Hey all,
I've posted one execution thread here long ago that was basically stalled at the hangar and never took off.
About 3 years ago I purchased a course "The Copywriter's Code" from a fella named Danny Marguiles of freelancetowin.com
I'm not entirely convinced I got a great value on the course but considering I never actually finished it, I might as well get my $1000 worth, right?
Anyways, I'm chipping away at it. I'll post some snippets of stuff I've learned here as I go so maybe this isn't all entirely in vain.
Anyways, here's some backstory/goals:
I'm about to be a father AND a stepfather of two very young children. I'm afraid that my lack of formal education or training has basically kept me at the income level of a 17 year old boy and now I'm starting from scratch.
I'm 25 now, but I've been here on this forum since I was 15 and have always aspired to be just like MJ, so to speak.
Well, 10 years later and I still have barely started a business, unless you include a brief stint in residential lawn maintenance and a vain attempt at freelancing 4 years ago (I did make like $500 though)
The dude I just started working for after I quit my demoralizing factory job blocked my number after he couldn't pay me the $1000 he owes me for labor, which means rent payment is going to be late but luckily my family is in a good spot with all that.
Anyways, I'm taking this time off and I hope to accomplish 3 things
1.) Get a job to pay the rent ASAP, preferably with enough time to spare towards my personal goals.
2.) Spend the current bulk of my free time, not spent with the baby or my girl, on educating myself and sharpening my skills a touch more before jumping in the deep end freelancing.
3.) Finally, after I finally complete this copywriting course, jump in the deep end and work towards my 10x goal of $20k / month
I plan to be sort of a one-stop shop for small businesses and their web presence. I want to provide exceptional value to my clients, but I already have a bit of "imposter syndrome" after reading @Fox 's 7 figure webdev booklet.
If you're reading this man, I wish I could take back the money I spent on this copywriting course and keep it in the family through your web school but I guess I'll have to do it with grit and perseverance instead.
Goal for the next 7 days: Finish the course, get my money's worth, and start upworking/freelancing anywhere I can.
Goal for the next month: Study "The Freelancer's Bible", meanwhile I will be taking the barely any money I have and building my mother a website for her independent salon business.
>sidenote: my mom is kind of a boomer and thinks instagram is a feasible replacement for her own website she controls. She also can't afford the some-odd $150 to get a domain and hosting setup, so I'm thinking I'll just consider it a gift on my part. There's no point in trying to sell her on this, not only is she my mother but she can't afford rent at this point either. I'm hoping a professional website will help her stand out and get more clients and this would be a great low-pressure way to develop my skills (albeit on my own dime and my own time) but she knows a lot of people in this city and I'm thinking it could really bootstrap my journey if I knock it out of the park.
Basically, if I don't figure something out at this rate I'm F*cked. Between inflation, two children and a stay at home girlfriend (she has a trust fund to help her stay at home but not much more) and this tiny a$$ house we live in, I feel like a fish out of water.
onto the progress/execution part of this thread:
Yesterday: (re)completed module 1/6 of the copywriting course.
what I learned:
-Strategy trumps words when it comes to writing effective copy. It's more important how you approach the project, than how it's literally written. although that's important too, of course.
-Aim to be the trusted advisor for your clients, not just a dude who follows orders blindly.
-Adopt a detective mindset - look beyond the obvious when trying to understand the audience's story - the story is very prone to change, even within the same scope of the project, so be sure each piece of copy is designed to be relevant depending on who your audience is.
3-step process for client satisfaction:
1. ask client how they would describe the success of this project to a close companion.
2. ask for specific words/phrases they'd like to see included, as well as a rough idea of length and any specific pieces they found powerful.
3. look into the client's previous marketing efforts as well as their competitors. 3-4 star reviews are particularly helpful for finding pain points / objections to overcome.
"Green light method" for client satisfaction
1. Present any ideas I am unsure of implementing to client, only when I might waste a lot of time otherwise.
2. Don't fully commit to any idea - be detached from the outcome and earn client's trust by just laying it out as an option on the table, but one I'm not particularly sold on.
How to write quality copy without writer's block
-write anything at all, even something awful is better than a blank page to start with.
1. remove anything that doesnt surprise the reader
2. imagine each line with the words "great news!" in front of it - if it doesn't make sense, rewrite that line or cut it altogether.
3. add conversion "levers" - i.e. credibility of client, utilizing stories to simplify concepts, quantify abstract statements into concrete benefits.
4. add urgency.
On Unique Selling Propositions
1. Client has a clear USP - Showing in addition to telling
2. Client's USP is unclear - SHOW, do NOT tell (tell a story using quantifiable examples of benefits)
3. USP is nonexistent or unidentifiable - ADVISE the client and CREATE a USP
Upsells:
1. 30-60 min strategy session - 2/3 new clients, roughly. basically, whenever the client could use advisement on the scope of the project and actionable steps to take.
>>>>let them do the talking, validate their goals, and don't overdo it with more than 3 ideas that are simple, actionable, and specific
2. Interviewing client's customers
3. Providing an opinion for the client should not be a free service, understand my time and input have VALUE.
Other notes:
Conversion isn't a hard science - clients pay me to do my best.
Nailing the STORY and PSYCHOLOGY of the audience is critical in writing copy that will convert
Don't charge per word - EVER. Flat rate is good for clear project goals, while hourly can be helpful in projects with unclear scopes.
Well that's all for now. I'm off to do Module 2, report back with more learnings.
