Below are the steps a copywriter should take in preparing to write sales letters.

1. Research the market. There are many questions the copywriter has to answer at this step: What are the market needs? What other products have been selling well? Who make up the target market (demographics)? Are there any noticeable trends? The copywriter has to know more about the market than the market knows about itself. Surveys, marketing reports, buying trends and popular forums can all give very telling information about your target market.

2. Research the competition. How well are your competitors doing? What products are selling well for them? What marketing message and media is bringing in most of the profit? Where are they investing most of their advertising dollars? Before the advent of the internet you would have to pay a lot of money for this type of information. But with tools such as ClickBank Marketplace which do rankings of hundreds of websites you can quickly spy on your competition. The use of Google Adwords can also provide you with the marketing intelligence that will guide you in your letter writing.

3. Research your product. If you are selling a product or service then you should know more about this product than the average user. What are the benefits to the end user? How is this product superior to other products in the market? How is it made, distributed, and used? Is the product based on a new idea or old and improved idea? What have the beta users being saying about the product?

4. Plan your letter appeals and structure. Once all the research has been done then it’s now time to plan how all the new information you’ve gathered can best be used to communicate the strongest benefits of this product to the prospect. How would you get their attention? What is the best headline type to use? How should you structure the sales letter? Should you start with a story? How much do you need to educate the prospect within the letter itself? Which are your strongest testimonials? What is the best appeal or hook to use?

Like writing an essay in school, the copywriter should have a rough draft of the letter outline before he starts pounding away at the keyboard. The structure of the letter should depend on your market, the newness of your product and the demographics you are trying to appeal to. Are they very skeptical, accepting, frustrated, and burnt? The answer to these questions will help you choice an appropriate letter structure to use.

Needless to say, a lot of brainstorming goes into crafting the perfect sales letter. As you read and do your research be sure to write down every idea that comes to mind. Don’t depend on your memory to keep those flashes of inspiration; you would lose them just when you need them most.

Along with the preparation of the research materials the copywriter must also prepare himself mentally and emotionally to perform at his peak. A healthy body and outlook on life will tell on your writing style. Writing copy is a tedious job and need a body prepared physically and mentally in order to excel.

To fail to plan is to plan to fail.

There are several different ways that product owners set prices but for copywriting it is done basically in two different ways: either by time or per project. Some copywriters quote you a price based on how many man hours it will take to complete the project. Other price based on a flat fee irrespective of the hours it will take to complete the job.

Apart from whether a royalty or commission will be charged, this base fee can vary a lot. I think that the best way for copywriters to price their work is price to value. Find out the value that you are offering the client and then let your price be based on that.

This may mean that different clients may be quoted different amounts for similar jobs but this is not a matter of equity but getting compensated for the value you are offering the client.

Now if a copywriter were to price according to hours then he will be setting a limit on the amount of money he can make. For example, a copywriter may charge $75 per hour as an hourly rate. If the writing project takes 10 hours then the copywriter simply multiply this by 10 times $75 and determines the bill.

Another copywriter talks to the client and determines the value he is offering the client and sets the fee accordingly. With this second model the client knows what he will pay upfront before the work is completed so there are no surprises in the end.

When the copywriter determines the value of the service he is providing then he may end up charging $10,000 for a 12 page sales letter and $3,000 for another 12 page sales letter. It is not the length of the letter he writes but the value he is offering. The first sales letter may be used to sell a $1,000 product while the second is used to sell a $27 ebook.

Now this may not seem ‘fair’ to the casual reader but this happens in selling physical products as well. For example, the same chemical used in a fingernail polish remover (acetone) is the very same chemical used in paint thinner. But guess which product cost the most in terms of dollar per unit quantity? The finger nail polish remover for sure.

Apart from the difference in quantities, (the paint thinner is bought in more bulk) the fingernail polish remover is used in the cosmetic industry while the paint thinner is used in the construction industry.

This is just one example but there are several cases where a product is sold for different prices depending on what it is used for, so why not a sales letter?

So why not use the price-for-value method when quoting your copywriting fees?

He who gives much should get much. It’s the fairest pricing principle there is.

Isn’t this a contradiction of sort?  How can you be hlping people to sell theri wares but cannot sell your own?

Even though I agree with the general logic of this argument, in practice
this doesn’t hold true.

Doctors don’t live any longer than the rest of the population.

