The Golden Thread – The Week in Review
April 27 – May 3, 2008
Welcome to The Golden Thread Online, your free e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every Saturday, you will receive this recap of all the strategies, insights and opportunities we send to you and your fellow AWAIers each week. Whether it’s a message from a fellow writer about how he landed a new client … a technique from a Master copywriter for writing a control … an insight into how to succeed in a new market … news of a brand new writing job or business opportunity for you … you’ll find it here in this easy-to-access and always available “Week in Review.”
In This Issue:
- Behind the Scenes … How AWAI Staff Copywriters Improving Their Writing
A look behind the scenes to see how AWAI’s staff copywriters work on improving their writing. This exercise is easy for you to do at home too. - Landing B2B Clients – How to Generate a Steady Stream of Income Working as a B2B Writer
Self-promotion isn’t as difficult and scary as it seems. Here are two proven systems you can use to market yourself to B2B companies. - Three Things You Can Get Paid to Photograph on Your Next Vacation
Here are three things to photograph on your next trip that you can sell for stock. Keep them in mind when you travel, and you’ll have fun, take lots of pictures, and make some extra cash to boot.
Behind the Scenes … How AWAI Staff Copywriters Improving Their Writing
Today … a look behind the scenes to see how our staff copywriters here at AWAI work on improving their writing. (This exercise is easy for you to do at home too.)
Below, you’ll see an email exchange between Guillermo Rubio, our new in-house copywriter, and Master Copywriter Paul Hollingshead.
From: Guillermo
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 10:13 AM
To: Paul Hollingshead
Subject: Guillermo’s Daily Headline + Lead
Hi Paul,
Below is an exercise Michael suggested I do to improve my skills.
Every morning, before 10:30 am, he wants me to write a headline and lead on any topic, 100-150 words in length, and send it out to the AWAI copy team for a rating. When I receive the ratings back, he says I should spend a few minutes contemplating why the copy got those ratings. He said that eventually, after doing this 100 or so times, I’ll start “getting” it and improve my writing.
Would you please take a look at what I’ve written below and rate it on a scale of 1 - 4? (It’s for a fictional personal finance product.)
*****
Finally! Get Rid of Debt Once and for All …
Transform Your Debt Into Wealth
More than one million people worldwide have used this system to become debt-free, and build a retirement nest egg most only dream of – Will you be one of them?
Dear Friend:
Now you can become completely debt free (including your home mortgage) in only 5 to 7 years … allowing you to finally live the life you could only dream of before … while building real wealth starting from your first month using this system, almost automatically.
Impossible?
Not if you believe what over one million people across the globe are now saying …
From: Paul Hollingshead
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 10:37 AM
To: Guillermo
Subject: Guillermo’s Daily Headline + Lead
G …
I’d give the headline a 2.8 … and the lead a 2.5.
The headline: I like the “Transform Debt into Wealth” idea, but the top subhead weakens it by suggesting this is a get-rid-of-debt program. Also, I don’t think the one million number helps with exclusivity – and you need to make the “system” seem like something very special.
The lead: The first sentence is too long. Stick to one idea at a time. And make a more specific promise.
Not knowing what the system is, of course, here’s an example of what I mean … by adding specificity and making it unique:
“Turn Your Smothering Debt Into Liberating Wealth
How to transform $200,000 in debt into $2,000,000 cash using this little-known, government-sponsored “Plus Zero” Wealth Strategy
Dear Friend …
Today could be the last day you spend saddled with debt.
And I’m not talking about scrimping and saving for years to pay off your bills.
Using a brand-new government-sponsored program, you can not only erase your debt once and for all – but become fabulously wealthy in the process.
In fact, the more debt you have – the wealthier you will become.
We call it the “Plus Zero” Wealth Strategy. Why? Because you simply take what you owe and add a zero. That’s how much wealth your debt is worth. If you owe $10,000 – you can turn it into $100,000 in wealth. If you owe $50,000 – you can turn it into $500,000 or more.
Have a $250,000 mortgage? Here’s how to turn it into $2,500,000 cash.
