6-Figures In 12 Months Copywriting. Quit Job. Here's How I Did It:

Joe Cassandra · May 12, 2017

I stumbled back on the Forum from some late night reading. Figured I could share my story. Even if it helps just one person.

In no way am I some 'hot shot millionaire.' Not even close. But, this past year has been life-changing, and could help you.

If you look at my profile, I haven't been on this forum for a couple years.

You can browse through at past threads and failures I've tried (I put them on my Linkedin as well). I don't hide them. Because failures make you who you are.

I'm not a manufacturer, a designer, an engineer, coder, or even an average handyman.

I discovered, from my failures, I love writing sales copy and I'm good at it (goal: be the best).

[You can only connect the dots looking back...]

Growing up, I always wanted to be an accountant...yuck...Kids in middle school laughed at me when I told them.

I imagined looking sleek in an expensive suit, pulling up in my Mercedes to a Fortune 500 office. Then, walking into my CFO office...the slowlane reeking through my white shirt.

Well, there was I problem...

I found out I sucked at accounting.

My last job, working in a CPA firm in Dallas, my boss subtly mentioned multiple times it wasn't right for me. The first time was after I took "too much initiative." The firm was planning on spending 5-figures on a new Wordpress site.

Outraged... I went home. Next, I pulled up ThemeForest, and spent the weekend creating a great, new site for just $50 with sub-par design skills.

Monday rolled around and I got an angry call due to potential "SEC" violations that could happen as I had made the site live [didn't even know there was an 'on' button].

That incident pushed me into finding more about myself and what I loved. After many more failures, I found my love of copywriting.

Slow burn of getting clients:

There's two routes you can go as a copywriter:

1. Make your own products and promote (think Clickbank)
2. Or, pick up clients one-by-one

I picked door #2.

Worst mistake I made starting: I was a 'general' copywriter. I reached out to local businesses, any company I thought interesting...etc. I made crummy YouTube videos for each prospect telling thing what their ads are doing wrong.

Another tactic: I'd go through their site and make suggestions on things they could do to increase conversions. Great value, right?

Terrible idea. Giving away the milk is dumb. Not good salesmanship. Learned that the hard way with lots of wasted time.

Moving along...

I managed to pick up a few clients from cold outreach. Not much. A few thousand bucks here and there.

During that time, my wife and I had a child, and were wanting to move across the country back near my family in Georgia. My wife stays at home so it's my job to bring home the cake.

After squirreling away $15,000 in savings from client work, I sat down with my wife. We picked a date...Feb 1, 2016...for me to quit my accounting job and do copywriting full-time.

Mind you --- $15,000 is around 3-4 months of living expenses with health insurance, student loans, car payment, a baby etc.

Still...I had toyed with entrepreneurship for years. I heard the older you get, the less risk you take. Plus, I saw the Steve Harvey video about the "Jump" and I knew it was time to fly or die.

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Before I go on...you might think: "Freelance writing is not fastlane!"

If we're getting down-to-earth technical...sure, it's not.

If I stopped writing tomorrow [minus commissions from promotions] I'd make $0.

But, I feel this step in my life (at the age of 29) is not the last step in terms of my entrepreneurship ventures.

On my goals list (I read everyday)...I include other income streams I'm working towards:

Option trading
Speculative stock trading
Real estate investing/flipping
Helping my wife open a bakery (she's an incredible baker)
Screenwriting (I believe we're entering a new 'golden age' of TV...more and more networks need great scripts. Screenwriting is my budding hobby when I'm not copywriting for work...interesting life I lead...)

It's just the start. I'm enjoying the journey and getting to work when + where I want.

What I've always struggled with: Not being gracious for this moment and what I have.
It's a typical American mindset. Never having enough.

I know some on here aren't spiritual/religious, but I find having a relationship with God helps my relationship with my wife and daughter.
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Anyway...

Back to juicy parts.

For the first few months of self-employment, you feel weird. Suddenly, you don't have a boss breathing down your neck. You don't have to pretend to like your cube-mates.

And...most of all...

You don't have to sit in freakin' traffic 2 hours/day. Geez, what a time suck. Great time to catch up on podcasts, but that's it.

Being self-employed frees you from that.

But, you get new worries.

What if we go broke?
What if I really suck at this?
What if we have to move in with my parents? My wife would probably leave me.

You're ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE THESE QUESTIONS. There is never a perfect time to quit your job and start working for yourself.

It's like having a baby. You can plan until the cows come home. At some point, you just gotta bite the bullet.

One of my first days, I was paralyzed. Laying on our bed, heart pounding, looking up at the ceiling. My wife walks in and asks, "What are you doing? "

With short breath, I admit, "I don't know what I'm doing...I can't do this..." A moment of self-pity. It happens. We talked. Long-story-short, I pulled up my boots and kept going.

For months, we slid by. I had a few projects here and there. Reaching out cold to companies (hundreds) and getting little back. Still being a generalist.

Then, I had an epiphany.

I hated accounting. But, I loved finance. Stock markets, Motley Fool, all that jazz...it's fun for me to read and watch. Money makes the world go around. Understand money, you understand what's going on in the world.

"I'll write copy for financial companies" I claimed.

Great, right?

I figured: 'Financial advisors need more clients all the time. I'll write for them! Have a zillion clients! Bwhaha!'

Well, I talked with over 50 FAs on the phone. Zero wanted to hire me! A few even said "Yes, send over the contract." We had agreed on the price and everything. Contract sent.

Never heard from them again.

What I found: FAs are: Conservative, money-tight, understand ZERO about marketing or its importance, and have probably been burned before.

Okay. Panicking again with a failed niche...

I reached out to a random gold company with a $2 bill attached to a direct mail letter. It worked!

This gold company needed copy to opt-in for an ebook for their gold IRAs. Suddenly, a whole new door opened. Because that company introduced me to financial publishers.

You know them: Agora, Stansberry...etc.

They need copy ALL THE TIME...and they pay well for it + commissions.

Before some of you start with the hate: "Oh, those financial publishers are all scammers. They say you can get rich, rich, rich. BS!"

I'm not going to touch on this much.

Yes, some financial publications are iffy. Some Agora copy makes some bold claims. But, Agora is a 9-figure business...and has been for awhile. They do have some unhappy campers...but, many aren't.

I've seen behind-the-curtain of many publisher products, and many are very good. Especially if you don't know much about investing or have the time to do all the research.

Yes, some analysts' products pick wrong stocks more often than not. Every industry has their good & bad companies.

I digress....

The point to take from this:
Find an area that already pays for what you offer!!!

I wasted months and months trying to "educate then sell..." It's a tough hill to climb my friend.
If someone doesn't already understand why they should eat organic over pizza...it's a much tougher sell than someone who already buys organic!

Find someone already buying what you want. Then comes the real moneymaker...

The beauty of a 'niche'

Sure, having a niche means you know more about the industry than others blah blah.

But, the real riches is something else...let me tell you...

When you work in a niche, you can leverage one client into all the others!

If you say: "I worked with Toyota..." going up to Nissan is a much, much easier sell. Because they know you speak the language. You already understand the industry.

Today, I work with mostly financial publications. Picked up a few other clients in other industries from referrals. But, mostly just target fin pubs.

In the last 12 months:

Made over 6-figures just in copywriting fees (not commissions)
Written 6-figure promotions
Used my healthy fees to invest in our old house before selling it. Saw a 300% return on the investment [wouldn't make enough at the J.O.B. to do this]
Moved to GA, bought my wife her dream house
On track to make 6-figures again this year working from home at my own pace

Main Lessons:

Accept where you are now. Put a little effort each day. I wake up excited on Mondays to work. I stay up late excited to work. Do I stress about failing still? Yes. Duh.
Failing is always, always, always part of the process. Every time. 100% of the time.
Try to leverage clients into each other. Much easier sale.
Sell to people already buying what you sell. Once you get that running...then, broaden
I started off worrying "This isn't fastlane." But, I'm building up my capital into more passive streams in the future. I'm accepting where I am now and taking strides to get where I'm going
You will always think you're going to fail. There will never be an absolute best time to start a new venture/work for yourself. You just have to trust yourself, God, the universe. As humans, it's funny. If you're ambitious and driven enough, you figure shit out. You just do. Yes, hard times will come. But, we're survivors. We figure out how to survive.

Joe Cassandra · May 12, 2017

Argue said:
One word: amazing!

Q: if you don't mind, how did you get good at copy? Did you take an online course or read several books?

Thank you for posting this!

In terms of writing long copy for clients...it was all 'trial by fire.'

I've been fired from multiple long copy projects when I first started because I was still learning. They looked at my first draft...said 'meh, not going to work out...' and fired me.

You just get used to it...get better...

It's very cutthroat. That's the truth when you start writing copy for companies doing millions of dollars. I wish I could say you can perfect your craft on cheap Upwork gigs, but I feel you will learn faster when the stakes are higher. But, that's just me.

Exact steps for writing copy...that could take forever.
I wrote a post on Quora I'll put here: https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-learn-copywriting

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QUORA POST:
First.

You have to love to write. You'll be writing over and over. You'll be editing. Clients will look at a piece you spent 5 hours and in 2 minutes will put red lines through it.

You'll feel like a failure, but that's what you deal with when you get into the "creative" world. Everyone has an opinion.

As Don Draper says in one of my favorite interactions talking about copywriting and its process, "People think monkeys can do this"

Does Sex Sell? (youtube)

When talking about writing copy, "They can't do what we do, and they hate us for it."

Point is? You need thick skin because what you do will get changed by everyone from the CFO to the janitor. Be ready to stand behind your work. Writing can be one of the most vulnerable things you do.

