Six Figures is Chump Change
- How AWAI and Bob Bly got it wrong …
- My Startling Confession: The REAL reason why my clients grow up to ten times faster than their competitors do and why I earn ten times more than most copywriters …
- The little-known and thoroughly misunderstood business model that explodes response for business owners and turns six-figure freelancers into seven-figure copywriters …
- And much, much more
Dear Business Builder,
Some say the very definition of the word “insanity” is doing a thing the same way repeatedly and expecting a different result.
Probably true: I’m willing to bet lots of folks who inhabit that funny farm on the outskirts of town got there for this very reason.
Sadly, not all insane persons are committed or fitted for straightjackets before they do harm to themselves or others. And fewer still get the professional help – or the thorazine, shock treatment and/or frontal lobotomies – they so desperately need.
[FAIR WARNING: Classic Makepeace rant ahead … something to offend almost everyone … to skip over it, click here!]
… Like, for example, well-meaning but delusional folks who enthusiastically support Republican candidates in the sincere belief that they really will eliminate wasteful government spending – despite the facts that …
- Republicans have been making that same promise since the mid-1960s …
- We’ve had five Republican presidents and the GOP has controlled both the White House AND Congress for ten of those 43 years, and that …
- The U.S. government now spends 23,000% more than it did four decades ago and the national debt is now 28,000% larger.
So by definition, voting Republican and expecting smaller government and lower federal spending MUST be the pinnacle of insanity – right?
Not necessarily …
At this very moment, millions of poor, delusional souls are passionately supporting Democrat candidates believing they really will finally eliminate racial and sexual discrimination, clean up the environment and end poverty – despite the inconvenient truth that …
- Democrats have been making those same tired, old promises for 43 years …
- We’ve elected three Democrat presidents and the Dems have unilaterally controlled both the White House and Congress for 23 of those years, and that …
- Every one of those problems is still with us and some are more severe than ever.
Now from these facts, a sane person might conclude that the government is impotent to solve these problems or that politicians of both major parties are merely incompetent; incapable of doing anything right.
A sane and somewhat cynical person might even suspect that the secret three-step strategy for succeeding in either party is: a) Raise right hand, 2) Solemnly place left hand on stack of Bibles, 3) Lie your everlovin’ ass off.
Nevertheless – and despite the fact that some of us feel it’s cruel to make a spectacle of the mentally ill – every newscast this campaign season is replete with images of normal-looking people in both parties wildly cheering every ounce of feculence and hot air that proceeds from the mouths of their chosen candidates.
Why? Because they actually believe that voting for their party – again – will produce a different result.
Sometimes, all a truly sane person can do is shake his or her head in amazement. Or hope against hope that HillaryCare will get these unfortunate individuals the psychotherapy and drug regimens they so desperately require.
(On second thought, curing her constituents’ mental afflictions would pretty much guarantee Hillary – or any other politician for that matter – a single term in office. So I guess it would be insane to hold your breath until that happens!)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
If the world was a fair place, the Federal Trade Commission would have already populated our prisons with the politicians who have so egregiously defrauded us.
And the million or so hapless inmates whose only crime was to fire up a doobie in the privacy of their own homes would be free; happily and harmlessly munching their ways through mass quantities of Twinkies.
But I digress …
Our theme for today is insanity.
As in doing a thing the same way repeatedly and each time, expecting a different (hopefully better) result.
So now that I’ve pretty much offended everyone on both sides of the aisle (and hopefully, prompted a few of the more sentient among us to actually think), let me say something really controversial:
The American Artists and Writers Institute
is full of beans
and so is Bob Bly.
Don’t get me wrong: I love Michael Masterson. He’s one of the most brilliantly successful guys I know. More than that, I love his copywriting courses and all the other great stuff AWAI publishes to help young copywriters along. I won’t touch a writer with a ten-foot pole until he or she has completed BOTH of Mike’s courses.
And Bob Bly is hands-down the sweetest, dearest, most generous business friend I have – not to mention one of the most effective and most prolific copy coaches on the planet.
But Bob and AWAI have told you something – something about me – that simply isn’t true. And I need to set the record straight right now:
When AWAI and Bly say I’m the world’s highest paid freelance copywriter, they are mistaken.
Please don’t get me wrong: It’s not like they’re blowing smoke up your skirt … it’s just that they’re misinformed.
