I don’t know what exactly happened, but my mailbox is filling up with catalogs faster than I can get rid of them.

It’s really unbelievable.

I actually threw away a number of them before I realized how many I was getting… and decided it would make a good photo opp for my blog. Check out my current collection of holiday catalogs (about 2 weeks’ worth)…

A Sampling of Holiday Catalogs I've Received in Fall 2009

Given how many catalogs I’ve received, I’ve got to believe it’s a good time to be a catalog copywriter… or even a catalog merchant.

I got my start as a direct response copywriter writing copy for a hybrid catalog/Internet company. The annual catalog prompted many of the sales; incentives drove customers to place their orders on the web site.

Personally, I really enjoy catalog copywriting. Every block of copy is an exercise in brevity.

A year ago, I would have passed you on to Jay White so you could join his Catalog Copywriting Secrets membership site, but it hasn’t been available since February 2009. And there’s no indication when it will be available again (if ever).

In the mean time, just take a look at some of the company names on these catalogs and keep the catalogs you get in the mail. This will give you a good place to start.

You never know… it might be worthwhile to ring up some of these catalogers and see if they have any overflow work for freelancers.

-Ryan M. Healy

Getting booked solid with clients is actually not that hard. All it takes is a simple, proven process.

The problem is, the simple stuff don’t get no respect.

Furthermore, most business folks get distracted. They forget the fundamentals, choosing instead to chase fancy techniques that burn out after a few months.

Heck, I’ve done this myself. The fundamentals ain’t sexy, and all the fancy new techniques are quick to catch my eye. But I’ve found that over time the fundamentals are what’s consistently profitable.

With that in mind, let me share with you a simple 2-step process for filling your calendar with clients. Here it is:

Adwords + Referrals = More Clients than You Can Handle

I’ve been advertising on Adwords for more than 7 years now, first for a homeschooling company, then for my own copywriting business.

Adwords consistently produces new subscribers, customers, and clients at a profit.

Here is the process for getting new clients from Adwords:

1. Set up an Adwords campaign.
2. Send people who click your ad to your lead capture page.
3. Convert clickers into leads by directing them to complete a form for a free consultation.
4. Convert leads into clients on the phone during the free consultation.

That’s really all there is to it.

The second step is to generate referrals from your newfound clients.

How do you do this? Under-promise, over-deliver, “wow” your clients, and then (and only then) ask for referrals.

Again, a very simple process, yet one that most people either forget or ignore. How hard is it to ask a happy client, “Do you know of anybody else who might benefit from the kind of services I provide?”

Anybody can do this.

Of course, if you are just starting out, all your clients will come from advertising or marketing yourself in some way.

That’s how it was for me. In the beginning, every client I worked with had never heard of me before. I was an unknown variable.

But that’s no longer true. Now, the single greatest source of new clients I have is through referrals. In fact, at different times I’ve paused my Adwords campaigns because I had no time to follow-up with new leads.

And that’s the beauty of referrals. It’s a form of leverage that multiplies the effect of advertising on Adwords. Even if you only broke even on new clients from Adwords, you’d be awash in profits from referrals from those same people.

Is this 2-step process simple? Yes. Powerful? Yes. Profitable? Absolutely.

Now, if you’ve never advertised on Adwords before, then I highly recommend you get “edumucated” before you risk your hard-earned dollars in the Google machine. Everybody knows of somebody who lost thousands overnight because he or she didn’t know how to properly set up a campaign.

That’s why I strongly recommend Perry Marshall’s newly updated for 2010 Definitive Guide to Adwords.

I first learned Adwords from Perry at a System Seminar in San Francisco. Later on, I bought the Definitive Guide to Adwords, printed it, and read through the entire thing, taking notes along the way.

There really is no better, faster, or more affordable way to learn Adwords than to get your hands on Perry’s Guide. The basic version is only $49, which is a steal.

The new 2010 Edition has:

• Over a dozen brand new chapters covering things like the Content Network, Analytics, Quality Score, and the new interface.

• Over 43 totally new screen shots.

• Over 15 hours of brand new audio files (supplementary content included with purchase).

• Video presentations on targeted AdWords sections (supplementary content included with purchase).

• PDF documents and reports never released to the general public before — in other words, stuff from Perry’s private AdWords Vault.

• Niche-specific modules that elaborate on how you can use AdWords to profit in your industry.

• A brand-new “Beginner’s Guide to eCommerce” that takes Definitive Guide owners from zero to picking a niche, building a web site, and launching an AdWords campaign profitably.