A copywriter should know how to sell but he doesn’t write
to sell other copywriting services. I doubt Tiger Woods’
coach can beat Tiger at golf.

I’m often asked by my coaching students how to get clients.
This is a fair question. I could say, “Physician heal thyself”,
but selling your services as a copywriter is different to helping
other people sell their wares.

How? For the very same reason you ask the business owner
to employ you–you have a perspective that they don’t have.
You (they) are sometimes too close to the trees to see the forest.

Also a copywriter can get so caught up in writing copy that he
forgets to market his own services. A balance has to be
struck between helping other people market their wares
and marketing your own wares.

Selling personal services can be tricky because YOU, your
personality (real or assumed), ethnicity, beliefs … all
come into the mix and it’s difficult to be separated from your
work. Clients don’t only want to know that your copy
works but that YOU BELIEVE SO!

Dan Kennedy like to say that there are a ton of people
walking around with a cord tied to their belly looking
for a place to plug it in. Confident business people want
to know that they are dealing with confident copywriters.
You must believe in your value to the client before they
pay you your value.

I don’t need anyone to tell me that I write powerful copy
because my copy has already told me so–it has raked
in millions on dollars. It’s with that mindset that you
sell your services, not with clever words and selling
strategies.

Early in my copywriting career a prospect phoned to
inquire about my services. I thought I would be funny
(big mistake) and so replied that I thought he was a
bill collector! The conversation went on to tell me what
he wanted done etc., but I never heard from him again.

Why?  He must have though, “If this guy is getting bill collector calls then _____” .

Especially when you are new to copywriting (and even old)
there would be dry spells. (Some copywriters fake busi-ness
because it sells, but that’s for another post.) The point
is that if you devalue your work during those dry spells then
you are sowing inferior seeds that would yield a poor harvest
when the rain starts to fall. Clients have a way of remembering
what you charged before.

The bottom line is that simply because you are a good copywriter
doesn’t mean that you can sell YOUR copywriting services. You
may need outside help (a mentor) to get you
accustomed to calling the high fees without flinching your face
or your voice.

Perhaps copywriters need their own copywriters.

I thought that I would make it easier for other people armed with
a good product but strapped for cash to make a successful pitch
to a copywriter worth his/her salt.

So first, what NOT to do:

1. Don’t try to sell a copywriter. Thinks about it: his job is
to sell so how can you ‘outsell’ him. Come direct.

2. Don’t offer 15% of the sales. If your affiliates get 75% why
do you think that 15% would make your copywriter titillated?

3. Don’t say that all your money was spent in product
development, it’s like telling your wife how many other women
you had before her. (So you thought about copywriting last huh?)

4. Don’t promise future jobs. It’s obvious if you like their work you’ll
give more jobs–it’s a stale selling point!

What to do:

1. Be prepared to show you have some marketing experience. If
this is your first product and you’ve never marketed before then
how will your product sell? XX% of 0 = 0. So have a marketing
plan to show how you are prepared to promote the product.

2. Show that you are familiar with the copywriter’s
work–stroke his ego. We are humans too. did you read their blog, (like
this one!) ebook, a sales letter they wrote, an interesting forum

post –show that you’ve been ‘checking them out’.

3. Have at least 20% of the normal rate to pay upfront. A
copywriter takes on a lot of risk when he writes on a retainer
basis, so don’t insult him by paying peanuts upfront. Show that
you are serious about moving forward.

4. Be prepared to show how you will ‘declare’ the sales
account so the copywriter can be sure you are not ripping him
off. Give access to a paypal account or give screen shots–but
treat the copywriter as you would any other JV partner.

5. Be civil through the whole process, you may have a business
partner for life!

You may truly have the next breakthrough ebook, software,
membership site on the drawing board but no large bank account to
draw from … and a copywriter could be the final piece in the
marketing puzzle to get your business to the next level .. if you
play your cards right.

Hope this helps …

Ive seen this in many forums many times. A member falls from
grace and many people use this occasion to say that
they are ‘better’–always honest with their clients, give
back refunds on time, take care of their customers etc,.

Sometimes a member needs to be called out, but it’s not
a good idea to set yourself as the example to follow instead.

From a psychological standpoint, if I just hate gamblers, it’s
99% likely that I have a gambling problem. Human nature.

