Learn to Copywrite

Archive for the ‘copywriter’ Category

When we first start out as a freelancer, there’s a tendency to “aim low” on the theory that since we’re just starting out, we should start at the bottom, servicing small businesses, and eventually work our way up to bigger businesses. Right?

Wrong. Small businesses very often don’t have the kind of money a smart and talented consultant deserves to be paid. And very often, a small business doesn’t have the knowledge and resources to implement the consultant’s solution properly, often leading to disappointing results.

And it’s the results you need…it’s the stories about how you solved a problem, what kind of returns you brought, how you cut costs, or increased productivity…these are the things the mid-size and big companies want to hear before hiring you.

So the first rule in consulting…whether you’re an IT pro, human resources expert, or copywriter like me…is to start prospecting somewhat higher than the very small business. And yes, you should also have the really big guys on your list, the global enterprises.

Even though your chances of landing the IBMs might be small now, you should have a certain number of enterprise-level names on your list (within your niche), because if they’re not on your list now, they won’t know you later when you’re ready for them, and they’re ready for you.

So the first rule in freelancing to the corporate decision-maker is to target high enough.

Now before we move on, let me point out that there is one very important exception to this rule…

…and that is that you CAN work successfully for small business IF you offer a “full solution.”

For instance, you’ll have a hard time surviving on small business accounts if you ONLY sell copywriting services.

However, if you handle ALL aspects of their marketing…the strategy, ad buys, project management, creative, production…in other words, if you handle the whole ball of wax as their “one-person marketing agency,” you can make working for small business a VERY profitable niche.

We’ll go into the realities of working for small business an upcoming article, but for now, let’s finish our focus on what it takes to land the big accounts.

So if the first rule of landing big accounts is to aim high enough with regards to size, then the second rule is to have a solid “value proposition.” This is a statement that does more than differentiate you…it also shows, in specific terms, what your value is to the client.

Here’s an example of a value proposition taken from Jill Konrath’s outstanding book, “Selling to Big Companies,” slightly modified…

“After working with [me], one well-known retailer saw a 54 percent increase in sales conversions and a 25 percent increase in order size from their online sales. My clients typically see 40 percent to 150 percent improvements in key operating metrics such as profit margins, rates, and cost savings.”

A strong value proposition like this one, with numbers and benefit statements, has a lot to do with getting you in with the high-quality, high-paying clients.

It’s the metrics that make the difference, and it’s been my experience as a copywriter that gaining strong metrics is easier when you work with companies with sophisticated marketing departments.

And what if you don’t have any metrics you can use in your value proposition?

Simply use your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for now, being sure to state not only what sets you apart from your competition, but what it means to the client. (Your benefit statement, what you mean to the client, is the most important
part of your USP.)

So whatever work you do, and whoever you do it for, one of your primary concerns is getting your hands on the results of your work. I put it right into my fee agreement so the client can’t blow me off later when I come asking for results data and work samples.

Here’s what’s worked well for me for years, and I encourage you to add it to your own contract/fee agreement:

“In order to promote my business it is essential that I receive samples of my work as well as any information on the performance of the work. Your sharing of samples, response rates, and any other measurement data is very important, and you understand that I may use these samples in the promotion of my business. Thank you for your cooperation!”

Ok…so back to the question: “Who lands the big accounts?”

The consultants who work for the high-quality, high-value clients have a niche market and specialized experience and/or talent in that market.

They may be individuals like my coaching students and me; they may be groups of individuals, such as small consultancies. And they may be mid-size companies or big corporations themselves (think Madison Avenue ad agency).

And they all have their various value propositions. You can get into the big time too IF you know a common problem that your niche market struggles with (low marketing response rates for instance), AND you have the answer to the problem right there in your value proposition:

“I can double your response AND cut your costs.”

Chris Marlow
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/who-lands-the-big-companies-96256.html

There’s no doubt about it that we are being bombarded with more advertising and marketing — especially online — than ever before.

