Posted by: Clayton Makepeace
July 17, 2009
Originally Posted On: September 22, 2008

Answers from the Heart

Dear Business-Builder,

Not long ago, The Redhead and I hopped into the 911 and went tear-assing down the mountain to Atlanta for Carline Anglade-Cole’s Copywriting Boot Camp. 

The object of the exercise was twofold:  1) To spend an all-too-rare evening with Carline Anglade-Cole and her amazing family and 2) To rub elbows with a gaggle of Total Package readers who happened to be in attendance.

We had a ball.

Not only did I get lots of nice, warm hugs from my friend and her daughters Milan and Tiara … a manly hug and a slap on the back from Mick … and a hearty handshake from their son Chatham … I also got to meet a bunch of other family members (all drop-dead gorgeous, of course).

Plus, I also got to spend time with some of our readers.  And as you might expect, to answer some of the most pressing questions they have on their minds now.  Since we also get these questions in our feedback box almost daily, I figure it might be a good thing to tell you what I told them.

For instance, one attendee who was still training to become a copywriter was already thinking ahead …

Question:
“How long will it take to get my first clients?”

My Answer:
“Depends on how willing you are to do what’s required.”

‘Way back in the late 1970s, I had just spent a few years gaining experience and plumping up my portfolio at a direct response agency and it was time to begin my freelance career.

So, when I took a few days to consider my prospects and how I would begin building my business, I quickly recognized five things: 

First, since most of my experience and portfolio had to do with promoting investment newsletters — and since that industry was growing rapidly at the time — my best chance of growing my freelance business quickly was to focus on those kinds of clients.

Second, I recognized that, while there was the very real danger that if I didn’t get enough assignments my family would starve, there was really no such thing as having “too many” clients asking for my time. 

After all — if my client acquisition efforts yielded more work than I could handle this month, I could always schedule overflow work for next month.  And in the worst case, I could simply say, “I’m sorry; I’m booked solid.”

Third, I knew it would take time to contact and close the deal with my first clients.  Not too long; just a few weeks or so, but if I could find a way to get an assignment or three in a few days or so, that would be a good thing.

Fourth, I recognized that even after I had bagged my first clients, there would be holes in my schedule; times when I went days or (perish the thought!) a week or more with nothing productive to do.  So I wanted to make sure those holes were filled with things that would make me money.

And fifth, I realized that I didn’t necessarily need a client to produce income for my family.  I could create information products of my own, write an ad, and watch the checks come rolling in.

So, beginning on Day One of my new freelance career, I launched not one, but three urgent initiatives:

1. The Newsletter Publisher Initiative: To begin the process of recruiting clients, I went to the library and made a beeline to the reference section where they kept the Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters, flipped to the section on Financial Publishers and made a list of prospective clients, key contacts, and of course the company’s mailing address and phone number.

That done, I grabbed the Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS) catalog of mailing lists and looked up every newsletter on my new prospect list to see …

• Which ones relied primarily on direct mail promotions to grow their subscription bases (to ensure that there was plenty of work to be done) …
• Which ones were the largest (to make sure I was talking to people who could afford to pay me), and …
• Which ones which were already growing (to get hints as to which ones were resonating best with prospects, therefore giving me better odds of creating winners).

Then, I set aside time every week to contact each one of them. 

I sent them letters, giving them a heads up that a package was coming that could revolutionize their businesses. 

I followed up with a package containing samples of my work and a cover letter about my experience and philosophy.  The letter said that I had some ideas I believed would ramp up their response … that I was setting up my writing schedule for the next quarter … and that if I didn’t hear from them first, I’d call them in a day or so. 

Some called; most didn’t; so like clockwork, I made those follow-up calls.  And over the next year or so, I bagged more than a dozen projects from these guys.

2. The Ad Agency Initiative:  I figured that the folks down at our local TV and radio stations and local ad agencies often had more copywriting work than they could (or wanted to) handle. 

For one thing, account executives at TV and radio stations would rather be selling time than writing copy.  Ad agency work often comes in fits and starts and like every other kind of employee, copywriters’ vacations often occur at inopportune times. 