Plus, there are 6 NEW bonus modules:

• “Affiliate Marketing” module with Amit Mehta
• “Content Network” module with Shelley Ellis
• “Just Getting Started Online” module with Kevin Thompson
• “Information Marketing” module with Ken McCarthy
• “Marketing in the UK” module with Chris Cardell
• “Copywriting” module with Michel  Fortin

If you’d like to pack your schedule with paying clients, then mastering Adwords is the #1 fundamental strategy you need to focus on — no matter if you’re just starting out or perfecting the process you already have in place.

And if you purchase through my affiliate link below and forward me your email receipt, I’ll send you a free copy of my 9-page report on “How to Write Google Ads that Get Clicked.” This is an additional $20 value, yours free when you order through my affiliate link below.

Click here to get your copy of the 2010 Edition of The Definitive Guide to Adwords

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Depending on your personality, you may find Adwords somewhat addictive. It becomes a game of “beat the control.” And since clicks happen so fast on Adwords, you can often see which ads are pulling best in days instead of weeks.

One of the things I love about The Definitive Guide to Adwords is that it includes a ton of winning ads that help you understand what gets clicked… and what doesn’t. You can then model these ads for your own campaigns.

Get your copy here.

One of the things I’ve learned as a copywriter and marketing consultant is that whenever somebody tries to sell you “big numbers,” you need to crank up your B.S. detector to “red alert.”

We’ve all heard it at one time or another.

“Hey, Frank. Listen, man. I’ve got a really good opportunity. Now, keep this quiet, but I think this thing is going to the moon! We could make a quarter million, easy, when this thing takes off. All you need to do is…”

And then Frank’s buddy lowers the boom. Since Frank doesn’t have his B.S. detector set to “hyper sensitive,” he’s going to get creamed. Worse, since he bought into the B.S. — and effectively lied to himself – he never sees it coming.

In hindsight, after his wallet’s a few thousand bucks lighter, Frank will swear up and down it wasn’t his fault, that his buddy really is a good guy, and that he “just didn’t know” it was going to turn out so bad.

And that’s the way it often goes with grandiose promises of making millions (or even thousands) overnight.

About 5 months ago, a client wanted to find some “super affiliates” who would guarantee they could deliver 1,000 new customers within a certain period of time.

When I heard this, my B.S. detector was going absolutely crazy. To my knowledge, the number of super affiliates who can deliver 1,000 new customers in a pinch can probably be counted on one hand. Yet my protests fell on deaf ears.

Now, the client naively asking for guarantees of this magnitude was bad enough. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

The worst part was the affiliates who promised they could actually deliver 1,000 customers!

The client and the affiliates were now accomplices. And they were fooling themselves.

Because in spite of the “guarantees,” not a single affiliate came close to delivering even 100 customers.

Keep in mind, this is just one example of many I could share. I’ve seen guys downright convinced they’ll create $50,000 a month in a few months’ time — only to find themselves broke and facing foreclosure.

More recently, a guy offered to promote one of my client’s products, promised to do all the work, and claimed he could sell 100 units, easy. He was wrong on both counts. Total units sold: Six.

On and on it goes.

There’s nothing wrong with being an optimist. But I prefer to be a realistic optimist — somebody who bases his optimism in reality and not on fairy tale dreams that don’t have a prayer of coming true.

So here’s how to protect yourself from big numbers and oversized promises: Discount them. And don’t be shy about discounting.

Never forget that you’re a direct response marketer. You have the unique advantage of being able to “predict” the outcome of just about any promotion.

If somebody tells you you’ll make $20,000 in back-end profits, automatically discount that number. Then, if you can get access to some real figures, run the numbers yourself, based on what you know, and see if the big promise holds up to scrutiny.

If it doesn’t, you just saved yourself a lot of wasted time, effort, and financial resources you’ll never be able to recoup. And if the numbers actually do hold up, congratulations. You just found yourself a rare opportunity, indeed.

-Ryan M. Healy

Quick post today.

If you’re a writer, direct response or otherwise, and you’d like more copywriting clients, then pay attention.

You can advertise your writing services for free on the Magnetic Web Content forum.

Sounds like a lot of the current members are hard up for good writers. So if you’re any good, you’ve probably got a good shot at picking up a client or two.

Here’s the link to sign up (not an affiliate link):

Advertise Your Writing Services Here

Now go get some clients!

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Hat tip to Lyndoman for putting this out on Twitter.

So I’ve been car shopping lately.

And let me tell you, it’s been really disappointing to see how careless car salesmen are.

Here’s why:

• Went to Subaru dealer #1. Test-drove a 2009 Impreza WRX. After I left the dealership, I received no follow-up whatsoever.

