Building Your Copywriting Business …
How AWAI Member Joshua Boswell Turned a $2,000 Assignment Into $60,000
Most new copywriters are so thrilled to get an assignment, they’re happy to settle for any amount they’re paid.
Not AWAI member Joshua Boswell.
He’s learned the secret to getting the most out of every assignment … every client.
And I spoke with him about how he does it.
“If you want to earn six-figures or more as a copywriter,” he said, “you’re going to have to learn how to get higher fees on all of your assignments. Otherwise, you’ll be running yourself ragged.”
Joshua never thinks in terms of how he can get more money out of a client. Instead, it has to be a win-win situation for both him and them. This is key, as it’s an underlying theme in everything he does.
“It comes down to three things,” he told me.
When a client approaches him with an assignment, he immediately asks himself:
- “How can I help this client maximize his profits?”
- “What specific things does this client need to accomplish?
- “How can I give more value to this client?”
“Ultimately, it’s all about the client,” said Joshua. Just like you would focus on your prospect in a sales letter, and to make their life better, you focus on the client and his needs.”
That’s why the first thing he does when offered a project is research … a lot of it. He researches who the client is, who they sell to, their marketing methods, and how the person who’s hiring him likes things done.
For example, one client came to Joshua for an eight-page sales letter to promote a new product they were about to launch. Joshua did his research right away, and found that the product would appeal to two different kinds of prospects.
So he wrote two versions … one for the prospects the client expected, and one for the prospects Joshua realized the client had not thought about. When he explained to the client why he had written two versions of the sales letter, the client was pleased that he’d caught their oversight. As a result, Joshua got paid to write two sales letters instead of one.
Another client came to Joshua wanting an email auto-responder series. They were going to pay him $2,000 for the job. Again, he did his research and found that he could do more for the client. They had a poorly written website, and no online marketing efforts whatsoever. He also saw that the client could substantially increase profits by offering more information products.
The client loved Joshua’s suggestions, and he ended up writing the website, creating an online marketing campaign, and even creating a few new products for the site. As a result, his original $2,000 job turned into over $60,000!
Instead of thinking like a copywriter, you have to think more like a marketing consultant. Better yet, think of yourself as your client’s business partner.
In fact, this kind of thinking actually landed Joshua a business partnership with one of his clients. Now he gets a percentage of the gross sales from that partnership as an ongoing royalty.
And it’s all because he focuses on what is best for the client.
So next time a client offers you an assignment, remember that it’s all about them. Zero in on how you can best help them and ask yourself Joshua’s three questions. You’ll be surprised by how this will put you on track to making it big as a copywriter.
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Absolutely right! I did this same thing and will be turning a $2,000 project into an $8-$10k project.
Good stuff!
Jeremy Reeves
Jeremy Reeves – July 27, 2009 at 5:39 pm