others, left its mark on my thinking.

It was a tape by Burt Gullick, who at the time was a Diamond in the Amway business. On the tape, Burt described Amway as “the goose that laid the golden egg.” He then proceeded to explain this metaphor.

Is Copywriting Your Goose?

Basically, Amway had provided Burt with a means of achieving his freedom. It provided him with a level of wealth and time independence he hadn’t been able to find anywhere else.

After achieving success in Amway, Burt used his income to invest in other opportunities. One of them I remember vividly because it was so unusual.

What did Burt invest in?

Landfills.

Yep, Burt used his Amway money to buy trash dumps. The model (as I remember it) went like this:

• Buy land near a city.
• Charge waste management companies to dump trash on the land.
• Collect monthly income from the waste management companies.
• Sell land later for a profit.

As you can imagine, this story really stuck with me. Here was a guy who had achieved success in Amway, but then reinvested his money in other opportunities.

Essentially, Burt Gullick diversified his income streams.

And wisely so!

But the other key point was that Burt needed “the goose” to get to a point where he had other opportunities to invest in.

As I’ve reflected on this story, I’ve decided that for me, copywriting is “the goose that laid the golden egg.”

I say this not because I’m done being a freelance copywriter. Fact is, I intend to continue as a freelance copywriter for quite some time, even though I may cut back on my workload.

Rather, I say this because copywriting has given me a greater income than I could have found in a job; more time flexibility than almost any other self-employed profession; and more opportunities than I know what to do with.

I have achieved a measure of success within the field of freelance copywriting. But more importantly, this success has positioned me for even greater success in the future.

Obviously, a career as a freelance copywriter isn’t for everybody. Neither is a career in Amway.

But ask yourself, “What is my goose? Where will my golden egg come from?”

There are many different “gooses” that can lay golden eggs. The trick is to find one that fits your skills, preferences, and personality. Once you find it, stick with it — and really put forth your best effort.

Because, if you do, your “goose” could easily become a stepping stone into bigger and better things for you in the future.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Think freelance copywriting might be for you? Then you’ll want to watch the free training videos posted here.

P.P.S. Questions about running a freelance copywriting business are continuing to come in daily. If you’ve asked a question, John and I will do our best to respond as quickly as possible. Thanks.

P.P.P.S. Video #4 is going to be released tomorrow, July 1. In this video, I reveal some methods and strategies for commanding copywriting fees you can be proud of. If you’re on the notification list, you’ll be automatically emailed when the video is posted.

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John “Angel” Anghelache and I were talking today. Many questions that copywriters have submitted to us haven’t been answered yet. So we decided it was time to answer them. This time, John provides the answers. -Ryan

Q: “How does one get clients when their cash reserve won’t permit mailing out packages? Even if one could mail out packages, how does one persuade the client they are capable of doing the job?” -Ruth

John’s Answer: Resort to a combination of email and phone calls. Send an email with an abbreviated version of your pitch. Then follow up with a call.

Samples are one way to persuade clients. Put together a portfolio of ads. Even if they are “mock ups”. Something is better than nothing.

Ryan’s 2 Cents: If you decide to mail out some packages, Ruth, make your copy more conversational. Instead of saying, “How does one get clients?” say, “How do I get clients?” When you use the word “one” for a person, it sounds like a mid-term exam.

Q: “I’m the only breadwinner in my household and on my job I have very little ‘free time’ to do anything else. By the time I get home from work most of my prospects are gone for the day.

“I’m still a copywriter in training and it seems you would be required to bang the phones following up on your lead generation letters etc. to land some jobs. Any advice is greatly appreciated!” -Emette

John’s Answer: Get someone else to do the follow up calls for you. Have them schedule a phone meeting with the prospect when you will be available. There’s no shortcut here. You have to talk to prospects to turn them into clients.

Ryan’s 2 Cents: Hi, Emette. I’ve been in your shoes. If I were you, I’d schedule follow-up calls during my lunch hour. I’d take an early or late lunch if necessary. I’d make phone calls from my car, then eat lunch at my desk after making my calls. (I’ve actually done this.)

Q: “Tracking down the decision-maker.” -Paul

John’s Answer: Do research on the company. Find out who the decision-maker is. Contact them directly. They will either talk to you or hand off the project to someone else. Playing “phone tag” is part of the game. A good offer compels prospects to get in touch with you.

Q: “Time management people always say to just set a limit and make it be done. But me, hours later I’m still working away at an article. How the heck are you supposed to do that?” -Tracy

John’s Answer: There are tricks to writing faster. One is to use a template. Another is to set a timer on your desk. Write for a specific period of time. Then go on to another part of the writing job. You’ll get faster the more you write.