And if you want your ads to cut through the noise and clutter of an overcrowded market place, one of the best things you can do is not try to make the sale at all.

Let me explain.

Almost 100 years ago the legendary copywriter Maxwell Sackheim wrote an ad with a headline (that is now ingrained in direct response copywriting mythology) that said, “Do You Make These Mistakes In English?”

And even though the ad is considered to have some of the best “sales copy” of all time, nothing in the ad was being “sold.” Instead, the entire ad was designed to get people to send for a free book. For more details you can visit at www.sales-page-rapid-fire.com

You see, before selling anything, the ad first got anyone interested in developing better English skills to raise their hands. Then they sent them a sales letter selling an actual product. Which, from what I hear, sold a TON of courses.

And this concept is even more important today.

Whether you’re writing online or offline, doesn’t matter. If you find your ads and sales letters just aren’t pulling because you are in an overcrowded market, try to write an ad that sells people on something free first.

From there, when they’ve gotten to know you and the valuable information you possess, then go for the sale. Then sell a straight pitch on something that costs money.

Now, if you are a copywriter who wants to start attracting dozens — even hundreds — of new leads and clients, here’s another unique way to accomplish this.

This may sound over simplified (or complicated, depending on your work ethic) but the key to attracting copywriting clients is to simply write a book on the subject.

In fact, Joe Vitale in his book “The 7 Lost Secrets Of Success” told the story of how Bruce Barton (one of the founders of the famous ad agency BBDO) once wrote a book about advertising and business. And how, after the book was published, their ad agency was flooded with new business almost overnight.

People “all the sudden” wanted to hire Bruce Barton — the guy who wrote the book they had just read — to do their ads. And BBDO made a lot of money, and got some extremely big accounts as a result.

Now, I’m not saying you will have the same success as Bruce Barton.

But having a book out there that demonstrates your knowledge and skills will do more for your credibility and perceived value as a copywriter than any amount of portfolios, testimonials or bragging will ever do. You can also visit at www.sales-letters-creator.com

And realize that writing a book doesn’t have to be a hard, drawn out process. You can do the same thing, get the same effect, by having someone interview you about the subject, putting the interview on CD and having the transcripts typed up into a “book.”

The key is to give good information in a format people can easily access it in.

You do that, and you get it in enough people’s hands, and you will start to find people coming from all over wanting to hire you, and only you.

gurbinder.dec2008
http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/to-sell-without-selling-and-pack-your-copywriting-business-with-new-clients-fast-685185.html

Well let’s see now. Since my wife has been married to this freelance copywriter for just over 27 years, I think it’s a safe bet to say she’d vouch for (most) everything I’m about to share with you, on why copywriters make better lovers.

With all the work we do, there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun sometimes, right? Especially when we can learn valuable lessons in the process! That being said, here are my top 3 reasons why copywriter’s make better lovers. It’s because they understand:

1.Commitment. 2.Communication., and, 3.Compromise

And here’s how they work …

The world’s best copywriters are totally committed to finding out what makes their prospects ‘tick’. And they’ll move heaven and earth to find out, if that’s what it takes. That’s because they understand it doesn’t matter how good of a writer they are, or how eloquent they can be … if they ever hope to have a chance at making a sale … they can’t even begin to craft a successful approach until they understand their prospect’s needs, wants, and desires.

And so it is in love.

Imagine ladies, how valuable you’d feel knowing your man was totally committed to discovering all he could about your deepest desires. I’ll bet you’re in the mood for getting out the candles just thinking about it, aren’t you?

But that’s only the beginning.

A true pro isn’t going to settle for just learning what his prospect wants. Instead, he’s going to do everything he can to communicate with his prospect, by speaking their language. For more details you can visit at www.web-sales-letter-supreme.com, that means his communication isn’t going to be about “me, me, me”. In fact, his number one goal is to fade into the background, and make his prospect feel as if they’re the only one that matters. This means when they communicate, a good copywriter is going to immediately arrest his prospect’s attention, by making his or her # 1 desire the sole focus of his opening (headline).