How do I become a Master?

Read and learn from the best:

Read: Gary Halbert, John Carlton, David Ogilvy's books, Joseph Sugarman's book, Bob Bly has a great (long) book on all the tactics of copywriting.

It doesn't stop there. Keep going.

Reading a book is only 5% of it. Look at ads you see in magazines, newspapers, on TV. Is what is written interesting and making me want to act?

Open your junk mail (yes all those Time Warner Cable bulk mails sent out) and read their copy.

Typically, it's horrible. Alot of *flash* and *huzzah* without any substance. The reason for all this?

You see what others are doing and what NOT to do (and what you should be doing).

That's another 10% (notice we're only at 15%).

If you don't absolutely love reading copy others do to learn from it, you're not going to enjoy this profession. Gary Halbert typically tore out ads he thought were great and kept them in a "Swipe" file. Every time he wrote copy, he pulled them all out for inspiration.

Pick up a Pen

For every new piece of copy, start with a brain dump. Look at the product or service, describe the benefits, what does a customer feel when using it, WHY should they buy it.

A secret?

Write down every reason a customer will say "NO" and then in your writing, subtly, answer those questions.

This is the brain dump process. You aren't editing. All ideas are "good" at this point.

Next...

Step away. You need time for your brain to organize thoughts. Go read, go walk, go play, go have sex. Anything but thinking about what's written. It's called the Incubation period.

What you'll find is you'll be taking a shower, walking, having sex, then EUREKA, an idea will hit that will connect different ideas together.

You'll jump out of shower (or the bed) and go and write some more. Here you are still not editing yourself, but developing your flow.

Write your Headline

This is the most important piece. Have you ever caught yourself flipping through a magazine and realize you've skipped most of it?

Sure. Want to know the reason?

Because the headlines didn't GRAB you. They didn't reach out of the page and catch your attention to tell your brain "Hey, this is interesting."

You'll have this same issue unless you develop a grabbing headline. Here's 38 headline ideas/templates: Professional copywriter and marketing communications expert.

EDIT

The last step in the process is to edit down everything. Take out words. Replace words with ones that have deeper emotion.

Trim the fat. Read everything out loud and hear how it sounds. Normally, you'll find the awkward phrases, the weird sounding words etc.

Mastering?

You become a Master when you understand how to do all this over and over and over and perfecting it over and over.

Soon, your writing gets better. Ideas come faster. Your hourly rate goes soaring.

Mastering is simply taking something (much like a shooting movement in basketball) and repeating it until you know how to do it very well.

Mindset. Know you will Fail
Must love writing (and editing)
Read from the greats. Read copy you see all around you (paper mail, company emails, tv and radio ads. etc.)
Start with brain dumps of every idea in your head. Stretch your mind. Soon more ideas will come all the time.
Incubate all the time (looks like you aren't working, but your brain is. Endure the taunting comments from the non-creatives)
Put Eureka idea in action. Make each sentence compelling enough they want to read the next one.
Create a headline that catches (but doesn't lie)
Learn to edit yourself (I still struggle with this), but edit edit. It's tough to read your own writing. Everything sounds like crap at first. As you get better, you'll feel more confident.

Enjoy it

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Joe Cassandra · May 29, 2017

GET 5-FIGURE PROJECTS LIKE CLOCKWORK:

Since I started this thread, I've gotten a bunch of emails/DMs asking about various topics of freelancing. (Hate the term freelancing as it always is associated with 'broke' and 'living with mom and dad' --- not true)...

I used to work as an accountant and made something like $58,000/year. At this point in 2017, I've already surpassed that and we're not even 5 months into the year.

You don't have to starve to freelance, but you do need to be doing LUCRATIVE projects.

It's much better to have 10 clients that make you $100,000 than 500 clients making the same.

Because your hourly rate with the 10 clients will be significantly higher (10X as much I've calculated)

Here's how you get those projects.

1. TARGET ONE NICHE: I've had DMs about 'how do I pick a niche.' It's fairly simple....
---> Find a niche that uses copy on a daily basis.

Examples???

Health
Wealth
Survival
Marketing
Info-marketing
Golf lessons
Watch infomericals, target those companies to do VSLs
Relationships/Sex
Playing an instrument
Technology/Startups
Any business that sends regular emails out to clients (look for ones that already use good copy)
Any subscription business on the planet
Any guru in any niche imaginable
Any expensive product that needs explaining for someone to buy (not as much emotion for example, a pizza)

That's just a small list. You have to do your research to figure out:
---> What could I see myself writing about everyday and not get bored?
---> (MORE IMPORTANTLY) Where can I find the niche that meshes perfectly with their needs & my fees

I wrote in my initial post (page 1), I write in the financial publishing niche. It's a ton of fun to wake up and write about options and mutual funds...that's just me.

For newbies, I probably wouldn't recommend the financial niche as it's very cutthroat. If you don't produce killer ROI right out of the gate, expect to be summoned to the guillotine (known from experience).

But, I work at will because the industry is DESPERATE for good writers.

Actually, every niche is DESPERATE for good writers because consumers are as SKEPTICAL as ever.
No more can you just slap on your packaging: "We have the best product ever!"

You need to be more persuasive and creative than that. Now more than ever as our attention span plummets to near squirrel-like levels.

KEY: Research. Research. Research the niche you want. It will take time. It will take talking (yes you have to talk to people even as a write) and asking about the industry. No way around this. Go to industry events. Reach out to industry peeps on Linkedin with a quick message.

2. SEND PROSPECTS BIG IDEAS:

I wrote a prior post above about 'how to have big ideas' because that's what every single marketing director wants. They wake up in the middle of the night sweating because that 'next great idea' won't show up when they need it.

Every TV commercial you see in the middle of Sunday's game came from someone's "BIG IDEA" . Most suck which proves how hard it is to produce BIG IDEAS.

It's up to you to bring these BIG IDEAS. Here's an absolute promise/guarantee:

You could be a 100%, absolute beginning copywriter and land a 5-figure project tomorrow if...
You bring a BIG IDEA to a company right now that could produce more sales

That's an absolute promise. I just wrote a promotion that brought in 6-figures and the reason it did well (and fast) --- BIG IDEA.

Think about it: Say a company sells golf clubs. How many different ways can you sell a club? "Hit the ball 50 yards farther!" "Show off to your buddies!" "Pick up the cart girl with your long shaft!"

Those have all been done (haven't seen the third one yet...), but if you can figure out other angles to sell a driver, you'd get a gig tomorrow

If you can provide value upfront, it proves to the CEO, copy chief, marketing director you're invested
What to look for when sending a BIG IDEA:

A product that long copy would work great for
Ideas to create a funnel or webinar around (include potential upsells/downsells)
Potential websites and lists they can promote to

In essence, take all the hard-thinking off the table and show them WHAT they can do. Your job is then to sell them on HOW you're the one for the job.

3. SELLING THEM ON THE PHONE:

All my clients I work with virtually. I used to have clients 'in-town' and hated it. Visiting them at their beck-and-call, etc...not what I want to do and normally they're a waste of time.

I'll talk about actually getting clients to agree to a phonecall in another post, as that's a whole other topic.

When you finally get a potential prospect on the phone, you're doing these things:

Immediately getting them to trust you
Immediately convincing them you're the right person to do the job
Getting a budget/agreement right away

#1. Get them to trust you
This starts before you pick up the phone. In any initial emails, make sure you're prompt and you're taking the initiative to send the calendar invite and outline what you'll talk about. Executives are busy and don't want to do this minutiae.

Remember, the entire interaction from start to finish, they're asking: Can I work with this person? Do I like working with this person?

Right when the call starts, make sure you have a smile and enthusiasm shining through the phone. This is music to the subconscious as the other person can sense you're excited to talk and you're someone of both authority and interest. People are drawn to those who sound enthusiastic (best speakers ever were all enthusiastic).

Next, you'll need to take control of the call and make them feel you know what you're talking about. If you just make it a : 'They ask me about myself' and 'I answer' , you lose strength pretty quick. You look like an amateur.

Instead, YOU BE THE ONE ASKING QUESTIONS. If you're a beginner with little experience, this is massive. Because the worst way to lead off a call is:

" So Joe, thanks for setting up this call, tell me about yourself"
" Well, I'm new to this and just getting my feet wet, but I'd love to help you out..."

DEATH. You don't want to bring up your inexperience until later in the call after they already discovered they like and trust you.

Another major brownie point: PROVE TO THEM YOU'VE LOOKED AT THEIR PRODUCTS AND SITE. Sounds obvious, yet it surprises me again and again when a prospect asks "Have you looked at our site?" This means they've talked to other vendors who have not looked at their site!

WHAT TO DO: Mention a blog post the prospect wrote, mention an idea you heard them discuss at a talk they gave. This makes the prospect feel you're absolutely serious.

It's the difference between the spam emails you get: Mr. Business owner, I'd love to help you build out your ecommerce platform.

WTF? I'm a copywriter, I don't sell ecommerce!

VS.

Hi Joe, I read your article on landing 5-figure contracts and especially liked your point about proving 'you looked at their products and site.' You do most of your selling through email and not as much inbound. There's a few ways you could attract your financial niche prospects without having to cold email and would be much faster. I have a few big ideas that could help...

Now, i'm interested....

Easiest way to build trust: Ask them questions, listen, respond, and share ideas to help them. That's all

#2: Convince them you're the right person for the job

Especially, as a beginner, this can be tough as there's always someone better out there. When you're laying out your ideas, you want to create a breadcrumb trail leading to the prospect saying : "Oh, I really want this. This would really help."

