The Mad Scientist Experiment That Rocketed My Career
By Pam Foster

Apparently, even though I’m a copywriter, I’m a lot like Dexter of the TV cartoon Dexter's Laboratory. A “Which Mad Scientist Are You?” website told me so after I took their Mad Scientist Personality Quiz.

So what does this have to do with being a successful freelance copywriter? Let’s take a quick look … it will have important meaning to you if you’re trying to build your copywriting business. (I promise.)

The Mad Scientist website said, “Dexter is a boy genius who maintains a state-of-the-art lab behind a bookcase in his room.” OK, so this applies to me because I do all my freelance copywriting on a new MacBook Pro that sits on a desk between two bookcases in my room. Check.

“Dexter is brilliant.” Well, I like to think so when it comes to writing copy that works wonders for my clients. :-) Check.

“He is somewhat self-conscious and perhaps a little shy.” This is true as well – I’m always concerned about doing a great job, and I don’t focus on myself when helping my clients improve their web content. Check.

“His glasses, black high-heel boots, and lab coat complete his 'look'.” I wear glasses for distance, and occasionally I wear black boots. My office ‘lab coat’ is more like jeans and a comfy sweater. Check.

Now, you could make the correlation that because I’m like Dexter, I’m a Mad Scientist copywriter. But why should you care about this anyway?

Because last year I decided to try an experiment with my freelance copywriting business, and it created surprisingly powerful results that still astound me.

It wasn’t exactly a “Mad” experiment, but it was scientific. And quite profound. So I thought you might like to know what I did, and how you can use this experiment for your own copywriting business. I followed the classic steps to conducting a scientific experiment … and applied them to my freelance copywriting business. You can do the same thing. Here’s what it looks like:

1. RESEARCH: Investigate the topic: in this case – how to land more clients that are perfect for you.

   • Look at your track record of getting great clients so far.
   • Look at what others have done to get bodacious clients (your AWAI peers, for example).
   • Consider what the gurus say about marketing yourself in a growing field of skilled copywriters.
   • Think about the ways you’ve tried to approach prospects, and what has or hasn’t worked.
   • Review your business goals and identify the gaps in what’s actually happening.

   You have a clearer picture of your efforts so far, so you can move on to the next step.

2. PROBLEM: Identify the struggle you wish to overcome.

   In the case of building a lucrative freelance copywriting business, the problem for you may be:

   “I’m not sure exactly WHO to market my services to … so I can attract a steady stream of great clients who are fun to work with and who pay me for the value I provide.”

   Or something along those lines. Once you’ve nailed the problem you’re trying to solve, you can take the next step.

3. HYPOTHESIS: Create a statement you’re trying to prove or disprove within the experiment.

   Based on my problems, the hypothesis I chose to test was:

   “If I focus my web copywriting business on one specific niche industry that’s thriving, with lots of companies in a field I really enjoy – I will attract more clients and projects that are fun, rewarding and lucrative.”

   Your hypothesis may be different. For example, you may want to attract clients for a certain type of writing, such as Public Relations writing, Social Media writing and project management, etc. Or you may want to build a thriving business around writing and building websites – the complete soup-to-nuts offering.

   But for this experiment, I wanted to see if a “niche-industry focus” would be more successful for me … as it seems to be for many other copywriters.

4. EXPERIMENT: Develop actions that help you prove or disprove the hypothesis.

   Once I identified a clear hypothesis (a niche-industry focus will propel my success), the experiment was a blast. Here’s what I did, and what you can try too.

   • Conduct industry research to identify a strong, growing niche market that’s perfect for you. (For me, it’s the pet industry.)
   • Create a new business name focused on your niche industry.
   • Create a logo and tagline that helps marketers quickly identify you as an ally.
   • Build a website that’s focused on the value you offer marketers in your niche industry.
   • Create a marketing campaign that reaches out to your target audience in a way that generates a call or email to you. This campaign may include:
     • Direct mail letter package
     • Special report
     • Clever giveaway that catches your prospects’ attention
     • Postcard
     • PPC (Google AdWords) campaign
     • A referral request email to all your business connections
     • A press release announcing your business
     • Social media profiles in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
     • Attending trade shows and other business functions where your prospects congregate
     • Other
   • Steadily work the plan by taking a single action each day; something that propels you forward with this experiment.

5. RESULTS: Keep track of all activities you tried, and the results they generated. For example …

   • What worked the best? Or the least?
   • How many new prospects did you meet?
   • How many responded to your direct marketing efforts?
   • How many called or emailed you after finding your website?
   • How many referrals did you receive?
   • How many new clients did you land?
   • What’s the dollar value of your new work?
   • What does the momentum look like? (Positive?)
   • Are you now too busy to continue tracking this experiment? (That’s what happened to me.)
   • Are you ready to just call it a success? (That was my experience!)

6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Were the results what you hoped for or expected?

   This can be a discussion with yourself, your family, your colleagues, and/or your friends. It can be as simple as, “Wow – this experiment ROCKED and I’m busy now!” Or you can tell AWAI about it in full detail, or post it on one of the copywriter forums; even shout it to the rooftops. Whatever you wish!

The main point is, by following a clear and focused “Mad Scientist” path like this, you may achieve far more success than ever before. Just as I have.

Niche Yourself and Thrive: Attract Your Ideal Clients FASTER With a Focused Copywriting Business Plan

No matter where you are in your copywriting career, you can start attracting your ideal clients faster by using the same marketing system Pam Foster used to land 7 ideal clients in 7 weeks. Learn More »

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Published: March 7, 2011

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