• Went to Subaru dealer #2. Test-drove a 2010 Outback. After I left the dealership, I received no follow-up whatsoever, even though we discussed price and spent time looking at inventory.

• Went to Subaru dealer #3. Test-drove a 2009 Impreza WRX again, this time with my wife. After I left the dealership, I received no follow-up whatsoever, even though I said I planned to buy within the week.

You would never guess car dealers were hurting if you went by their shocking lack of follow-up.

I was reminded again that I could probably become a car salesman and quickly — even easily — become the #1 salesman in the region just by doing the simple little things that count.

Contrast this with Lance Wischkowski at the Ralph Schomp Mini dealership. After we test-drove a Mini Cooper S, he followed up by calling us, emailing us, and sending a snail-mail letter.

I was totally impressed.

And I would have bought from Lance, no question, had we been seriously considering a Mini.

If you run a business, how tight are your follow-up procedures? Are you letting hot leads slip through the cracks?

Take some time to review how you do follow-up. You can’t afford to be throwing business away, especially in an economic environment such as this.

And if for some reason you can’t follow-up with all the leads you’re getting, then at least refer those leads out to somebody who’s willing to pay you for them.

There’s no easier way to create a bad first impression — and lose a sale — than by failing to follow-up.

-Ryan M. Healy

There are essentially four over-arching strategies for growing a business. No more, no less.

1. Get more customers and clients.
2. Get your customers/clients to buy more frequently.
3. Get your customers/clients to spend more money per transaction.
4. Keep your customers longer.

While there are only four primary strategies for growing a business, there are literally dozens of different techniques you can use to implement these four strategies.

Strategies are important because they give us something concrete. They endure while techniques may come and go.

But the techniques are equally important. Strategies tell us WHAT to do; techniques tell us HOW to do it.

With that in mind, I’ve provided a list of 31 techniques for growing a business, all categorized by one of the four strategies.

This way, you can skip to the strategy you want to implement in your business, and focus only on those techniques.

Strategy #1: Get more customers and clients.

When we talk about growing a business, this is by far the most common approach: get more customers and clients.

And while this is certainly an important step (you MUST start here if you have no customers or clients yet), it is also the most expensive way to grow a business. And it takes the most effort, too.

Here are 9 ways to get more customers and clients:

• Drive more traffic to your web site.

• Improve the effectiveness of your ads and sales letters.

• Find new/better places to advertise (newspaper, TV, Adwords, ezine ads, social media, etc).

• Create stronger offers that appeal to more people in your target market.

• Enlist the help of affiliates to reach more people.

• Ask for referrals.

• Down-sell prospects who reject your initial offer.

• Craft irresistible guarantees so your customers have little or no risk when they buy.

• Host a free teleseminar where you can demonstrate your expertise and ask for the sale.

Strategy #2: Get your customers/clients to buy more frequently.

Most entrepreneurs and business owners focus on getting the first sale, and then neglect to ever get a second.

This is unfortunate because you make much more profit on sales two, three, four, and so forth.

Here are 6 ways to get your customers and clients to buy from you more frequently:

• Create a customer mailing list; send them customers-only offers on a weekly or monthly basis.

• Send out promotional emails to your house list on a more frequent basis.

• Run time-limited or quantity-limited promotions and use scarcity to get customers to act now instead of later.

• Design a product funnel that automatically moves your clients from one purchase to the next.

• Start a monthly continuity program that automatically bills customers every month. (Print newsletter, membership site, etc.)

• Use autoresponder email sequences to automatically introduce your prospects to all of your products.

Strategy #3: Get your customers/clients to spend more money per transaction.

This is probably the simplest and easiest way to grow a business. But for some reason, many entrepreneurs avoid this strategy because they fear how their customers will react. They fear their customers don’t have more money to spend.

Here’s a suggestion: Get over your fear.

By implementing these techniques, you can easily grow your business 5% or more within the next few months.

A word of caution though… raising prices is not something you do willy-nilly. It helps to have a good reason for raising prices; it also helps to add more value to a product/service.

Here are 7 ways to get your customers and clients to spend more money per transaction:

• Increase your fees and prices.

• Add more value to your products and services.

• After a person buys one product, up-sell or cross-sell them another related product.

• Offer payment plans on your expensive products and services.

• Charge for shipping separately.

• Use phone sales to help close large ticket purchases.

• Do a product launch.

Strategy #4: Keep your customers longer.

This fourth strategy is often overlooked, but is highly effective.

If you can keep a customer or client for an extra month or two, or even an extra year, that could bring thousands of extra dollars to you — especially if you have a continuity program or a well-designed promotional calendar.

