Lex DeVille
Sweeping Shadows From Dreams
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
LEGACY MEMBER
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You struggle to write great copy. Want to get this sh*t off the ground.
Countless nights and days lost to big G...10,000 handwritten letters. Still no progress at all.
You've written copy. Sales pages, emails, blogs...everything in between.
So why are you still broke not getting anywhere?
Always seems so obvious to me -- stare down from the top. Over the Big Apple's edge. Path's so clear from here.
But maybe you don't see it yet -- still a foggy haze.
So I just wanted to share what's working in copywriting today...
...what will it take to actually make money writing copy in 2017?
1. YOU FOCUS...STILL APPLIES
At the top they know it's true. You want great clients, you have to focus on Y.O.U. and by that I don't mean you at all...really it's just them. Who are they? What do they need help with? How can you help them, Tim? Focus on YOU. Write about YOU. Customers and clients still won't give a shit about your experience / education / or portfolio, even in 2017.
2. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS...
You don't have clients because you don't ask questions. Or should I say, you don't ask the RIGHT questions. You don't ask intelligent questions that show you understand the client's needs and truly care about them. And the only way to ask the right questions is to put yourself in their shoes. See their business from their point of view. What are they missing? What don't they see? What haven't they thought of?
3. BECOME A COPY ADVISOR
You just wanna write copy...too bad so sad. Copywriting isn't just copywriting, EVER. If you can't contribute. If you don't contribute. If you just write and keep your mouth shut...well, you'll be an employee (for a little while) until someone comes along and starts asking the right questions. Not questions about their copy. Questions about their business model and why they're using outdated sales techniques that don't work...that's valuable. They don't hire you to write copy. They hire you to solve problems. People who solve problems get noticed and make money.
4. SEEK RELATIONSHIPS EVERYWHERE
If you don't see opportunity for relationships in every interaction, then copywriting isn't for you. Every client knows another client. Every person knows 1000 people. Build relationships everywhere you go. Be loved be everyone. Help people. Help people help people. Be someone worth referring to a friend. See clients as one-n-done and you might as well go back to corporate. Every client has a network. Every network has problems. You can't solve those problems if you're not in that network.
5. MASTER THE ART OF SHORT STORIES
The best copywriters tell good stories. Captivate the mind - words ensnare the soul. If you can't tell a story, you can't write copy. If you think it's about tactics, psychology or any other thing...have fun not making money. Clients fly to me like moths to flames because...my stories flow through the eyes to the mind, down through neural pathways -- switch on emotions like you flip on a light.
6. HAVE A GRAND STRATEGY
What are you writing for? Why do you want to write? What's your purpose? You don't know your end goal, you won't make money writing. Freelancers earn pennies per word because they don't have a bigger vision. They work to put food on the table. They work to have side income. They aren't working to become the Tony Robbins of their niche.
7. PICK THE RIGHT CLIENTS
99% of the time <---made up statistic ---} when a copywriting job goes south, it's because you didn't help your client the way they needed helped. And that's the problem with freelance...take any client who comes your way. But you can't help every client. You don't write well for every niche. You don't know every market...so it doesn't make sense to work with everyone. Only work with people who are an EXACT match for you. Figure out who you want to work with. What style do you deliver well? What people do you like? Choose only to work with the right people for you - people you can ACTUALLY help. Reject everyone else because they're not right for you.
8. PACKAGE YOUR SERVICES
When you know your niche and you only work with the right people for you, then you can figure out what they ACTUALLY need. Package their needs into a premium priced offering. If one person in the niche needs it, others do too. So offer a high priced package. Give them what they need. Solve their problems. Simple as that.
9. TAKE BIGGER RISKS...
...Take risks. Big risks. If you don't take risks in copy you won't get paid your worth. If you're too afraid to ask for referrals...if you're scared to pitch higher rates...if you're uncomfortable ditching a bad client because they pay you $2k per month for 500,000 words...then you won't get paid and you don't deserve to. You want big rewards, you have to take risks. If it doesn't kill you there's a good chance you'll come out stronger.