Yes, I earn millions of dollars in copywriting royalties every year. In fact, I’m guessing that when my accountant calls me in a few weeks, he’ll tell me I bagged well over $4 million in 2007.
Only problem is, I am not a freelance copywriter!
Not only that; I wasn’t a freelancer between 1982 and ‘88 when I made millions with Security Rare Coin and Blanchard & Company. Or between ’91 and ’95 when I made millions with Phillips Publishing. Or since 1999, earning up to $650,000 per month with Weiss Research.
And for good reason …
The freelance copywriting model is insane.
I know – you’ve been told that freelancing is the road to the big money.
And sure – if you’re willing to settle for a six-figure income ($100,000 to $999,999 a year), freelancing is one way to get there.
But if you’re interested in making the most money possible for every hour you work – two, three, four, even five million every year …
Or if you’re a business owner or marketing exec looking for a way to get the most effective copy possible out of your writers …
You can trust me on this: Freelancing is NOT the way to go.
In fact, I’ll even go so far as to say you’d have to be insane to want to be a freelance copywriter today.
And that, if you already are an established freelance copywriter and plan to continue freelancing for the foreseeable future, you’re out of your everlovin’ mind.
And that, if you’re an entrepreneur, business owner or marketing exec who hires freelance copywriters, you should have your head examined.
Because whoever you are, the freelance model is costing you a bloody fortune.
Now, before I continue in this little heresy, let me just say I’m well aware of the fact that just about every top copywriter in the country will read this.
Every one of them are cherished friends and a few are even former protégés of mine. And yes, every one of these top guns makes a good six figures a year as a freelancer and some of them have even broken the $1 million-a-year mark.
And I also have beloved lifelong friends at Agora, Healthy Directions, Phillips and most of the other major direct response companies you work for now or hope to get an assignment from in the future.
So please chalk up what I’m about to say to “tough love:”
You’re all nuts.
Business owners and marketing execs who hire freelance copywriters – and who, despite their experience to the contrary, hope the writer will give them a grand-slam home-run …
Freelance copywriters who are serially monogamous with six, eight, even twelve or more clients each year – and who, despite their experience to the contrary, hope to make it into royalty heaven …
All certifiably insane.
All doing the same thing, the same way – repeatedly – and hoping for a different, hopefully better result.
Take a look at how the freelance copywriting model works and you’ll see what I mean:
Freelance copywriters are hired guns; retained by many direct response companies each year to create promotions for their products.
Typically, the writer is offered an advance of between $12,000 and $25,000 to do the work – with the promise that if his promotion produces a greater return on investment than the promotion the client is currently using, he’ll also receive a royalty whenever his copy is used. (In direct mail, the royalty is usually between $10 and $50 per thousand pieces mailed. Online and in other media, the royalty is often 3% to 10% of the revenues the promotion produces.)
The writer slaves away over a hot keyboard for a month or more to create a promotion that will generate a greater return on investment (ROI) than the promotion the client is currently using.
To do this properly, he must learn everything possible about the product, the prospects for the product, the company’s promotion history and study what his client’s competitors are doing. This learning curve can consume two or more of the weeks allotted for each job.
If the writer succeeds, his promotion becomes the new “control” and the royalties begin flowing to him each time his copy is used.
Then, immediately after it gets a new control, the company calls one, two or three other writers and assigns them the task of beating it in the hopes of raising their ROI and/or having a new control ready to go when the existing one begins to lose its effectiveness.
Now, here’s why I say this model is insane:
FIRST, since freelance copywriters write for many clients during the year – including the clients’ competitors – client companies are notoriously and understandably hesitant to tell them everything they need to know to succeed.
SECOND, when copywriters accept an assignment, the new promotion is often pitted against several other new promotions created by other freelancers on its first outing, thus reducing the odds that any one of them will win.
THIRD, even after a writer has established a new control with a client, that client will immediately ask other writers to try to beat it, thus limiting the original writer’s royalty potential.
FOURTH, and this is why I no longer accept freelance direct mail assignments – because of increased competition, maturing markets and the rise of the Internet, the prospect universes and mail quantities for investment and health newsletters have plunged precipitously.
In the early to mid-‘90s for example, my controls for health newsletters mailed up to 30 million pieces per year at break-even or better. Today, a strong control mails maybe a third as often and pays one-third the royalties.
The investment niche is even worse: In 2000, financial newsletters could mail two to three million pieces per month. Today a typical control mails maybe one-tenth as much and pays only about one-tenth the royalties.