As parents we hate the child who is most like us! It can
be uncomfortable looking in the mirror sometimes.

Frank Bettger, in his classic book, How I Raised Myself From
Failure To Success in Selling, wrote how he often won huge
contracts while selling insurance by speaking well of his
competition.

If I were to respond to a post about another business owner
in my own field you should be very suspicious of my motives.

Am I jealous of that other person? Do I want to pull them
down so I could do better?

All I’m saying is that we should be a little more humble in
our assessment of our fellow humans because we are all
flawed and tainted.

I wish I were a better human being. I’m not all there yet
but I want to be more patient with people who are not
as far up on the ladder as I have painfully climbed.

——————————————————————

I would like to talk about your most important
marketing asset of all.

Sorry, but it has nothing to do with the Internet. You
cannot buy it for any price either. This is exactly why it
is so expensive, even rare. It ranks above money, marketing
genius and a fantastic product. All successful marketers
must have it without exception. It is called perseverance!
Yes, the ‘don,t give up’ attitude.

The Network Marketing industry is littered with stories of
people who quit too early. You may even see companies that
do what I call ‘negative marketing’ by referring to the fact
that 95% of people fail in this industry.

Wow! This is no welcome mat for someone who is considering
joining a Network Marketing company. But wait a minute. Did
you check the latest stats from the Social Security
department? If you look at the number of people in the US
who are making over $50,000 per year the stats are not very
different. Does this mean that the whole US economic system
is a failure?

There is the so called 20-80 rule which says that 20% of the
people does 80% of the work. This is true of churches, your
work place, schools. It appears to be a law. It is also true
that 20% of the people control 80% of the wealth.

What I am saying here is that the Network Marketing industry
is just a reflection of the society in general. The question
you must ask yourself is “Am I a 20 percenter or an 80
percenter?” I wish you the best of luck trying to change
this rule. The fact is that over the past 40 years in the
US, the Network Marketing industry has made more
millionaires than all other entrepreneurial ventures
combined. Now how does that go for 95% failure?

Those who make the big bucks in Network Marketing are the
ones who persevered! Yes, perseverance is more valuable than
talent. Whatever legitimate home-based business you chose to
do, you will do well if you JUST DON‘T GIVE UP!

Perseverance is closely tied to how big your “why” is. In
other words why do you want a home business? There is a
sowing and reaping principle here. Like the Bible said
‘Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap’. This is a
physical law as well as a spiritual law.

If you have a big ”why“ the ”how“ will come
naturally.

For me I want a financially more secure future for my two
sets of twins. They are 4 and 5 yrs old - yes just a year
apart! Right now my wife works as a supervisor at a
Department store and I am at home with the kids. I want my
business to grow fast so that I may able to ask my wife to
stop working. (As though I would have to suggest this -she
can‘t wait).

We are also planning on home schooling so this becomes even
more urgent. This is why I am at my computer 16 hours per
day -testing ads, writing, researching -as I am doing now -
so that I can have the freedom later on.

The question is what do YOU want and how badly? God made us
in such a way that we normally get what we think we “must”
have not just what we “want”. You may wish for more money,
for the creditors to stop calling, for a nice car, for a
home in the country side - but do you “must” have it?

The reality is that quite ordinary people with extraordinary
“must-have-it attitudes” are making six-figure incomes
online. If you don‘t believe this you have already lost the
battle before you even started. To do well making money
online YOU MUST BELIEVE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO DO SO.

Read any success story and without fail they experienced the
same setbacks like every other person, sometimes greater,
but they persevered because their “WHYS” were BIG.

Before you attempt this online business thing take a moment
to review your ‘why’ because if it is not big enough neither
would be your success.

The rent is due and the thought of being homeless during the winter forms new neuron pathways between my left and right brain. I find myself battling a sickness, and suddenly life’s priorities shuffle themselves into the correct order. Time spent with the family seems more pressing than the business meeting that was so critical. In fact, when I’m sick the only thought that dominates my mind is to regain my health.What motivates you?

On opposite ends of the spectrum of human motivation are inspiration and desperation. The reasons that drive you to act can be found somewhere along that continuum. I know that many noble feats have been accomplished through love for another person, but this can be classed as inspiration. Love for the object inspired the lover to perform acts that would be hard to explain otherwise.

