3 Kick-Butt moves to boost your copywriting career

by carlinecole

Hiya CopyStar!

It was January 1, 1999 when I officially hung up my copywriting shingles — and took the plunge into the freelance pool!

And I remember that it was August and — I still hadn’t gotten a real writing project. Boy…

… I was really starting to sweat bullets!

Fortunately – I had ONE client who hired me as a mail plan consultant — so I was at least bringing in some steady income. But I still hadn’t broken into copywriting — my REAL goal — yet.

But perseverance paid off and I got my “big break” writing copy for a male potency product — and as the saying goes, “the rest is herstory…”

And some 22+ years later…

I still love my job! I get to wear my P.J’s and bedroom slippers to work!

As I reflect on my freelance career…

… I realized that I made a bunch of mistakes — but I also made a few good moves — and that’s what I want to talk about in this issue:

3 great moves that helped me work fast… boost my income… and establish me as an A-Level Copywriter!

One of the BEST moves I made didn’t happen until my 5th year in the biz. It was a simple move — but it changed the entire way I worked my business.

Wanna know what it is?

Smart Move #1: I “niched” myself!

Sounds painful, right? But I call that move GOLD!

Yep — when I stopped trying to be a “Jill of all Trades” — writing financial, health, self-improvement and you name it copy — and specialized in writing primarily for the alternative health field — it changed my life in 3 ways:

Got more productive! No more trying to learn a new marketplace with every new project. I stayed in the health field and I got to know it inside and out. The result?

Shorter learning curve and faster turnaround time for my project. Bottom line: I went from writing 6 packages a year… to 12… to 16 or more! Yep — I doubled… tripled and even quadrupled my royalty income!

Became an “expert” in my industry. Who woulda thunk that turning down jobs would actually give me MORE business! Certainly not me — but it’s true.

Once I started letting prospects know I specialized in the alternative health field and actually turned down non-health projects — and recommended OTHER copywriters for those jobs — I was getting more requests to write health promos.

Prospects saw me as a focused specialist in one area. And if health was their field — they wanted a health specialist!

And the other writers I referred for the jobs I turned down actually reciprocated and gave my name to clients looking for a health writer!

Bottom line: I was now only working in the industry I loved — and gaining more experience with every project!. Plus…

… I was invited to speak at seminars and webinars and dubbed “an alternative health specialist writer.” Woo hoo!

Multi-tasked and multiplied my income! Now that my schedule was set with mostly health projects — I had a better picture of what was in store for my year. For example…

… if I knew I was going to work on a hormone… colon… heart… and liver project — I would create a dump file for each project.

And as I’m working on one project — I may come up with an idea that doesn’t fit well with that project — but would be PURRfect for another project.

So – I jot down the idea and throw it in the dump file. Many times, when I’m ready to start a new project — I’ve already got 5…10… 20 pages or more of research copy/ideas already in the file! And here’s the bonus…

… many times — the package nearly writes itself — and I just collect the checks! Like I said earlier: working FASTER + Being more EFFICIENT = Additional INCOME!

By the way – I do take on occasional non-health related projects — just to avoid burnout. But they’ve got to be pretty darn awesome! That’s why…

… I said YES when an opportunity to write for Oprah came knocking at my door!

Ok – so that was my first smart move. This next move proved to be a huge time saver — and a major credibility booster for my promotions. What is it you ask?

Smart Move #2: Got a researcher!

I didn’t take this great step until about 17 years ago — but boy am I glad the light bulb finally went off in my head!

Here’s how my life was “pre-researcher”:

Client offers me a job. Client sends “whatever he has” about the product. This may include previous samples, research on the product, books, articles, newsletters about the doctor and product samples.

If I didn’t get enough good stuff — I would now spend hours searching the internet trying to find it. Very time consuming. Very exhausting.

Now – here’s my life “post-researcher”:

BEFORE I accept an assignment… I ask the client about the research information he has. And if it’s not adequate then…

… I highly recommend he/she get a researcher who can deliver a solid copywriting kit full of credible sources… information on each nutrient in the product… and whatever else is needed to support any claims the client makes about the product.

This has proved beneficial in soooohhh many ways. Here are just a few:

It makes the client accountable for his product. My job is to write convincing sales copy — not to develop the client’s product. If the client isn’t sure what his unique selling proposition is — he usually doesn’t have credible research. How could he?

