Cards Cut

Aspiring copywriter, be warned.

Don’t expect to “retire this year and still make more money than most doctors.” Paul Hollingshead and The American Writers & Artists Institute say you can. According to their website, all that you need to do is take Michael Masterson’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting, which teaches you to write “simple letters.”

Are they realistic? I say no.

I have been a copywriter for over 15 years and I made a six-figure income last year (2005). But I did not do it by working only “a few hours a day.” I did not do it by writing “one, maybe two letters a month.” If I worked that little I would starve. The bank would foreclose on my house.

Can you really “retire from the job you’re in now and earn more money than most doctors, lawyers, or other well-schooled professionals,” as The American Writers & Artists Institute claims you can?

I doubt it.

Direct mail copywriting is a skill. It’s not easy. There are no “simple secrets.” You cannot learn the craft in a few months by email. I did not learn the trade by correspondence course and I know of not a single copywriter writing and earning at my level who did. They learned the hard way that writing sales letters is hard.

The best in the industry earn good money but they also work very, very hard. Consider the proof.

BOB BLY

Author: The Copywriter’s Handbook

Copywriter for 25 years.

Earns $500,000 a year.

Works 12 hours a day, five days a week.

STEVE SLAUNWHITE

Author: Start and Run a Copywriting Business

Copywriter for 16 years.

Earns six-figure income annually.

Works 40 hours a week.

IVAN LEVISON

Copywriter for 27 years.

Earns six-figure income annually.

Works 40 hours a week.

CLAIM #1

The American Writers & Artists Institute claims that “over the course of a year, you can easily earn anywhere from $30,000 to $240,000 in writing fees alone.”

REALITY

I say earning a living as a copywriter is not easy. Why should anyone ever think it is? In what other career can you possibly make $240,000 a year “easily,” unless you are robbing banks, dealing cocaine or running a prostitution ring?

CLAIM #2

The American Writers & Artists Institute claims that you can be just like the people that “have all the free time in the world to travel . . . to spend with their kids . . . to lower their golf scores . . . to really enjoy life.”

REALITY

As a full-time, professional copywriter, you will not have all the free time you want. Your clients’ deadlines will determine how much free time you have. No one is going to pay you to play with your kids or improve your golf score.

CLAIM #3

The American Writers & Artists Institute claims “You Don’t Need To Be A ‘Writer’ To Be Successful.”

REALITY

The only people who make a lot of money as direct response copywriters are the ones who are excellent writers. You cannot reach their status “just by learning the few powerful secrets that make them successful.”

CLAIM #4

Here’s the promise that Paul Hollingshead, co-founder of The American Writers & Artists Institute, makes: “I’ll also show you how the very first letter you write can earn you $10,000 in cash — and launch you on your brand-new writing career faster than you ever thought possible!”

HERE’S YOUR REALITY CHECK

How many people actually start out as a “brand-new” direct response copywriter with no experience, no clients, no portfolio, zero visibility in the industry and no reputation and manage to persuade their first ever client to pay them $10,000 for their first letter? Not many. When you start, you are a novice. The clients who pay that kind of money for one letter won’t even talk with a novice. And the clients who will talk with a novice won’t pay that kind of money.

If you take Michael Masterson’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting course through AWAI, I wish you every success. I am sure that the course is excellent and that the people who run it are ethical. But the one big check you can plan on receiving when you graduate and start out on your own is a reality check.

That’s because the folks who promote lucrative business opportunities like Michael Masterson’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting usually talk about gross income and never mention net income. They show you examples of individuals who earn $100,000 or $300,000 a year writing “simple letters.” I am sure these people exist. But they are not the norm.

Starting a business costs money. Operating a successful business costs money. Every well-paid, self-employed copywriter has expenses. Here’s the reality.

AVERAGE ANNUAL EXPENSES OF SHARPE COPY, INC.

Accounting/legal fees: $2,000

Advertising: 2,912

Banking fees: 762

Membership fees: 1,000

Office supplies: 5,244

Reference materials: 500

Subcontractors: 20,000

Telephone, cell: 600

Telephone, office: 1,460

Travel: 800

Website: 4,160

TOTAL: $39,438

I earn six figures a year as a direct mail copywriter but I spend almost $40,000 a year to generate that kind of income. That’s my reality. Knowing this, should you believe that you can take a correspondence course, retire to a quaint village in Vermont, and then earn more than a doctor makes working only a few hours a day writing simple letters? If you manage to pull it off, let me know.