10. LEARN TO SELL
Before clients buy copy from you they'll probably want to meet you. They'll want to talk to you, interview you, get a feel for you. So you gotta be a BOSS. You gotta know how to SELL. If you can't sell yourself how can you possibly sell their product? Sales is a whole different topic for another time, but if you suck at selling (I mean phone and Skype sales) you better get to work. Plenty of threads on selling on this forum. Find one and learn, then do.
11. JUST F*CKING DO IT.
You don't need another book. You don't need big G letters. Books and courses and all that sh*t can't teach you to be an amazing writer. Maybe I can give you the best copy training in the history of ever...but until you write copy...until you learn the subtle nuances that make copy great...until you gain your own experience...you're just playing games and fooling yourself. Until you take action, you haven't taken action. Until you write copy, you're not a copywriter. Until you do something, anything, you're just a wannabe stuck in place. Put yourself out there. Reach out to clients where they are. Get clients. Write copy. Get paid.
This is what works in copywriting in 2017.
And here's what doesn't work...ever.
Excuses
More reading
Being comfortable
Not feeling ready
Not taking risks
Not writing copy
Not thinking outside the box
Not having goals
Doing what everyone else does
Being like everyone else
Thinking any of the following are gods: Gary Halbert, Neil Patel, Ramit Sethi, Derek Halpern, Frank Kern, or [insert name of other guru marketer you strive to mimic who says their way is the only way].
Poor attitude
Not knowing how to sell
Charging per word
Charging per hour
Not helping people
Thinking copy is tactics
Thinking without doing
Thinking too small
Thinking for the sake of thinking
Poor grammar
Poor spelling
Not using Y.O.U. focus
Knocking off other people's stuff
Burning bridges
Not building relationships
Constantly asking questions you could answer on your own
Not acting without someone else's approval
Not making your own decisions
And pretty much anything that doesn't move you forward toward your goals...
Make sense? Good.
Then you have no excuse not to make at least $5k to $10k per month writing copy in 2017.
Good luck.
Countless nights and days lost to big G...10,000 handwritten letters. Still no progress at all.
You've written copy. Sales pages, emails, blogs...everything in between.
So why are you still broke not getting anywhere?
Always seems so obvious to me -- stare down from the top. Over the Big Apple's edge. Path's so clear from here.
But maybe you don't see it yet -- still a foggy haze.
So I just wanted to share what's working in copywriting today...
...what will it take to actually make money writing copy in 2017?
1. YOU FOCUS...STILL APPLIES
At the top they know it's true. You want great clients, you have to focus on Y.O.U. and by that I don't mean you at all...really it's just them. Who are they? What do they need help with? How can you help them, Tim? Focus on YOU. Write about YOU. Customers and clients still won't give a shit about your experience / education / or portfolio, even in 2017.
2. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS...
You don't have clients because you don't ask questions. Or should I say, you don't ask the RIGHT questions. You don't ask intelligent questions that show you understand the client's needs and truly care about them. And the only way to ask the right questions is to put yourself in their shoes. See their business from their point of view. What are they missing? What don't they see? What haven't they thought of?
3. BECOME A COPY ADVISOR
You just wanna write copy...too bad so sad. Copywriting isn't just copywriting, EVER. If you can't contribute. If you don't contribute. If you just write and keep your mouth shut...well, you'll be an employee (for a little while) until someone comes along and starts asking the right questions. Not questions about their copy. Questions about their business model and why they're using outdated sales techniques that don't work...that's valuable. They don't hire you to write copy. They hire you to solve problems. People who solve problems get noticed and make money.
4. SEEK RELATIONSHIPS EVERYWHERE
If you don't see opportunity for relationships in every interaction, then copywriting isn't for you. Every client knows another client. Every person knows 1000 people. Build relationships everywhere you go. Be loved be everyone. Help people. Help people help people. Be someone worth referring to a friend. See clients as one-n-done and you might as well go back to corporate. Every client has a network. Every network has problems. You can't solve those problems if you're not in that network.
