VOLUME 15, ISSUE 6 – JULY 2016
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. APPETIZER: A STORY ABOUT HOW STORYTELLING CHANGED EVERYTHING
How One Hotel/Casino Chain Boosted Employee Morale AND Customer Loyalty
II. “FIELD” GREENS: IS POSTING HOURLY RATES ON YOUR SITE WISE?
Two Key Reasons You Could Be Turning Off Prospects with Posted Rates!
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: LANDING THE HUNGRY, HIGH-PAYING CLIENT! (Part 2 of 2)
INDY FLCW Serves Up the What, Why, Who and Where of the Juiciest Gigs Today
IV. DESSERT: SWEET SUCCESS STORIES & TIPS
Yours Truly Learns to Always Follow Up on “UN-Replied-To” Emails to Clients!
TIP: Our Growing “Lead-Gen” Copy World Needs Power Words Like These!
I. APPETIZER: A STORY ABOUT HOW STORYTELLING CHANGED EVERYTHING
How One Hotel/Casino Chain Boosted Employee Morale AND Customer Loyalty
I love good stories, and one about the power of good stories? Even better. In the wonderful book (please read it) I reviewed, The Art of the Sale, was a great success story about Wynn Resorts, owned by billionaire casino owner, Steve Wynn.
The book summed up the power of the synergistic windfall reaped by the company: “For Wynn, storytelling as a means of getting employees to feel good about themselves through their work, while providing superlative customer service as a result is like ‘splitting the atom.’” Here’s how it unfolded…
Prior to each shift, 12-18 customer-facing employees meet with their supervisors, who begin every meeting by asking, “Anything interesting happen yesterday?”
Employees then describe instances of independent customer service. One man says he saw a woman drop her credit card as she went into her room. He picked it up, knocked on her door and returned it to her. A guest forgot his medication at home five hours away, and the hotel had it picked up at their home and brought to the hotel.
Stories are all published on the company’s intranet site and printed up and posted on the walls of the service areas. The result? Every staff member wants their story on the wall, so they all go looking for a story the next day. Says Wynn, “It is pristine, it is simple, it is profoundly effective, and it has changed the history of my enterprise.”
This wondrous outcome was essentially the answer to a hypothetical question Wynn posed to himself: “Could you create a situation where your employees, left alone with the customer, with no management supervision, could find a way to deliver service that made them feel instantly gratified?”
I love this. I know, very different business than ours. What’s the connection? Perhaps nothing, but sit with it for a bit, and see if you can’t come up with any number of ways to apply its wisdom to our world. And lock in some serious customer loyalty. It’s all about delivering far more than the customer is expecting, in ways that matter to them.
II. “FIELD” GREENS: IS POSTING HOURLY RATES ON YOUR SITE WISE?
Two Key Reasons You Could Be Turning Off Prospects with Posted Rates!
Recently swapped emails with a FLCW whose chosen niche doesn’t always pay top dollar, but it’s where her heart lies. Noticing that she posted her $50 hourly rate on her site, I wrote: I would NOT list your hourly rate on your site. It’s limiting in several ways:
1) In your world, some (many?) clients will think $50 is too high and dismiss you on that basis. Others may actually think it’s too low (i.e., “How good can she be if that’s all she charges?”). Probably fewer than the other category, but they’re there, so why risk it?
Just tell them you bill on a project basis (i.e., flat rate), and you’d be happy to quote them for an upcoming project. OR provide examples of project fees you’ve charged in the past for similar-scope projects (and heck, just make them up if you don’t have any!).
While $50/hour with no context (“What if it turns into a runaway train?”) could easily scare lower-budget clients off, a flat rate of say, $600 for a project you think will take you 12 hours, could be well within their budget, and make them far more comfortable.
2) Just as importantly, listing an hourly rate reinforces the notion of you as an hourly-rate worker—not the impression you want to convey (nor an empowering self-image). You want them to see you as a professional, and pros don’t charge by the hour.
It also invites negotiating (“I know you work for $50 an hour, but could you do it for $30?”) And if you agree, you’ve set a precedent with you as a doormat. We all have to give and take sometimes, but make it on your terms, not theirs.
After nearly 23 years in this business, I’ve learned over and over again that how you’re “being” (i.e., the vibe people get from you) makes all the difference in the world. The kinds of prospects we want to work with, want to do business with people who are good at what they do, confident in their skills, and who know those skills are worth paying well for, and are comfortable asking for what they deserve.
III. MAIN “MEAT” COURSE: LANDING THE HUNGRY, HIGH-PAYING CLIENT! (Part 2 of 2)
INDY FLCW Serves Up the What, Why, Who and Where of the Juiciest Gigs Today
Part 2 of a solid two-parter from Indianapolis FLCW and freelancing coach, Andrea Emerson, on one of the best and most promising directions in which to steer your copywriting business: companies doing content marketing (and that’s MOST of them).