Much like in a courtroom, you're laying out your idea and your case.

"I notice you have some cheaper priced goods and then you have your premium products. Many of the top experts in the ecommerce space have had tremendous success doing this; Set up a sales page pitching your lower priced offerings. Then, after the sale, immediately upsell them on the higher priced. Why? Psychology says you're more likely to buy again from a business right after you just bought something. It'll take some work and some killer copy, but the bonus is you can run it again and again on auto-pilot rather than mailing out new advertisements all the time. Usually, you just need the right BIG IDEA. I was thinking about it and thought: [INSERT BIG IDEA]"

Right there, in that paragraph, you've hooked the prospect. Most likely their next question won't be: "Show me samples" but rather" How much do you usually charge for this?"

KEY POINT: Don't spend the call talking about your experience or lack thereof. Prospects ask about that when they are not fully sold on working with you (or anyone). Deflect those questions into BIG IDEAS.

#3 Getting a budget/agreement right away:

Your ideal scenario would be to hook a prospect on the first call and agree for them to send a contract over. For many, they might not want to jump the gun on a 5-figure project right away.

However, if you find good prospects who regularly use copy in their everyday-marketing activities, it's entirely possible to close a 5-figure deal.

When I say 5-figure deals, it could be encompassed of:
1. Fixed fees only
2. Fixed fee plus commission
3. Commission only

I normally opt for #2 as you get a healthy upfront payment plus reward for good work. If you're new, working on a tiny upfront fee plus commission might be a way to get your feet wet. If it's a 'fixed fee' only, make sure you jack up the price as much as you can to entice them to take option #2.

I wouldn't normally recommend #3 unless it's a last resort and there's not a bucketload of work involved. If a prospect wants you to work 20+ hours commission only, it usually means they're not 100% sold/serious. You want them to be taking a risk just like you're taking a risk.

Never be the one to take 100% of the risk.

Normally, the prospect will bring up budget, but I say to try and bring up budget first and get a ballpark.
"Jack, I've seen some of your video sales letters in the past, what do you normally feel comfortable paying for something like that?"
Then, be quiet.

They may be silent for a bit curious if they want to open their accounting ledger to you, but most will be happy to tell you. After which, you reply either:

"Tell you what, I feel like I'd charge a bit more, but this is too good an opportunity to pass up, I'd be happy to do it for that price too.'
or
"Hmm, I'd figure you'd pay a bit more for it. How about I put together a few options for you to look at?"

For the first response, you're going for the quick sale. The second is so you don't paint yourself into under-charging. After the second response, I'll normally go away and put together a 3-tiered option (with #2 being the ideal solution to pick and psychologically pushing them towards that).

For some, they may just want to see a list of ideas first and then chat with their team about it. This is not the ideal solution, but before you agree to do that and spend time thinking of ideas, make sure you ask them point blank:

"Jack, I'm happy to put together some ideas for you. But, can I ask you an honest question: If I do send these over, can we agree on a time to chat over the ideas next week? The reason is sometimes I'll put together a proposal and ideas for someone, spend hours doing it then hear nothing. I understand timing can be an issue with other priorities, but for you , it's best to figure out 'yes or no' as soon as possible rather than me following up with every week, you know?'

All you're doing here is making sure they are 100% serious and not just 'action-faking' in order to get off the phone. You'd rather hear a straight-up "NO" than waste your time putting together stuff no one will ever look at.

This post is long enough, I'll share more ideas and go deeper into some of these as time goes on

Joe Cassandra · May 26, 2017

GET TOP-OF-THE-INDUSTRY CTR RATES WITH ONE SMALL TWEAK:

When I started writing copy, I had a nasty tendency. It's a common pitfall that absolutely craters your CTR rate for emails, google ads, FB ads, whatever...

But it also doesn't make sense when you think about it...

Don't make this slip-up and miss out on thousands of sales simply because dozens of hungry customers didn't click over to your product.

The pitfall?

Trying to stuff everything into one email or ad. Throwing everything but the kitchen sink at your prospect begging: 'Please just one of these arguments stick!!!'

LET'S LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE:

Here's a common thing I see every freakin' day when I open the Cherokee County Newspaper here in Woodstock, GA. (I love seeing the copy in ads, don't you think that's fun too?)

An ad you'll see:
ARTHUR'S LANDSCAPING & PAINTING COMPANY: We can do it all! Clean up your garden, trim your grass, make your front yard look beautiful! Plus, we can make your inside look fantastic as well. Any room painted now is 30% off when you mention this coupon. Let's get your house ready for the summer. Hurry!!

That's a pretty good example of a local ad you'll see. This isn't a real ad but definitely sounds like the many you'll see.

What's the problem? This company wants to 'be everything to everyone' especially in this ad.
"Ok, if someone needs landscaping, we will get them...and if they need painting down, we do that too. Both? We'll be rich!!"

Compare that to the ad right next to it:
George's Landscape & Design: For the past 25 years, your neighbors in Cherokee County have seen their plain, overgrown yards transform into beautiful gardens and miles of lush grace. All because we want to make your home in our growing county look incredible. Dawn W wrote us: "All I hear when I'm in my new garden is 'Dawn, your front yard is incredible!' Thank you George's!!!" Send a picture of your frontyard to jack@gld.com and we'll send you ideas on what you can do."

See the difference? Both of these ads were written off the top of my head, but you can see which sticks out.

The first ad tries to do everything at once.

The second focuses on just one customer. The one who is embarrassed to look out into their yard. There's lots of psychology built into that second ad.

LESSON:
When you write your next FB ad or email...ask yourself this question:
- Is there one, and only one, point I'm trying to make in this ad/email?

It doesn't mean you can't write a long email/ad, just keep it focused. There shouldn't be '3 Parts' to an email/ad. There should just be ONE part. Your sales letters can have multiple parts (but one main idea).

If you need examples or help, just post below your ad/email.

Joe Cassandra · May 22, 2017

BIG IDEAS & HOW TO GET THEM: PART II

HOW TO HAVE BIG IDEAS:

The secret to BIG IDEAS on a regular basis. Ones you can write eye-catching copy about. Ones to boost your commerce business or sell that sputtering listing...

Research.

Yes, as non-creative as it sounds. Actually, it sounds pretty boring. Research...sitting in front of Google, reading a book, talking to experts...that's where your BIG IDEAS come from. The 'creative' aspect comes from taking a BIG IDEA and growing it into a compelling sales piece.

Wanna know the most famous big idea in advertising ever?

This was written by ad legend David Ogilvy. Ogilvy went through over 30 ideas that were rejected before coming up with this headline. Guess where Mr. Ogilvy came up with this idea?

He didn't. It's one of the biggest lies in the industry.

Ogilvy found this line in one of the manuals for the car. Actually, a mechanic made up this quote. Ogilvy was reading the car manual as part of his research, and BAM BAM!

The "Genius" comes from Ogilvy yanking this line out of a boring manual. After which, he created a compelling, informative ad that drastically increased Rolls Royce sales.

How do I do research?

There's no playbook for coming up with BIG IDEAS. But, here's how you can start: Let's use an example to be concrete.

What if you have a common service. Say a painter. You paint residential homes around town. There are 10 other painting companies you compete with. You don't feel special. But, you are.

Pull up Google. Google will be your best friend for the next 10-20 hours.
Start researching basic questions: Why do homeowners hire a painter? How much do they spend? What are the common colors? What horror stories are out there? Any government laws about painting (or, even better, about to happen)?
Watch talks given by painters (fun, huh?)...what insights do they have?
Talk to your customers. Ask them simple questions like you researched
Read 1-3 books about painting, residential painting
Watch HGTV and listen to what homeowners say about paint, paint colors, what it does to the room

Now, you might ask: 'Ok, WTF am I doing with all this basic information???"

I'll tell ya.

You're looking for a golden nugget somewhere. Keep everything you research (even if you've heard it before) in a Google doc. After digesting all this information, step away for a few days. Let your subconscious take over.

[HINT: This is when a walk or sex might generate a BIG IDEA]

At some point, you'll piece together an idea. You pull a bunch of data together and discover something: A house painted blue fetches 5% more in the sales price than a brown house (NOTE: MADE THIS UP).

Suddenly, you have a BIG IDEA.

TWO MEN SOLD THE EXACT SAME HOUSE, EXCEPT FOR ONE, SMALL DETAIL. ONE OF THEM MADE 5% MORE ON THE SALE(This 5% equated to an extra $20,000 in cash at closing because of this one, small detail)

That headline could get cleaned up a bit, but you get the point. You have a BIG IDEA that's different than your competitors.

Guess what? Those people selling their homes WILL ABSOLUTELY READ YOUR SALES PIECE.

"But what about the people who aren't selling their house?" Write another frickin' letter about another BIG IDEA! You can do more than one!! After awhile, it's a ton of fun.

Joe Cassandra · Jun 7, 2017

Why you should start freelancing TODAY:

Like many, I spent years reading book after book about various entrepreneurial topics, "This next one I crack open will bring me the hidden message..."

It's okay if you've thought the same thing.

I'd waste days reading about, "Here's what you do if make enough to expand to a new office..."

I'd think: "oh gee, this is important stuff...man, no one else is smart enough to be reading this..."

Let me tell you the blunt truth: You're wasting your time doing all that.

Here's all you need to know to start a business:
1. Learn how to make money

That's all.

The best, fastest, easiest, cheapest way to do that...freelance your boo-tay off.
Take your skills, whatever it is: writing, sowing, painting, music, teaching, fixing,coaching.

Go on Thumbtack or Craigslist, apply for gigs
Go on Upwork, apply
Most lucrative way: Reach out to companies or people you know, let them know what you're doing and if you can help

Here's the magic of what happens...