5. MASTER THE ART OF SHORT STORIES
The best copywriters tell good stories. Captivate the mind - words ensnare the soul. If you can't tell a story, you can't write copy. If you think it's about tactics, psychology or any other thing...have fun not making money. Clients fly to me like moths to flames because...my stories flow through the eyes to the mind, down through neural pathways -- switch on emotions like you flip on a light.
6. HAVE A GRAND STRATEGY
What are you writing for? Why do you want to write? What's your purpose? You don't know your end goal, you won't make money writing. Freelancers earn pennies per word because they don't have a bigger vision. They work to put food on the table. They work to have side income. They aren't working to become the Tony Robbins of their niche.
7. PICK THE RIGHT CLIENTS
99% of the time <---made up statistic ---} when a copywriting job goes south, it's because you didn't help your client the way they needed helped. And that's the problem with freelance...take any client who comes your way. But you can't help every client. You don't write well for every niche. You don't know every market...so it doesn't make sense to work with everyone. Only work with people who are an EXACT match for you. Figure out who you want to work with. What style do you deliver well? What people do you like? Choose only to work with the right people for you - people you can ACTUALLY help. Reject everyone else because they're not right for you.
8. PACKAGE YOUR SERVICES
When you know your niche and you only work with the right people for you, then you can figure out what they ACTUALLY need. Package their needs into a premium priced offering. If one person in the niche needs it, others do too. So offer a high priced package. Give them what they need. Solve their problems. Simple as that.
9. TAKE BIGGER RISKS...
...Take risks. Big risks. If you don't take risks in copy you won't get paid your worth. If you're too afraid to ask for referrals...if you're scared to pitch higher rates...if you're uncomfortable ditching a bad client because they pay you $2k per month for 500,000 words...then you won't get paid and you don't deserve to. You want big rewards, you have to take risks. If it doesn't kill you there's a good chance you'll come out stronger.
10. LEARN TO SELL
Before clients buy copy from you they'll probably want to meet you. They'll want to talk to you, interview you, get a feel for you. So you gotta be a BOSS. You gotta know how to SELL. If you can't sell yourself how can you possibly sell their product? Sales is a whole different topic for another time, but if you suck at selling (I mean phone and Skype sales) you better get to work. Plenty of threads on selling on this forum. Find one and learn, then do.
11. JUST F*CKING DO IT.
You don't need another book. You don't need big G letters. Books and courses and all that sh*t can't teach you to be an amazing writer. Maybe I can give you the best copy training in the history of ever...but until you write copy...until you learn the subtle nuances that make copy great...until you gain your own experience...you're just playing games and fooling yourself. Until you take action, you haven't taken action. Until you write copy, you're not a copywriter. Until you do something, anything, you're just a wannabe stuck in place. Put yourself out there. Reach out to clients where they are. Get clients. Write copy. Get paid.
This is what works in copywriting in 2017.
And here's what doesn't work...ever.
Excuses
More reading
Being comfortable
Not feeling ready
Not taking risks
Not writing copy
Not thinking outside the box
Not having goals
Doing what everyone else does
Being like everyone else
Thinking any of the following are gods: Gary Halbert, Neil Patel, Ramit Sethi, Derek Halpern, Frank Kern, or [insert name of other guru marketer you strive to mimic who says their way is the only way].
Poor attitude
Not knowing how to sell
Charging per word
Charging per hour
Not helping people
Thinking copy is tactics
Thinking without doing
Thinking too small
Thinking for the sake of thinking
Poor grammar
Poor spelling
Not using Y.O.U. focus
Knocking off other people's stuff
Burning bridges
Not building relationships
Constantly asking questions you could answer on your own
Not acting without someone else's approval
Not making your own decisions
And pretty much anything that doesn't move you forward toward your goals...
Make sense? Good.
Then you have no excuse not to make at least $5k to $10k per month writing copy in 2017.
Good luck.
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