So, since unlike most account execs and agency writers, I had actually studied copywriting and knew something about it, I figured, “What the heck” — and offered them my services as well.

For these guys, I even created a D.B.A. — a “company identity” — for myself.  I called myself “Copy Overload.”  And because these were agency types, I spoke to them in a language they could easily understand. 

I threw together a hokey brochure with a picture of a guy in a ski mask pointing a gun at the reader on the cover.  The headline:  “Only a Ski Mask and a Loaded .45 Will Get Your Clients More Money Faster Than a Promotion From Copy Overload …” 

Inside, I extolled my experience and philosophy as a copywriter and how I could help them.  And I wrote two cover letters to mail with my brochure — one for agencies and another for media account execs — dimensionalizing how having an outside source of copywriting would make each of them more money and advising them to take my call “next Monday.”

Here again — some called me first; most didn’t.  So I followed up religiously every Monday.  And on that first Monday, I bagged two ad agencies as clients and had not one, but two projects to dive into. 

3. The Entrepreneurial Initiative:  I say this all the time, and usually, peoples’ eyes just glaze over.  But as copywriters, we have an amazingly powerful tool at our command:  The ability to slap a little black ink onto a piece of white paper (literal or virtual) and have people send us money.

Even though there were no free media — no Internet or e-mail — when I went out on my own three decades ago, that lesson was NOT lost on me.  So I picked a small tabloid that charged a pittance for a full page ad … studied its readers’ fears, frustrations and desires … created a report I believed they’d find irresistible … and wrote an ad that sold the bejezus out of it.

The $35,000 in sales I raked in came in mighty handy.

Every dollar I’ve earned since I launched those three campaigns some 30 years ago can be traced directly back to them.

Question:
 “How do you talk a client into paying you a royalty
instead of a flat fee?”

My Answer:
“Be patient; it’ll happen naturally.”  

This question popped up when Wendy mentioned that we still get more than $250,000 in royalties every year from copy I wrote as long as five years ago.

The fact is, moving from charging flat fees to getting a royalty is nothing more than the consequences of simple supply and demand.

Here’s how the process typically goes:

• Write a few respectable winners on a fee-only basis …
• Make sure word of your success gets around in your market niche — both among existing clients and those who have not had the good fortune of hiring you … 
• Put out the welcome mat — four times a year, contact those clients and prospective clients to say that you’re setting up your schedule for the next quarter and that if they want to get on it, they’ll have to call in the next week or so …
• As your schedule fills up, offer new clients a choice.  When the inevitable question of your fee comes up, offer to work for a flat fee OR for a far lower advance against a royalty.

In the early 1980s, when I first moved from flat fees to royalties, I’d say, “My fee is $10,000.  Or, if you prefer, I’ll do it for a $2,500 advance against a royalty of $10 per thousand pieces mailed. 

To my surprise, I found that my clients jumped at the chance to get me for what they perceived to be a 75% discount.

Question:
“Do some gurus intentionally make copywriting
seem harder than it really is
to get a higher price for their products?”

My Answer:
NO!

In fact, the exact opposite is true:  I’m concerned that some gurus try to make it seem EASIER than it really is!

Sure — I could tell you that this copywriting thing is a cinch.  I could tell you that anyone can do this and if you can string a few simple words together, you can get rich working at home in your underwear. 

I could tell you that as a copywriter, you’ll have complete freedom to work when you want and take as much time off as you want.  And I could say that the most strenuous time of your day will be the leisurely stroll to your mailbox to collect all the huge royalty checks that will instantly and automatically flow to you.

I could tell business owners that it’s easy to make a few minor changes to their websites, e-mails and direct mail pieces and other promotions that will multiply their response and profits a gazillion times over.

Believe me:  I’m well aware that if I would just say these things in promotions for our products, our sales would rocket through the roof.  The “Lazy Man’s Way to Riches” crowd would beat a path to my door.  The “Internet Millions” junkies would throw millions of dollars my way.  The “Instant Millionaire” dopes would toss in millions more.

