Tag Archives: direct response copywriting

So I Suppose I Can “Write A Letter Like This One”

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Since 2001, my career choice has been direct response copywriting.

One of the reasons I committed to this career fully, as in NEVER going to work for someone else again… was this letter by AWAI.

In the beginning, it was a direct mail piece though… a variation of this online sales piece.

Both of those are good copywriting pieces to print, read and absorb if you’re interested by the way.

Anyhow… it’s been almost 12 years since I started… and I wanted to share some things that I do which kept the saw sharp, kept clients knocking at the door, and obviously… made my client’s various businesses much better.

Now, I’m writing copy under agreement with Agora Financial, which if you’re at all interested in this business… represents one of the titans in the direct marketing industry.

Here’s a short list, in no particular order… and nothing in great depth as each of these tips is a topic all by itself:

  1. Network… all the time, even when you’re busy… because you WON’T be busy if you stop.
  2. Read copy from successful, and unsuccessful promotions by various companies.
  3. To do #2, get yourself on a bunch of direct mail lists by publishers like Agora, Boardroom, and others.  Simply ask them, and they will send you the best of the best.
  4. Get AWAI’s “Six Figure” Copywriting program, and absorb ALL of it.  Also be sure to get the “Hall of Fame” book, which contains 50 of the classic pieces of direct response magic responsible for millions of dollars in sales.
  5. Go to http://www.marketingbullets.com and subscribe.  Gary Bencivenga is a copywriting legend, and everything he says is gold… period, end of story.
  6. Find any Gary Bencivenga direct mail pieces (do a Google search), read them, write them yourself to “feel” what master-level copywriting writes like… and do it over again once a year.
  7. Get up at 530am every day.
  8. Get plenty of sleep.
  9. Take care of your health, mentally and physically.
  10. Get a social life, this is a solitary profession when you’re working… but doesn’t have to be outside of that.
  11. Eat right.
  12. Eat right.
  13. Eat right.
  14. Oh yeah… did I mention eat right?
  15. Do your business admin stuff… like taxes etc… or have someone do it for you.
  16. Make friends with other copywriters, they aren’t your competition… this industry needs more good copywriters, they are in severe shortage.  Plenty of crappy ones though.
  17. Always Be Marketing.
  18. Read copywriting books, stick with the classics like Scientific Advertising, The Copywriter’s Handbook.
  19. Read marketing books.
  20. Did I mention reading?  Do it all the time.

Well, there you are, 20 of some of my best pieces of advice for budding copywriters.  Hope they help you along with your career.

Oh, one more, when someone does you a favor, or helps you along in your career… pay it forward. ;)

Not Where You Want To Be As A Copywriter?

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As a copywriter myself for over 10 years now… I’ve had bumps in the road as well as major successes.

I’ve also developed close relationships over this same period of time.

One of those relationships is with Peter Bowerman, author of The Well Fed Writer and a blog by the same name.

So, when offered an opportunity to write a guest post for Peter, I graciously accepted.

Here is a link to that guest post, which identifies 5 key reasons you’re not where you want to be as a copywriter (or commercial freelancer as Peter describes it).

Click here to read

5 Reasons Why You Aren’t Where You Want To Be As A Commercial Freelancer…

The One Thing You NEED First To Become A Great Copywriter…

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There’s no doubt, copywriting (and marketing — more on that in a later post) has been a great business for me.

One reason is the freedom and control of my schedule. Another lies with the income potential.

But there is one thing I didn’t learn until my 3rd year or so as a copywriter…and it almost cost me my whole copywriting career.

What is this one thing?

A reason why.

If you don’t have a “reason why” you’re in business as a copywriter, you are shooting yourself in the foot.

Here’s why…

It’s easy to say “I want to be a copywriter because _____”. Some people make the mistake of calling this their reason why, and it isn’t strong enough. Some people never even get this far.

So when an obstacle comes up, when things get tough in the business of copywriting (and they will, for sure)…if your reason why isn’t strong enough… you lose faith in your business and fold up shop.

A typical example of a failed “reason why” is money.

“I want to be a copywriter because I can make good money”, or a variation of that example.

First of all, money is dependent on your ability to market and sell yourself, and your reason why has to be stronger than that. Couple this with the fact that there will be times (especially in the beginning) when things can be a bit “slow” businesswise (even for superstars).

Wanting to “make money” won’t be strong enough to guide you through this obstacle.

You have to have a bigger driving purpose for wanting to be a copywriter as a chosen profession.

