Category Archives: Following The Rules

For Copywriters: 5 Important Lessons I’ve Learned

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This will be a quick post…

5 important lessons I’ve learned from over a decade of copywriting experience, that hopefully will help you if you’re a copywriter yourself (these are in NO particular order)…

1.  Get paid upfront, at least 50% of the project fee.  Make it a “kill fee” if for some reason the client decides to cancel the project and move on.

2.  Take care of your health.  Without it, none of this really matters.

3.  Take good care of your clients (especially the ones who take care of you), and always look for ways to provide extra value (at YOUR discretion) like consulting, an extra email for an email series, etc…

4.  Set clear project expectations with your clients upfront… don’t wait.

5.  Life is too short to deal with clients who don’t respect you as a professional copywriter (e.g. those who want you to charge by the word, those who don’t understand the value you bring etc…).

BONUS:  Have fun, it takes time to build a copywriting practice… so enjoy the journey.

Publishers Who Insist On Using DRM In Their Digital Products… Watch Out

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There was a time when I didn’t understand what DRM (digital rights management) was.

I didn’t understand the impact.

Now, I’m a tech-savvy consumer, who both understands DRM to a basic level, and what it means to publishers and authors on a larger scale.  The point of this post is… more people understand what I do.

Publishers, watch out, because the outdated model of using DRM in your digital product to “control” your end product are coming to an end.  That, or you’re going to start losing market share and eventually end up like Borders.

That’s “out of business” if you didn’t already know. ;)

My advice to publishers (and authors)… lose the DRM. 

The end user doesn’t want restrictions on the product they paid to use the way THEY want to use it.

This is the 21st Century… start acting like you’re part of it.

Please Don’t Make Me Sorry I Connected With You

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I get a TON of follower, “add me to your network,” and circle notification – type requests.

I do check out some of the profiles before saying “yes,” but don’t have time to inspect all of them.

I can’t imagine what folks like Mark Cuban, Reid Hoffman, Mark Zuckerberg, Evan Williams etc… get in terms of the volume of email, connection requests etc…

So, this is a lesson in connecting with somebody… anybody… star, business mogul, or average people like myself.

Don’t make me sorry I connected with you.

While there are different reasons for connecting with people, and I understand pretty much all of them… I can provide a few reasons people DON’T want to connect:

  • To hear product pitches right out of the gate, before a relationship is developed.
  • To join your “latest, greatest opportunity” (read: MLM or network marketing scheme)… before a relationship is developed.
  • To join another network itself, before a relationship is developed. (Why make me join you on Facebook from Linkedin?  Why not just build relationships there… or just focus on Facebook?)
  • To buy your product or service, first thing, before a relationship is developed.
  • In fact… to do __________ (anything), before a relationship is developed.

Do you see the common thread here?

Why on Earth would I care the slightest bit about your anything, if I don’t even know you?  It’s a question worth pondering for sure.

The only thing I do when I see any of the above, first thing, before you genuinely connect with me, is throw out a big SIGH… and disconnect immediately.

If I want a product or service pitch I’ll go to your website (maybe), but when you’re connecting, or networking, on the social media sites… well… it tells me a lot about you if you come out “pitching.”

Yet ANOTHER Email Marketing No-No

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Ok, we live in the 21st century… right?

Then why are some companies acting as though their email marketing was developed in the 90′s?

We have automated email marketing systems like Aweber, Constant Contact, etc… which, when someone unsubscribes, instantly removes that email address from the email list.

Because these technologies are available… we should NEVER get a message that says:

“You will be removed from this list within 24 hours/7 days/7 – 10 days”

Holy lazy marketing Batman!

When someone wants to be removed, it should be INSTANT… period, no exceptions.

They don’t want to hear from you, so why give any inkling of an impression that there is a remote chance you’ll contact them again?

If you’re promoting this laziness, stop it now.  As in, right now.  It’s making your business look stupid.

The Elevator Pitch – Part 2

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When I wrote an earlier post about the elevator pitch I suggested strongly that you ditch it, never mention it, and instead start a meaningful and valuable conversation instead.

In this post I’m going to focus more on “how to” start that meaningful conversation in about 60 seconds or less (which seems to be the time period we were supposed to give our “elevator pitch”).