He doesn’t know what the heck he’s selling or who he’s selling to! Good research helps ground the client and his product. Plus…

… it helps me pinpoint and highlight the best the product has to offer.

You get MASSIVE credibility in your copy. A good researcher is a hidden gold mine. She gets you reputable sources, expert testimonials and a bunch of other essential credibility factors — and that helps your copy KICK BUTT!

You save lots of TIME. Before I had a researcher – here’s how my day went:
Ok, I’m working on a sidebar about gout. So ¬– I go online and search “gout”. Then I see gout is arthritis of the foot. Foot? Hmm… I need some new shoes. And the next thing you know…

… I’ve spent 2 hours online shopping and ordered 6 pairs of shoes! No kidding!

With a researcher — I can leave space in my copy for specific research I need with a note that said “credibility quote to come” — and then I keep on writing without getting distracted!

Now – don’t go thinking I’m stuck-up and don’t do ANY research at all. I do. But my research stays focused on ideas that are relevant to the theme and direction I’m going with my promo…

… not to general positioning of the product. And I’ll do personal research on my down time — not during key copywriting hours!

So where do you get a good researcher?

Well – I’m fortunate to work with one of the BEST in the industry. Her name is Maria Charagh — and she’s DA BOMB at “digging stuff up”. I call her my “German Carline” – because she also translates my copy for my German clients.

Here’s Maria’s contact information: MariaCharagh@outlook.com

Now — I gotta tell you — this 3rd smart move — took me around the world — without ever leaving my house! Here it is…

Smart Move #3: Got a website!

Yep — it was just 16 years ago when I entered cyberspace. Now, I can’t live without my website!

Here’s how my website REALLY made an impact on my business:

No more mailing out samples! Pre-website: I used to talk to a prospect and when he asked for my samples…

… I’d tell him I’ll overnight them to him. Guess what?

In this day and age — overnight mail is TOO SLOW!

Within 24 hours — the prospective client has already forgotten about our conversation and is dealing with a bunch of other work-related stuff. That means…

… when my samples arrive — they get put aside on the “to do” pile — and probably end up in the trash UNREAD.

Post-website: I talk to a client and when he asks for samples — I just give him my website address: CarlineCole.com. Usually WHILE WE’RE TALKING — he’s checking out my samples. But it gets even better…

… I get calls from prospective clients who say they’ve seen my website and my samples — and want to book my schedule with the first phone call! Yep, my website has paid for itself time and time again! In fact…

I give my website credit for finding me a client that paid me over $200,000 in one year! Yep — he found my website… read my samples… and hired me on the spot!

International recognition. Great news is that direct mail is growing in other countries — especially Europe. I get LOTS of calls from European mailers who want me to write sales copy for them…

… and they’ll translate my English promo into their language! Some of them want me to come and give seminars to their marketing teams.

They now know me as the “American copywriter woman who writes kick-butt copy”.

The title’s a little long for my business card — but I LOVE IT! I would NEVER have met these folks if it wasn’t for my website! What’s more…

… when I get my European samples — I can impress the heck out of my friends with how fluent I’ve become in Dutch, German AND French — overnight!

Passive stream of income: Like I said – direct mail is growing in foreign countries. But while you and I get dozens of promotions in the mail each week…

… international folks get little to none! Mailers and foreign writers are desperately trying to “stay in the loop” to read promos.

So – I’ve got an e-store right on my website. Now anybody in the world can get copies of my promos. Some of these promos are “classics” — no longer in print — and can only be found in my e-store.

Plus – I offer e-books and other copywriting services in the e-store. The e-store makes life easier for folks searching to find strong controls to study.

And it creates a passive stream of income for me. That’s win-win. You can check out my e-store at: CarlineCole.com

So do you have a website? If not — WHY NOT?

Don’t worry — if you need help getting started — you can use the company that created my brand-new website: luxventuresonline.com Luca Shelesky and his team do a great job creating websites. Tell him I sent you: luca@luxventuresonline.com.

There you have it — my 3 best moves that boosted my copywriting career to new heights! None of these moves is rocket science — but man do they WORK!

So go for it CopyStar!

Yours for stellar results,