In a moment, I’ll share the details of this amazing system …
But first allow me to share with you the unique circumstances that make this amazing “debt-to-wealth” transformation system possible …
From: Guillermo
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 10:45 AM
To: Paul
Subject: Guillermo’s Daily Headline + Lead
Thanks, Paul, excellent comments.
It’s incredibly valuable for me to see the process of “fixing” copy.
Thanks again,
G
From: Paul Hollingshead
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 11:15 AM
To: Guillermo
Subject: Guillermo’s Daily Headline + Lead
This is a very good exercise for you to be doing. Copy’s a lot like golf. To be good, you need to spend a lot of time on the driving range. Exercises like this are your “range time,” where you work on specific skills. Writing “live” is your course time, where you put all that practice into play.
This is a lot like what Oxford Club is doing in Florida every Tuesday morning with Jay’s group. A bunch of new copywriters get together with The Wall Street Journal – read it for half an hour, then have another half-hour to come up with a headline and lead from a story that grabbed their interest.
I’ve been watching what comes out of it, and there’s some very good stuff.
Now it’s your turn:
Writing every day is the best way I know for you to improve your writing skills.
And I suggest you do the same thing Guillermo does. Every morning, before 10:30 am, write a headline and lead that is 100-150 words in length. You can write it based on something you read in the newspaper … hear on the radio or TV … or find online.
Send it to 3 or 4 people for a rating … preferably fellow copywriters. (You can always go to the AWAI forum and put together a group there.)
Ask your group to rate the headline and lead separately on a scale of 1 - 4, with 4 being “This is great! I have to read more” and 1 being “No thanks. Not interested.”
As Michael told Guillermo, it might take 100 tries before you really start to “get it” … but you will. And your writing will be much stronger.
– Katie
Landing B2B Clients – How to Generate a Steady Stream of Income Working as a B2B Writer
The number one question asked by copywriters launching their career or trying to break into a new niche is “How do I find clients?”
The notion of self-promotion is a bit overwhelming. At least it is at first. But once you put a proven system into place, a couple of things will happen. First, you’ll see that self-promotion isn’t as difficult and scary as it seems. Second, you’ll discover that if you do just a little self-promotion every day, you’ll almost always have work, and that’s a beautiful thing.
That said, here are two proven systems you can use to market yourself to B2B companies.
#1: The Two-Step Mailing Process
You may recall that Bob Bly mentioned this self-promotion system in last week’s interview. It warrants a closer look, because if you follow it closely, you’re almost guaranteed to succeed. Bob knows people who use nothing but this method and consistently are offered more work than they can handle.
First, use your copywriting skills to write a one- or two-page “sales” letter introducing yourself and your services to a prospective client. Remember to focus on the benefits you bring, offer some proof of your skills, and finish with a call to action. The call to action is a request for your full information kit. You can ask the prospect to call or email you to request the kit, or you can ask them to return a reply card that you include.
Second, put together the information kit. My kit includes not only a one-page cover letter that repeats the benefits I mentioned in my sales letter, but also a one-page professional profile that details my copywriting experience, a page that lists some of my clients and the good things they’ve said about working with me, two work samples (just the headlines and leads), an article that I had published in Target Marketing, a schedule of my fees, and a “getting started” questionnaire.
There’s no one right way to put an information kit together, so customize yours to make it work for you. Maybe you don’t have work samples yet, but you have written a timely article on B2B copywriting. Or maybe you have a couple of case studies that show the positive results you’ve delivered to other clients.
Next, do some research on the companies you’d like to work with. Your goal is to find an address and a contact name for each one. Often, the contact name is available on the company’s website. And if you’re using a directory, the contact name is almost always included. If you can’t find it, simply call the company and ask.
Finally, send out your sales letter. When you receive a request for your information kit, send that. Track what you’ve sent and who you’ve sent it to. If someone has requested your information kit, follow up with a brief phone call or postcard – and keep following up every three months.
Set a goal to send out four or five sales letters a day. Use this system consistently and the work will soon start rolling in.
#2: Phone and Follow Up
If you don’t like to do mailings – or if the postage and printing costs put a strain on your budget right now – don’t despair. Bob also has a way to successfully market yourself over the phone.