Let’s get started…

The first suggestion from my perspective, which has worked well for me, is NOT to talk about your business intentionally AT ALL in that first crucial 60 seconds.

Instead, start a conversation.  This isn’t rocket science by any means, start with “Hello” and work your way forward, naturally progressing with exchanging names, common ground, weather… whatever starts and continues the conversation naturally.  The key word is… naturally.

This is where most people get it so wrong it’s not even funny.

DO.  NOT.  SELL.

I know this goes against conventional wisdom, I mean, you’re “supposed” to get to the point where you pitch something right?

No… you’re not.

But, if we examine the typical elevator pitch scenario, you use your pitch and set up a meeting or sell your idea/product/etc… in 60 seconds or less.  The law of averages says if you talk to enough people, with an “effective” elevator pitch… you’ll get results.

I’m telling you that is like directly selling a $2000 training course with ONLY a classified ad and no further contact.

Even if your only objective is “get a meeting”… and you have further selling to do to “convert” and make a sale, I’m going against the grain and saying this:

Starting a normal conversation and then seeing where it leads, focusing on building a relationship with the person instead with NO alternate motive (like selling)… is MUCH more valuable.

  • With the traditional method, you might get a few sales or schedule a few meetings.
  • With the “relationship building” method, you’ll get whatever sales or meetings you get initially, and it may not be as many (again… initially)… PLUS you’ll have developed a relationship worth so much more by putting the person first, and the sale second.

What I’m saying is you can get so much more from that initial 60 seconds than a few sales or meetings… but if you don’t focus on beginning a relationship with the other person at the start, and instead focus on your “greed gland”… you’ll lose the opportunity or have to work even harder to get:

  1. Referrals
  2. More sales
  3. Easier to close sales
  4. More valuable attention
  5. And more

Nobody likes to be “sold” by someone with the “used-car salesman” mentality… but they LOVE buying from someone they trust, when it’s THEIR decision to buy.

And, when you’ve developed the relationship properly… you’ll have a list of people to contact who will do much more for you, with you, and buy from you because the progression of your business relationship was natural… not forced.

I suppose I’m basically promoting the idea of selling without the “classified ad” mentality of the traditional elevator pitch… right?

Wealthy people get wealthy because they do what other people don’t… so go get wealthy. :)

The Elevator Pitch

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Forget the elevator pitch.

In fact, forget the idea entirely… don’t practice one… don’t even say the words, ever again.

Here’s why I think so, what you should do instead, and why that will work.

Let’s start with the obvious, we’re human beings. 

Not an earth-shattering concept right?

So, if you think about/form an “elevator pitch” in the traditional sense, we are basically saying it’s a numbers game… we’re going to say the same thing or a variation of the same thing to every potential customer, client, or vendor so they can get a clear idea of what our business is about in a short period of time.  Some will get it, some won’t, but forget the rest… or try to explain your business to those folks if you have to.

Right?

Wrong.

We are human beings… and there are so many variables at play when attempting to do this, we cannot possibly account for them all… so I have a better idea…

Just start a natural, meaningful, and dare I say it, human conversation… and where it’s natural talk about your business and what it offers.  Just let the conversation flow.

You’re not a fucking billboard for your business, you’re a human being for crying out loud!

And so is the person you’re talking to.

Now, you might be thinking…  “Joe, you’re a moron, an elevator pitch is something short and pithy designed to express ‘what you do’ in a short period of time… like an elevator ride.”

To which I ask you a question… dear reader…

Which is more valuable to whom you’re talking to (which is the point, right?):

1.  A concise billboard ad about your business, or…

2.  A conversation that is interesting, adds value, and naturally leads to a deeper discussion about your business and what it offers the potential customer, client, or vendor (and perhaps, a discussion of the value they might have for you).

Which leads to the next natural question…

How do you start that conversation?

And this is the most important part of this article…

Why on earth would you start (or continue) a natural conversation with a billboard ad?  Or, even if you have  well-developed “elevator pitch” that is interesting to the other person… how deeply effective is that… really?

That’s why I wrote this, because I’m going to develop this thought further, and continue this as a series of posts as we go along (under the “elevator pitch” tag).

I know I’m NOT the smartest person in the room of life, so I will learn a lot while I explore this important topic.

What say you?