I must confess that I am closer to the ‘desperation’ end of the spectrum than the ‘inspiration’ end. I am a deadline type of guy. While in school, I always procrastinated until I just had to write that term paper, study for that test or-you may smile-pay for the tuition. It seemed the idea that there was no way out placed my brains on steroids. I happen to know many colleagues who operate on a similar principle. At the same time, there were many students who just had to get the paper completed a long time before the deadline.

Inspiration would appear to be a much nobler motivator than desperation. Yet, it has always been said that necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity is closer akin to desperation than inspiration. It is often true that desperation can lead to inspiration but seldom the other way around. There are countless inventions which came about to solve a pressing problem compared to those made for just a luxurious use.

Those who study direct response marketing tell us that buyers respond more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. In other words, Mr. Jones is more likely to buy the central air cooling system because it saves him money, than for the reason that it keeps him cool in the summer. Statistics also shows that the vast majority of those who inherit large sums of money, either through family or the lottery, end up losing their wealth or in some instances their minds.

This reminds me of the old adage: ‘Easy come, easy go’. There are many parents who have passed on a legacy of wealth, and hence laziness, to their posterity.

The critical point for the home business owner is motivation. You can no longer lose your job because you are late, tardy; hate the boss, disliked by fellow-workers and a myriad of other reasons. Now you are the boss and have less to fear outside of failing yourself! Your motivation must now be intrinsic, and you have less people to blame for all your failures.

Although many tout the superior benefits of owning a home business, the harsh reality of finding that motivation to get out of bed when there are no traffic jams to beat leaves countless paralyzed.

My advice? ‘Know thyself’! Know what makes you tick and ‘trick’ yourself into that frame of mind. There are many motivational speakers who teach that you should write out your goals and even place a picture of your dream home next to your workplace. Even though this may work for some-and it doesn’t for me-, I think that contemplating the results for failure can awake many giant ideas.

If you are on the inspiration end of the spectrum then listening to motivational tapes and reading the stories of those who overcame great odds, may just be the medicine for your soul.

Do you love being healthy or hate being sick? Do you love having money or hate being broke? Do you love being with your spouse or hate being away? Do you love being independent or hate being bossed around? Do you love happiness or hate being sad? These questions may all seem to be two faces of the same coin but very different faces.

You may be like George Bernard Shaw who said, “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’; But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’ Or, you may identify closer with Dwight D. Eisenhower who said, “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it’s the size of the fight in the dog”.

You may be the dreamer or the dog engaged in mortal combat. What counts most is to know who you are, and light the appropriate burner on your motivational stove.

So the big question is “Why are Americans still so overweight?” It cannot be for a lack of knowledge because there is a ton of books out there. The answer has to be that people read the books but never implement the advice.

There can be a lot of debate about which diet is the better one and being a vegetarian myself I have my bias. Still whatever diet is followed requires discipline to carry them out and to stick with the plan. There can be a BIG gap between ‘what I know’ and ‘what I do’.

Think about the number of ebooks you have read and the number of training materials that you’ve been through. Have you implemented at least 10% of the advice given there? I’ve found that there is a lot of good information that you can get online without spending a dime but you must be a DO-er and not just a READ-er.

Ironically the programs online that sells the best are those that promise you no work. People will always be duped into thinking that they can just sit back and make money. At the same time the people online who are making a steady income are the hard workers – the Do-ers. Are you a READ-er or a DO-er. What about that last article that was so inspiring to you. Did you follow through on all the ideas you got from it?

I’ve found that the harder I work the luckier I get.

The Golden Key to your online business success is called “work.” It’s a four-letter word that many people are afraid of but there is no other way. Anyone who will tell you otherwise is only trying to steal your money. There are many tools that will speed up this process but you still have to use the tools!

So how much work have you invested in promoting your online business? Have you submitted your website to the Search Engines? What about trading links with other webmasters? Have you tried writing an article? What about asking for joint ventures? Have you been promoting your affiliate programs? Learn to use the Google Adwords and Pay-Per-Click search engines? The list goes on but they all involve time and effort. It doesn’t happen overnight but it CAN HAPPEN!

It takes effort to TEST your advertisement campaigns, fine-tuning your webcopy and improving your conversion rate. Most people just throw up a website and hope that it does well. The successful marketer tests, test and then test again. There is no magic here just plain work. Show me a successful businessperson who got there without hard work. Point taken.