But that’s pure, unadulterated bullshit — and I refuse to stoop to lying to you no matter how many millions of dollars those lies would earn me.

This is not easy.  There are a million things to learn, a billion new ways to apply those lessons in your promotions, and endless hours of skull sweat and elbow grease required to earn your stripes, make a name for yourself and hit the big time.

There will be plenty of failure, frustration and agonizing self-doubt along the way; more than enough to give the lazy and the faint of heart all the excuses they need to quit.

It’s enough that in less than one-quarter of the time than it takes to earn a B.A. in art appreciation — and for a fraction of the tuition cost — you can have a career that gives you the potential to make more money than most doctors or lawyers ever see.

It’s enough that if you’re intelligent, have a knack for persuasion, are endlessly curious about human nature, love to learn and enjoy writing, you can make a decent living at this, working for yourself.

It’s enough that others — people who are no smarter than you, no luckier than you, and who share your commitment to hard work — now earn hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars every year doing this.

There are no guarantees, of course.  But then, people who spend a quarter-million smackers buying a law degree from Harvard don’t get a guarantee it’ll make them a single dime, either.

So do I think copywriting gurus make this seem harder than it really is?  Uh-uh.  Nope.

Look:  Our Ultimate Desktop Copywriting Coach is more than 1,000 pages.  Plus videos, extra guides, plus, plus, plus.  For my money, it is by far the most comprehensive volume on the subject ever created. 

But if the definitive guide to direct response copywriting is ever published, it’ll make War and Peace look like a comic book.

Because what we do isn’t really about writing, or persuasion or even selling.  It’s about the two most complex things in God’s creation:  The human brain and even more importantly, the human heart.

Every successful copywriting technique you’ll ever learn is based on a knowledge or a new discovery related to how those two organs work; what moves us emotionally … what convinces us intellectually … what causes us to take action.  And until those things are fully understood, there will still be plenty to learn.

Plenty to chew on this week.  Hope it helps…

Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,

Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE

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8 Comments »

1. Comment by Jack Settles — July 17, 2009 @ 11:57 am

   This “from the heart series is most appreciated. I’m about 4/5
   of the way through the AWAI writing course and these are the feelings I’m having about the universe of writing. I spent 38 years in the Securities business and feel that that will be a good niche for me. However I have several other niches that draw my attention. If anyone wants to make a comment on my potential please feel free to contact me as well. 1-817-713-8608. I look forward to your future essays on this subject Clayton. Thanks. Jack

2. Comment by Rod Newbound, RN — July 17, 2009 @ 3:04 pm

   Thanks Clayton for your “straight from the heart” advice. This is going on page one of my AWAI course binder. Like Jack (above), I’m about 4/5ths of the way through that course and am looking ahead to the day I can honestly begin promoting myself as a copywriter.

   Thankfully, I already have lots of experience in human nature - from both my 15 year career as a nurse and the 20 years in direct sales experience before that. I know I’ll do fine, but having a clear path to follow - especially from one like you, is of tremendous benefit.

   Thanks,
   Rod

3. Comment by Clarke Echols (Resident scientist and rabble-rouser) — July 17, 2009 @ 3:35 pm

   Clayton,

   Thanks for being there and telling it like it is. Last year I was beginning to suspect that a lot of these “gurus” touting fantabulous incomes in miniscule time had to be blowin’ somethin’ when I asked you before you started the next to the last of your Easy Writers teleseminars about their legitimacy.

   I think this problem has really reared its head in a big way in the last year or so. I had one’s telemarketing follow-up guys putting the heat on me to sign up for their coaching program so I’d make a pile of dough — of course as the result of forking out who knows how many $K to them in fees.

   NOT ONCE DID THEY ASK ME WHAT MY INTEREST IS OR WHAT I WAS TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH FOR MYSELF.

   I’m not interested in making a soup pot full of C-notes per day. I’d just like to be able to make a decent living and help some other people make a decent living by helping them get better copy into their marketing, and better websites online. But educating them and getting them to understand the importance of good marketing is a PAIN.