Here are 9 ways to encourage loyalty and keep your customers and clients for a longer period of time:

• Send out surprise bonus gifts with new purchases. (You may even consider giving away business promotional items that are branded with your business name so you stay in the top of your customers’ minds.)

• Create a follow-up sequence of communication designed to get customers and clients to actually use the product or service they’ve purchased.

• Call your best customers and clients and thank them for their business.

• Send out birthday cards and Christmas cards/gifts.

• Deliver more value than you’ve promised to deliver. Go above and beyond.

• Ask your customers and clients for testimonials. (After a customer has publicly declared their support of you, they will automatically be more loyal to you and your business.)

• Create incentives to encourage customer longevity.

• Publish the date when a person subscribes and/or becomes a customer. (Ex: Customer since 4/99.)

• Give your customers and clients public recognition in your newsletter, blog, or ezine.

So there you have it: 31 ways to grow business.

Now the only thing left for you to do is pick one or two of them and actually implement them. Learning is good; doing is better.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Have any additional techniques you’d like to share? Leave a comment and show off your expertise.

If you are a copywriter or marketing consultant, and you’d like to add another profit-stream to your business, then coaching is something for you to seriously consider.

Here are 4 compelling reasons why you might want to add coaching to your “basket” of services:

Reason #1

Fact: Brian McElroy recommends a paid coaching session BEFORE you take on a new copywriting project!

In other words, your paid consults should feed into bigger back-end projects.

How would you like to get paid to find new high-paying projects? Paid coaching lets you do this.

Reason #2

Internet marketing guru Terry Dean recently dedicated an entire 12-page issue of his Monthly Mentor newsletter (of which I’ve been a subscriber for more than a year) to the “ins and outs” of coaching.

Coaching is one of the pillars of Terry’s business.

He says there are three reasons to consider coaching:

1. It’s a high income-per-hour activity.
2. It creates real, measurable results for your clients.
3. It provides you with feedback and insight into your market. (For the creation of new info products, etc.)

Reason #3

Coaching is a growing industry. And in the current economy, coaching is going to be in even MORE demand.

According to one source, coaching is a $1 Billion a year industry, with annual growth of 20%!

Reason #4

Coaching is not only a perfect “stand-alone” business — it’s also an excellent “add-on” business, too.

While I personally haven’t made coaching my core business, it added quite a bit to my bottom line in 2008.

Meet the Coach’s Coach

Please allow me to introduce you to Terri Levine. She is the “Guru of Coaching,” and is quite literally the coach’s coach.

If you want to learn how to build a six-figure coaching business from the ground up, then there is no better person to learn from than Terri.

When she first got started, she made a mid-six-figure income her very first year.

Since then, she’s surpassed the 7-figure mark.

Does that mean you’ll earn this much? No. But imagine if you made an extra $20K from coaching this year.

Or even $10K.

These numbers are very realistic.

Top Secret Intensive in Philly

There’s never been a better time to start or grow your coaching business.

But to succeed, you’ve got to do it right.

On March 20-22, 2009, Terri Levine is hosting a Top Secret Intensive in Philadelphia, PA.

She will be revealing her entire coaching system that generates 7 figures a year.

Only 34 people can attend. Six 18 ALL the seats have already sold, 0 are left. (SOLD OUT!)

Furthermore, the Special Early Bird pricing ends this Friday, Feb 27 March 6. (You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you see how affordable this is.)

So if you have any interest in how to become a highly paid coach, I strongly recommend Terri’s event.

You can get all the details here:

==> http://www.terrilevine.com/topsecret/ (SOLD OUT!)

My Best,

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. The link above is NOT an affiliate link. Although I did write the copy. ;-)

Last night I received a piece of official looking mail. At first, I suspected it might be a solicitation disguised as government mail.

Turns out I was wrong.

It was a bankruptcy notice.

After carefully scrutinizing three pages of paperwork, I finally located the name of the business in question: it is (was) one of my clients.

I received the bankruptcy notice because I still have two invoices outstanding with this client and can file a claim if I choose.

Obviously, the news came as a shock since I finished my last project for them about 5 or 6 weeks ago.

And they had already paid me for four previous projects I had done for them this year. So I had no reason to worry about getting paid — or so I thought.

In this economy, anything is possible… including your client going bankrupt.

Now, more than ever before, it is important to get paid up front. Even with clients who have been reliable in the past, it may still be a good rule to follow.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Want to protect yourself from getting ripped off? Then please take a moment to learn How to Spot a Con Man.

After the filming for Home Business Brains was done, Alan Kaplan and I spent a couple hours at Cafe Ronda talking about life and business as rain drizzled down on the New York skyscrapers.

One of the insights Alan shared was how working from home can actually be an obstacle to success.