- You build confidence
- You learn how a business runs (even if it's just you)
- You learn how to market yourself
- You learn how to fake it til you make it
- You learn what you're good and bad it
- You learn your mindset

No more would you be hiding behind books and 'dreaming' of the day you can tell your boss you're never coming back (as I did).
Soon it's a reality.

What are most of you doing right now?
Pondering:

'I don't have an idea'
'I'm going to build an app and sell it for millions like Snapchat'
'I would never cut grass to make money, that's not fastlane [while you work a 9-5 you hate]
'I can't waste my time on a non-fastlane business, I'll never get fastlane'
'I don't have time, I have a kid and wife who needs attention'

You can't build a fastlane business until you understand how to build A business. You can't play QB for the Cowboys until you understand how to just throw a football and hit someone in stride...not just read and dream about doing it and winning the big game.

KEY: Easiest way to start a fastlane business. Start a "slowlane" business for yourself. Learn how to make a freakin' dollar for yourself before you think about a $1 million dollars.

Joe Cassandra · May 23, 2017

HOW TO KEEP CLIENTS EVEN WHEN YOU $%*# UP

I was writing some Facebook ads for a client around $500 for a batch of 5. These are like word puzzles for me...quick...punchy...fun. I wrote a couple of their top ads in a short time, and they liked it.

They decided to bump me up to a long sales letter for their Black Friday sale which always sounds like it brought in a huge flow of customers. I was still new to writing long sales letter, but I learned as I went (HINT: You'll do this with every entrepreneur adventure).

After 2 weeks, I turned in a letter. I beamed. It sounded awesome. Shocking headline, all that juicy stuff.

Black Friday came and went when they'd run the letter. Crickets. I half-expected to see an email pop up saying "This is the best damn thing we've ever done..."

Tuesday or Wednesday following, a *bing* popped up on my phone. Believing my triumphant day was coming, I opened up the email.

"This was our worst performing letter ever."

Instantly the day went from high to deep, dark low.

Fast forward....2 months later, they hire me for an even longer sales letter at a higher price.

WTF happened?

I'll tell you...
--------------------
Every customer deserves A+ care. Companies are notorious for treating new customers like kings/queens and brush off their old customers. That's messed up because it's 30x as expensive to get a new customer than keep an old one.

But, shareholders want to see "customer growth" so that's where their flippin' attention goes. (Seriously, Wells Fargo, I've had the same bank account and numbers with you for 25 years since I was 4...I get nothing for it...but new customers get presents and candy...WTF?)

---------------
With this client, I met with their marketing guy in person. We chatted and meshed well.

When I was writing the FB ads, I did well. I GOT THE WORK TO THEM ON TIME. And, I took criticism and feedback well.

In other words, I was great to work with. I'm not the best copywriter in the world yet, but I'll get there. In the meantime, I can be sure to have the best customer service.

Because apparently, most copywriters have horrendous customer service.

One current client who pays me mid-5 figures per year in work told me: "We hired this A-list writer. This guy travels around giving talks at conferences and such. Well, we started a sales letter with him. 6 months later, we still don't have the first draft. This 'A-List superstar' keeps telling us he'll 'get it to us next week,' then NOTHING. On top of that, when my client gets frustrated, the effing guy pushes back with ' Hey, you can't rush creativity!'

Are you kidding me? How do you even keep clients doing that? Treat your customers well, they'll forgive you when you screw up.

And newsflash: You actually CAN RUSH CREATIVITY. Read my post above about BIG IDEAS.

Joe Cassandra · Jun 13, 2017

A Tale In Failure

Last week, I sent over a quick write-up to kick off a project with a renowned client.
[If you've never done client work, normally you get 1/2 upfront, 1/2 when project completes.]

I had pitched him an idea which he liked. Then, he said he chatted with his marketing manager and they felt there was a bigger idea. "A gamechanger" If a copywriter could pull off this idea, it would be a grand slam.

Now, I'm still relatively new to writing copy. [a couple years in. Many well-known copywriters have been putting pen-to-paper since the premier of 'Thriller']. I heard a great copywriter say "If you have a chance at swinging for a grandslam, do that rather than go for the single."

-----------------------------------

You've heard of Babe Ruth, right?

You already know he's one of the best baseball players of all time. When he wasn't puffing cigars and scarfing down hot dogs, Babe carried around the biggest club. His bat was something like 54 ounces. (heavy). Imagine chopping down a oak tree and using the trunk as a baseball bat.

Other hitters during that time were sometimes half of Babe's bat.

He would strut up to the plate and his sole goal was to swat a homerun. No singles, or doubles (although he hit plenty of those)

Well, for 11 straight years, Ruth led the league (or was second) in strikeouts. You have to remember, back in those days, strikeouts weren't as common. In 1923, seven pitchers broke 100 strikeouts. In 2016, 129 pitchers broke 100 (12 broke 200).

But, no one cared about his failures. They cared about the moon shots he'd unleash into the stands!

---------------------------------------
Back to the project....

So, I accepted the "grandslam" project rather than (what I felt) was an easier project. For weeks, I read, listened, watched all I could on this subject and the companies involved, investors etc.

It was tough.

Worried the client wanted to see some progress, I sent over an outline and some quick summaries of what the BIG IDEA might be that could make the client millions.

His response?

"Umm...none of this makes sense" He went on to say "This looks like it's going to go nowhere, I'm killing this project." [aka "you're fired" and with this, no second 1/2 of payment].

I was depressed. I did all that research for what looked like nothing.

Pulling myself out of self-pity, I shot an email back: [paraphrasing] "I get it, this idea is tough and obviously I didn't think it out enough. Let's do this: Give me a few more weeks. I'll write out a lead to this. You go on not worrying about me. When I come back, I'll present this idea to you, take 2 minutes, if you don't like it, we'll kill the project for good. How about that?"

He responded: "Can't say no to that." [*in italian voice* Make 'em an offer they can't refuse!*]

I could tell he's still skeptical and believes I might be wasting my time...but here's what I told him:

"I'm not afraid to fail...I just want the chance to..."

Still working on this project, and it could very well end in failure. But, like I told the client, it's never a 'waste of time' if you're learning. While learning the craft, don't worry if every second you work gets paid for. Plenty of gurus shout "Charge what you're worth...only broke people work for free."

Sure, there's some truth there. But, when you're learning to write, build, code, lift...you'll need time to learn, learn learn and much of it will be at 2am when no one's watching and no one's paying.

----------------------

KEY: It's easy to read this forum and get caught up in all the 'success' you see. Sometimes it's like Facebook or Instagram...

I used to see all these '6-7 figure entrepreneurs' and thought they floated on the clouds. As if they had a direct line to God and whatever they asked, they received.

Since I wrote this thread, young writers reach out and pile on praise about how 'great' I am...the whole time I'm thinking "Dude, I fall on my face everyday. Plenty of clients have fired me because they think I suck."

One client last year (not a good client anyway) told me "I should've done more research on your background before hiring because this just doesn't work."

Those words stung...but they happen. And will happen until you're pushing up daisies.

If you're still in a 9-5 job (as I used to be), just because someone tells you "You suck" or "Your product/service stinks", move on. Others lay awake at night waiting for someone like you to help them out.

Joe Cassandra · Jul 7, 2017

THE EASIEST WAY TO GET RE-HIRED EVEN IF YOU SUCK

When I work with clients, I make sure to always have phonecalls with them. In fact, prospects will send me contracts before we've even talked on the phone and I'll stop them: "I don't start a project until we get on a phonecall first."

I actually wrote this to a prospect yesterday:

screenshot-mail.google.com-2017-07-07-09-26-30.png

WHY?

Because you get to know the prospect better, get them to trust you more, plus you can really dig into issues they've had in the past...

One question I ask every one of the prospects I'll work with ---
"What issues have you had with other writers in the past?"

HERE'S THE MAIN ISSUES:
---> Freelancers don't send work in on time
---> They tell you 'I'll send this to you tomorrow' and a month passes...
---> Slow to respond to emails (seems to happen after the check is cut)
---> They write the draft, get paid, and walk...no follow-up or help
---------------------

I met a client for coffee last week. He said he loves working with me because:
---> I get stuff to him on time
---> I provide ideas that are valuable to him above and beyond the normal scope of the work

Let's be clear... I AM NOT THE BEST WRITER THEY'VE HIRED. THEY'VE HIRED WRITERS WITH 30 YEARS EXP (I'm only 29)

But, I do these simple things the others don't.

Another client I chatted with on the phone. He had hired a guy who is pretty popular in the copy world. The writer gives talks at conferences...charges $15,000 for a 15 page sales letter... a dream writer's life.

My client told me how he hired this guy in November...paid up the 5-figures...and this superstar writer promised the work in December...my client told me this story in February and still hadn't received the work.

But, my client was so desperate for a writer, he put up with this abuse!!

I come in...less experience...not as good...and I get work on-time. I follow-up with changes quick. I pick up the phone when he calls, answer emails within 12 hours...he's hired me again and again since!

------------

---> Do the easy little things.
---> Be nice to your clients and add value where you can
---> Think long-term (not just the next check)
---> Quit job.

Joe Cassandra · Jun 26, 2017

THE SIMPLEST, FASTEST, EASIEST WAY TO DOUBLE RESPONSES TO YOUR ADS AND SALES MATERIALS:
(It takes an amazingly easy 5 MINUTES to do)

Most ads and sales pieces are drier than the Sahara. They all sound the same.

"Best prices in town!" "Expect great work from us!"

