VOLUME 23, ISSUE 4 – APRIL 2024
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. GOT ‘WRECKING CREW” MOJO?
Documentary on Elite Musicians Has Parallels for Us
II. A COPYWRITING PROMO THAT PAYS YOU?
Seasoned PR Copywriter’s Booklet Yields Buyers & Clients
III. DO YOU STEP UP WHEN YOU MESS UP?
Airline Knows How to Clean Up Their Screw-Ups
I. GOT ‘WRECKING CREW” MOJO?
Documentary on Elite Musicians Has Parallels for Us
Watched a fascinating documentary recently: “The Wrecking Crew”—about a group of elite session musicians in Los Angeles in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
The group included Glen Campbell before he became famous (he was a far better guitarist than most of the public ever realized).
One of the big “wows” of the film was learning how many songs credited to big-name groups were actually performed in the studio by these unknown musicians.
I couldn’t help but see parallels to our world:
1) Competence = Job Security: These guys (and a female bass player, Carol Kaye; check out some of her iconic bass riffs) were so good they worked almost nonstop on a wide variety of projects beyond popular music (i.e., jingles, TV theme music, etc.)
Same for us. Yes, you have to continue to market yourself, but life’s a lot simpler when you’re good at what you do. Related to that…
2) “Cut-Above” Skills = Less Competition: Being far better than rank-and-file musicians of the time, they left the “herd” behind.
Us? Develop skills beyond articles and blog posts, and you’ll give yourself a BIG edge and stay out of AI’s crosshairs. And this can help (just sayin’…)
3) The Power of Being a Quick Study: These folks were so talented, that, regardless of the gig, they could get up to speed fast—often wowing the producers by adding their own signature flourishes to make the pieces especially memorable.
Ditto for us: when your skills are deep and robust, you can say yes to any project, step confidently into any project, and deliver. And that’s priceless.
II. A COPYWRITING PROMO THAT PAYS YOU?
Seasoned PR Copywriter’s Booklet Yields Buyers & Clients
Very cool success story from 20+-year CT FLCW (and regular E-PUB contributor), Jennifer Mattern—seasoned PR writer and founder of the acclaimed All Freelance Writing site. And as Jenn points out…
Relative newbies can absolutely follow in her footsteps!
What if you could earn extra money from your promotional materials?
Here’s how two days’ work led to thousands of dollars in direct sales and tens of thousands in freelance projects—specifically press-release writing.
What did I do?
I spent two days writing, editing, and formatting a short PDF (~20 pages) on press release writing.
It targeted the buyers I wanted to sell my press-release-writing services to, teaching those buyers how to do what they could hire me to do for them.
Why do this?
In my case, I charged $17 initially. It was a low introductory price giving buyers a glimpse into what press-release writing involved, specifically for a market that was new to using press releases.
The cost of hiring a pro scared some of those business owners, but they were eager to learn.
What happened?
Quite a few buyers of that guide took the DIY route…until they realized there was much more to effective press-release writing than just plugging their story into a template.
So, they hired me.
In just over a year, I sold $4k+ worth of the guides and landed $50k+ in press-release writing gigs, directly from the guide. Many of those client relationships lasted for years.
All this from two days’ work and minimal promotion on a forum where my target clients hung out. No significant site traffic yet. No big social media following. No email list.
Meaning?
This is something you can do early in your career.
The lesson?
Be generous with your knowledge and get creative in how you charge for it. Helping prospects better understand what you do can also help them see the full value of what you offer.
III. DO YOU STEP UP WHEN YOU MESS UP?
Airline Knows How to Clean Up Their Screw-Ups
Another airline-related piece after the February one…
I’m a Southwest Airlines fan. Why? One big reason: because they take care of their customers. Two incidents over the last couple of years underscore this commitment.
In December 2022, a crazy software glitch in their personnel-assignment system led to delays and cancellations of thousands of Southwest flights, and at the worst possible time—during the December holiday season.
While my flight home—from visiting family in FL—to Atlanta was canceled at the last minute, at least I could just go back and stay with the relatives.
The following week, I received a sincere email apology from the airline for the (obviously preventable) screw-up, and 25K miles into my account.
Ditto just a few weeks back, when the first leg of a flight home was delayed six hours. I missed my connection and had to spend the night halfway home.
Southwest picked up my hotel room, which they had to do, but a few days later, they also sent an email apology, along with a $200 voucher for future travel—which they didn’t have to do.
Mistakes for any business—including ours—are inevitable. What makes the difference is how you clean them up. Are you wowing your clients with your mea culpas?