© 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the Author” message).

Have a business that’s purely local in focus? Or simply want to beef up your client roster with more folks from your local area?

Here are 10 simple solutions to your local marketing challenges …

1. Make sure that your website specifically targets your local market. People are increasingly heading online to find local vendors. Make sure to broadcast your site’s URL to all of your prospects and clients, and ask your web designer to ensure that the website is search-engine friendly for people seeking information about vendors in your city.

You might also investigate pay-per-click search engines such as Yahoo! and CitySearch, which offer targeted marketing to people in your local area.

2. Network. I know that the odds are good that you might consider the term “networking” to be almost as bad as a four-letter word, but I assure you that there are ways to meet other businesspeople in town that won’t make you feel uncomfortable. Most of us have access to local organizations that are full of nice people just like you who simply want to meet other like-minded people.

The local Chamber of Commerce and other industry-specific organizations in your area are a good starting point. Just make sure not to just go to meetings — make an effort to get to know people or even volunteer for a leadership position where you can show off your responsibility, reliability and talent.

3. Partner with other small businesses catering to the same group of prospects. This seemingly simplistic tactic works for both service- and product-based businesses very successfully.

If, for example, you are a graphic designer and are seeking additional design work, you will benefit from getting to know a local copywriter or printer who knows plenty of prospects who might need your services. Alternatively, come up with a plan that sells quantities of your wares to local businesses as gifts/rewards for their clients and employees. Either way, it means more business!

4. Give talks at local organization meetings. If you enjoy public speaking, seek out associations full of your target prospects and volunteer to give speeches for free in exchange for the chance to market yourself and your services/products.

5. Send direct mailings to local prospects, and make a quick phone call to each prospect a few days later. The beauty of local prospects is the fact that you can afford to call your prospects for free as a way of following up.

6. Write articles on your area of expertise for the local paper, organization newsletters or your local business rag. Here in the Los Angeles area, for example, there are quite a few possibilities to choose from in the immediate area, and looking beyond what’s in close proximity, there are dozens of others in Orange County, Ventura County and beyond.

7. Don’t underestimate the power of a good Yellow Pages ad. Local businesses still look in the phone book to find sources of assistance for many types of their needs. The key in all this is to use the space in your ad wisely — include more copy than your competitors and share insights in that copy about how to select a and give them reasons to get to know you.

8. Hold a contest and get local press for it. Could your business benefit from the added attention of a contest? Get creative and go for it!

In all of these suggestions, I’ve focused on how you can find new clients, but don’t forget: One of the very best ways to make more profits is to get your current clients to spend more on each purchase and/or get them to come back to you more often.

With that in mind:

9. Make sure to educate your current clients about what you do. Regardless of how many clients you have, you need something in place to keep them up to date on what you and your business are capable of.

Recently a listmate on a discussion group I participate in mentioned that she lost business to another vendor because her client didn’t know that she could provide that particular service. How much business are you losing because your local clients don’t have a clue what you do?

10. Set up a loyalty program designed to keep your current clients coming back for more. Depending on your business, you might want to send out coupons, freebies or even simply send out an update of the types of products/services you offer.

The good thing about most of these methods is their low cost. Regardless of your business’s location, make sure to study your local competitors’ marketing methods and see what works. Then give it your own personal twist and reap the benefits.

Are you a coach, consultant or other solo service professional who’s struggling to grow your business? Small business marketing strategist Jennifer McCay will show you how to attract more clients more easily. Get her FREE audio course and FREE weekly small business marketing lessons at http://AvenueEast.com.

Once you have figured out your what your focus should be,think of ideas on how you would like to see your site and sketch out each page. Start with the home page; this page should be about 3-5 paragraphs long. It should state who you are and what you do and guide the viewer to the rest of the site.

Keep in mind that the average web browser will decide whether to leave or stay on your site in the first 6 seconds! So get their attention, but don’t scare them away! (See our other article on how to write good copy)

Your website doesn’t have to be fancy to be great, it should just be clean, informative and easy to navigate. Remember the 6 second rule. Here are some basic guidelines for content to include in your site:

- A complete description of your products and/or services “Services page” The more information you give your visitors, the more informed they will be when they contact you.

- Pictures, everyone loves pictures! Every page on your site should have at least one picture or graphic. But be sure they are related to your business. Depending on your industry, you might even want to have a “gallery” or “portfolio” page.

