Have I led you astray?

Have I led you astray?

Yesterday’s post was a bit of a monster!

Though it definitely ranked up there for what I consider to be my most useful advice for breaking into freelance direct response copywriting.

If I had to start all over today — knowing what I know now — it’s the advice I’d follow. Because I know it’s the advice that works.

But there was a comment that came up afterward though that made me think…

I may have not given you EVERYTHING you need to know to succeed with the strategy.

You see, I mentioned yesterday — and I’ve mentioned before — that you should be willing to work on a results-only basis to get started as a freelance copywriter.

But one of my workshop attendees — Jackie — sent me a note reminding me of something Brian Kurtz said in his speech at AWAI’s Bootcamp in October.

Namely, that he WILL NOT accept that kind of “free” offer. That he values copywriters too much, and wants to pay them well.

But Brian also said in his speech that he doesn’t hire new writers in general. Again, it’s all about the “risk profile.” Because Boardroom is still so heavy in direct mail, and even the cost of a small test there is pretty dang high, they can’t afford to take these kinds of risks on new writers.

And so no matter how irresistible of an irresistible offer letter you write to Brian, as a new copywriter you’re not going to land the project.

In fact, Brian’s not alone.

There are a few among the “best of the best” direct marketers who will not hire you as a new copywriter, even on a royalties-only basis.

They’d rather pay a top copywriter a five-figure fee, plus a royalty, than have you write for free.

Maybe it’s because they’re going in the mail or other paid media where there’s a lot on the line. Maybe they have another reason.

The long and the short of it is, they won’t hire a new copywriter on that basis.

But does that mean that everything I wrote yesterday is wrong? No way!

In fact, quite the opposite. The clients I’m talking about here are the top 1% of the top 1% of direct response clients.

Might you want to work for them eventually? Sure! But they don’t have to be your first client.

Yesterday’s post was all about getting started as a copywriter. Getting paid well when you’re just getting going.

It helps to work for an established, professional, sophisticated direct marketer when you’re making a royalty-only offer. But you don’t have to go straight to the top 1% of the top 1% to get that. Even top 10-20% will do.

Look around the markets you want to write for…

Whose offers are going out via affiliate emails and joint ventures? They probably have a pretty good tracking and performance-based payment structure in place…

Who gets lots of links from others in the industry?

Who appears to be using direct marketing best practices?

These are all good questions to ask…

Also, who is using cheap media — that is, the internet? If they’re posting sales letters, videos, and such online, you may have an in.

It’s pretty dang cheap to run a limited test of an alternate online sales letter. Yes, there’s some small cost and effort to getting set up. But it’s nothing compared to printing and postage, or space ad insertions.

So when you’re deciding who to approach with your irresistible offer, keep these things in mind.

Remember, you’re just looking to get experience here, with a reasonable chance of getting paid.

You’re looking to go from 0 to 10 miles per hour… Even 0 to 5… Or 0 to 1.

You need to get your copy out into the market.

You need to get a success or two under your belt.

And it doesn’t have to be with a major player for it to matter.

My first client wasn’t a huge client — in fact, it was a one-man operation — David Bullock. He was getting some air time from folks like Ken McCarthy and Perry Marshall, but he wasn’t at their level in terms of market presence or business size.

Nonetheless, he had a good offer that was worth it for him to take me on with my irresistible offer to write copy for him. And it set the ball rolling that got me working with all sorts of folks…

– Ken McCarthy

– Bob Bly

– AWAI

– Nightingale-Conant

– Brian Tracy International

– Perry Marshall

… I could keep going… But basically it was just the first domino that fell in the long line that leads up to today. And that has led up to me working with many of the biggest names in direct response.

A lot of folks get into this industry hoping to run before they learn to walk… When really they need to focus on crawling first.

Not saying you can’t succeed fast…

Quite the opposite, in fact.

But success is more of a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 process, where you should focus on progressing through each number as fast as possible, rather than taking a direct leap from 1 to 5.

Speaking of success, I want to take a moment to celebrate the recent successes of a couple of my workshop attendees…

While EVERY copywriter that came has specifically reached out to me to tell me what a difference the workshop is already making, there were a couple cool successes that came in within the last couple days that I thought I’d share.

*** Because these are pending client relationships, I’ve decided to remove the client names to protect confidentiality. What I will tell you though is that these are opportunities to work with clients I’d be happy to work with myself.

Alan Steacy wrote…

“One of my biggest take-aways from the Advanced Direct Response Copywriting Workshop was the section on writing bullets that sing. Roy’s insights were excellent. I used those techniques to beef up a bunch of bullets I submitted in a copy test for XXXXXX. Friday I received an email that they are interested to have a conversation. Wow! Definitely a step in the right direction. Huge thanks to Roy and this inspiring group of writers.”

And Jackie Johnson shared…

“Heard yesterday that I won another spec — one of the three put up by XXXXXX — it involves income opportunity — and there will be an assignment in January developing the idea in the head and lead I submitted! Oh happy day!

“This spec for XXXXXX was written after I got back from your workshop – and certainly was stronger than I could have achieved before attending. Yet – this is surprising – I spent less time doing it (than would usually spend doing a spec) but felt more in control of the ‘coming up with the right idea’ process because of your system. No doubt it will also help me through all the future steps with this letter.”

Oh happy day indeed!

Congrats to Alan and Jackie, and all the copywriters who attended who’ve had successes like these as a result of small or big takeaways from the workshop.

I just met with the video guy yesterday, and yes the recordings will be available soon, but at over 200 GB of video footage there’s a lot of editing to do.

Stay tuned on that — if you’re SERIOUS about being a success in direct response copywriting, it’s an investment you’ll want to make in yourself.

Yours for bigger breakthroughs,

Roy Furr

Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets