VOLUME 16, ISSUE 1 – JANUARY 2017
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. APPETIZER: GOT YOUR MARKETING-WRITING MOJO GOING?
Client Loves Their Web Copy Transformation, Boosts Budget 150%!
II. “FIELD” GREENS: NO-“KIDDING”-AROUND FREELANCING!
WA FLCW Serves Up the How-to on Freelancing With Kids Underfoot
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: BEYOND “FEATURES & BENEFITS”
FLCW Shares the 5 Often-Missing Ingredients in Persuasive B2B Copywriting
IV. DESSERT: SWEET SUCCESS STORIES & TIPS
IL FLCW Shows How to Tap Your Network—Minus the Awkwardness
TIP: MN FLCW Serves Up Advice from World of Theater: Start Warm
I. APPETIZER: GOT YOUR MARKETING-WRITING MOJO GOING?
Client Loves Their Web Copy Transformation, Boosts Budget 150%!
Sometime back, I got a call out of the blue from a client who’d found me through a Google search. He was the marketing guy for a company whose website needed to be completely overhauled. He wasn’t looking for a “write-from-scratch” proposition, but rather, reworking all the existing copy to give it a stronger marketing slant.
Because of the size of the site (i.e., 35 pages to rewrite), I suggested we start with two of the pages, and see how it went. Incidentally, this is a really wise strategy to employ when considering a large project (i.e., ghostwriting a book, a huge website, a huge manual with many modules, etc.).
It takes the pressure off you to have to estimate a huge project with little information about what the client’s going to be like to deal with, how involved the process will be, etc.
By doing a small piece of it, the client also gets to see what it’s like to work with you (and you sell it to them like that). But most importantly, you get a sense of time—and if your per-component estimate needs to be adjusted up or down—making it far easier to extrapolate a fee for the entire project.
I proposed a healthy price for the two pages, was paid upfront through PayPal, and I got to work. Partway through, while talking with my contact to clarify a particular point, he let slip that the budget for the rest of the site was $2000—to rewrite 33 more pages.
That’s not going to work, I thought. Sigh. Oh well, at least I made a bit of money for the first part. But then a funny thing happened…
I turned in the two sample pages, and the client just flipped. They certainly expected it to improve on their version, but, in their mind, this was SO much better. This is when the job can get really fun, when you can show a client what they didn’t know they didn’t know was possible. AND, the huge difference a professional writer can make.
Lo and behold, suddenly, the client upped the budget from $2000 to $5000! Which made the whole proposition far more economically feasible for yours truly, and yielding a healthy hourly rate. Project went well, and they came back to me a little later with another smaller scenario, but with a similarly rewarding fee.
Bottom line, hone your skills, do good work, and get the word out far and wide. There really is a never-ending need for good marketing- writing skills. On that “the-future-is-bright” note, let’s eat!
Want to See Before/After Versions of the Above-Discussed Sample?
It’s in Well-Fed Craft, (along with 70+ MORE samples), my new self-paced course on “craft”—HOW to write the high-$ projects—that distills down my 23 years of hard-won marketing-writing experience into 7 focused hours of training.
II. “FIELD” GREENS: NO-“KIDDING”-AROUND FREELANCING!
WA FLCW Serves Up the How-to on Freelancing With Kids Underfoot
Great piece from Seattle FLCW Amelia Ramstead on a common challenge for at-home-Moms everywhere – staying productive, profitable, and sane! Thanks, Amelia – good stuff!
In 2011, I realized—as the parent of a special-needs child—that working for someone else was no longer working. After some research, I turned to freelance copywriting.
And why not? Freelancing offers the opportunity to set your own hours and be available for your kids whenever you want. Many parents see freelancing as a dream job.
That said, freelancing around kids—special needs or not—has its own set of challenges. Through trial and error, I’ve found 5 solutions to most of these challenges:
1) Invest in project management software: My choice, Basecamp, has been an absolute lifesaver—allowing me to organize clients, schedule tasks, and keep track of my progress. I can create projects by client and then organize tasks by due date and schedules them into a calendar, where I check them off as I complete them.
