“Such a deal, I have for you!”

Clayton Makepeace is advertising for a copy slave. I should be all over this.

What an opportunity. You get to move to B.F., North Carolina. You get to work for peanuts (or whatever it is they grow there.) You get to help increase the size of Clayton’s already formidable fortune, reputation and ego. And…to top it off, you’ll be the lowest person in the pecking order of the organization.

Such a deal!

Actually, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Imagine, working with one of the legends in the business. Who cares if you’re working for chump change? The education is worth more than money. Unless your richer than Croesus, this deal can set you up for life. Just being able to say, “I worked with Clayton Makepeace,” will open doors normally would have been barred to you.

If you’re a young copywriter, jump at this opportunity. If I was a bit younger and didn’t have to explain my actions to “the crazy Cuban” (my wife), I’d be at his door and fighting off all challengers.

I’m a little long-in-the-tooth to be called a copy cub. I wonder if Clayton would consider a copy grizzled-ly? (Yes, I know grizzly is spelled wrong.)

Where The Rubber Meets The Road.

As a copywriter, you don’t always get to see how well your promo or package does.
If you do get to see results, it may be in general terms.

If it beats the current control, you’ll hear about it, and…if it bombs (heaven forbid) you may hear about that too.
Then again, you may just never get any work from that client or his friends ever again.

If you want a real education about launching a promotion, start your own business and write all of the copy associated with that start-up. If you plan to sell online, you can get almost instant feedback as to how well your copy sells.

I am involved with a start-up online company. I accepted a partnership in lieu of my standard copywriting fee.
Now, that sounds like a great deal (and as we get further along, it will be) but initially all of the revenue goes to build the business.
The scary part is when you start to advertise. Will the ads draw? Will the copy sell once they get to the site? Have we priced it properly for maximum profit?
It doesn’t take long for you to find out.

When we launched, I asked for feedback from a few friends.
Most of them said my copy was too long…nobody would read it.
Others said the website was too amateurish, people wouldn’t buy from a site like that.
Well, we’ve proven them wrong.
The site and the copy sells product. Could it be better? Sure! And as we make more money, we’ll upgrade.
In the meantime, we’re looking at economical ways to get our message out and drive people to our site.
I’ll continue to “tweak” the copy as we go.

If you want to see what the site and the copy looks like, go to www.integritea.com.
Tell me what you think. I’m a big boy...I can take it.

Reselling Your Services

I have an ongoing contract to write monthly newsletter articles for a client. As per an earlier conversation regarding the theme of the month, I wrote a series of articles for the next edition. Then, I ran into the person who is my contact in this organization. I mentioned that I had the articles written in time for her deadline. She said that she had written some articles herself and probably wouldn’t need my material.

My initial reaction was going to be to remind her that we had a contract and I would have to bill her for my time. Instead, I decided to take a less confrontational approach. (Always a good idea with a regular and pleasant-to-work-with client.)

Since she had not given me specific instructions to write these articles, I told her that I wouldn’t bill her for them unless she used them. I told her I would email them to her and let her look at them. If she chose to use them I would bill them, if not, I would wait for her direction for the next edition.

I emailed the articles and waited. When the newsletter came out, my articles were in it. It was followed by an email requesting some additional work on another matter. Since then, I’ve gotten a lot of work from another department in this same organization.

Occasionally, you’ll have a client that forgets the value that a professional writer brings to the table. At that point you can resell your abilities, or force them to honor the contract. If you’re good enough, your abilities SHOULD win the day. I’m glad I took this approach. If it hadn’t worked out, at least I wouldn’t have burned any bridges.