You've seen those worn-out slogans in every industry...it's sad because some goober sat behind a computer screen thinking they just came up with the most awesome turn-of-phrase ever seen.

These stink because
#1: They focus on the business not the customer (but that's for another time)
#2: They sound like everyone else

They sound like everyone else because they use the same, exact phrasing as everyone does.

The fastest, simplest, easiest way to cause the cash register to *cha-ching*...just use more interesting words.

You don't need to be a world-class copywriter to do this. You might hate writing, or plain suck at it. That's ok. Here's how to quickly (in 5 minutes) boost responses...

Use these 75 POWER WORDS:

POWER 75 WORDS (courtesy of Clayton Makepeace) (referenced everytime I write any 100 word ad or 10,000 word letter):

Amazing. Astonishing. Astounding. Announcing. Appalling. At Last. Bargain. Bonus. Breakthrough. Charter. Comfortable. Discount. Discover. Discovery. Easy. Effortless. Exclusive. Free. First Time Ever. Fearless. Forever. Gift. Guaranteed. How To. How I. Hurry. Immediate. Improved. Your Profits. Inevitable. Instantly. Intense. Introducing. It's Here. Just Arrived. Last Chance. Limited. Locked-In. Miracle. Money. Never Before. Nothing To Lose. New. Now. Opportunity. Painless. Premium. Prestigious. Priority. Promise. Proven. Quick. Revolutionary. Right Away. Rush. Sale. Save. Savings. Scandalous. Secret. Send No Money. Sensation. Simple. Special, Shocking. Steal. Surprising. The Truth About. Today. Unique. Valuable. Why. Win. Windfall. Yes. You.

WHAT?!?

You might be thinking..."I use these words all the time": "You," "Free" "Now"

Those are included because they're the staple for increasing response...However, everyone and their dead grandma uses 'em...

What about "Shocking" "Amazing" "Surprising" "Introducing" ...

These are the words that really stick out...

You turn:
---- "Best Prices in Town!" [used by every local biz on the block] to...
--- "The Most Shocking Savings You'll Ever Find" [says the same thing...but incorporated 4 power words that : 1) Stand out 2) Sound much more intriguing and sparks curiosity.

Notice, this example still focuses on the business (hypocrisy right?)...but adding "You'll ever find" suddenly flips the table. The customer now thinks about "Am I overpaying for X? I deserve the lowest price?"

Etc. etc.

Drop these words into your next ad and see what happens.

Joe Cassandra · May 14, 2017

spyt said:
Love this part. This is what it's about right here.

On top of bidding on huge jobs. You also quit your job, moved across the country, have two mouths to feed, and only three months of living expenses.

The stakes can't be any higher.

You either rise to the occasion... or stick your hand out and ask the government for a handout.

If you've done any sort of self-development, when you get thrown into the lion's den, you find a way out.

Fight or flight.

To many people choose flight and wait for someone to bail them out (big banks included). What you also find is you figure out how to live on what you have.

The old adage about your expenses inflating with your income is 100% true. If you're looking to work for yourself, your best start is to learn how to live on much less.

Trust me. You won't be any "less" happy.

And then, yes, make the stakes big. I mentioned my new hobby is learning how to screenwrite. A big thing you learn about any successful show (drama more than sitcom) is this...

The stakes must be high or the show sucks.

Breaking Bad: Walt is surviving by committing felonies.
Sopranos: Tony needs to keep his family while being head of a large organized crime ring. LOST: Will they get off the island or succomb to its dangers?

Humans will do things they never thought they could when the stakes are high. If you start Plan A with Plans B,C,D,E in place as well...the stakes are too low. You give up wayyyyy faster.

Learned from experience.

MJ DeMarco · May 26, 2017

WTF, I think I might need to hire someone (or find more moderators) who can better spot these gems. I keep missing them.

Thread marked NOTABLE + Rep! Thanks @Joe Cassandra

Joe Cassandra · Jul 31, 2017

YOU MAKE MORE WITH LESS IN THE COPY INDUSTRY:

I got a recent PM asking about a specific niche for writing copy in. For myself, I write in the 'financial' niche. Meaning, I've written for advisors, consulted banks, financial publications, etc. It's enjoyable for me.

When it comes to making bank writing copy...you absolutely must, must, must choose a niche.

"But, then I'll miss out on other companies not in the niche! I want to write copy for Coca-cola!"

Okay...back the coke truck up. Here's the honest truth... Writing copy is a results business. This isn't like being an accountant where there is a tax code to follow, and you simply look up what's a write-off or not.

If you can't produce sales with your copy...you're out of work. Thus, NOW more than ever, companies NEED to know you have experience in a niche before hiring you. (at least the good ones)

I'll touch on more of what I mean in a second.

First... here are the top niches to write- in today:

Don't have a niche? Pick one of these:

Alternative health market
Financial market
Self-help market
Travel market
Wine and food market (think cupcake explosion!)
Small business software market
Commercial construction market
Baby products market
Senior healthcare market
B2B (could write white papers for $5,000 a pop)

Green/Eco clothing market
Gurus of anything (they regularly must market themselves)
Education market (colleges and universities)
Home maintenance, repair, renovation market
Jobs market
Magazine subscriptions/ Newsletters
Survival niche
Internet marketing/courses
Solar commercial solutions market
Commercial or residential furniture market
Christian market

(Any others? I'll edit the answer to add it. PM me)

What if I know nothing or don't have experience in an niche?

Here I'll touch back on the point above about companies needing to know YOU have expertise in a field. This is awesome for you when you believe the 'power of a niche' because you leverage your work with one company into another. If you did well writing copy for Coke, Pepsi would hire you on the spot.

If you don't have experience in a niche, but want to get in...it can be tough. For example, I write in the financial niche, as mentioned. This is a cutthroat industry. I get fired all the time from jobs because they say "umm..this sucks" . There's no BS here. Thus, if you have ZERO experience...you'll get metaphorically laughed out of the room.

What can you do?

- Build your own samples. Find running promotions and create your own spec ads around them, etc.
- Sell them with your own ideas. : If you have BIG IDEAS, they might just give you a shot

But, I would start with this last tip...

FIND COMPANIES WHO ARE ONLY LEARNING ABOUT COPY, SUCK AT THEIR COPY, OR ARE TINY.

1. If they are just learning copy, they most likely don't have copywriters lined up out the door. Thus, you win by default.
2. IMPORTANT: Make sure a company is using copy. And not just on their website. Find their ads on FB, etc. and reach out about how to improve them.
3. Start with small companies with smaller budgets. Not as fun as landing 5-figure gigs, but this experience you leverage to bigger companies.

In other words (for Point #3), don't chase after the big dogs first. Start with small companies, build a portfolio, experience, and track record. (Big names already get pitched by 30-year pros, if you have ZERO track record, you're wasting your time reaching out).

[I'm currently collecting survey data about those who want to write copy full-time from home. I need your expertise and opinions. See what I mean -- Click here for survey.(Nothing to buy or spam)]

Joe Cassandra · Jun 18, 2017

Ika said:
From my experiences, the situations that require additional, off-the-invoice work are the ones that will
a) push your learnings the most
b) develop the best client-relationship
c) stay in the clients memory the most

I see a lot of posts on the Forum of new posters (many you never see again) talking about how they've worked a slowlane job and now they're 'taking control of their life' and becoming a "fastlane millionaire."

Great to have goals, right?

The problem is this....

You know all hustlin' and putting in the hours...but then you put in your hours doing the wrong stuff. You read books, and posts and you call it 'work.' Then, 6 months go by and you've made $0...so you say "This venture doesn't work" and you dump it. Off you go to find the next shiny business.

Instead, when you're motivated by your business at the beginning and when you're starting out, put in the time doing stuff to build the business not acquire the knowledge about the business.

When you start a new venture and you're stoked about your new bakery. Don't spend the first 3 months reading recipes and talking to other bakers.

No...

Instead, go out and start selling your cupcakes for cheap to gather feedback and testimonials. Bake until your goodies turn red from your bloody hands kneading truckloads of dough. When you're excited about your biz, that's when you should do the hard stuff because you get through it.

But, then you hear "charge what you're worth" so you spend your time not baking or selling and instead reading books about baking and selling. What happens? You burnout.

Everyday you should be doing things for minimum wage IF YOU BELIEVE YOU'RE ACTIVELY PROGRESSING. i.e. your muscles are gaining that muscle memory. If you're a writer, you write. Baker you bake. Roofer you roof. Take some losses just to get your hands on client work and learn the craft.

Running a business is like a video game.

You start off with 100% stamina. As you go, your stamina depletes. There's only a few things that 'refill' your stamina
- A big win
- Actual, physical proof you are getting better at what you do (if you run an ecom business, you see your CPL dropping each month)

Those wins and proof "boost" your stamina up to keep going. Then a never-ending cycle until you get out.

That's why, do that cheap work at the beginning (and, when experienced, for your best clients) to sharpen the saw and get those proofs and wins that refill the tank and keep you going.

Joe Cassandra · Jul 13, 2017

I MIGHT'VE JUST BEEN ROBBED:

I rarely work with someone unless we have contract. Only time I haven't is when I trust the company and they pay me 100% upfront.

With this client, I had a contract...but, obviously I'm not a contract lawyer.

Here's what happened: End of 2016, I signed on with a client to write a promotion. I was still wet behind the ears writing long form copy, so I negotiated for a lower fee and a higher commission. (The subscription I was selling was a semi-backend when commissions are typically lower).

(A back-end, fyi, is a product typically sold to customers who've already bought from you before and usually more expensive. E.G. You could say "The Fastlane INSIDERS's" subscription here at the forum is a 'back-end' for MJ as those buyers most likely bought the book first).