In Part 1 last month, she set the stage, establishing the realities of today’s business climate and why this direction makes so much sense. In Part 2 here, she gets into what these ideal clients look like, and how to find them. Andrea blogs about what it takes to build a profitable freelance business here. Thanks, Andrea!
Okay, so who are these hungry prospects I talked about last month, and where do we find them? Look for at least one of the following characteristics:
(1) They have a marketing director, content director, brand manager, or any variation of those titles.
It’s a fairly safe bet that if a company has invested in a marketing team or director, they’re likely pursuing a content strategy on some level (hint: This eliminates tiny businesses with no marketing departments). You’ll find plenty of these folks on LinkedIn, which is my favorite place to prospect.
(2) They show signs of investing in content.
Do they have a blog, white papers, downloadable resources, or other content assets on their website? These are all signs that a company already values and invests in good content, and will continue to do so.
You’ll often find the people responsible for content decisions interacting in online forums related to content, copywriting, and inbound marketing (again, LinkedIn is a gold mine for that.)
You’ll also find them tweeting with hashtags like #contentmarketing, #copywriting, #inbound and #leadgeneration. Plus, they’re all over this free industry magazine, the Chief Content Officer.
(3) Marketing agencies
Marketing agencies have always worked with freelancers, but I’ve noticed a sharp increase in this practice in recent years.
One agency owner I know fired his entire staff a couple of years ago and works with freelancers only now. That’s an extreme example, but the point is that a lot of agencies are hurting for skilled writers and keeping in-house staff to a minimum.
Meanwhile, their need for content continues to grow since it drives much of what their clients need and ask for.
An added bonus of working with marketing agencies and medium-to-large companies is that their need is ongoing, and their thirst for good content insatiable. If they like working with you, they’ll likely feed you recurring work for a long time. (And it’s not hard to convince them to switch to a retainer model after a couple of successful projects.)
Yes, some writers prefer working with small organizations that don’t fit these criteria. If that’s your thing, go for it.
Just be mindful that you’ll likely need to devote time and effort to educate those prospects on what content marketing is, and why they should care enough to hand over their credit cards. As a fellow writer put it, “That’s a lot of free consulting.”
Otherwise, you’ll find selling can be far easier and more profitable by focusing on prospects who are pre-sold, and forgetting the rest.
IV. DESSERT: SWEET SUCCESS STORIES & TIPS
Yours Truly Learns to Always Follow Up on “UN-Replied-To” Emails to Clients!
TIP: Our Growing “Lead-Gen” Copy World Needs Power Words Like These!
So, I recently got an email from a prospective client, inquiring as to my skills and suitability for an upcoming project—one that was right up my alley. I wrote him back promptly, thanked him for reaching out, and shared a few samples illustrating that I was indeed a good fit. 4-5 days went by without a reply.
A less experienced me might have wrung my hands, wondering what had happened, certain the prospect decided, upon seeing my work, that I wasn’t a fit. Instead, I decided to assume that a technical glitch had occurred, and they’d never received it.
I wrote back, tacking it on top of the email sent earlier, so no hunting would be required (ALWAYS include the thread of earlier emails when communicating with prospects and clients): Hey Jack, Just making sure you got my reply below – hadn’t heard back, and double-checking that it didn’t go missing! PB
And got this reply: Peter, good thing you followed up. Your first communication did not plop into my e-basket! Thank you for the info. I’m on client engagement at present but will definitely read over your work next week; give you a call afterward. Thanks again, and have a nice weekend! Jack.
Now, we’re talking about projects, instead of me scratching my head, wondering what happened. If you don’t hear back from an email sent to a prospect or client (assuming it warranted a reply), always check back in, with some variation on my note above. At the very least, if the client did indeed get it, and decided not to go with you, you won’t be wondering.
But, not infrequently—especially given the constantly shifting nature of spam filters and general transmission issues—you might find they never got it. OR, you never got their reply. Don’t let techy glitches take money from your pocket.
Got the following link to “Power Words” from Los Altos, CA FLCW Diane Holcomb, who wrote: “A bit on the sensationalist side, but I guess that’s sort of the point. In any case, here’s a useful resource to spice up your copy (probably more in the B2C realm, but not always). Have fun.”
No, it doesn’t always make sense to use words like these in our copy, but when more and more copy falls into the lead-generation category, whether directly (e.g., advertising, direct mail, landing pages) or indirectly (content of all stripes), it’s becoming increasingly important to make your writing (and especially your headlines and subheads) more eyeball-grabbing.
AND, I’ve been working on a project, remembered I had this open, and used it 3-4 times to find exactly the right word. So, bookmark it! (NOTE: You don’t have to provide an email address to access the list; just keep scrolling down. Providing your email addy will give you the list in a spreadsheet).