Stop looking for the latest “secret to success” product and use what you already have. You will be surprised to know the number of people who have bought courses worth hundreds of dollars and never implemented one idea from the course if they bothered to read it that is.

The door of success demands that it is opened by the Golden Key of ‘hard work’. Those who try to go through the windows soon find that the house mysteriously disappears.

This can be compared to traffic signs. They don’t all tell you what to do but what NOT to do. If it were not for those signs that said “No right turn”, “No parking” you can imagine the confusion it will cause.

Here are some sure ways to fail in your quest online to build a healthy income.

1. Thinking that making money online is ‘easy’.

There are many that come to the Internet with a ‘lotto’ mentality. They think that by some stroke of luck they would sign up for this incredible business and ‘bam!’ their bank account is overflowing with money. In fact, there are many ‘pluggin businesses’ that try to sell you on that idea. They use words such as ‘automated income’ and ’spill-over’. I can assure you that any business that try to sell you the idea that you don’t have to do anything to make money and that they will do all the work for you is robbing you of your dream.

I have signed up for many MLM programs that use the ‘forced matrix’ model. This means that you can only have a limited amount in any level before the recruits are passed on to another level. This model sells on the fact that you will receive ’spill-over’ from those above you. The only problem here is that if everyone waits for the spillover then opportunity flops. The idea that someone else will do all the work and make you rich is a fallacy.

2. Making sure you have everything in place before you start.

You can be stalled in the planning stage thinking that everything has to fit in place before you can launch. Some refers to this as ‘the paralysis of analysis’. There are many projects that never get off of the ground because the creator was never satisfied that it was ‘just right’. It’s best to go ahead with what you have and improve as time goes by. The inspiration often comes while you are on the road and seldom while you are planning the trip.

3. Try one thing and if it doesn’t work give up.

You can read any story of a successful online marketer and it will be filled with failure. What makes the difference between a ‘guru’ and a failure is that the ‘guru’ was willing to fail more times. History is littered with stories of people who failed a thousand times before they hit the bull’s eye. Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison come immediately to mind but there are many others. We often feel defeated because we are presented with the success rather than the path to that success. Anyone who courts the trophy must pay the price of hard work.

4. Try every opportunity that comes along. One may work.

There is no way of telling which business will be successful and which will fail. However, at the same time you need to focus on a particular niche and keep working at it. Jumping all around causes you to lose focus and not to mention money as well. I’ve heard the complain often ‘I tried everything and nothing worked.’ This may be because you tried everything!

We are only blessed with a limited amount of time. This means that we have to give any project the best that we have and do not lose focus. If you have the tendency not to finish what you started then you need to discipline yourself to change this. This does not mean that if you find something that is not working that you keep at it just to be persistent. If you find that the project is failing because of something over which you have no control then it’s time to leave and move on. On the other hand if you find one that works then keep at it and build your empire.

5. You can make it without investing in your education and advertising.

There is one place you don’t want to be stingy and it’s in your education. The most successful online business owners will tell you that they invest thousands of dollars each year in their education. You have to keep reading and don’t begrudge this time. Saving that dollar for the seminar materials may cost you thousands of dollars later.

There are two areas that you can never be a miser in - your education and advertising. A common mistake that people who are new to Internet business make is that they don’t budget for advertising and their continued education. They start a business and think that people will just find them and buy. You have to read to keep abreast of the latest research findings and advertising methods that work. I’ve read of affiliates who emailed the program owner and complained that hey had not received their commission checks. When asked if they were advertising the program they said ‘No’!

6. Thinking that your online business will give you a lot of free time.

Look at all those pictures on websites that sell business opportunities and they show you entrepreneurs on the beach with their laptop and cell phones. The idea is that you can work where you want and when you want. This may be partially true, except that when you want may be from 6 AM to 2 AM and where you want may be everywhere.

Most people who are self-employed will tell you that they work harder and worry more than when they worked for someone else. There is just no easy way out. The very freedom that your home business promises you is also the same slavery that binds you. As always, freedom comes at a price. Remember all those worries that your boss carried and you didn’t have to spend all night thinking about? - Well, you now have them all and more!

Just look out for those warning signs and you will be safe on the road to online success. The road is steep and littered with wrecks of those who didn’t look out for the signs. Don’t let this happen to you.

(c)2003 Ray L. Edwards