This client (in the small niche I work) is relatively known. These aren't some back-alley chumps. They make millions of dollars a year.

Well, I got to work. Not wanting to mess up one of my first long-form pieces.

---> First draft? "Yeah, it's just not there. Re-write it."
---> Second draft? "This isn't looking good, if we can't get this right, we will have to terminate this."
---> Third draft? (2 months later) "Yeah, we're pulling the plug, it's not well-done."

That stings. Packed up my things...moved 'Client X' in my Google Drive to the "Lost Clients" folder and moved on.

---------
THIS WEEK:

I subscribe to most of the companies in my niche, so I see when they release new sales material. (HINT: Great way to build up a swipe file)

Their daily digest email blipped in my inbox, I clicked through to the website....

1. There's my headline
2. Much of the body copy is word-for-word (others are derivatives of my writing)
3. Close at bottom is almost word-for-word
4. Entire outline of sales letter is what I sent in

All they really changed was the first 15% of the promotion.

Obviously, that's upsetting. Especially, as I negotiated for a higher commission and a lower fee.

-----------
What's happening now?

I reached out to the copy chief and the guy above who (who I first reached out to) and told them my concerns.

Should hear something this week.

Stay tuned!
----
KEY TAKEAWAY: You should negotiate in the contract --- 'if this project gets terminated, I, the copywriter, get a kill fee, plus if any of the material I write gets used, I'm entitled to a commission.'

SquatchMan · May 13, 2017

Joe Cassandra said:
It's very cutthroat. That's the truth when you start writing copy for companies doing millions of dollars. I wish I could say you can perfect your craft on cheap Upwork gigs, but I feel you will learn faster when the stakes are higher. But, that's just me.

Love this part. This is what it's about right here.

On top of bidding on huge jobs. You also quit your job, moved across the country, have two mouths to feed, and only three months of living expenses.

The stakes can't be any higher.

You either rise to the occasion... or stick your hand out and ask the government for a handout.

Ika · May 31, 2017

Wow, what a thread! I sadly don't have the time to answer to each post, but thank you for writing all of this down! Really great insight.

A thought I had while skimming through it:

I'm not a copywriter, I'm a webdesigner & developer.

While reading I was telling myself:
"Man he is lucky (ha!) for choosing copywriting - he now has skills to write great copy in his emails and proposals. He can sell more easily because he knows how to persuade and bring across his points."

But then I realised that it is a massive opportunity for every freelancer except copywriters!

Naturally freelancers have one main skill, they are really good at the thing they sell, be it design, development, analytics or what ever.
Normally they don't have the time or interest to learn another skill that doesn't directly support their main skill.

And that is a huge opportunity!
Because most of your competition is really bad at it, even the smallest improvements in copywriting-skills will highlight you in the masses. Put in the right mindset and you don't have to be a perfect writer!

As a copywriter your main skill is writing, and thus most of your competition will write great emails and proposals - meaning you have to work much harder to get the sale.
(well, atleast every good copywriter competing at a high pricepoint)

My point is, even as a non-copywriting freelancer you should pay attention to these kind of threads.
First because a lot of the tips are not focused on a skill but on a mindset and will thus help you, no matter what you do.
Second because the content focused on copywriting will help you with your (written) sales process which will give you a huge advantage.

Maybe this helps someone

Joe Cassandra · Aug 11, 2017

GET YOUR PROSPECTS TO PAY YOU 30% MORE THAN YOU QUOTED [without asking them to]:

I just got off the phone with a now-new-client about 90 minutes ago. He was late to our phonecall for the 2nd time. I get ticked by very few things...stuff like that irks me. I was literally in the middle of typing up an email telling him 'forget it Jack...bye bye'.

Then, my phone buzzed.

He's on the other end and apologized a bunch for doing it a second time. I'm a gentle (maybe foolish) soul and forgave him in 5 seconds. Back to business.

We were discussing taking his old LIVE webinars and making an evergreen webinar that runs 24/7 to bring in some passive sales. Awesome idea, check! They're a smaller company with obviously a limited budget.

He's ready to sign a deal...

I spent 3-4 hours putting together IDEAS, STRATEGIES basically everything I would do...free...with a bow. It's no wonder

Let's rewind...
------------------
Our intro call he wasn't sure exactly what he needed, so I guided him. Then, when it came down to discussing price, he said he was comfortable paying $2,500 + 1% for a project like this.

*THUD*

In this space, one new customer could be worth $2,500...so the value is there for a great copywriter to charge more. In my head, I was thinking around $5k - $7k with a 3-5% commission. Hmmm....

NEW PLAN...

GOT IT! I'll put together an entire playbook for them to look at. I'll include:
- IDEAS
- OUTLINE
- STRATEGY
- THE WORKS!

After I provide all this value, I'll dive into the pricing and why $2,500 is diddly poo for a price. 8 pages later, at the very end, I stick in: $5,000 + 3.95%. [This company could be a regular, ongoing client. Happy to chop my fees a bit].

Fast forward to 11:30 am today...

------------
He's apologizing about being late again. All forgiven. He's excited about all the ideas. At this point, he says: "We actually feel comfortable paying $6,500 + your commission if we can delay paying out the commissions until we see the webinar works..."

I'm confused. He offered to pay more just to delay the commission a bit...

I wait in silence to make him feel I was thinking deeply about countering...really I was just doodling on my notebook...

After 30 seconds of silence...I follow-up: "Well...let me see...okay...you know what? I believe this will be a big hit and we'll do work together for awhile. Let's do it. "

He says: "Okay...we are also willing to pay you all upfront." [Oh, the cherry on top...]

I'm holding back my grin...I say:"Hey, sounds good. Let's get this contract done today, okay Mr. New Client?"
---------
DON'T BE AFRAID TO PROVIDE VALUE UPFRONT...

Joe Cassandra · Jul 4, 2017

HOW TO GET ANY CLIENT YOU WANT:

I see many folks on here posting about Upwork and such. I've tried it before and hired people from it. Look --- it's definitely a place for beginners to pick up some samples and build up a portfolio.

But...if you ever want to make $100 - $500 per hour writing copy...you need to find companies who have copy budgets. Million-dollar companies, ad agencies, info-marketers, ACTIVE advertisers.

To do that...you need to learn how to sell yourself. Upwork you wait around for some dude in a basement to post a job posting. [DISCLAIMER: Yes, you can find potential clients where you could get retainers and such, but that's few and far between]

If you want to take a more active role in finding work and quit your job as I did...here's what you do:

1. FIND COMPANIES ALREADY ADVERTISING!
Best place to find them?

Facebook.

Every info-marketer, publisher, anyone who uses long copy (long copy is where the money is), advertises on FB. There are sites out there where you can find who advertises on FB. (Maybe someone can post the best ones). I don't use them now as I know which companies (niche) I target. They all advertise around the web.

THE KEY: If they advertise, it means 2 things:
1.) They know the power of advertising
2.) More importantly, THEY HAVE A FLIPPIN' BUDGET

2. FIND THE DECISION MAKERS ON LINKEDIN OR THEIR WEBSITE

Look for their:
- Director of Marketing
- Copy chief
- CMO
- If it's a smaller company, just target the CEO/Founder

This takes some legwork...if you aren't willing to put in this work, then give up. This is the easy stuff.

3. FIND THE DECISION-MAKERS EMAIL ADDRESS:

First: Download "Streak" for gmail. You can hook up any personal email to gmail. You can find tutorials on that through your web hosting company.

Download "Rapportive" plugin (I assume you use Chrome as it's the best).

- Try variations of a persons name with their website. For example, for Apple.com, you might try: jcassandra@apple.com, joecassandra@apple.com , etc. At some point, "Rapportive" will trigger that they found this email registered to a network.

- Google "@apple.com" email and look for people's name. All you're looking for is how someone's name would be for a company email as it is typically the same for everyone.

- NOTE: "Rapportive" may not always register an email. So, you may have to send some emails that bounce. Again, if you aren't willing to put in the work...can't help you.

4. SEND EMAIL:

Hi Joe,

Saw a recent post you did on X [OR ANY PERSONAL PIECE. AGAIN...RESEARCH]

Thought it was interesting and wanted to reach out. I write copy for [NICHE OF PERSON YOU WRITE TO - IMPORTANT] to help them get [e.g. more recurring customers or orders, etc.]. I've also worked with other companies like: X, Y, Z [CLOSER OF NICHE YOU WORK WITH, THE EASIER THE SELL]

Is there an appropriate person to ask if you work with outside writers?
Thanks,
Joe

KEY:
1) You keep it relatively short (less than 75 words)
2) You make it as tailored to their niche as possible. (That's why I always recommend working in one niche. LEVERAGE LEVERAGE)
3) You aren't asking "Hire me? " You're asking for a softer ask: "Who should I ask about this?"

5. NEXT POST ---> FOLLOW-UP

The key to all sales...follow-up. I'll do another post later on this.

----------------------------

Again, if you're trying to make this a career or to build up a cashflow for other ventures...reaching out to million-dollar companies will always hand you more.

That said, I'm sure you could find potential retainers on Upwork. But, you'd rather spend time actually interacting with Directors of Marketing at companies than spending an hour on a proposal and sending it into a black hole.

If I was starting out again...:

1. ) Pick a niche
2.) Find as many jobs in that niche you can ---> get good at it with samples
3.) Find larger companies who are in the niche ---> Reach out again and again
------------------

I've tried hiring Upwork people to do this research above for the emails, but they all failed miserably. I discovered it's something I have to do myself, or hire someone in-house to do, which I don't want to do right now.

