The Golden Thread – The Week in Review
March 16–22, 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:
- Words of Copywriting Wisdom … How “Half-Off” Spells More Money for Your Copywriting Business
AWAI co-founder Don Mahoney suggests a way to get 50% more from your clients on every copywriting project. - Building Your Copywriting Business … How AWAI Member Joshua Boswell Turned a $2,000 Assignment Into $60,000
AWAI “Wall of Fame” copywriter Joshua Boswell explains how to get the most out of every project and every client by thinking “win-win.” - An Interview with Alternative Health Copywriter Donna Doyle
Alternative health copywriter Donna Doyle gives advice on landing assignments and writing successful promotions. - Bruce Eichelberger Shares His Secrets for Connecting with an Audience
AWAI trained copywriter shows you how to connect with your audience when writing for the health market. - 6 Ways to Overcome Your Reader’s Skepticism
Discover six strategies to relieve doubts among health prospects.
Words of Copywriting Wisdom … How “Half-Off” Spells More Money for Your Copywriting Business
Here’s an easy way to get 50% more from every client: Make them an offer they can’t refuse. When you get an assignment, say, “If you like the package, I’ll do another version of it for half-price.”
The point is, you’ve already done most of the “mechanical” work – the hard parts of the research and the credibility and the USP of the product. So you can use that information again … just present it a little differently. Then, of course, you need to come up with another headline and lead, and maybe another format.
Fifty percent of the original package cost is a fair price for the amount of work involved, slightly to your advantage. It’s a little less than half the work you did for the first package. But you can do it quickly, since you’ve already done a lot of the heavy lifting … and if you’re cultivating a new client, this strategy gives you an immediate second opportunity to show your stuff.
Remember, clients would much rather have one person they can depend on than go shopping for different copywriters all the time. You already have a relationship with this one – they know what to expect from you, and you know what to expect from them.
It’s a win-win situation. The client is happy because he gets a second package for half-price. And you get a second job without having to do twice as much work or go and find your next project.
So whenever a client gives you a job, let him know you’ll be happy to add a second version – for half off!
Next time, Joshua Boswell gives us his strategy for earning more from all of his clients …
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.
An Interview with Alternative Health Copywriter Donna Doyle
Donna Doyle entered the freelance market as an alternative health copywriter just eight years ago, and now makes a consistent six-figure income. Today, she joins us with advice on how to break into and succeed in this high-demand field.
CI: How did you become a copywriter?
Donna: I kind of fell into it. I was always interested in writing, and had a flair for it ever since I was a child. I graduated from college with an English degree, but didn’t know quite what to do with it. I worked for an advertising agency for a while, and didn’t like it. I was an account executive—I wasn’t doing anything creative.
I got into the publishing business. I worked as a promotion manager for a trade magazine publisher. And that’s where I started getting into writing. I would write and design sales brochures and editorial calendars for our magazines.
But I really got into my heavy-duty, alternative health experience when I joined Prentice Hall. A lot of people know Prentice Hall for their textbooks, but they also have a large division that sells books through the mail. I got a job there as a copywriter, and I worked in their health and self-improvement book division. That’s where I got started—selling alternative health books through the mail. I was there for eight years, and that’s where I learned direct response and how to write a good headline and how to do the format of a letter. Then I went to another company, Medical Economics, where I did some writing and design and promotion.
In April of 2000, I finally decided to go freelance—and I’ve been freelancing ever since.
CI: What is it that sets the health and wellness industry apart from other industries for you as a copywriter?
Donna: Direct-response techniques are the same across the board. But health is a subject I am really interested in and passionate about. I don’t think you can be a good writer if you’re not passionate about your subject. And with health, more than any other subject, you really have to understand the emotional hot buttons of your audience. The health prospect, by and large, is someone who’s older, someone who’s afraid of losing their independence, someone who is probably in pain or very tired. You have to home in on those emotions—more so than if you’re writing a promotion for something like a financial newsletter. Yes, you always have to get to the emotional hot buttons of your reader, but in health that’s more true than in any other area. If you don’t connect with your audience, your promotion is just not going to work.