- Have a “Packages” or “Pricing” If you don’t list your prices, your prospects might go somewhere that does. Ever been in a store with no price tags? In cases like this, many people think that the products are too expensive or that the company will try to get them to buy something they don’t really need. At the very least, you should list a starting range and maybe a description of your average or most popular package.

- Testimonials. People want to feel that you can actually produce what you claim. Get testimonials from past clients and put their names on it and where they live, as not to seem like you made them up. i.e. Bob Smith - Hampton, Virginia

- Give a brief history/bibliography. This is usually the “About Us” page. State your experience, why you got into the business, etc … Why should one hire/buy from you? It is OK to embellish a bit for readability, but don’t lie! If you are a member of any professional organizations, list those here too.

- FAQ’s … Answers to frequently asked questions is another good thing to have on your website …. This will add valuable information to your site and save you time in having to answer the same questions to every new client.

- Links to friends and colleges in related fields is another great thing to have on your website. This makes you appear to have greater experience to the prospective client. And offers valuable information to your visitors. Of course, you should not trade links with your competition Look around, I would be willing to bet that in most cases, your competition has some sort of a link referral system.

- Finally, the “Contact” page … make sure your contact information is easy to find … it doesn’t hurt to have the phone number and/or email contact at the bottom of every page and then have detailed info on the “Contact” page. Always, have a phone number AND an email contact. You would be surprised how many people surf at night and like to send email requests. You should also have your location somewhere on your website, so people know where you are, even if you work from home and don’t want to advertise your home address, you can put the city you are in. Or you can get a local P.O. Box. Most people like to work with local businesses.

Once your site is up, you are only half way there, now you have to market it! What good is this great site that you have spent so much time and money on if no one can find it?!

Website marketing can be difficult and time consuming. Here are some tips to get you started.

List your website address in ALL your printed promotional materials. Business cards, postcards, brochures, flyers, etc … And list it in your email signature so that you will be advertising your website with every email you send.

Posting on Message boards related to your industry is another way you can promote your site and establish yourself as an expert in your field. (boards that will let you post your website address/url in your signature)

Then you will want to submit your site to the search engines. Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask Jeeves are the ‘top dogs’ right now.

Consider hiring an SEO expert to do monthly search engine submissions for you and try to update your site often so it doesn’t become stale. It also helps to optimize at least your home page for your most relevant keywords and phrases. (See our other article on how to write copy search engines love)

You will also want to try and get your site listed on other related websites that may already have established rankings with the search engines. The more ways a potential customer has of finding your website, the better. This is “Link Popularity”.

Writing articles related to your field and submitting them to related websites and article bank sites (such as www.EzineArticles.com and www.Article99.com) is another great way to build inbound links to your site.

Again, all this can take time and effort and sometimes money but it will ultimately pay off in the long run.

© Plush Designs - 2005 All Rights Reserved

Plush Designs offers affordable website and graphic design and search engine marketing services.

Check out our website for more details. http://www.PlushDesigns.net

Don’t get left behind! Isn’t it time to get your business online?

What’s more important to your business success - the question or the answer? Certainly, you want your questions to reflect what you are trying to find out. Obviously, your questions should be easily understood. Most definitely, you’re hoping for some positive responses. But, what you really need to do is count repetitive keywords and phrases found in your respondents answers.

If you agree with the philosophy about how people tend to buy from the perspective of avoiding pain and moving towards pleasure, you know how important it is to your market research, product development and sales strategy to ask good questions and listen very closely to the answers.

Open-ended answers are made up of the words respondents have chosen to tell you how they feel about something. You need to analyze the answers to open-ended questions for repetitive keywords and phrases that match those of your current or future products and services. The greater the density of the keyword and phrase matches the higher the probability of building your opt-in list or making a sale.

The key to your business success is combining everybody’s answers and counting the density of repetitive keywords and phrases to help you craft your products and services into search engine friendly content pages you can use to build your opt-in list, make a sale, generate pay-per-click revenue or leverage affiliate income opportunities.

