Welcome To The Top Five, Now What?

“Try not to become a person of success but rather to become a person of value.” – Albert Einstein, Physicist (1879-1955)

In This Issue:

Welcome To The Top Five, Now What?
by Monica Day

My family, bless their hearts, still doesn’t quite “get” what I do. I’ve even boiled it down to the simplest possible explanation:

“I sell stuff…with words.” Still, blank looks.

Writing books or newspaper articles or landing a feature in Esquire where I’d at least get a byline would make them proud. Doing “creative” for Super Bowl ads and radio jingles might even make them brag. But selling a 700-page travel book online with nothing more than an 8-page letter? (You mean I can’t just go buy it in a bookstore?) Selling a $1,000+ annual subscription to a financial newsletter with a 12-page letter? (What’s a financial newsletter?)

Add to it that I work from home and earn six figures…well…let’s just say they view me with no small amount of suspicion (and none of them reads this eletter – What’s an eletter? – so it’s safe to rant and rave here about being misunderstood.)

But this ‘best-kept secret’ of a profession is getting out. No less than three people emailed me about the latest prediction from staffing specialist Robert Half International that places copywriters in the top five up-and-coming in-demand jobs for the future.

Finally…respect is on its way! Our families and friends will embrace our profession as easily as they would the doctors and lawyers among them. And a wave of new clients is coming like the cavalry to rescue us from ever having to attend another networking event again, right?

Not so fast. I’m counting this as a mixed blessing – one that should be approached with care. Let me explain by way of looking at another profession that recently experienced a surge in demand…realtors.

The hotter the real estate market got, the more people jumped on the bandwagon. It seemed so easy to do – study a few evenings and weekends, get your license, and get in on the bubble frenzy of buying and selling real estate.

Until the Federal Reserve started mopping up all the easy money floating around. Interest rates ticked up, buyers came to their senses, and the market cooled. Suddenly, realtors needed to know a few things – about marketing, about negotiating, about matching buyers with the right house, about pricing to sell. They needed skills — not just a car to get to appointments, a pen for their clients at the closing table, and a bank account where they could dump their commission checks.

And real estate professionals went from being a dime-a-dozen, can’t-tell-them-apart commodity, to a valuable resource that could make or break your real estate deals once again.

The coming surge in demand for copywriters may not be due to a bubble market…but the internet has certainly changed the landscape of prospects for copywriters. Businesses need to generate significantly more writing to reach their customers and drive sales in this new marketing venue.

While this might mean more projects will come your way in the months and years ahead, it may come with a mandate to educate your new clients about the value of the service you provide to their business. Neglect this step and you run the risk of being viewed as just one of a dime-a-dozen, can’t-tell-them-apart commodity, rather than the valuable resource that could make or break their business.

You and I already know there’s a big difference between words that fill up a page, and words that sell. But unless your new client is already a major mailer or uses direct response marketing techniques regularly, they might not recognize the value of your services. It will be up to you to show them.

Here’s how you can really blow them away…and make sure they see your value before you write the first word for them:

1) Ask how they will measure the success of what you write: While this is a standard way of thinking in direct response advertising, traditional advertisers don’t encourage their clients to expect such tangible results. You might suggest they capture emails and build a list of customers…offer some type of lead generation strategy such as a coupon or discount for responding to what you’ve written…or even just promise to increase their click-thru or open rate. The mere suggestion that your writing will directly result in increased revenues will show them that you are results-oriented, and there is a direct, measurable value in the writing you provide.

2) Time to teach ‘Copywriting 101’: Beware the client who tries to downplay the assignment by asking you to “freshen up” or “just edit” something they already have. Especially if you read it and can easily see that you’ll be turning mediocre, or even terrible, writing into spun gold. This is a good indication that they don’t understand the difference between effective copywriting and simply well-written prose. A good writer can certainly clean up the grammar, and might even make it cute or more readable. But only a copywriter is going to turn their words into sales.

3) Don’t just be a copywriter, become a trusted advisor: I’ve had a great deal more success – and infinitely more fun – when I’ve taken the time and initiative to understand my client’s business better. You increase your value a great deal when you demonstrate that you understand their products and goals, and provide them with viable suggestions for improvement.

It’s certainly great that copywriters made it onto such an impressive Top 5 list. It ought to be good for business, increase our income, and save face at cocktail parties and family gatherings to boot.

But don’t just settle for adding a bunch of new clients to your rolodex and a slew of projects to your calendar. Reach instead for getting clients that understand your value, offer them as much mastery as you can muster, and together you’ll reap the rewards.

Because being in-demand is great – but being at the top of your game is better.

Resource Referral: You Have to Start Somewhere

If you’ve had the lucky experience of getting your first client – or at least a nibble – then you already know you’ll need more than just solid copywriting skills to make it as a copywriter.

Starting and running a successful business is a strategic and methodical undertaking. You’re no longer an employee; you’re the boss. Which means that even when you have no idea what you’re doing, you have to act like you do. And in most cases, you have to figure it out fast.

But there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. AWAI gathered the business know-how from the best authorities in the world: professional copywriters who’ve already built successful, highly lucrative freelance writing businesses. You’ll quickly learn the answers to your most pressing questions, like:

The answers you’ll get to these and hundreds of other questions about starting and running your own $100k/yr writing business can all be found in Freelance Writing Success in a Box: Your Complete Guide for Launching and Running Your Profitable Freelance Writing Business.

Check it out today. Remember, you’re now in one of the Top 5 in-demand careers…time to start acting like it!

Quick Copy Tip: An Email A Day Keeps Projects Coming Your Way…

One of the reasons so many small businesses run in feast or famine cycles is directly related to their marketing efforts. See if you’re making this critical mistake:

When you’re calendar is stuffed with projects, marketing is the last thing on your mind. You keep your head down and keep working to meet deadlines. When you look up, you notice your calendar is completely empty! Youpanic and put out feelers, calls and emails to everyone you can think of to generate new assignments. It works! But then…

You put your head down and get back to meeting deadlines. And before you know it – feast or famine strikes again.

Here’s an easy way to get off the treadmill: send one marketing or networking email per day. You don’t have to ask for work directly, and it doesn’t even have to go to a client. It can be a note to a colleague, someone you met at a conference or networking event, or an introduction to someone you’ve never met. It almost doesn’t matter.

Whether you call it six degrees of separation, the law of attraction, or simply a roll of the dice – staying connected with people in the industry will ultimately lead to work. And it won’t take you any longer than 5 to 10 minutes a day to handle. So no excuses – drop someone a line today!