Joe Cassandra · Jul 26, 2017

SHOULD I SHELL OUT MONEY I DON'T HAVE TO LEARN COPY?

I got a question today where someone asked 'How much should I pay to learn copy?"

They were looking at a copy product online and it was into the thousands.
I get asked all the time by copy chiefs/marketing managers where did I learn copy. Most assume I started out (as most) in an agency or on a copy team at a company. And now I've spread my wings to work for myself.

Actually, no... I simply made the decision in 2015 to focus on writing copy because it was cheap, I enjoyed it, and now, in this age of the internet, amazing copy is needed more than ever. But, I learned myself.

How did I do it?

1.) I found my love for writing copy while working on failed businesses for years. Everyday, I'd write ads or reach out to someone for advice. All of that flows from the power of copy.

2.) It all started with one key book. READ THIS BOOK FIRST:

Notice the date: 2012: While on the first steps to learning about entrepreneurship...this was one of the first business books I ever got. It's interesting how it plays SUCH A HUGE PART of my life now. Back then, I had no idea.

Notice the dates: I didn't find Dan Kennedy and Gary Halbert until 2 years later. In the meantime, I was trying to build a blog and a podcast. Failed.

Here's where I really started to get hooked on copywriting in 2015. July and August I really started getting serious. These books are a MUST READ:

At this point, I had tried 2 ventures and failed. Here's where I began looking more into writing rather than creating a product.

At this point, I had started getting very serious about making this a profession. Had already picked up a client. THESE BOOKS ARE A MUST-READ:

Here, in 2016 last year, I had already quit my job and still learning 'trial by fire'

And, still today, I get books and learn. Even 1 or 2 insights out of the whole book is worth the price. Look how cheap these books are !

KEY POINT: Don't buy a course until you've read at least the books contained in this post

3.) I began building my swipe file. If you're not sure what that is...a swipe file is a collection of advertisements PROVEN TO HAVE WORKED, that you save. I have a Google Drive folder that's bursting at the digital seams from swipes I collect in multiple industries. To start building your swipe go to this nifty site: swiped.co (FREE). Do this second. Read WINNING COPY every day. Even weekends.

4) It wasn't until June 2017 (last month!) that I bought my first full-fledged copy course for $1,795. It's a more advanced course plus could be a great opp to meet some key players in my industry. AWAI (american writers & artists inc.) has a ton of good content for copywriters and sell courses for cheap up to many thousands. They also hold conferences regularly. I've dragged my feet about going to one but heard you could easily pick up a handful of clients in just one event. AWAI - American Writers and Artists Inc. - Expert Help on Writing for Money and Freelance Writing Jobs

----------------------------

VERDICT:

Here's the rub...if you're absolutely new to copy. Meaning you've made less than $25,000 writing copy, you need to first read by yourself. Then, build a swipe file and start reading winning copy everday.

DO NOT THINK one copy course will suddenly turn you rich overnight. I know many people have tried getting onto Upwork as a 'copywriter' and have been rejected due to the surge in the 'get rich from a beach writing' crowd.

99% of those people fizzle out because to write copy, you gotta love the craft, respect it, and you gotta love some research. Writing copy isn't like learning how to put oil in your car. Changing oil, there is really only a few ways to do it.

With copy, YOU come up with the ideas. YOU come up with the structures. There are a zillion things to do when writing copy. This comes from experience, and experience alone.

Your reputation can get thumped quick if you write crap copy and hope to get rich. Writing copy is hard. I'm still a 'rookie' compared to many in this space who have written copy since before I was born.

Again, one course won't turn you into a 6-figure writer. For me, it took years of slow progress. Reading books, writing failed copy for my own projects, picking up clients who didn't know better, and learning on their dime. [and I'm still learning, and I still get fired from jobs].

If you only have $1,000...do not buy a course. If you only have $5,000... do not buy a course.

READ THESE $10 books first. Once you see improvements in your copy, THEN AND ONLY THEN, go out and buy an expensive course to 'UP' your game, NOT to magically learn copy.

SIDENOTE: However, if you can find someone cheap to critique your copy as you go, that would be helpful. I pay my copy-reviewer $100/hour (a price I set) because I only wanted the best to read my work. But, when starting out, if you can find someone for $25 to take 10 minutes to look at your ad, it's worth it.

lowtek · May 12, 2017

Love it. Great work.

After you get your process worked out, perhaps think about creating a productized service around your copywriting process. Check out the book "Built to Sell" to get the basic concept.

Joe Cassandra · May 22, 2017

BIG IDEAS & HOW TO GET THEM: PART I.

I've had some peeps reach out and ask about copywriting. @SinisterLex has plenty of posts about the 'how-tos' of writing copy. Some of which I'll probably re-hash at some point. But, he's laid out a GOLD thread on how to get going copywriting.

I'm breaking this into two parts just because my initial post was pretty lengthy. It's easier to digest smaller posts.

When it comes to writing any sort of interesting copy, it all comes down to a BIG IDEA.

If you're looking for a truckload of clients... come at them with BIG IDEAS and you'll nab some clients even if you've never written a lick.
If you're looking to sell your products, a BIG IDEA for copy or a video could be the differentiator.

I'll show you how in just a minute...

First, let's look at the MF.
MJ's BIG IDEA was presenting 'how to be an entrepreneur and make money' (in a very general sense) as being in the Fastlane, Slowlane or Sidewalk.

Because, think about it...

How many different ways can you sell a car or a bar of soap? Car? Car battery? At some point, you need to present an idea in a freakin' different way. It'll be the only way to resonate and get through to the ever-ADD consumers.

HOW NOT TO BIG IDEAS:

Here's the common way people think they have good ideas --- Sit and think. "The more I think about it, the more ideas I'll have."

After an hour of bad ideas, you give up and call yourself 'not creative enough.' Another common antidote: take a shower, go for a walk, have sex...

I admit, walking around, showering and sex have brought on some good ideas, but not consciously. I talked a bit about that above, but I'll rehash in a second.

Most of your bad ideas will come from sitting around and shouting Eureka! They're going to be found in a very different way.
Are there exceptions to this rule? Of course. But from someone who must come up with BIG IDEAS regularly for copy purposes, I'll share with you my process.

Joe Cassandra · May 23, 2017

Scot said:
Damn who does this guy think he is, Don Draper?

Good customer service always sells.

There was a thread by @JackEdwards that was popular a few years back (not sure what happened to him...perhaps some forum drama), but he started a business from scratch in an industry.

One of the ways he got new customers was simply being an alternative to the prospects. For so long, the prospects put up with bad customer service because they had no other choice. When he came along, it was a cinch to sell them.

Think about your phone and internet. You feel trapped using Time Warner Cable or AT&T (notorious customer service toilets)...one day...they're day of reckoning will come where someone needing as good a product with better customer service will destroy them for good.

It's already happening.

Google unseated all the earlier search engines because they did something better. Somewhat pseudo-customer service...their site never crashed or sputtered. They win.

In the financial industry I write for, they're starved for good writers...not enough good ones (it takes awhile to get good at copy)...so they put up with shitty customer service just to get their copy.

Joe Cassandra · Jun 1, 2017

The #1 way to immediately tell if you'll be a good copywriter or not

I've gotten a bunch of PMs from readers asking copy questions, and it's great to help.

One forum peep reached out wanting me to critique his short copy. It sounded like he's new to copy so he's doing the right thing reaching out and trying to learn.

The copy he wrote wasn't bad.

But, having read a ton of copy, I could tell it was very much 'off-the-top-of-my-head' stuff. As in, he probably spent a lot of time staring out the window or aimlessly writing to get what was on the paper.

How can you tell? It's very generic and not directly talking to the ideal customer.

When you think of a writer, you probably think of an introvert who does indeed stare out into the abyss mentally grasping at straws. If you look close enough, you might even see the writer's brain doing front-flips.

If you're doing that as a copywriter, you're doing it wrong.

If you think writing copy is 'off the cuff' stuff and some people have 'that creative gene' and others don't, you're wrong.

I gave him this stone-cold-fact...and you might not believe it at first...but if you have any interest in this field, listen...

Copywriting isn't about writing at all. ["Whattt...."]

Copywriting is all about, forever and ever Amen...

The research.

All copywriting is: Taking your research and organizing them into a coherent argument. After which, you squeeze a couple of "amazing" and "astonishings" in front of some nouns.

That's not to degrade what I do for a living because it's hard as heck to do this. But, that's what it is.

You can tell right now if you will be a successful copywriter or not...just ask this question...

Do you like research? Can you spend 8 straight hours simply Googling facts, or talking to clients and reading testimonials...?

If the answer is "Heck no..." , you will hate full-time copywriting.

Sure, you might be able to pull a few ads out of your backside that do well. But, entrepreneurship is a long game.
Of course, the more you write in your industry, the less you research about your prospect, and the more you research about "HOW" and "BIG IDEAS." Because if all you write about is selling t-shirts and jeans...at some point you learn who the target audience is, but you run out of angles to pursue...

And cue research.

That's it. If you're going to be a successful full-time copywriter long-term...you must love to research or you'll spend more years than you want in the 'trough of sorrow'

Joe Cassandra · May 24, 2017

Elemental said:
Your posts are wonderful Joe and as someone who has recently started learning the trade, thank you for sharing your motivating story of success!

Regards,
R.

Thanks for the kind words...I'm going to continue to update this thread with more helpful tips. Some peeps have DM'd me with specific questions that I felt would be best to just share here.

I'll update more in the next few days with more help,

GMSI7D said:
awesome story. thank you. copywriting might not be fastlane but it sounds like "freedom lane" anyway

My wife's been sick the past 3 days. We have a 2 year old, so it's crazy town here.