   And I can see why the fall for the “Instant Millionaire” siren song. They have no clue how to write, nor do they know the importance of persuasive copy. It’s almost as if they’re still stuck in the dot-com boom of 1999, thinking that a website automatically makes you rich.

   One guy wanted a website for under $750. I told him that’s less than I’d take for a single home page!

   Others I’m working with are starting to comprehend how much work goes into creating a site. It helped when I came up with a worksheet they have to fill out that forces them to think about their customers and prospects, what keeps them up at night, what they’re looking for, etc., independent of what the client wants to sell them.

   It’s slow and not easy, but some are starting to catch on as I keep learning more about how to deal with them. I know I could go after some bigger clients, and I will as I learn better ways to approach them.

   But no matter how much you work and learn, there’s no getting around the truth that advertising is HARD. Presenting a convincing message in the right way requires serious brain sweat.

   And

   Biggest of all:

   Your long-term, stable income is a reflection of the value other people put on the long-term, stable service you have rendered to them. And the weekend/instant-millionaire class can never claim to have a long-term, stable income based on long-term stable service provided to others, and in that regard, I’m plenty comfortable in asserting, along with Bob Bly, that you are absolutely one of the very best in your field…

   And it’s an honor you’ve earned because of your consistent adherence to principles of honesty and integrity.

   Clowns come along, but they forget: They are mortal. They *will* eventually meet their demise. And like it or not, whether believer or avowed atheist, we all must stand before our Creator and be judged according to our deeds in this life.

   And for those who lived a life of integrity and service to others, while lifting the hands that hang down and strengthening the feeble knees, it will be well with them.

   And those who “succeeded” by subterfuge, deception, and manipulation, they can look forward to a future quite different.

   Thanks for being there. It’s an honor to know you.

   Clarke

4. Comment by DaveC — July 17, 2009 @ 9:28 pm

   Where I live there’s no SRDS or equivalent. Nor have I heard of an Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters.

   Most Americans are practically xenophobic when it comes to doing business with folks outside their borders… got any way around that?

   Thanx very much Clayton.

5. Comment by Patricia — July 17, 2009 @ 9:57 pm

   Dear Wendy and Clayton,

   Thank you for this article. I am most grateful for the information you give. It’s quite obvious you know what you’re talking about and it comes across nicely.
   About this article too: It will go in the front of my copywriting manual from AWAI. That picture of that guy on the beach is nice, but I am more than willing to put in my time and effort to get there before doing the beach scene.
   I spent 35 years in Radiology, mostly in Nuclear Medicine, teaching Radiology interns, and taking call. There were some years before that where I did Real Estate, but the 2am counter-offers did not go over well with my kids. So, I did something else. Didn’t go back for the same reason. It’s one thing to go to a safe place (hosp.)and another to drive to a stranger’s house at 2am.
   I know that copywriting is what I really, really want to do because I love to write, I love people, and I’m interested in almost everything. It’s fun just getting there.
   Thank you so much again. And for even caring what we newbies think.
   Patricia

6. Comment by anwarkim — July 18, 2009 @ 7:46 am

   I get my best idea from this lesson.
   thanks very much .

7. Comment by Bernie — July 18, 2009 @ 11:51 am

   Clayton, thank you for your honest to goodness, No-BS approach to telling it like it is. This is the true picture of what it takes to be a success.

   “There will be plenty of failure, frustration and agonizing self-doubt along the way; more than enough to give the lazy and the faint of heart all the excuses they need to quit.”

   As Winston Churchill put it differently “Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears.”

   Thanks for keeping us moving in the right direction!

   Bernie Malonson

8. Comment by Susan Connors — July 19, 2009 @ 7:42 am

   Hello From Australia!

   Thank you Clayton for your honesty and integrity.

   No there are no short cuts to succeeding in Copywriting.

   It does take time and effort to succeed.

   The Great thing I love about Copywriting is it is used everywhere. It screams at us in every area of our lives and is ever growing.

   Keep up the great work and providing us with inspiration!

   All the best

   Susan Connors