CI: What are some of the techniques that work to connect you with your audience?
Donna: Creating empathy, understanding pain—that’s a hot topic for health people. Low energy and low stamina—that’s another theme that resonates with health prospects. Digestive problems. That’s another one. And really getting into their minds and understanding those problems. Plus understanding that mainstream medicine doesn’t have all the answers.
As a health copywriter, you also have to understand FDA compliance rules, which get into the kinds of health claims you can make. It’s very challenging to write health copy now, more so than when I first started, for the simple reason that more and more supplement products are under scrutiny by the government. So you have to be really careful and conservative with the claims you make. Fifteen years ago, 10 years ago, you were able to say something like, “This vitamin will eliminate your pain in three days.” Now you can’t use the word “eliminate.” And you can’t use a timeframe. You can’t say “immediately.” You can’t say “three days.” You can say “quickly.” You can say “soon.” It’s a challenge—figuring out how to say things more conservatively and yet still sound compelling.
CI: How do you recommend copywriters keep up with the government’s rules?
Donna: The FTC website and the FDA website are a help. But how far you can go also depends on your client. Some clients, truthfully, are less conservative about their claims than others. I have had clients say, “We’re perfectly happy to push the envelope with the FDA. If they send us a cease and desist letter, we’ll worry about it then.” And that’s great, because you can automatically make your copy a little more compelling.
On the other hand, some clients are very strict about legal compliance, and they’ll send your copy through a barrage of lawyers who really water it down. So you have to be aware of what the lawyers will let you say. You can’t name diseases. You can’t say “arthritis,” but you can say “joint health” or “joint problems” or “joint aches.” A lot of that comes from studying health controls out there to see how they handle disease claims.
The FDA and FTC don’t do much about telling you what you can and can’t say about specific diseases. The best way to learn is to get a good health swipe file together and study what other copywriters have done. Get guidance from your client, as well.
CI: Good advice. Now you mentioned you’ve been freelancing for eight years. How did you go about establishing yourself as a freelancer?
Donna: Wow, that’s a very good question! I thought establishing myself as a freelancer was going to be a lot easier than it was. I had 10 years of writing experience under my belt with two very good companies. I had controls—some of which are still mailing to this day. But it wasn’t easy because, in some ways, you have to build your reputation all over again. The best way to do that is by prospecting. By pounding the pavement and sending out prospecting letters to hundreds and hundreds of companies. It’s getting that first “yes” that will get your career going. Once you have your first yes, you’ll get your second yes that much faster. Even so, you have to constantly market yourself. It can take clients six months, even a year, to call you back.
I started freelancing in April. That’s when I officially hung out my shingle. I landed my first client in August. My first year as a freelancer I made $15,000. But I was able to double that the following year and triple it the year after that. Within four years as a freelancer, I was making into the six figures. But it was from a lot of prospecting, and a lot of work. And having good client relations, too.
CI: If you don’t mind naming names, who are some of the clients you work with?
Donna: I work with Think Right Now International, a self-improvement company. I’ve worked with Healthy Directions. Swiss Labs. Golden Health Products. I’ve done some work with Rodale. Bio-Nutragenics. So I have some big and small clients that I’ve worked for consistently over the years.
CI: When you contact a prospective client, it’s important to know who to contact. How do you go about finding that person?
Donna: It’s very simple. I call the company’s main phone number, and ask who their marketing director or their creative director is because I have some correspondence I’d like to send to them. And 99 times out of a hundred, they will provide me with that person’s name and title.
You’re not always going to be able to get a name to address your prospecting package to, but I try.
CI: After you’ve sent your prospecting package, how do you follow up?
Donna: I follow up, usually, about every three to four months. There are some people that you follow up with once or twice, and you can see that they’re just not interested. There are other people who may contact me directly from my prospecting letter, saying they’d like to see more samples or they want more information or they’d like a quote. Those are the ones I will continue to follow up with. Three to four months seems to be about the right amount of time. If it’s too often, you’ll be a pest. If it’s not often enough, people will forget about you.