So what is your real driving purpose for being a copywriter?

Why is it really that you’ve chosen to become a copywriter?

If all you can come up with are superficial reasons why…perhaps you’ve chosen the wrong profession.

Here is my own reason why so you can see what has driven me through the tough times over 10 years in the business of copywriting and marketing:

“I know that business owners need me. They need me because
they get so wrapped up ‘in’ their business, they can’t objectively work ‘on’ their business in a way that can produce a dramatic breakthrough for them.

So I need to make sure I can reach every business owner I can that generates between $500k – $10MM in revenue…so in working together I’ve done my part to help elevate the success of this community of business owners as a whole.

There will be bumps in the road for sure, but they need my help.”

There you have it, my driving purpose for becoming a copywriter (and marketer).

Notice that making money is a byproduct of how well I execute my driving purpose?

So get to work people…it’s time to discover the real reason why you’re in this business.

Until the next time we look in the mirror together,

Joseph Ratliff

5 Writing Sites You Need To Visit

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Short and sweet, you need to visit these 5 writing sites if you’re interested in freelance writing at all:

All Freelance Writing

SlushPile Hell

RyanHealy.com

Writer’s Digest

Marketing Rebel by John Carlton

Obviously, this list doesn’t include every single resource you could need…but will provide a great start for freelance writers and copywriters.

The Noise

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When you’re sitting in a stadium (indoor or outdoor), if you stand up and scream when everyone else is screaming for the team…can they hear you?

Nope.

Soooo… if you’re advertising your product or service when everyone else is advertising their products and services…do they hear you?

Nope…not at first at least. If you’re message is crafted well enough, is creative enough, or is targeted to the audience “right next” to your business (like people standing right next to you and screaming in the stadium)…then they might hear it.

But more and more, it’s becoming a challenge to advertise with the effectiveness once possible (it’s still effective of course, but people also have more tools to “tune it out” as well like TiVo, banner blindness, and the good ole’ A/B pile for direct mail etc…).

The most effective forms of marketing are trust and relationship based, period. This is why joint ventures, face to face selling, seminars / webinars, and social engagement etc… get the best results for the dollar when implemented correctly.

Compare these two scenarios (briefly described so I don’t write a book here):

1)  Customer sees advertisement…

—> Advertisement happens to engage customer, but an interruption is still established and customer doesn’t really care about the vendor at this point (even if the advertisement is targeted properly)…

—> Customer responds to advertisement and hopes the merchant delivers as promised.  But no solid relationship has been established upfront because advertising is an interruption strategy…it’s up to the merchant to effectively build that relationship quickly by adding enormous value…

—> If the merchant displays any shortcomings, the customer will not be very forgiving at this point in the relationship…

—> If merchant adds enough value however, they can get referrals and continue building said relationship…

2)  Customer gains value from content provided by merchant (this can take many forms), thereby establishing value upfront…

—> Now, the customer has expectations set somewhat by said content (seminar, webinar, PDF, etc…) and has some sort of basis for understanding the merchant…

—> Merchant continues to deliver as promised, but can add value any how, furthering the relationship already built with the customer…

—> Customers tend to be a little more forgiving of the merchant’s shortcomings initially (no business is perfect)…

—> If merchant adds enough value however (over delivers), they can get referrals and continue building said relationship…

In each of these scenarios, the main difference is in the way said relationship starts, with advertising still being effective but less forgiving in the beginning unless the merchant adds enormous value upfront to differentiate and continue building the relationship.  Otherwise, the merchant can more easily get lost in the “noise” of all of the other merchants that offer the same or similar products or services.

With the content, or relationship-based marketing approach, the merchant establishes their main differences closer to the beginning of the relationship.

With content (or social engagement of some type), this is not so much based on the “interruption” and more based on giving the potential customer an opportunity to evaluate why the merchant is a good choice and establishing some expectations about the merchant without “risk” of making a bad choice.

Instead of “pushing” to find a customer, you’re “pulling” the customers who want to hear what you have to say towards you, rising above the “noise” in the market place.

In the end, it’s also easier to develop evangelists for your product or service when you started the relationship off on the right foot in the first place, right?  More evangelists = more leverage from your marketing efforts.

And, business is, and always will be about people…period.  Not how well you can interrupt them.

Illusion Versus Reality When It Comes To Business

It’s finally time I wrote this piece…

When it comes to business growth, or the opportunity to start a business, even when you’re considering working from home for the first time…

There are illusions, and there is reality.