Rather than having to 'ask off work' or 'oh $%#* I have to use vacation days for this....really??" I help my wife and daughter during the day and work in the evening at my own pace. Or, just take the day off.

So, yes...not fastlane yet...but freedom for sure.

Joe Cassandra · Jun 30, 2017

I Studied A Struggling Pizza Inn Chain’s Emails 4 Months: Avoid These Mistakes & Attract Recurring Customers (Screenshots)
(Plus, proof just because someone's a VP of Marketing at a large company doesn't mean they know what they're doing)

A few months, I was emailing back and forth with an executive at Pizza Inn (website) ( a subsidiary of Rave Restaurant Group and brother to Pie Five chain).

I bought their stock after meeting the CEO...this was a few years ago...

Bad idea...since then, stock's tanked 75% and CEO out...holding the stock now for a potential buy-out...last hope!

randy-gier-pie-five-jld1687*1200xx4800-2700-0-365.jpg

~~CEO~~ Ex-CEO of Pie Five

I had reached out to their VP of Marketing as I had heard the (ex)CEO, Randy Gier speak. Great, excitable, interesting man. [One of my questions to him was if there is a “sibling” rivalry between Pizza Inn and Pie Five since they are both pizza chains. He got a kick out of that.]

Pizza Inn has been around for over 50 years and was (at one time) a leading Pizza chain especially in Dallas/Fort Worth (where I used to work before moving to GA).

More recently, they’ve seen profit struggles and restaurants closed down. After listening and enjoying Randy’s presentation, I reached out.

The executive mentioned they were having trouble with their drip email campaigns.
A drip email campaign is a series of emails sent out periodically that go together and the end result is the subscriber BUYS at the end of it (or even better at the beginning)

Being an absolute pizza junkie, I sprung into action to help. Of course, I would need to SEE the emails. So, I signed up for their email list.

Over the next 4 months, Pizza Inn would send their emails, I would digest them and collected them overtime to see what the “story” is.

-------------------

An email chain should have a “story.” It builds on each other until at the end, your subscriber is pulling up to a Pizza Inn, grabbing a booth, and pulling apart (cheese still melting) a delicious slice. A slice not just for themselves but for the spouse and child they’ve brought. Pizza brings people together.

Can you tell I like pizza..

What I found with their emails, is there wasn’t a connection. It was a BLAST email, nothing personal about it. Nothing to say “I care about you and your family.”

This is what’s missing in many email campaigns and I saw that with Pizza Inn’s emails. I haven’t seen Pie Five’s, but would think it’s similar. Pie Five is a bit more “hip” in how pizza is served, so it’s emails should reflect that.

Why You Should Care:

You’re going to get an inside look at how an email could be bettered. You get a backstage pass so you can look at your own emails and not pay someone like me to fix 'em.

Studied for months:

Look at the Subject Lines ($%^*)

I highlight some points in the image, but let’s write them out and go through them:

All the email headers look similar: “Hey, WE have a discount.” “Yo, come see ME”, “Wazzup, OUR pizza is good.” These are NOT talking about the customer’s needs, but your own.

An example of a great subject line might be: “You deserve THIS break, this is for you.” Something that says: “We want to help you, you’re busy.”

First Pizza Inn Email:

Triple Cheezy yumminess…pizza..

This is a blatant advertisement. Remember, our email was meant to be “PRIVATE” communications. We’ve allowed brands into them, but to keep them in there, we have to be receiving value.

This theme might work in an election year (it wasn’t when it was sent”, but that’s about it.

Idea for an email:
"Choose to Give your Friend a Pizza Today. Surprise them. Just tell us who you’d like to surprise.”
With this, you give value and you may gain a new customer.

Their 3x cheese crust is incredible (definitely try it), but you can’t make every email an ad. Just every so often. Try an email that says: “Shh, you like our 3x crust? Ok, here’s how you can make it at home” This is all about the customer.

Have a contest: “Compete with your friends: Who can finish a 3x cheese first?” Take a video and we’ll put it up on our website to make your friends jealous!

Second Pizza Inn Email:

Pizza Inn: Are you spooking your customers away?!

(This was a Halloween email)Everyone is competing on major holidays and weekends: Try going after weekdays. Be in Mom’s inbox on Wednesday night: “Rough soccer practice? Skip cooking, grab a pizza. Take the family time to hear your kids and they can hear you.”

Throw in some nostalgia and credibility: “We’re one of the original pizzerias in Dallas. Want to taste how pizza did in the 50’s?”

Third Pizza Inn Email:

Pizza Inthusiasts is pretty clever my Inn-ions

Coupons are great (at times). Many forget to bring them into a restaurant, what can you offer instead? If they like your Facebook page, they get $5 off. Or follow on Twitter.

Use descriptive copywriting, make their mouth water. “Our pizza has been around longer than Papa John’s and Domino’s. We don’t stretch ourselves thin by cutting corners. Instead, you get warm, buttered dough with melted mozzarella perfectly blended in with fresh spiced tomato sauce. The tomatoes are a gorgeous red when picked, and pressed into our signature sauce.”

Create content your target audience is waiting to see. Maybe just a nice note about something, thanking them for being long-time customers. It goes a long way.

GOOD THING THEY DID:
With food, having a picture tells an entire story. In this case, your copy needs to complement. Connect the dots from "Yes, I'd like a bite.." to "Why should I get in the car or order online right now?"

--------------------------
Do you see what you can do with emails. You can transform them from something “so-so” and turn them into a “Yes, I want to read that.” Where they are nodding their heads and saying “I’m glad I read that.”

Don’t tiptoe and shout in my mailbox, provide value!

GMSI7D · May 25, 2017

Joe Cassandra said:
Rather than having to 'ask off work' or 'oh $%#* I have to use vacation days for this....really??" I help my wife and daughter during the day and work in the evening at my own pace. Or, just take the day off.

So, yes...not fastlane yet...but freedom for sure.

this is the wonderful thing ! when your family needs you, you will find the time without asking an angry boss for a vacation.

just this reason alone is worth the work you are doing. this is part of freedom

you know, your story is so inspiring that i am thinking about doing some work like yours as a freelance

yes it is difficult and many guys fall along the road. i know

but i don't want to be rich in the first place. i want to use my time as i wish

the worst thing is being a slave of a stupid boss who is telling you what to do with your precious time.

i can't stand that anymore. this is insane.

Joe Cassandra · May 31, 2017

Ika said:
And that is a huge opportunity!
Because most of your competition is really bad at it, even the smallest improvements in copywriting-skills will highlight you in the masses. Put in the right mindset and you don't have to be a perfect writer!

This is the exact mindset to have. Even many copywriters aren't good copywriters!

Hell, I still have a zillion things to learn and some of my copy still falls on its face. If you can learn the skill and even just be a middle-of-the-road copy-smith, you're miles ahead of other developers.

Just like your craft to design, it takes practice, it takes testing, it takes failure, it takes studying.

If you don't have much time, then just learn this...

Learn how to write headlines and sub-heads. Just your headline will determine 80% of the success of an ad.

Thanks for the kinds words...will be adding more

Joe Cassandra · Jun 27, 2017

JokerCrazyBeatz said:
Whoa this is real gold . These rules apply to so many industries . Great thread . I deff learned new tactics for my own industry

Thanks! Even if you're not a copywriter nor want to be one, these strategies and rules work no matter what position you're in. Especially if you're in a place where you're not happy or want to make more of an impact.

One BIG IDEA in copy or any marketing activity could change an entire company.

The copywriter at Ted Bates agency was looking for a new way to sell M&Ms. At first, M&Ms were a military technology made to not melt in soldier's packs. Don't want chocolatey hands while firing at the Nazis. They used the candy for "energy"

So, this copywriter sat down with the founder of the candy company and interviewed him. During the hour or so chat, the founder spilled the golden slogan: "Melts in your mouth not in your hand."

The copywriter used just that one sentence as his BIG IDEA.

M&Ms is the top-selling candy in the world today.

Joe Cassandra · Jul 25, 2017

SEE JAW-DROPPING EMAIL OPEN RATES WITH THESE 2 EMAIL SUBJECT LINES:

In good ol' copy school (note: this doesn't exist), you're hammered over the head: BENEFITS NOT FEATURES!
So...whenever you approach an email subject line, you're supposed to approach it with the same mindset --- write a 'benefit' headline not a features headline.

Examples of benefit headlines:

How to lose stomach fat
How to start a business with $0
Look 35 when you're 70
How to get hired by Elon Musk

These are good benefits...no doubt. The issue is: Everyone's pushing these benefit headlines nowadays. They work...but your list will slowly start tuning these benefits out unless you're paying them off with mind-blowing information within the email. Let's be honest: most emails don't have great pay-offs.

Instead...

Today, you will be able to both mix up your messaging (thus boosting your opens), and stand-out from the other emails hounding for your prospects attention (another boost!)

#1: The Contrast Subject Line:

Melt belly fat with McDonalds
Build the next huge iPhone app without writing a line of code
Smoke that cigarette and look half your age!
A man with an IQ of 64 just got hired by Elon Musk

It goes against 'common beliefs.'

#2: [Most powerful] The Curiosity Subject Line

Marathon runner drops dead from a McDonalds cheeseburger
If you build this application, you'll be rich in 5 years
3 At-home exercises that drop 20 pounds this month
Elon Musk's $10 million dollar mistake

As humans, we crave a good tease. Curiosity provides the tease...

Use these headlines responsibly

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6-Figures In 12 Months Copywriting. Quit Job. Here's How I Did It:

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