Ryan’s 2 Cents: Sounds like you might be a perfectionist, Tracy. In addition to what John suggested, try to establish what is good enough. Stop writing once you’ve reached the “good enough” level. Then test the copy to see what kind of results it gets.

Q: “Can you give us an in-depth discussion on building our niches and USP? For example, should I just say I am a copywriter who specializes in writing sales letters for the I.T. market? The concern I have here is that I might only receive projects from the IT sector even though I am equally qualified to serve the financial sector, aviation and aerospace, and the oil and gas industry.” -Raj

John’s Answer: Customize your offers to different markets. When approaching the I.T. market, talk about your experience in that market. When approaching the financial market focus on your experience there.

It doesn’t make much sense anyway to present yourself as a financial copywriter when going after the I.T. market. The key is to customize your self-promotions.

Q: “How difficult would it be to break into freelancing for established ad agencies in NY City or elsewhere? What do you think might be the right approach? Who would be the best person to contact at an ad firm? What kind of fee arrangement should I look for? Is this a crazy idea? Thanks for your input!” -Chris McMorrow

John’s Answer: First off, define what kind of ad agency. Conventional or direct response? There are huge differences between the two. I would go after direct response agencies. Compile a list of Creative Directors for various agencies. Send them a letter with a relevant offer.

(Hint: They only hire freelancers to unload work when in-house copywriters are swamped.)

Take whatever they pay. Usually, it’s somewhere in the $2,000 range or so. Go for the experience. The money will come.

-John L. Anghelache

[Editor's Note: We've now released three videos about finding and landing copywriting clients. The first video is free. You can watch it here. If you'd like to see all the videos as they are released (including Videos #2 and #3), please enter your name and email in the form that appears underneath the video. Thanks. -Ryan M. Healy]

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In late May, I went on a three-day cycling trip in southern Colorado. I got to see some amazing places, including Pagosa Springs, Wolf Creek Pass, La Veta, Cuchara, and even Chama, New Mexico.

As I was grinding my way up steep mountain passes, I had a lot of time to think. And I began comparing marketing to bicycling. Here are some of the lessons I learned.

Hitting the Road: Kevin, Rick, Bruce & I get ready
to drive to southern Colorado.

Lesson #1: Consistency Is Key

Question: How do you climb more than 14,000 vertical feet in 3 days on a bicycle?

Answer: One pedal rotation at a time.

It really is that simple. You just grind it out. Set your sights on an object you can see in the distance and commit to pedaling until you get there.

After you’ve achieved that mini-goal, pick another object you can see. Keep pedaling until you get there. Next thing you know, you’ve eaten up miles of road almost without realizing it.

It’s the same way with marketing.

Marketing is not an event. It is a process. And so the spoils of marketing go to those with endurance. You have to consistently take action over time to see results.

The Pay-Off: Kevin & me at the top of Cuchara Pass.

Lesson #2: You’ve Got to Work Hard for the Pay-Off

When you’re climbing up a mountain pass, it’s hard work. Sometimes you might be going uphill for 1-2 hours straight without a single downhill section.

But when you get the top, what an awesome feeling that is!

I remember back in 2001 when I did The Triple Bypass. After climbing Squaw Pass, Loveland Pass, and Vail Pass, I got to enjoy more than 20 miles of downhill into the small town of Avon.

But I had to go 100 miles before I reached the “pay off.”

It’s the same in marketing. You’ve got to work at it. You’ll have moments when you’re coasting and moments when you’ve got to put your nose to the grindstone. But if you stick with it and focus on doing what works, you’ll eventually experience that “pay off” moment.

Cottage in the Trees: Ahh, peace and quiet.

Lesson #3: Take Time to Rest

Day 1: 46 miles

Day 2: 63 miles

Day 3: 37 miles

The only way you can have the strength to keep going when you’re logging miles like this is to make sure your body has sufficient rest.

After each day of riding (especially Day 2), I was exhausted. All I wanted was to sit and eat. So that’s what I did. Lots of sitting and lots of eating. And, of course, some good conversation to pass the time.

Each night my body began to shut down about 9 p.m. I got to bed early and allowed my body to recover before the next day of riding.

Marketers need “down time” too. You can’t stay plugged in 24/7. It kills your creativity, your passion, and your drive to get things done.

Just like your body, your brain needs rest. It needs time to digest information and clear out the tangle of information strung up in your gray matter.

Unfortunately, with Twitter and iPhones and WiFi, it’s hard to get away.

But you’ve got to get away.

So be deliberate about unplugging from the grid. Give yourself structured down time… and watch your creativity, focus, and productivity soar.