It’s incredibly user-friendly and costs $20 a month—quite reasonable for the boost in productivity and organization. Bonus Tip: One of my projects is called “Household Management” and it includes tasks like calling doctors, paying bills, and making the shopping list.
2) Keep a separate home office: You sit down to work and discover your office supplies are now being used in your kid’s art project. You have to set boundaries so your kids know what’s in your office is off-limits. To help discourage stapler thievery, I’ve set up a box of spare office supplies the kids can use.
3) Be realistic about office hours: I typically keep a 9-5 schedule (i.e., when clients are available), but I stay flexible, as sometimes this doesn’t work. I log client phone calls and Skype meetings on my calendar, and make sure to schedule these when the kids are in school. But on days that end up being a lot of running around, I plan to get some work done in the evening. The time frames I quote to clients reflect my schedule.
4) Know your limits: This one’s the toughest. I want to help every client who contacts me, but I can’t. Sometimes I have to say no, particularly with tight-timetable projects. I don’t want to work 10-to-12-hour days and weekends, and shouldn’t have to. And, being rushed and stressed doesn’t do myself—or my clients—any favors.
5) Work efficiently: I get a lot of work done in various clinic waiting rooms. I just plan ahead. Does this location have Wi-Fi? How long will I be there? Is there an outlet for my laptop? This is also a great time to read books that’ll help advance your career or get some social media work done on your smartphone.
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: BEYOND “FEATURES & BENEFITS”
FLCW Shares the 5 Often-Missing Ingredients in Persuasive B2B Copywriting
Got this solid nuts-‘n’-bolts piece from veteran FLCW Tom Clifford. These ideas will definitely improve your copywriting. Tom is a B2B content marketing copywriter. Visit Tom’s LinkedIn profile to learn more about his writing specialties and to receive his in-depth information kit.
Over the years, two pillars of copy have served marketing writers well: Features and Benefits. They’ve become the building blocks of B2B copy, and deservedly so—they do a lot of heavy lifting.
But features and benefits are just two of the more than 17 copywriting tactics available to marketing writers. By adding a few other persuasive ingredients, you’ll easily increase audience engagement levels. Here are my top five favorites.
Ingredient #1: Benefit-Driven Headlines
When writing headlines, focus on the benefits an audience receives. “How to Speed Up Your Blog Post Writing (by 60 Percent)” tells readers exactly how they’ll benefit from your idea. “Time to Get Moving” doesn’t tell your audience a thing; it leaves them guessing what the content is about.
Ingredient #2: Empathy
Instead of introducing a solution right away, begin with the problem the audience is facing. Demonstrating that you understand their particular problem—before rolling out your solution—makes audiences pay attention.
Here’s an example.
You interviewed someone and pulled the quotes you needed for the project. The rest of the interview is now sitting on the floor.
Wasting all that material used to drive me nuts. Then I figured out how to best use the remaining content. Here’s how you can use leftovers to boost your content marketing efforts.
Ingredient #3: Spotlight Testimonials
Make testimonials “pop” by adding a mini headline. Use a color and font different from the main copy, and bold the headline. These small changes will help give your testimonials the attention they deserve. Here’s an example of a testimonial I received from a job/career coach, Marcia LaReau, owner of Forward Motion.
Tom’s copywriting strategies reduced my writing time by over 50 percent
Before working with Tom on my content marketing efforts, I wanted to write faster, be more effective with my audience, create headlines that worked and increase the traffic to my website. After working with Tom, his copywriting strategies reduced my writing time by over 50 percent, my headlines are more “clickable” on social media sites and my website hits have steadily increased.
Ingredient #4: Raise and Overturn Objections
Most prospects (and customers) have objections when “buying” something—even a free download. Instead of ignoring these objections, use them to your advantage. Overturn objections by incorporating testimonials, awards, statistics, etc. Doing so will quickly move the prospect along the sales cycle. Here’s an example.
“Most new time-saving ‘processes’ we adopt end up being more work for us!”