CI: Our readers are always interested to hear about setting fees. How do you go about doing it?
Donna: I work more on a project basis. A lot of my decisions about setting fees are based on what I’ve heard throughout the industry. There are some good reference books that can help, but you also have to take into account such things as your experience level and the type of client. For example, I normally charge anywhere between $16,000 and $18,000 when writing a magalog. But eight years ago, when I was starting out, I would able get about $9,000 for a magalog.
There are some really good copywriter message boards out there. If you’re not sure what to charge, you can go on those boards and say, “Hey, I have a quote from a client, and this is what the job specs are. What’s a reasonable price?” People are usually pretty good about coming back with, “You should charge this” or “What he wants to pay you isn’t enough.”
One way to look at it is to take into account your overhead, how much salary you would like to make, your health insurance, and your taxes. Say it comes out to about $60 an hour. If that’s the case, you can’t charge less than $60 and hour. Another way to do it is to estimate how long a project will take and then figure out a fee based on those hours.
It’s not an exact science. In fact, I still find it hard to price projects even to this day.
CI: Is there one piece of golden advice that you’d like to share with our readers?
Donna: The most important thing, whatever type of copywriter you are, is to work well with your clients. Be easy to work with. Be accommodating. Be accessible. There are a lot of people in this industry who are prima donnas, who do not take constructive criticism well. You can be a great writer, but if a client does not like working with you, they’re not going to use you again—no matter how great they think your copy is. If you make it painful for them, forget it. They’re not going to use you.
One of the advantages I have is that I was on staff with companies for a long time, and I was actually in a position where I hired and fired freelancers. I knew as a client what kind of freelancer I would want working for me. So having that knowledge under my belt made it a lot easier for me to get clients to use me again and again and again.
CI: That’s good advice. But how do you diplomatically deal with a client who wants to make changes to your copy (and not for legal reasons)—changes that you know will weaken the copy?
Donna: Every writer runs across that. What I do is listen to their rationale, really listen to what they have to say. Then say, “Okay. I can see what you’re saying. However, I think if you give the copy that type of focus it will not be as compelling … and here is why I think that.” You will, of course, have clients who say, “I don’t care. Do it my way.” And you know what? You do it their way. Let’s face it, they sign your pay check. The client is always right.
You will run into difficult clients. You will have clients who, when you turn in a terrific first draft, will totally change the copy. And then, when it mails and it fails, they’ll turn around and point the finger at you. There’s not a lot you can do when this happens. But then again, one of the nice things about being a freelancer is that when you reach a certain level of success, you can actually fire clients you don’t want to work with.
CI: Any parting thoughts?
Donna: The best way to become a success in this business is to build a good swipe file and really study those promotions. That’s how you’ll know what’s working and what’s not working.
[Ed. Note: Donna Doyle has been a direct-response copywriter for over 15 years, specializing in the alternative health and self-improvement industries. She has created results-driven copy for some of the largest direct-marketing companies and publishers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Named “2006 Copywriter of the Year” by American Writers & Artists Inc. (AWAI), she is a Partner of 3Chix, (http://www.3chix.com/), a seminar and information publishing company. Donna is also a sought-after copywriting coach. Sign up for her free e-zine, “The Inside Track,” at http://www.copybydoyle.com/.]
Bruce Eichelberger Shares His Secrets for Connecting with an Audience
Bruce Eichelberger began copywriting seven years ago in order to better market his own alternative health products. He joins us today to share some of the most valuable lessons he’s learned along the way.
CI: How long have you been a copywriter?
Bruce: I started studying copywriting in 2001 after a disappointing experience working with someone who said she knew how to market a product I was creating. She bailed out when her first efforts to sell the product failed to make even one sale. She didn’t have a “Plan B,” just stopped taking my calls. It was an expensive but important lesson.
At that point, I realized I knew almost nothing about sales and marketing, and that I’d better learn fast. Copywriting seemed like the logical place to start. That’s when I enrolled in AWAI’s copywriting program. Since that time, I’ve successful marketed a number of my own alternative health information products. I’ve also had good success writing for others in the self-improvement and fundraising markets.