“Learn & Do” Action Steps:

1. Design your questions for open-ended response.

2. Count the number of repetitive keywords and phrases.

3. Build your page content around keywords and phrase density.

4. Set up your lead in ads to match your keywords and phrase density.

5. Create links to non-competitive offerings with matching keywords and phrases.

About the Author

Don Osborne is the Author/Publisher of THE PROFIT PUZZLE, an ideal business tool for anyone thinking about, planning, starting, running or growing a small or home-based business: http://www.ProfitPuzzle.com

“But this won’t work” said Steve. “I’ve tried it in the past and had no response.” Does this sound familiar? My newer clients often resist implementing certain strategies based on past experiences. However, I usually find out that it wasn’t the strategy itself - but how it was implemented that caused the dismal results.

So whether you are designing a simple flier or developing a plan for a strategic partnership you can increase your chances for success by following these five tips.

1. Develop Your Marketing For Your Potential Clients - Not Yourself.

What looks good to you may not necessarily be appealing to your audience. It’s OK to ask your friends and associates for feedback - but their comments are only relevant if they are members of your target market. Also - just because everyone else advertises in a certain way is not a proof that it works.

2. Provide Answers To These Three Critical Marketing Questions:

QUESTION 1: What’s this about?
Check that your materials immediately and clearly communicate what you offer, who it’s for and what’s the next step you are asking them to take.

QUESTION 2: What’s in it for me?
Don’t make your audience guess about what’s in it for them by leaving this information out or hiding it in the small print at the bottom. Use clear language free of industry jargon. Describe your offering not from the perspective of what you do but in terms of what the clients will receive and how they will be better off as a result of it.

QUESTION 3: Why should I listen to you?
How will you establish credibility with your audience? Include your photo and prominently display your contact info. Present case studies, statistics, endorsements, testimonies from satisfied clients. If people don’t believe you they will not respond to your offer.

3. Always follow the proven A.I.D.A. format.

ATTENTION
Use a powerful headline that grabs attention. Don’t try to be cute, don’t expect that your prospects will take the time look for a deeper meaning in your clever slogans - they won’t. So be as direct and to the point as you possibly can. If you can boil the essence of the benefits you are offering to just one short sentence what would it be? That’s you headline!

INTEREST
Now that you have their attention you must quickly build your prospects interest. Use subtitles, questions and short stories to illustrate and communicate how well you understand their needs. This is a good place to allow your audience to connect with the pain their problems are causing them.

DESIRE
Technical descriptions and numbers provide information but don’t incite action. Your marketing must arouse in your prospects the emotion of desire. Show your audience how a solution is available and achievable to them through doing business with you. Offer powerful performance promise and eliminate the risk of giving you a “try” by a strong guarantee.

ACTION
Without this part your marketing is like a salesman who gives a great presentation but forgets to ask for the order. Give your prospects a compelling reason to take action. Make your offer so incredibly irresistible they simply cannot refuse!

4. Follow up, Follow Up, Follow Up…

Over 80% of all sales are made after the prospect has heard from you at least seven times. Yet a typical business person gives up after just one or two follow up contacts.

Plan your follow-up steps in advance. Use a combination of mail, email, telephone and personal visits as your follow-up strategy. At each opportunity provide your potential clients with value - this way they will forgive you the intrusion.

5. Develop a System

Most entrepreneurs and professionals waste their time and money on one-shot, fragmented promotional tactics. They practice “hit and miss” marketing system; they try a strategy and abandon it before it has a chance to produce any results.

Instead of developing new marketing strategies look for ways to improve the ones your are currently using. When you find a promotional strategy that works for you build a system around it so that you can consistently implement it over and over again.

Following these tips will make all the difference in the world between struggling to get clients and becoming wildly successfully in marketing your services. They are worth investing your best efforts and getting the support you need to implement them effectively.

(c) 2004 Adam M. Urbanski

The Author, Adam Urbanski, a Marketing Mentor, helps Service
Professionals and Small Business Owners attract more clients.
For more free tutorial articles, hot how-to tips and a FREE 32-page marketing guide go to http://www.themarketingmentors.com

No matter how high tech the world becomes, there are still many old-fashioned problems regarding communication. With email, you face the same challenge as you do with regular mail — convincing the recipient to open the message (or envelope).

Many email recipients delete messages without ever opening them. How do you avoid ending up in the electronic equivalent of “File Thirteen”? The answer is: by using a good subject line.

A subject line allows the reader to see at a glance what the message is regarding. It serves as gatekeeper, determining whether the message will be opened. Here are three methods for writing an effective subject line.

1. Say Something Useful

Leaving the subject line blank isn’t an option. People don’t open messages when they don’t know what they’re about. For one reason, they don’t have time to be bothered. For another, the threat of email viruses makes people nervous.