FIFTH, armed with the realization that their potential for substantial royalties is shrinking, copywriters are no longer adequately incentivized to spend the time and effort to give each client their best work.
To the contrary: Declining mail quantities and the fact that other writers will be challenged to beat their controls incentivizes copywriters to short-cut their learning curves on each project … spend as little time as possible writing each job … and then overbook themselves to collect as many advances as possible.
Put simply, the freelance model that worked so well for all of us in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s is irreparably broken.
Business owners and marketing executives are finding it harder to get great new controls. And freelance copywriters – even “A”-level writers – are struggling to maintain the income and lifestyle to which they had previously become accustomed.
Now can you see why I say copywriters and direct response companies who return to this model repeatedly – and who, with each new assignment, hope for better results – should have their heads examined?
Can you see why smart companies – like Agora, for example – are expending enormous resources to recruit, train and generously incentivize dedicated in-house writing staffs?
Can you see why so many top copywriters are abandoning the freelance model entirely and going into business for themselves?
My Confession:
How I really got to seven figures;
how you can too
Now, I’d love to tell you that I earn three, five, up to ten times more than other writers because I’m ten times the writer they are.
And I’d also like to claim that my sales copy alone is responsible for the fact that my clients usually grow their sales and profits two, three or four times faster than their competitors do.
But alas, that just isn’t true.
The truth is, I’ve stumbled upon a better way to work with my clients: A new kind of relationship that eliminates the obstacles to excellence that are inherent to the freelance model … frees me to give clients my very best work … reduces their financial risk on every promotion … ramps up their response, average sale and ROI … accelerates their sales and profit growth … and brings me millions in royalties each and every year.
So what is this amazing breakthrough that consistently quadruples companies and turns six-figure copywriters into multi-millionaires?
I won’t keep you guessing: I become a full-fledged partner in my clients’ businesses.
- My clients provide me with retainers, advances and royalties I can count on – and in turn, I agree to focus my creative energies exclusively on them; never their competitors.
- My clients freely open their files to me, showing me their past successes and failures … the mailing lists and other media that have worked for them and which have not … their complaint letters as well as their testimonials … and everything else I need to give them bigger winners.
- I agree to play a major role in both in-house and customer acquisition promotions and even in promotions in which my royalties will be less.
- They agree NOT to throw one, two or three copywriters up against each new promotion I create – and in return, I agree to give them my very best ideas and produce as many copy projects and test panels as required to get them the breakthrough they yearn for.
- Instead of allowing staff marketing people (who couldn’t write a successful promotion if you held a gun to their heads) to change my copy, I alone decide which suggestions get acted upon and how they’re incorporated into the copy.
- Instead of allowing ham-handed compliance officers and attorneys to unilaterally change my copy, my clients empower me to work with their legal beagles one-on-one to develop compliant solutions that do not kill response.
And that’s just the beginning of the benefits to both parties …
- I also vow to take an active role in establishing and evolving my client’s long-term business strategy and his product development strategy.
- I identify problems in his corporate structure that are blocking his path to explosive growth.
- I get to know every product he has inside and out.
- I study his prospects and customers and get to know them in intimate ways no freelancer ever could.
- I spot the jobs nobody’s doing effectively in his organization and help him find the people he needs to fill them.
- I create procedures that push each new product and promotion through the pipeline in record time and that enable him to roll out his winners faster and bigger.
- And much, much, much more.
And because I’m able to contribute in so many ways, my client is free to compensate me in ways that make sense to both of us.
I can charge less for jobs that produce little or no immediate profits for my client – like new customer acquisition campaigns, for example – because I know I’ll make it up in spades when those new customers order later on.
The proof’s in the pudding
This is no fly-by-night theory; no “looks-good-on-paper” scheme that fails in the real world.
Doing things this way is the real reason why I was able to multiply Security Rare Coin’s revenues ten times over in my first month with them … take them from $360,000 a month to $16 million a month in sales in one, short year … and make a bundle for myself in the process.
It’s how I took Blanchard & Company from $20 million to over $115 million.
My retainer, consulting arrangement and exclusive writing agreement also contributed mightily to the explosion of Phillips’ health division in the ‘90s.
It’s what enabled me to make Weiss Research’s Safe Money Report the largest financial newsletter in the world in the 2000s.
… And it’s what still earns me more royalties every month than what most writers earn in a whole year.
