Hello and welcome back to Breakthrough Marketing Secrets!
I hope you enjoyed your holidays and got some much-needed R&R… I know I did.
It was a Star Wars Christmas at the Furr house. Our sons (our two oldest kids) had never seen Star Wars, and we’d spent the last couple months building up the excitement around it. Finally, on break, we managed to watch ALL of the original trilogy (Episodes IV, V, and VI). Plus a few episodes of the animated Clone Wars series thrown in for good measure.
Plus, Christmas toys this year were largely around a Star Wars theme, including a bunch of LEGO Star Wars characters and a couple of the small ships. Nothing over the top, but enough that the house has been non-stop Star Wars fun since Christmas…
Oh, and my wife who has become incredibly crafty with a sewing machine over the past couple years managed to put together a Jedi robe and a Darth Vader cape… So not only are there Star Wars toys… Our house has live-action Star Wars lightsaber battles morning, noon, and night…
It’s Monday — that means it’s time to open up the mailbox and answer YOUR questions!
Fun!
Okay, let’s get down to business…
Checking my calendar here, it looks like it’s Mailbox Monday!
And we have a good one. It’s about how to break into competitive copywriting niches…
I’ll pass the mic to Drew, aka Captain Copy, and I’ll be back to answer his question…
Hi Roy,
I lap up your ever-timely and extremely informative emails nearly every day… probably batting around .900 there.
I’m a direct-response copywriter in Vancouver, Canada. I get infrequent projects here and there, but nonetheless, do have samples in my portfolio ranging across all media (save for a true DM sales letter, which I’m chomping at the bit to write).
I realize that financial publishers are just fiends for direct-response sales copy, and there’s never a shortage of publications, media and promotions to go around.
That being said, I reached out to [CLIENT NAME REMOVED FOR PRIVACY] last month, just for the hell of it (what did I have to lose, right, with no track record in finance?)
I crept around on LinkedIn until I found someone that seemed perfect to send an unsolicited outreach email to.
She responded a few days later after a follow-up, and mentioned they really only consider experienced financial copywriters with a track record.
Fair enough; you’re not going to pay just any ol’ copywriter off the street to do this sort of writing.
To her credit, she did consider the samples I sent over and read my emails, so I thanked her for that. But nonetheless, afterward she reiterated that they really only deal with ‘seasoned’ financial copywriters who know their stuff.
There’s the rub, Roy: how would I (or anyone) get specific copy experience like this from one of the big names in financial copywriting (we’re talking StreetAuthority, Weiss, Agora Financial and the like), if none of them are willing to give a shot to anyone WITHOUT the experience?
It feels like years back when I graduated from university and was looking for my first job. Everyone required some sort of experience for marketing-related jobs, yet how was a grad to get this experience from companies that they wanted to work at, when they all required experience that was virtually unavailable anywhere else for new grads?
Yes sure, write a financial spec or something like that. Ok, I know you put in your dues as well Roy. But I always hesitate at these and remember the hard-nosed Bob Bly email that strictly forbade copywriters to ever take spec, for many reasons that I agree with.
And sure, maybe you could lobby a local financial institution or small brokerage house or any finance-related outfit nearby. But then again, it comes down to what you told me as well in the first interaction we had; don’t bother yourself with those that need big-time education on the importance and use of direct-response copy. Only go after people that understand the need and respect the work.
So… that leaves us with the ‘big boys’ of industry again… the financial newsletter and research publishers.
It seems a Catch 22 here Roy. What would you tell me and everyone else with this sort of question? Is the financial industry a different beast that needs taming all on its own? Or is it too short-sighted to view it that way?
Thanks so much for your time and all the effort you put into Breakthrough Marketing Secrets. You’re more appreciated than you probably know.
Drew
Captain Copy
Whew! That’s a big question. And the funny thing is, it applies in just about any professional field. Copywriting, yes. But as Drew pointed out, any recent grad can recognize the dilemma. They want to hire people with experience. And you can’t get experience unless you get hired.