Now, I’m not writing this article to be a “party pooper”, I’m as positive and optimistic as the next entrepreneur is, but I’m seeing way too many over-hyped marketing campaigns online (and offline)…which in turn set expectations unrealistically and crush the dreams of budding entrepreneurs everywhere.

And I’m tired of it.

I’ve had a behind the scenes look into hundreds (thousands?) of client’s businesses over the years, so I’ve seen the good…the bad…and the ugly (I try to help fix the bad, and turn away the ugly).  I write this post from that perspective, and only from my opinion, so it’s up to you to make your own choices from reading it (always seek legal, accounting, or other professional assistance when necessary).

The Illusion – The Internet provides some magical place where business results are achieved at some mystical pace.

The Reality - Yes, the Internet can speed up some processes, but overall…you’ll be working as hard or harder marketing a business using the online approach.

The Illusion - The minute you figure out how to “make money”, you have a sustainable business.

The Reality - Nope, you’re chasing money.  A sustainable business is an asset that produces income regardless of whether you’re involved or not in the day to day activities.

The Illusion - The ebook you just purchased is going to “show you the way” to Internet riches, and within the week too.

The Reality - Bullshit.  No income system, no ebook, no training course can ever be 100% complete enough to cover everything it takes to earn a substantial business income.  Get over it, and quit falling for the over-hyped, dream-stealing sales letters out there.  There will always be more to learn, but if you shift your focus all the way towards learning…you’ll use learning as an excuse to prevent you from building your business (and you need to do that too, right?).

The Illusion - “I’m just going to throw up a website, and throw together some content in whatever format, and people are gonna buy my stuff because I’m going to drive quick traffic with ads.  This is all gonna work because it doesn’t have to be perfect to sell.”

The Reality – No, what you do doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you’re just “throwing stuff up there”, you’re nowhere close to ready to sell.  You have to have a product that is ready for the targeted market it’s being sold to.

You have to spend some time “cleaning the house” before you let people inside, right?

An analogy, no, your house doesn’t have to be perfectly clean, but you can’t just clean one sink and call it done, can you?  Then why would you think a business that sells products to people would work any differently?

The Illusion - Copywriting is everything to selling online.  If I learn how to write effective copy, I’m as good as gold.

The Reality - Copywriting is certainly important, but strategy trumps copy every single time.  If you don’t offer your product to the proper people, it won’t matter how good your copy is.  A wise mentor of mine once taught me that you don’t “sell” people stuff, you help the right people buy the stuff they want (not necessarily need) to buy.

The Illusion - Effective paid advertising is going to lead my business to riches.

The Reality – More often, people are ignoring ads, and the ones that respond are doing more and more research before buying.  In other words, the buying process is changing because of the Internet.  Business owners need to wake up to this fact and start the process of communicating with their customer base where they “hang out” online.

This is where I’m going to stop this post, by allowing you to absorb and think about where your company or business is in terms of Illusion, or Reality.

And hey, if you think another business owner (online or offline) can use a dose of reality, do me a favor and share this post with them ok?  I appreciate it.

How A Good Copywriter Can Add Incredible Leverage To Your Business…

You work hard marketing your business, there’s no doubt.

But, do you truly see and capitalize on the most important opportunities for profit leverage when they arise?

Most business owners don’t.  They keep using one (maybe two) methods of marketing their business, never realizing the full opportunity for incredible profits that awaits.

Typical statements from these business owners sound like this:

“Oh, I get most of my business from referrals, I don’t need to market.”

“We’ve been running this one print ad for years, no need to change anything.”

And on, and on…

Do you relate to this?  It’s ok, you’re not alone.

Enter a good copywriter with a marketing mindset.

If you use one, like me for example, I will examine more than just the “one” project you assign me for…in fact, I will reveal some hidden marketing assets you have probably had sitting right under your nose for a long time.

Marketing assets, that when capitalized on, can bring almost immediate and substantial profits right to your bottom line.

In addition, I can help you test your marketing efforts, tweak, and then maximize the profits coming from these new streams of income.  All this, in addition to the “one” project you assigned me to do. :)

And, the best part is…no babysitting required.

So, after reading this, you really have one of 3 choices to make:

1)  Keep doing what you’re doing, justifying to yourself that you cannot afford a copywriter right now, or don’t need any help.

2)  Think about this post…and always wonder “What if?”

3)  Send an email to joe@josephratliff.com right now (or call 360-438-3632) and at the very least explore this option for profits right now.

Action takers, movers and shakers, and successful entrepreneurs will pick #3. ;)

See you at the top.