-Ryan M. Healy

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It took a little longer than I expected, but John Angel and I finally got the video up and running and ready for you to view. Its rather lengthy title is…

“Video #1: Ryan Healy and John Angel Answer Your Most Important Questions About Building Your Copywriting Business.”

Basically, we took some of the best questions from those that were submitted, created a PowerPoint presentation with answers, and then recorded a screen capture video with Camtasia.

The video is 23 minutes long, but I think you’ll find it’s worth watching. And when you go to view the video, make sure you take a look at what we have planned. There are at least 4 more videos we’ll be releasing… and a few surprises I can’t mention yet.

Anyway, here is the link to watch the “Answers” video. It is 100% free content, no opt-in required. (Although if you would like to be notified when new videos are released, you can join a the separate list we’ve created.)

==> http://www.copywritingcode.com/lessons/

Enjoy!

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you have additional questions, comments, or feedback, feel free to leave a comment on this blog post. Thanks.

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As you might already know, I’m currently looking for any questions you may have about how to grow your copywriting business.

Tammy responded late last night. Although she’s not currently looking for clients, she still asked an excellent question. Here it is:

What steps do you take to learn every single thing you can about your prospects? Would you explain the steps you take in a way I can understand as a fairly new writer?

I empathize with Tammy. Here’s why…

I remember when I was writing copy for the homeschooling company. For a long time, I struggled to understand how to write to a single person. I was always writing to “you-all” (a group of people) instead of “you” (just one person).

It was really difficult for me to grasp the idea that I was writing to “Amy” or “Jill” or “Judy.”

My breakthrough came when I was put in charge of the biweekly ezine. It was my responsibility to collect the best forum posts from the week and write a short introductory article to introduce that particular issue of the ezine.

When I began doing this, I started getting responses from the readers. All of a sudden, I realized, “Hey, there are real people out there! My words are causing these people to respond!”

I began to visualize an imaginary homeschool mom… a single person who represented all homeschool moms. I then began writing to her every time I wrote something for that market.

Since then, I’ve made a lot of progress. And I’ve discovered that one of the best ways to get into your prospect’s head is to…

Use Your Imagination

I personally like to imagine that I’m walking in my prospect’s shoes.

What would I be concerned about if I was a homeschool mom with four kids? How would I feel? What would I be thinking about?

Imagine what life would be like as your prospect. This is a good starting point.

But to really get inside your prospect’s head, you can’t rely solely on your own intuition and imagination. You’ve got to know for sure what’s really on your prospect’s mind. And a great way to discover this is…

Participate in Forums

Almost every market you’ll ever write copy for has a forum where people gather and talk about their problems and successes.

Another breakthrough for me was when I started actively participating in the homeschool forums. I got to see firsthand what homeschooling moms are thinking about, talking about, struggling with, etc.

Let me tell you… it was a real eye-opener!

But it gave me an improved ability to write to that market. And I needed every advantage I could get. (After all, I was a 22-year-old married man without kids at the time… writing to middle-aged moms with 2-10 kids each.)

While forums are great… and help you get a pulse on the market… sometimes you can get into your market’s mind simply by…

Asking!

You’ll notice I wrote my last post specifically to find out what freelance copywriters are thinking about. All I did was ask.

My “survey” was fairly informal. I simply asked my readers (that’s you!) to leave a comment on my blog.

You can also do something more formal by creating a real survey. (Check out Survey Monkey or the ASK Database.)

A formal survey may best if you expect a large response. You’ll be able to see trends and patterns more easily when you use software designed to slice-and-dice the data in seconds.

Another strategy for becoming “one” with your market is to…

Study Successful Ads

In almost any market you ever write for, there will be a successful advertiser.

This advertiser has already thoroughly researched the market… determined his prospects’ emotional triggers… and crafted offers and appeals that successfully sell a product or service to that market.

Why not study those ads to discover what’s already working?

By studying more than one ad, you’ll quickly notice themes and patterns. You’ll see which triggers keep “popping up” repeatedly.

If you see some idea, concept, or phrase appear in multiple ads, and you have good reason to believe those ads are profitable, then it’s probably a good idea to include those same ideas, concepts, and phrases in your ad as well.

Here is one final strategy for getting into your prospect’s head…

Become Your Target Market

This strategy is especially powerful. Because now you are your target market. You are immersed in the same issues and problems as every other person in your market.

For instance, I’m already a freelance copywriter. I have a pretty good idea what keeps freelance copywriters up at night… because I am a freelance copywriter!

So… how do you become your target market?

Let’s use “golfing” for example. If you are not a golfer… and you want to sell things to golfers… what might you consider doing?