Here’s why:

If you work from home, you can achieve a certain level of success. You might earn six figures a year and enjoy a flexible schedule.

For many self-employed folks, this may be just fine.

But what Alan realized is that working from home — and staying inside that “home office bubble” — is really a self-centered perspective.

You see, there will come a point in your business where if you want to grow any more you will have to shift your focus away from you and toward other people.

Once you shift your focus and involve other people in your business, that’s when magic can happen. It’s about vision… sharing that vision… and

Making Other People’s Success Your Success.

This is not an easy transition to make — changing your focus from SELF (and personal profit) to PEOPLE (and how you can help them).

One way Alan is tackling it is by traveling more and actually meeting people face-to-face. So far, it’s been amazing for him. He’s formed business partnerships, gotten new ventures off the ground, and he feels more energized than ever before.

Like Alan, I love face-to-face meetings. There’s something about meeting in person that can’t be duplicated by email correspondence or phone calls.

Sure, it requires more effort. But often the pay-off can be huge.

Example #1: I’ve traced more than $60,000 in copywriting fees to a single seminar I attended in fall of 2005.

Example #2: I’ve traced more than $15,000 in profit to a small seminar where I met Michel Fortin, Ray Edwards, and John Anghelache. (Ken Calhoun and Rick Butts were also there.)

Example #3: I’ve established “pick up the phone and call ‘em anytime you want” friendships with people like Dave Bernstein, Ray Edwards, and John Anghelache.

Are You a Real Person?

If you are a service professional, and you’re running your business 100% online, you can be easily mistrusted and ignored. That’s because so long as you’re online only, you’re a virtual person. You have no strong connections with your customers and promotional partners.

Furthermore, I don’t know if YOU are really YOU! Off the top of my head, I can think of at least three online businesses where the primary product spokesperson is not a real person.

On the other hand, if you get out there and meet your customers, clients, and promotional partners, you’ve now elevated your business a notch. You’re a real flesh-and-blood person! And, as such, easier to trust and much harder to ignore.

Here’s a secret: You can’t duplicate real life. And real life happens in four dimensions: heighth, width, depth, and time.

Every time I connect with another human being in the real world, we’ve got a real connection (instead of a virtual connection). There is a certain level of trust, shared experience, and friendship that happens automatically. These are things that are hard (if not impossible) to duplicate online.

Step into the Light

There are people out there who need you. People who would benefit from knowing you on a deeper level than online only. And those same people can benefit you as well.

So if you’ve been holed up in your home office — a self-imposed hermit — then step out into the light. Go participate in some meetings where you live. If you’re adventurous, register for a seminar, book a flight, and go meet people.

It may be a foreign experience for you… possibly a little intimidating at first… but I promise it will change your perspective and improve your business — if you let it.

Remember: Success is not about having the most “friends” on Facebook or the most followers on Twitter. It’s about forging deep and meaningful relationships with people — and finding ways to really help each other.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. My friends Ray Edwards and “DJ Dave” Bernstein have built AMAZING businesses through the simple practice of going to seminars. And now they’ve created an audio training program called Seminar Strategy Secrets.

Originally, it was only available as a physical course for $297. But they just recently “digitized” it… AND lowered the price to $97.

If you’re planning to attend a seminar, I highly recommend this program. It walks you through what to do BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER the seminar to get the best results out of your investment.

Think about it: You’re already investing anywhere from $500 to $2,000 or more to attend a seminar. Don’t you think it’s worth an additional $97 to make sure you get the highest ROI possible?

You can learn more about Seminar Strategy Secrets here:

http://rhealy.hifiwebguy.hop.clickbank.net/ <======= My blatant affiliate link.

Now, if you’d rather not use my affiliate link, you can also go straight to the sales page here:

http://www.SeminarStrategySecrets.com <======= NOT my affiliate link.

Either way, check it out. ;-)

Just a quick message to let you know that John and I are now accepting students into our “Secrets of Freelance Copywriting Success” coaching program.

We’ve already gotten a number of phone calls.

Some folks have already joined — and will get a special bonus session about “How to Get Good at Direct Response Copywriting and Marketing” because they acted fast.

Others have said they would love to be a part of the coaching program, but the price is out of reach.

If you feel this way, simply keep in mind that it will be hard to convince clients to invest money in you if you’re not willing to invest money in yourself.

The folks who actively participate — and implement what we teach — will get results. There’s just no way around it.

To learn more about the program and why you should strongly consider joining, please go here:

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

My Best,

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. We are limiting the number of students to 48. We may fill all the spots and we may not. Either way, we will stop accepting registrations at 12 noon on Thursday, August 7.