CI: Tell us a little about the work you’ve done in the alternative health field.
Bruce: I’ve practiced Oriental medicine—acupuncture, herbal medicine, and so forth—for 38 years. Copywriting for the natural health industry was just a natural fit.
Initially, my interest in copywriting and marketing was about how to more effectively let people know what I do. And then to market my own information products.
When I finished the AWAI Six-Figure Copywriting program, I got very good feedback about my supplement assignment. My reviewer told me I was in the top 10% of students in the program. That gave me a good boost of confidence that I could do this and do it successfully.
CI: Do you find this industry to be more or less competitive than non-profit and self-improvement—the other industries you write for?
Bruce: In my experience, the alternative health industry is very competitive for copywriters. There are some legendary copywriters churning out controls on a regular basis. On the other hand, it’s a very large and robust industry that’s growing constantly. There is still a great need for people who can write compelling, sales-generating copy in alternative health.
CI: What sets writing for alternative health apart from writing for those other industries?
Bruce: Self-improvement and alternative health are very similar. In both, the reader is looking for a solution to a problem, a source of pain. In the case of alternative health, the pain is often physical.
This makes the reader very driven to find a solution that will work for them. Usually, by the time they see your package, they’ve already done a lot of reading. They might have already tried another product or two. You might think the fact that they’re driven would make the sale easier, but that’s not always the case. It often means that they come to your package with a healthy amount of skepticism that you must overcome.
CI: When you work on a project in the alternative health field, what is the process you go through?
Bruce: The first thing I focus on is the audience. I want to know their age, their location, their gender … typical demographics. I also want to know everything I can about what they’re experiencing and what they believe about those experiences. What’s caused them to seek an alternative health answer to their problem? Have they tried many other things with no luck? Do they always try an alternative health solution first? Stuff like that.
Next, I want to understand everything I can about the product. If it’s a supplement, I want to know what research shows about the ingredients, what people experience when they take it. I’m especially big on testimonials for any alternative health products.
One thing about this audience that’s important to understand is that people who use alternative medicine are usually very well-informed. That means I want as many proof elements as possible. What I’m saying about the product should match their knowledge. They need to know that I know what they know. I also need to offer them some nuggets of information they may not have seen yet.
If it’s an information product that I’m writing for—which it usually is—I want to highlight the credentials of the author and the credibility of my sources of information. People need to be able to trust the information I’m putting forward. The proof elements go a long way to establishing that trust.
CI: What’s the process you go through to shape your headline and lead? How do you know you have a headline and lead that’s working?
Bruce: I really like Brian Keith Voiles’ approach of writing a massive number of headlines. He sometimes writes 300 or 400 of them. When I’m working on a project, I will literally have a headline day. I’ll sit down and spend the whole day spinning out headlines. By day’s end, I sometimes have 200 headlines. If it’s a good day, I’ll have more.
This is definitely not a rational process, and I suppress the impulse to edit as I go. When I’m on a roll, I just churn out one headline after another.
Then, after a day or two, I go back and see which ones really strike me as strong. Many of them are silly. But many of them help to shape the themes of what I’m writing. Those won’t become the headline, but they will play an important role in formulating my lead and important ideas that will run throughout. And, of course, I usually find one or two that are strong enough to work as the headline.
CI: What are some of the most powerful offer techniques that you see working in this industry right now?
Bruce: The number one thing I see working is testimonials and personal stories. If you can provide the details of a past customer’s story—really help your reader see that the person in the story is in a similar situation, and help them empathize with that person—you build a strong connection.
Using endorsements, where you get someone with authority or celebrity status to say that what you’re selling is great, is another powerful technique.
Beyond that, I try to build up the credentials of the person behind the program as much as possible.
CI: I can’t help but notice that all three of those techniques build a personal, one-on-one connection between your reader and the people you talk about in the promotion.