I've posted one execution thread here long ago that was basically stalled at the hangar and never took off.
About 3 years ago I purchased a course "The Copywriter's Code" from a fella named Danny Marguiles of freelancetowin.com
I'm not entirely convinced I got a great value on the course but considering I never actually finished it, I might as well get my $1000 worth, right?
Anyways, I'm chipping away at it. I'll post some snippets of stuff I've learned here as I go so maybe this isn't all entirely in vain.
Anyways, here's some backstory/goals:
I'm about to be a father AND a stepfather of two very young children. I'm afraid that my lack of formal education or training has basically kept me at the income level of a 17 year old boy and now I'm starting from scratch.
I'm 25 now, but I've been here on this forum since I was 15 and have always aspired to be just like MJ, so to speak.
Well, 10 years later and I still have barely started a business, unless you include a brief stint in residential lawn maintenance and a vain attempt at freelancing 4 years ago (I did make like $500 though)
The dude I just started working for after I quit my demoralizing factory job blocked my number after he couldn't pay me the $1000 he owes me for labor, which means rent payment is going to be late but luckily my family is in a good spot with all that.
Anyways, I'm taking this time off and I hope to accomplish 3 things
1.) Get a job to pay the rent ASAP, preferably with enough time to spare towards my personal goals.
2.) Spend the current bulk of my free time, not spent with the baby or my girl, on educating myself and sharpening my skills a touch more before jumping in the deep end freelancing.
3.) Finally, after I finally complete this copywriting course, jump in the deep end and work towards my 10x goal of $20k / month
I plan to be sort of a one-stop shop for small businesses and their web presence. I want to provide exceptional value to my clients, but I already have a bit of "imposter syndrome" after reading @Fox 's 7 figure webdev booklet.
If you're reading this man, I wish I could take back the money I spent on this copywriting course and keep it in the family through your web school but I guess I'll have to do it with grit and perseverance instead.
Goal for the next 7 days: Finish the course, get my money's worth, and start upworking/freelancing anywhere I can.
Goal for the next month: Study "The Freelancer's Bible", meanwhile I will be taking the barely any money I have and building my mother a website for her independent salon business.
>sidenote: my mom is kind of a boomer and thinks instagram is a feasible replacement for her own website she controls. She also can't afford the some-odd $150 to get a domain and hosting setup, so I'm thinking I'll just consider it a gift on my part. There's no point in trying to sell her on this, not only is she my mother but she can't afford rent at this point either. I'm hoping a professional website will help her stand out and get more clients and this would be a great low-pressure way to develop my skills (albeit on my own dime and my own time) but she knows a lot of people in this city and I'm thinking it could really bootstrap my journey if I knock it out of the park.
Basically, if I don't figure something out at this rate I'm F*cked. Between inflation, two children and a stay at home girlfriend (she has a trust fund to help her stay at home but not much more) and this tiny a$$ house we live in, I feel like a fish out of water.
onto the progress/execution part of this thread:
Yesterday: (re)completed module 1/6 of the copywriting course.
what I learned:
-Strategy trumps words when it comes to writing effective copy. It's more important how you approach the project, than how it's literally written. although that's important too, of course.
-Aim to be the trusted advisor for your clients, not just a dude who follows orders blindly.
-Adopt a detective mindset - look beyond the obvious when trying to understand the audience's story - the story is very prone to change, even within the same scope of the project, so be sure each piece of copy is designed to be relevant depending on who your audience is.
3-step process for client satisfaction:
1. ask client how they would describe the success of this project to a close companion.
2. ask for specific words/phrases they'd like to see included, as well as a rough idea of length and any specific pieces they found powerful.
3. look into the client's previous marketing efforts as well as their competitors. 3-4 star reviews are particularly helpful for finding pain points / objections to overcome.
"Green light method" for client satisfaction
1. Present any ideas I am unsure of implementing to client, only when I might waste a lot of time otherwise.
2. Don't fully commit to any idea - be detached from the outcome and earn client's trust by just laying it out as an option on the table, but one I'm not particularly sold on.
How to write quality copy without writer's block
-write anything at all, even something awful is better than a blank page to start with.
1. remove anything that doesnt surprise the reader
2. imagine each line with the words "great news!" in front of it - if it doesn't make sense, rewrite that line or cut it altogether.
3. add conversion "levers" - i.e. credibility of client, utilizing stories to simplify concepts, quantify abstract statements into concrete benefits.
4. add urgency.
On Unique Selling Propositions
1. Client has a clear USP - Showing in addition to telling
2. Client's USP is unclear - SHOW, do NOT tell (tell a story using quantifiable examples of benefits)
3. USP is nonexistent or unidentifiable - ADVISE the client and CREATE a USP
Upsells:
1. 30-60 min strategy session - 2/3 new clients, roughly. basically, whenever the client could use advisement on the scope of the project and actionable steps to take.
>>>>let them do the talking, validate their goals, and don't overdo it with more than 3 ideas that are simple, actionable, and specific
2. Interviewing client's customers
3. Providing an opinion for the client should not be a free service, understand my time and input have VALUE.
Other notes:
Conversion isn't a hard science - clients pay me to do my best.
Nailing the STORY and PSYCHOLOGY of the audience is critical in writing copy that will convert
Don't charge per word - EVER. Flat rate is good for clear project goals, while hourly can be helpful in projects with unclear scopes.
Well that's all for now. I'm off to do Module 2, report back with more learnings.
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