1. Go to the driving range. Hit a bucket of balls for $5.
2. Go shopping for clubs and golf gear. See what the salesman says to you. Take notes.
3. Go play 18 holes at a few local courses (or play 9 holes on a par 3 course if your golf skills are lacking).
4. Sign up for golf lessons.

If you did these things, you would very quickly begin to understand what it’s like to be a golfer. You would begin to understand what motivates them, what problems they have, what emotional hot buttons you can push.

I realize there are some markets you can’t become a part of. For instance, you can’t voluntarily experience what it’s like to have cancer or have a rodent infestation in your home.

But in these markets, the problems are obvious and the appeals are simpler.

Nevertheless, if you plan to sell to a certain market for a long time, and you have the inclination, become a member of that target market. It will help you immensely.

To recap, here are the 5 strategies you can use to get inside your prospect’s head:

1. Imagine walking in your prospect’s shoes.
2. Participate in forums where your prospect hangs out.
3. Ask your prospect what his biggest problems are.
4. Study successful ads that your prospect has already responded to.
5. Become a member of your target market… become a prospect yourself.

No matter where you’re at in your copywriting career, these strategies should help you get inside your prospect’s head, find out what motivates him, and (ultimately) sell him your product or service.

-Ryan M. Healy

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If you’re a copywriter and you’d like more (or better) clients, pay close attention…

My friend and fellow copywriter John “Angel” Anghelache will be unveiling our freelance copywriter success coaching program in the next few weeks.

Until then, we plan on giving you a bunch of high quality content about what it takes to land more high-paying clients.

For now, I just wanted to give you a heads-up on what to expect.

We haven’t decided exactly what we’ll be giving away, but it may include an educational teleseminar, reports, audios, and possibly a video about how we get consistent copywriting gigs… *IF* John and I can figure out how to create one! (Hey, we’re copywriters, not A/V experts!)

In the mean time, I want to know what questions you may have.

Just click the “Comments” link below and type your question right now. Your question can be about anything related to building a freelance copywriting business.

And it’s okay if you have more than one question. Write as many questions as you have.

Keep in mind that John and I have produced millions in sales for our clients… and have worked with scores of clients — a total of 97 between the two of us. (Heck, John is one of the few copywriters who can say he wrote copy for the late Gary Halbert.)

Translation: We’ve had time to learn what works and what doesn’t. And we can help you, too.

So let me know whatever questions you may have about building, running, and profiting from a freelance copywriting business. Thanks in advance for your help.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you don’t want to use your real name when you ask your question, just use your initials in the Name field.

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During my career as a freelance copywriter, I’ve encountered a few exceptional negotiators and a handful of con men.

How do you spot a con man? First, it helps to know the definition.

According to Princeton’s WordNet, con man is short for “Confidence Man: a swindler who exploits the confidence of his victim.”

With that in mind, here are three traits to watch out for.

Flattery

This is the first and foremost thing to look out for. A compliment is normal. Flattery is not.

Whenever somebody flatters me, I watch my wallet. Flattery is normally a prelude to an unusual or out-of-the-ordinary request.

The psychology works like this:

Flattery makes you feel all puffed up and great about yourself. But this is a set up so you’ll agree more easily to whatever request comes next.

You are more likely to make a bad decision when you are feeling overconfident. Flattery is an easy way to build your confidence.

“…a flattering mouth works ruin.” Proverbs 26:28

Bragging

A person who brags is not necessarily a con man; he could just be insecure.

It’s the type of bragging that matters.

Some people brag about how good they are at a specific skill. This is your garden variety braggart, relatively harmless.

Others brag about their good character or how much money they give to their church, poor people, etc. This is your con man variety of braggart.

It is designed to get you to lower your guard… to get you thinking about what a good person it is you’re dealing with. Next thing you know, the con-man lowers the boom.

Watch out for people who brag about their good character.

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.” Matthew 6:3,4

Unrealistic Promises

A common negotiating tactic is to build neediness in the other party.

For instance, a potential client might tell you that there’s “huge” potential, and that you could make “tens of thousands of dollars.”

He’s building your confidence to the point where you believe this future pay-off will really happen.

The next thing he’ll do is ask you to work for free for an indeterminate amount of time. If you believe the vision he’s painted, you might agree to unreasonable terms, work hard for months… then never see a single cent.

“Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.” Proverbs 25:14

Safeguard Yourself

A con man uses all kinds of techniques to build your confidence in yourself and in him. Once your confidence is high enough, you’re in a vulnerable position. That’s how you get conned.

Ask yourself: “Am I feeling overly confident? Why?”

Ask yourself: “Why is this person flattering me? Why is he telling me all about his good deeds? Why is he promising me a huge pay-off somewhere down the road?”

Answer these questions. Be honest with yourself. Don’t be taken in.

-Ryan M. Healy

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