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Any progress, DreamCreator?<br />
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You've probably read this in Gary Halbert's letter already, but copying successful ads by hand is a great way to learn copywriting. I've copied 315 ads so far and am aiming to reach the 500 mark at least.
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This.<br />
When I was in broadcast/media college, I used go through old radio ads and commercials and try to recreate them from scratch. Some of the best damned education I ever got.<br />
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When you recreate and rework original copy, longhand, it SEEMS silly. But you're realling giving your brain the TIME to pour over the copy. Writing something out once = reading it 100 times. You really start to get a connection to the work and internalize it differently.<br />
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There's nothing 'magical' about handwriting as opposed to typing, except the TIME it takes you to write, which is a huge plus.<br />
I'm actually going to do this to improve my copy. Thanks or the reminder<br />
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<blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="Kak" data-source="post: 310784"
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customer acquisition is going to be much harder than "when you build it they come" I see nothing above to talk about your customer acquisition strategy. As someone who ran multiple service companies, I might argue this is the hardest and most expensive part of running a service business. Think outsourcing cold calling, list building, internet marketing, odesk. <This shit alone is competitive.
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It's true. You can't just ASSUME that you'll find gigs.<br />
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Right now my primary source of income is through video gigs.<br />
For a LONG while, I applied to 50 craigslist gigs a day (using a system I developed), 10 elance gigs a day,I cold called, and cold emailed. I got a total of 3 gigs/month. Service industry is competitive.<br />
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I had a good portfolio, I've worked with Caddy, Sears, Hummer, HP, Nike. I was using a skill that took years of training just to learn, and nearly a decade to get good at. I still struggle with getting new customer leads.<br />
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100% of my leads right now come from previous customers and referrals. Somebody mentions they want to make a commercial, my name comes up, and they come to me. Or I helped somebody (usually for free) and then they spread the word about me (without me asking for it).<br />
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But getting to that point in 52 days is tough. You can't just assume you'll get gigs. You need a definitive plan. Your copywriting skills will really come in handy here. You've got to sell your clients on your services. If you can't do that, you're not worth paying to do THEIR copy.</div>