First, call the company you’re interested in and ask to speak to the marketing or creative director. You want to be sure you are connected with a decision maker – someone who has the power to engage your services.
When you get on the phone with that person, politely introduce yourself and ask: “Does your company hire freelance copywriters?”
If the answer is yes, then ask:
“What’s the next project you have coming up?”
“When should I give you a call regarding that project?
Often, when you contact a company, you’ll find they don’t have an immediate need for your services. Don’t let that derail your efforts. By using this method, you’ll be certain to call them back when you know a need is coming up … and they’ll be expecting your call. In the meantime, send them your information kit, so they’ll know a little more about what you can do for them.
These two systems are straightforward and easy to implement. It’s just a matter of using one or both of them consistently and persistently when marketing yourself to B2B prospects, and it won’t be long before you land your first project. You might even find yourself booked solid.
Three Things You Can Get Paid to Photograph on Your Next Vacation
To most travelers, a vacation is a time to relax, take in a few museums, enjoy coffee in an outdoor café, eat out, and meet new people. But to me, a vacation is also an opportunity to make some easy cash.
Take Paris, for instance. (I’ve been there twice.) I enjoyed the cafés … the lavish meals … the leisurely strolls along the Seine. And I took pictures as I went – just like we all do when we’re on vacation.
The big difference for me is that I don’t just slide my pictures into an album when I get home. I sell them. And the truth is, thousands of websites, magazines, and travel agencies buy vacation photos from travelers like me all the time. And it’s not hard to find those buyers …
I sell a lot of my photos to online stock photo agencies, also known as “microstock sites.” And I make enough money, in some cases, to cover the cost of my trip. Some of the leading sites are: iStockphoto.com, Bigstockphoto.com, Shutterstock.com, and Dreamstime.com.
These sites are happy to work with amateurs, but they do expect near-perfect photographs … so you’ve got to have a good digital camera and an eye for composition.
Travel agencies, art directors, and even high school kids looking for photos to illustrate their MySpace pages or their geography and history papers are all customers of these online stock sites. It doesn’t cost you anything to upload your vacation shots, and their buyers can download whichever pictures they choose for anywhere between $1 and $15 a pop, depending on the size of the image they want.
You get a percentage of that fee. And though $.50 might not sound like a lot, keep in mind that you’re looking at volume sales.
I use iStockphoto.com, and I average $.90 per image (per month) or $ $1.83 per download for the photos I have on file with them.
Over time, I’ve uploaded 1773 images from my travels – and even shots from my home town. I don’t have to do any marketing … these photos sell even while I’m sleeping. At the end of the month, I get a check for a thousand or so dollars for my efforts.
It’s fast, easy, and fun.
Here are three things to photograph on your next trip that you can sell for stock. Keep them in mind when you travel, and you’ll have fun, take lots of pictures, and make some extra cash to boot.
Farmers’ Markets
Farmers’ markets are teeming with stock shots … from the repeating patterns and colors of seasonal fruits and vegetables to signs scrawled in chalk and people picking out their wares.
Almost every online stock agency requires you to submit a model release for images that include recognizable people, so I suggest you focus on the fruits and vegetables at first. Model releases are specific to each site, so get your account up and running before you try to submit people photographs.
Your Hotel
One photo of a front-desk bell has sold 1,021 times on iStockphoto.com. And I’ve sold photos of curtains, pillows, and more. Do some research and look up hotel pictures on these stock sites before you leave, and get acquainted with your competition. It’s okay to photograph the same things – just be sure to make your shots unique. But look for what’s selling and what’s not. Put your efforts into taking the kind of photos that sell best.
Textures and Patterns
People like to buy photos of textures or patterns to use as backgrounds for their websites … fine art on their walls … and a myriad of other things. Keep an eye out for these as you travel. Peeling paint, rusted metal, brick walls, cracks in the sidewalk, bark on a tree … all make for interesting backgrounds.
One final word of advice: Make sure you read the online stock agency’s technical requirements and submission guidelines before you start uploading pictures.