More to come
Every Monday for the next month or so, I’m going to show you more of my process – including …
- How to find and qualify the clients you want to work with – and how to spot clients you should steer clear of …
- How to persuade an existing client to try this admittedly unusual (but immensely profitable) working arrangement …
- How to structure deals with clients that get you monthly retainers, royalties, overrides, and even stock in your clients’ companies …
- Where the gold is buried in your client’s company – and how to quickly get it out of the ground and into your client’s pocket where it belongs (taking a nice chunk for yourself in the process) …
- How to keep clients honest when it’s time to fork over your royalties …
… And in a few weeks, I’m even going to invite you to attend a FREE, LIVE ONLINE EVENT in which I’ll show you – step by step – how I prime my clients’ companies for success!
My advice: Watch your inbox! Do NOT miss a single one of these issues. The secrets I plan to reveal have been worth millions to me and tens of millions to my clients. I’m giving them to you free; no strings attached.
It would be “insane” to miss them – no?
Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,
Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
P.S. Wish you could vote sanely in an insane world? Here’s a friendly suggestion: Instead of voting the way you usually do and hoping for different results – or holding your nose and voting for the lesser of two evils this year – why not join me in sending a message that will have the leaders of both major parties quaking in their boots?
If you’re in favor of the smaller government Republican candidates promise but never deliver …
And also the personal liberty and equality Democrat candidates give lip service to but consistently fail to produce …
You may want to click here to check out a sound, perfectly rational third alternative.
And don’t worry – I’m putting my soapbox away now. No more political stuff for a while.
Looking for resources related to this article? Try some of these.
Looking for more of Clayton’s articles? Check these out.
Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.
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23 Comments »
Join the Discussion!
Let us know what you think. Or ask us anything. Or offer your own sage advice.
The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
– Clayton
Comment by Jason Leister — January 14, 2008 @ 11:05 am
Clayton,
You had to go and let the secret out of the bag.
Comment by Joel — January 14, 2008 @ 11:17 am
\”When AWAI and Bly say I’m the world’s highest freelance copywriter, they are mistaken\”
Would that be as a result of firing up a doobie?
Comment by John Gilger — January 14, 2008 @ 11:22 am
This article explains a lot of the frustration some of us have been going through.
I does kind of shoot the \”freelance dream\” right in the butt for those of us who would rather choose where we live based on criteria other than \”going where the work is\”.
As always, I enjoyed it. Thanks for stimulating some mental activity and re-evaluation
Comment by Len Bailey — January 14, 2008 @ 11:28 am
Great article! This is without a doubt one of the best secrets from your How to Build a 6-figure Copywriting Business audio seminar… thanks again for sharing!
Comment by Lara Loest — January 14, 2008 @ 11:30 am
Thank you Clayton - yet another fantastic article - I\’m thrilled to read the rest of this series.
Comment by John Scola — January 14, 2008 @ 11:35 am
It\’s election time and you know what that means…
Hillary is crying and and both her and Obama wants to give away the store…
The GOP candidates have no clue what conservatism means or don\’t care…
Who to pick? Who cares?
Albert Einstein actually said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results.
If this keeps up, the Sovereign Wealth Funds will buy up everything in United States and there\’s nothing left worth fighting for…
Comment by Winnie — January 14, 2008 @ 11:39 am
I subscribe to about a dozen newsletters and The Total Package is the only one I read as soon as I see it in my inbox.
Today you showed once again why that\\\’s a great strategy.
Thanks.
Winnie Anderson
Comment by Leon Altman — January 14, 2008 @ 11:40 am
Sounds in essence like becoming the client\’s agency.
It would be interesting to see how you propose going about getting clients to agree with this.
Very provocative and I\’m curious to see if you can make this a practical approach for those who don\’t have your superstar status.
Comment by Jeff Crosby — January 14, 2008 @ 11:42 am
You sound Like a good Man
Comment by Joseph Ratliff — January 14, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Clayton,
You mean you have actually stopped trading time for dollars and built a copywriting business? An asset? No wonder you are not a copywriter.
Joseph Ratliff
Not A Freelance Copywriter Either
Comment by Tom — January 14, 2008 @ 11:49 am
Clayton,
Never,ever,ever,ever die or retire.
All us eternal students that need your teaching so much will be in the s***. Bigtime!!
Who else can or will teach us so unselfishly?
Thanks for it all.