So, back to copywriting — and specifically, copywriting for the most competitive niches like financial, health, and so on…
The short answer to this question is that Bob Bly is wrong.
(I’ve got nothing but love for the guy — but in this case, he’s 100% wrong and I don’t mind sticking my neck out to say so!)
In the financial world (along with many competitive direct response markets), writing specs is almost the only way to get in when you’re new. At the very least, completing a copywriting test that proves you have some chops. Until you have at least a sample or two out there in the market that shows what you can do.
The good news is writing specs should only take you a few hours (you’re only writing 1000 words or so) and it’s good practice even if you don’t get the gig.
There are at least three stages to a freelance copywriting career: Early, Established, and Pro.
Once you’re established and especially once you’re pro, you should NOT do specs — like Bob says.
You don’t need it and it hurts your positioning. But early on — where you’re at, Drew — you need to get experience in just about any way possible. Including doing specs.
Applying the same rules (dogma) to this stage as you would to the latter two will only hold back your progress.
This is at the heart of my irresistible offer letter, it’s the heart of why I recommend specs to get started, or when you’re new to an industry…
And I’m going to tell you who you should write those specs for in a moment, but first…
Here’s the major exception I’d make to my previous teachings…
And this is a nuance I know I’ve written about before, but it’s absolutely worth repeating here…
The biggest direct response marketers will NOT necessarily go for the “I’ll write an entire sales letter for free” irresistible offer. That works best for smaller, more entrepreneurial clients. Folks who don’t have entire marketing departments dedicated to working with copywriters.
What the big marketers prefer above all else is that spec assignment. Offer to write a headline and lead for them. Do it even if they’re not advertising spec assignments. Make the offer anyway. Sell yourself. Sell your services. Close them on giving you the opportunity to write the spec.
Admit your shortcoming — that you don’t have the experience. And so you’d like a chance for your work to speak for itself.
You’ll write a headline and lead at no cost or obligation on their part. If they think it’s worth turning into a full promo, they can hire you to do that. But if not, they’re out nothing.
The good news? If you get this spec, it’s way easier to complete than an entire sales letter! So it’s lower risk on your part, too. (The reason I don’t recommend this for the majority of businesses — even direct response ones — is that they’re mostly inept when it comes to hiring copywriters, and don’t understand the spec process.)
Okay, one last point…
Who should you approach when you’re just getting started?
Let’s assume for now you’ve bought into this idea that you should go out in search of spec work (either work that’s offered, or that you create by contacting potential clients)…
Which publishers should you approach when getting started?
My recommendation is NOT the top-tier ones. Just like there are A-list copywriters, there are A-list clients. And they’re as well-known as the top copywriters — probably better-known.
Well, A-list clients tend to work with A-list writers. Which means for you to even get a gig with them, you’re going to be competing at an incredibly high level.
Compare it to sports. You don’t go straight from high school (where you’re really just learning to play your sport well) to the pros. With only rare exception, a high school athlete must move up to college/university, and then move up to pros — growing all the way. (And sometimes there are even intermediate leagues in between!)
So don’t try to go pro on your first assignment.
One of my favorite sayings from Marty Edelston, founder of Boardroom, is “Life is long.”
You don’t have to start at the top. Sure, you want to get there ASAP. But as long as you’re headed upward, the journey will be a rewarding one.
So go after clients who are a step or two down from your ideal, first. (Smaller financial publishers. You’re right that local financial businesses are NOT the same thing at all.)
It’s an easier place to succeed, and it’s a better place to fail. Then leverage that experience, and the results you get on the smaller scale, and go after bigger and bigger opportunities.
I’m not a fan of ladders, and I’d rather leap up them than climb them, but sometimes climbing is just the best way up.
This may not be the answer you want, but it’s the best answer I have.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