Bruce: Exactly. Readers want to feel that connection. It’s very important for them to be able to resonate with your package and come away feeling like you understand them and their problems … and that you have solutions that they can trust and that will work.
CI: What are two or three things you think every copywriter who plans to write for alternative health should know?
Bruce: The first thing is that you have to have a passion for the field. I’ve met copywriters who don’t believe in alternative health, and I think they are better served by pursuing projects in an industry they do believe in. You have to believe what you’re writing. And having some experience with alternative medicine, having actually visited a practitioner in the field, is good too.
Next, I’d say you need to be prepared to do a lot of research. It’s best to find several good, reputable, go-to research sites that you can come back to again and again. If you don’t have that stable of research sites, things will be harder for you.
Finally, know your audience. Understand their core belief systems and write to those belief systems.
CI: Can you tell us a little bit about how you discover your audience’s core beliefs?
Bruce: I’m in a lucky position when it comes to that. As a practitioner, I can do one-on-one interviews with my patients. I can ask them about what’s bothering them and what kinds of solutions they seek. I also use surveys. Just three basic questions can reveal a lot of good information. Those questions are: “What have you tried?” “How did it work?” and “What would you like to have happen going forward?”
For copywriters who don’t have their own practice and patients to interview, I’d say get in touch with your client. Ask for some customer names and numbers and call some folks up. Do some interviews. Or work with your client to do a survey.
CI: Do you have any final words of wisdom for our readers?
Bruce: There’s a ton of good information out there—programs, books, newsletters with great insights about copywriting. But just reading those things isn’t enough. You have to write. If you don’t have a project going, copy existing promotions or write articles. But write every single day.
[Ed. Note: Bruce Eichelberger is an AWAI graduate specializing in copy for the alternative health and personal-development industries. His 38-year career as an alternative health practitioner gives him a rich background for reaching the hearts and minds of people wanting to improve their health and life. You can contact him through his website at www.CopywritingResults.com.]
6 Ways to Overcome Your Reader’s Skepticism
In the alternative health field, your well-informed audience has heard many hyped-up promises—promises that ultimately led to disappointment. It is a market where overcoming skepticism is crucial to the success of every package.
There are several effective ways to establish a connection with your reader and build trust. Here are six that can work well.
- Establish a personal connection with the reader: Making a personal connection is often the first step toward building trust—and there are a number of ways to do it. Testimonials, stories, and endorsements can give your reader a specific someone to relate to. This helps establish a one-to-one relationship with the reader. You can also establish a personal connection by letting the personality of the person who’s signing the letter come through. Whoever’s point of view you take when writing the promotion, make sure you give that person an appropriate—and likable—personality.
- Put a face to the voice: Give the person who’s singing the letter a face. Include a photo on the first page. This helps your reader visualize a real person. Plus, a picture builds trust … and trust is the basis of overcoming skepticism.
- Share a common enemy: Because so many in your audience have tried things that haven’t worked, acknowledge that you know that right up front. Get angry with them about the phonies in the industry, about the misinformation that comes out of government health agencies, and about the dangerous solutions mainstream medicine encourages.
- Resonate with their frustrations: Think about what your reader is feeling. Try to gain insight into what frustrates them. It might be a promised solution that turned out not to be all it was cracked up to be. It might be the deluge of information they have to dig through to find answers. It might simply be that their knees ache when they get up every morning. Find their frustration and empathize.
- Provide ample proof from credible sources: Hold yourself to a high standard when it comes to providing proof for your product. Use sources that will either be familiar to your readers (think mainstream newspapers and big-time universities) or use peer-reviewed journals. When you come across a study that is peer-reviewed, placebo-controlled, or double-blind, mention those things in your copy.
- Tell a good story: Nothing cuts through hype and engages the reader like a good story. Your reader wants to be informed—but if you can entertain them at the same time … well, they’ll be much more likely to keep reading. Find the story behind your product and tell it well.
Skepticism is one of the biggest obstacles you, as a writer, face in the alternative health market. By taking time to build a connection and using reputable source for your proof, you can cut through the skepticism and help your reader to see that what you are writing about is the real deal.