Comment by Glen Kohlenberg — January 14, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
Clayton I love your kick ass honesty and your tell it like it is attitude. Can\’t wait for more, Thanks
Comment by Victor — January 14, 2008 @ 7:42 pm
What is your third political alternative? Coudn\’t open the \”click here\” page.
Comment by Victor — January 14, 2008 @ 7:42 pm
What is your third political alternative? Coudn\’t open the \”click here\” page.
Comment by Clayton Makepeace — January 15, 2008 @ 1:56 am
Here you go Victor … copy and paste this URL into your browser …
http://www.lp.org/issues/platform_all.shtml
Comment by Ruth — January 15, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
Clayton, you sure shot the wind outa my sails!
Here I finished two AWAI courses, and fully expected to make a lot of dough. (freelance)Even though I have several rejects from spec letters.
What now? I don\\\’t know! Looking forward to your future messages/
Comment by Clayton Makepeace — January 17, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
Hey, Ruth! Gee – thought the news that you still can make up to $999,000 per year as a freelancer would be GOOD news for you.
Take another read – the money you spent with AWAI was a VERY good decision!
Comment by Han Poelstra — January 19, 2008 @ 6:31 am
Nice piece of raving Clay
But didn’t you wrote about this very same subject almost a year ago?
Looks to me nothing’s changed.
But then, you know what they say about managers. :upset
Han Poelstra[EMAIL]powertext.info@planet.nl[/EMAIL]
Comment by nicky — January 20, 2008 @ 11:40 am
I fully agree that being more than just a copywriter for a client is necessary. But help me to understand what you\’re saying here…
Do you work with all those companies you\’ve listed one after the other? Or all at the same time? On contract?
Assuming a copywriter currently freelancing (but without your multimillion star status and track record)succeeded in getting a company to retain them, and the company went out of business, isn\’t the writer then effectively unemployed unless they have several companies they\’re working with ( effectively freelancing)?
What\’s the difference between the recruited trained and incentivized writer and paid employee?
Comment by Bernie — January 21, 2008 @ 7:04 am
Clayton, nice way of turning a negative into a benefit.
After watching AWAI get flamed and blasted on other message boards, thanks for letting me know it is a wise investment.
Hope to repay the favor someday!
Bernie
Comment by Nicky — January 30, 2008 @ 8:51 pm
Clayton, I think you are a brillant copywriter, and marketer. Co-incidentally I recently bought your last book on Copywriting - which a great and practical read. I think though that there is a lot of alarmist copy in your article. It reminded me a lot of Chicken Little. I also have the feeling there\’s a product not too far down the pipeline - the solution - and help the worried copywriters who\’ve been unable to sleep since your first post in this series
but I could be wrong. In the meantime I wish more top copywriters had come out with a grounded rebuttal as did Chris Marlow of Get Great Clients in her latest newsletter. Is the copywriting model broken? I don\’t believe it is. I\’d need far more proof than you\’ve hitherto provided.
Do I believe that a honed and experienced copywriter (like yourself for example) will naturally see other ways to serve their clients and profit? Absolutely. Will everyone want to be a \”jack of all trades\” instead of \”just a copywriter?\” Or an employee? I don\’t believe so. Will B2B clients turn over their marketing and strategy to a copywriter (whatever inventive name they call themselves? Doubt it. Will every copywriter want to \”partner with just one client?\” Probably not, it kills the variety of freelancing.
I think perhaps your message is targeted at a select group of people in an equally select niche…I\’ll still read your upcoming blog posts, it threw me for a loop momentarily, however right now I\’ve happily decided that the message of the broken copywriting model and writers leaving en masse isn\’t really for me. I think I\’ll settle for the 6 figures for now
Comment by Jim — May 25, 2008 @ 10:26 am
This is mainly aimed at those like me who have not gotten into the copy-writing game yet. Many of us have a variety of excuses not to get involved in this field, like:
(1) I’m too old to start a new career;
(2) I am not the creative type;
(3) English is my second language;
(4) etc.
If you are at all like me (as many are) these are only excuses
to resist the change that is much needed in my life (and yours?).
I have some advise, FREE.
Just start.
Something is better than nothing.
Now, if I could only take my own advise…
Comment by Ollie Biggers — August 10, 2008 @ 10:04 pm
Wow! This is a huge insight! This just proves that to stop the insanity, you must specialize in your own niche. I sure won’t waste my time going crazy with a market area if I haven’t got a clue! I really enjoyed my first issue and walked away with lots of gold!