And the headline is only the beginning. Using the knowledge he’s gained through research he’ll continue to demonstrate an understanding of how he can fulfill his prospect’s desires. So he’ll engage him or her with questions, and stories, and word pictures, and quotes, and testimonials, and statistics, and whatever it takes to give his prospect the evidence and reassurance needed to entrust him or herself to his care. You can also go to www.sales-page-rapid-fire.com

And so it is in love.

Imagine this ladies. Your man wants to communicate with you. Not only that, he wants to talk about the things that interest you. And he goes out of his way to let you know that he’s heard you, he understands you, and he’s dedicated to pleasing you. Are the candles lit yet? I bet they are. The lights are dimmed, and there’s a soft romantic “glow” in the room.

And now it’s time for compromise.

Realizing he can’t always have what he wants, just because he wants it, a good copywriter understands compromise. He knows he’ll sometimes need to give a ‘little extra’, if he really wants to improve his chances. So he offers bonuses. Not only that, he knows he needs to faithfully perform, so he offers a performance guarantee. He makes the ultimate commitment to pleasing his prospect, and he removes all doubt, by offering to a money back guarantee.
www.10steps-to-killer-web-copy.com

www.private-labels-empire.com

suresh
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/sales-letter-training-with-copywriters-make-better-lovers-682250.html

Outsourcing Virtual assistant and Call centers continue to multiply in the many developing countries such as Philippines, China and India. This is on of the best examples of Business Process Outsourcing Providers (BPO) or recruitment companies that provides outsource recruitment services to foreign clients. Aside from call centers, there are other outsourced positions that can provide you with a decent job, a clear career path, a competitive salary and even lots of benefits. Offshore staffing is another option. Many large and small companies are turning to outsourcing to hire virtual assistant or virtual assistants, copywriters, SEO service provider, website administrators, programmers, web designers and more IT staff. Outsourcing data entry jobs are also becoming a practice with many businesses so as to save more time and costs. These positions also offer the same promises of call centers but one major advantage is that it can be home based.

You can easily take your pick from the various outsourcing jobs that are now needed by many businesses. They can hire you on a short or long term basis depending upon the project requirements. All you need to have is a small home office with a computer unit with a broad band or DSL connection and you can start your foray your chosen career path. You can be a virtual assistant, hired copywriter, an SEO service provider, a website administrator or an IT staff to handle operations of small and even larger businesses. Or you can just choose to handle businesses with outsourcing data entry jobs.

Whatever your expertise is, you can easily find an outsourced job that is perfectly matched with your skills. Hired virtual assistant and copywriters easily earn extra money, it is one of the best home based job that is not directly affected by economic fluctuations. Even with a bad economy hired virtual assistant and copywriters can still have lots of workload. SEO service providers are quite in demand these days. They are the ones that can help your online business grow through you effective trafficking and keyword placements. Meanwhile, outsourced web administrators and IT staff can be the best solution for your technical needs without the sky high costs. Outsourcing data entry job also is one of the best choices for people wanting a not so technical position.

Although outsourced jobs also have some challenges, it can be faced by being determined and disciplined. Any one of the choices, being a hired and outsourced virtual assistant, copywriter, an SEO service provider, a web administrator, programmer, website designer or any IT staff or outsourcing data entry job; all of these are home based careers. Though you can work in the comforts of your own homes, you still need to be free from any form of distractions to deliver efficient and effective output. Make sure that your home office is away from the living room where the television, radio or videos and reading materials are placed. Make sure that your friends do not come for a visit during your working hours.