Almost as useless as leaving the subject line blank is typing the word “Hi” or “Greetings.” Those are fine for messages to your best friend or mom. But, in the professional world, it tells the recipient absolutely nothing.

2. Be Specific

People receive lots of email. To cut through the clutter and get your message read, be specific about the topic. The more information you provide in the subject line, the better chance you have of getting the person’s attention.

For example, instead of typing “Question,” try, “Question about ABC event.” Instead of typing “Proposal,” try, “Proposal for event on 7/5.”

3. Be Creative

Using a specific subject line is most appropriate when corresponding with people you know or who are expecting your message. How do you get the attention of someone who does not know you? Be creative.

In this instance, the subject line isn’t used to describe the contents of the message. Instead, it conveys some other type of information. The exact content will vary, based on the message and recipient. The key question is - what can you tell the recipient that will convince him/her to open the message and read it?

Here are a few examples that demonstrate various goals.

• To identify yourself, try “Local Meeting Planner.”
• To tell how you met the person, try “Chamber Networking B’fast.”
• To explain why you’re contacting him/her, try “MPI Fundraiser.”
• To exploit a common bond with recipient, try “Fellow IU grad.”
• To distinguish yourself from others, try “Spanish Speaking Realtor.”

There is one more challenge to overcome when crafting an effective subject line - length. Although your screen will allow you to type as many words as you want, most recipients can only view 25-35 characters of a subject line. A “character” is defined as a letter, space, or punctuation. Whenever your cursor moves a space, that is considered a character.

Since space is limited, don’t type a complete sentence. Use a phrase or series of words. Even abbreviations are acceptable, if you are certain the recipient will understand them.

Don’t leave your email messages naked. Use an effective subject line.

Kelly J. Watkins, MBA, Louisville, KY. Visit: www.keepcustomers.com to order, “Email Etiquette Made Easy” (a comprehensive guide filled with exercises and examples) or for tips on communication & customer service! (812) 246-2424 or kelly@keepcustomers.com.

Any new business requires an investment of capital, time and planning. You will have a much higher chance of success, working from home, if you spend time establishing yourself first.
An airplane uses most of it’s fuel at take off. Network marketing is similar. You need to put in a huge effort to get your business off the ground. If you remain consistent in your efforts your business will fly. If you are inconsistent you will be stopping and starting. You will use up so much fuel on each take off that you will burn out before you reach cruising level.

Your Business Plan
Have written goals of what you want to achieve in your business. Have time lines for when you will reach each level. From this you can write a plan of how you will ensure you reach your targets.
Follow your written plan. Draw a line down the side of your diary page. Mark non negotiable times. For example when you will do personal development, follow up calls, advertising and for how long. Stick to your time limits. Also write down the things that you must achieve for the day. This gives you a visual reminder of your Daily Method of Operation (DMO). This is a simple way to keep a daily check on your time management skills. Don’t finish work until you achieve your goals for that day. Do not compromise

Concentrate on Areas of Importance
Decide on the areas of your activity that give you the most return. Continually ask yourself “is this activity directly and positively related to retailing or recruiting? Don’t lose your self in the unimportant activities. Remember the 80/20 rule. This states that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your work, 20% of your customers will provide 80% of your sales. So it is imperative that you concentrate on the 20% and do not getting lost in the 80% that is not important. Structure your time so that it is invested where you achieve the best rate of return.

Build Your Inner Strengths
Be respectful to everyone you come in contact with. Always be positive and enthusiastic. Don’t down grade yourself with negative thoughts or words. Realize that we all have a continual responsibility to grow, learn and improve ourselves. Commit yourself to at least 1 hour of personal development a day. This can be fun and easily achieved. Always have a positive cd/tape playing in your car. When you do gardening, housework or exercise, make sure you are listening to personal development tapes/cd’s at the same time. Don’t make it a chore. Make it a fun and integral part of your day.

You can achieve great wealth, satisfaction and happiness when you have the right business opportunity and the right attitude. Establish good guidelines for yourself the first day you start your business. Follow them every day. If they are not one hundred percent improve or alter your plan. Work as hard on improving yourself as you work on building your business. You will be well rewarded for your efforts.

About the Author

Cheryl Haining is a successful work from home based business operator. To learn how to create an income stream from your home that will replace your job and develop true financial freedom visit: www.keybusinesstips.info For information about weight loss, nutrition and diets visit www.uloseweight.net