We hear you! A lot of programs promising “easy installation” or “just plug and play!” end up delivering anything but. But with ABC, we meanit. AND don’t take our word for it; listen to this client.
“I was skeptical of ABC’s claims that it would actually entail far less time for me to implement their system. But their training and aftermarket support was so comprehensive that I had it installed and operating, with minimal oversight needed, in record time.”
In fact, 96 percent of our customers tell us the ABC process surpassed their expectations in installation time, bottom-line effectiveness and cost savings.
Ingredient #5: Next Step
Take your “next step” copy beyond just “call or email us.” Tell your audience why your offer is valuable; describe the offer and list the key benefits. Here’s an example I wrote as a service description for The Ring Effect, a brand strategy firm.
Call or email me to discover how you can successfully implement a
brand strategy created by your whole team, from the CEO to frontline
employees.We’ll talk about:
- What you find intriguing about this process
- Where your organization is today
- Why you think you need a brand strategy plan
We’ll also talk about how the process works, and we’ll see whether this resonates with you and your organization’s goals.
Summary: Go ahead and let those features and benefits do the heavy lifting in your B2B copy. But remember—there are other ingredients you can sprinkle throughout the copy to help drive readers to take the next step.
IV. DESSERT: SWEET SUCCESS STORIES & TIPS
IL FLCW Shows How to Tap Your Network—Minus the Awkwardness
TIP: MN FLCW Serves Up Advice from World of Theater: Start Warm
Got this cool success story from Chicago FLCW Marianne Post, about landing a new client through a friend who apparently knew far better than Marianne did, what a good fit she was. After that, an eminently sensible tip from Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN FLCW Dave Walbridge.
Avoiding your personal networks as a source for leads? I hear ya. I used to worry I’d make mine feel obligated to find me jobs. The following success story shows we can stop worrying.
During a recent dinner with a copywriter friend, she asked “How’s work?” Typically, I’d reply, “I’m plugging away. You?” That’s because I’m a “do-selfer” who’d much rather help than get help. According to my parents, my first words were, “do self.”
This time, I admitted I was struggling to replace income since a key client slashed my project load. My friend graciously referred me to her client who’s recruiting new freelancers. One problem. This marketer represents an industry I know nothing about, or so I thought.
Since my friend introduced us, I scheduled a phone chat anyway. And scored a project.
Clearly, my friend saw something I couldn’t—my extensive experience with hi-tech software. Since my new client markets a cloud-based program, I can address software challenges that transcend industries. The takeaways?
1) Get out of your head. Talk shop with friends, colleagues and family. It’s possible to support them AND voice your own struggles, without making them feel obligated.
2) Step outside your do-self bubble. Lulls in conversation at social events are perfect opportunities to ask for opinions, feedback or ideas. Other people love to help people, too.
3) Reach out to fellow writers. This one’s key. We writers tend to spend way too much time in our own heads. Who knows? Maybe a fellow writer can see the perfect opportunity you’re overlooking.
Or, perhaps a fellow writer is trapped under a heavy project load that you could lighten. Or is looking to shake things up, but wants to recommend a replacement (you?) before moving on.
Here’s to supporting each other on our road to future successes.
No actor goes to the stage cold; no dancer starts her day when the curtain opens. They are professionals; they warm up. Physically and mentally, they prepare for the task of performing—and so should you.
Few of us can go directly from breakfast to genius: It’s easier to warm up your mind (and your fingers) with simple tasks. As soon as you get your word processing software open, start off with something just to get words flowing – a rant,** a to-do list, a little comedy.
Or just write down whatever thing is rattling around in your brain. Go. Try for something between 3/4 page and two pages before you switch over to your day’s work.
Now that you are warmed up it easier to switch over to working on your client’s stuff (or your book). You’ve already been enjoying writing for a few minutes, and have produced a few words—no more staring at a blank page.
**Just express emotionally whatever you’re happy or angry about—what or who’s been bugging you. This text is never shared, just used to get in touch with your emotions and speak a few truths before you start your writing day.