Outsourcing home based careers need not cause you to live a stressful life. Unlike call center careers, being a hire virtual assistant, copywriter, SEO service provider, IT staff like programmer, web designer or web administrator or if you are outsourcing data entry jobs; you would not have to run off to work, get stuck in traffic or battle with bad weather. Today, you can have your above industry rate salary assured every month. Depending on your choice too, you may opt to be a freelance or a dedicated outsource staff with a contract from a trusted recruitment company that offers recruitment service. The latter will be assured of work and income every month; with a six or one year contract that can give your security despite your work-at-home status.

Rachel Ray
http://www.articlesbase.com/outsourcing-articles/outsourcing-virtual-assistant-jobs-youve-got-a-choice-from-recruitment-service-companies-669714.html

Copywriting is a creative profession that can actually earn you a six-figure monthly income or more if you play your cards right. Especially now that the trend’s eye is on Internet marketing, there’s no better time than today to become one excellent copywriter. So how lucrative can copywriting be as a profession? Imagine all the businesses looking for someone skilled enough to weave sentences that will make their services or products be more acceptable to the public. For more detail go to: www.tried-tested-marketing-strategies.com.More and more firms are acknowledging the assistance that online marketing can do in getting the word out about their businesses. Copywriters are their main weapons and there’s a shortage in the current number of copywriters that are handling the requirements of different businesses that are looking into building an online presence.

So yeah, you’re a copywriter - a budding copywriter to be exact. You’re eyeing that bigger paycheck soon. How do you become a successful copywriter? Aside from working with the big guys or reputable companies that pay big bucks, you’re better off being the boss of yourself creating sources of residual income - this is the very mind of a successful Internet marketer in the works.

Internet marketers don’t need to be copywriters to earn big. But if you’re a copywriter and you are planning to enter the Internet marketing scene - that would be a very great idea. Why? You don’t need to undergo the hassle of hiring incompetent copywriters who will write your site’s copy because you’re one discerning copywriter. Or when the ball gets rolling, you will not have a hard time looking for the best copywriter to handle your writing projects since you’ll easily distinguish the good from the scum.

But what exactly is the niche for copywriters? What else but producing content and exploring all ways to monetize that content. Here are some ways you can make the most out of your copywriting skills to make it big in the Internet marketing scene:

This is one of the easiest ways to earn from your writing prowess and the online world nowadays. However, it won’t be easy if you don’t know a bit about what you’re going to blog about. For the uninitiated, a blog used to be an online diary. Now it’s a marketing vehicle that a learned and modern Internet marketer will suggest that you use if you’d like to cast a wider net in getting to your target audience. for more detail go to:www.attaining-your-desires.com.All you need is a blogging platform like Movable Type, Type pad, Wardress, a hosting service, a domain name registered and something that you can blog about passionately that will definitely solicit reactions from your target audience and voila! Yours is a surefire successful blogging career as a copywriter. The best way to do this is research first if your passions have a good market and blogging about it will be good for your Internet marketing efforts - most probably it is.

Remember the saying, do what you love first and money will follow? If you’ve already explored your blogging options and your target audience is responsive enough, you can formulate an e-course or a tutorial that’s open to the public. However, you can keep the premium content only accessible to those who’d like to pay. Face it - your knowledge is NOT something that can be picked just from anywhere. Why not earn from it?

You’d like an easier way to make some good money from your copywriting skills? Create an info-packed e-book, partner with people who can help you market the e-book, use your blog and other marketing vehicles and soon you’ll be earning like you’re born to get rich.

Those three methods can actually be taken as three steps towards a more lucrative copywriting career. With the right timing and connections you can speed things up. These are only suggestions though since a very good copywriter will definitely be able to come up with more creative ways to earn from his or her talent. So go ahead, get your creative juices flowing and make the most of technology, the Internet marketing trend and your skills, of course, to make some good money.

www.ultimate-internet-marketing-tricks.com www.tube-traffic.com

ginfo gsix
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/copywriting-skills-to-make-it-big-in-the-internet-marketing-scene-722749.html