The Plan To Break Into Direct Response Copywriting

[WolfofWallstreet]

Hey guys. I've been lurking around for a while now and I decided to make a post. I read TMF twice --the first time was before college and the second time after.

The book was life changing and I fell in love with the idea of running a business. But there was a big problem.

I was dead broke. I had nothing.

So I decided to learn a skill, make money, leverage on it to start a fastlane business.

I stumbled on direct response copywriting late December last year, but it took me a while to get enough information on it. I wanted to write for the financial niche. From January till April I read books, blog posts, watched videos, studied and marked up and even hand copied sales letters.

By May, I decided it was time to go after clients. Agora was my target. I read about how going for short form copy is easier in breaking into the industry so I cold emailed all of the companies under Agora offering short form copywriting (advertorials, email lifts, etc).

I had to email most of them several times before getting a response.

Here's how it played out (to differentiate each of the Agora companies without mentioning their names, I'll just calk them divisions):

The first Agora division (the person I emailed) indicated he was no longer with them and referred me to someone else. I emailed him and got no reply.

The second declined my freelance request, indicating they only hire in house.

The third asked for a sample and after sending it, he went silent (ouch).

The fourth said he'd forward my email to the person in charge. But I am yet to hear from them, despite sending several emails.

The fifth division gave me a spec assignment to write an advertorial for one of their current promotions. It was a VSL and I couldn't get a translation so I asked for it and got no response. I eventually worked my way around it, wrote the advertorial and submitted but still got no response.

The sixth gave me a spec assignment to write a headline and lead for a big idea. This was surprising as all the emails I sent, I sold myself as a short form copywriter. After writing the spec assignment, I got a feedback. My writing was good but I totally missed the mark on the BIG IDEA.

It's interesting how you read a lot about something -- I even annotated successful promos-- and feel like you understand it. But after going out to try it yourself, you find out you don't know shit.

He pointed out my flaws and asked me to go rework it. I was really glad he didn't just say, "your writing sucks, can't hire you" or something along those lines.

I reworked it and submitted. All of the back and forth between I and the publisher of the 6th division, lasted 3 weeks.

I was really into it and I thought I was about to break into the industry. But what happened next shattered that mirage. I received this email:

"Thanks for taking the time to write this. Round 2 was much better, but still comes up a bit short for our immediate needs.
Keep on writing and reach out in a year or so when you have more copy under your belt."

It took me a few days to recover from this rejection. I also even fell sick two days after. A week later now and I'm back on my feet with a plan.

1. I will study more successful sales letters
2. I will practice writing headlines and leads
3. I will cold email more companies (not just Agora companies)

I'll send two types of cold emails. The first I will offer short form copywriting, and the second I'll offer longform copywriting. For those who I offer short form copy, if i don't get my first email replied, I'll write an email or advertorial and offer it to them to use.

Just yesterday, one of the Agora companies I cold emailed and wrote a free advertorial for replied. He thanked me for the advertorial and asked where I was based. I feel my location (the country where I am) would disqualify me as I suspect they're interested in hiring in house or something along those lines.

Anyway, I'm happy to be back grinding. My illness really killed my momentum but I'm trying to get it back. I believe this post will help make me more accountable.

PS: Anyone here into direct response copywriting (bonus point if it's in the financial niche)?

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Hey guys. I've been lurking around for a while now and I decided to make a post. I read TMF twice --the first time was before college and the second time after.

The book was life changing and I fell in love with the idea of running a business. But there was a big problem.

I was dead broke. I had nothing.

So I decided to learn a skill, make money, leverage on it to start a fastlane business.

I stumbled on direct response copywriting late December last year, but it took me a while to get enough information on it. I wanted to write for the financial niche. From January till April I read books, blog posts, watched videos, studied and marked up and even hand copied sales letters.

By May, I decided it was time to go after clients. Agora was my target. I read about how going for short form copy is easier in breaking into the industry so I cold emailed all of the companies under Agora offering short form copywriting (advertorials, email lifts, etc).

I had to email most of them several times before getting a response.

Here's how it played out (to differentiate each of the Agora companies without mentioning their names, I'll just calk them divisions):

The first Agora division (the person I emailed) indicated he was no longer with them and referred me to someone else. I emailed him and got no reply.

The second declined my freelance request, indicating they only hire in house.

The third asked for a sample and after sending it, he went silent (ouch).

The fourth said he'd forward my email to the person in charge. But I am yet to hear from them, despite sending several emails.

The fifth division gave me a spec assignment to write an advertorial for one of their current promotions. It was a VSL and I couldn't get a translation so I asked for it and got no response. I eventually worked my way around it, wrote the advertorial and submitted but still got no response.

The sixth gave me a spec assignment to write a headline and lead for a big idea. This was surprising as all the emails I sent, I sold myself as a short form copywriter. After writing the spec assignment, I got a feedback. My writing was good but I totally missed the mark on the BIG IDEA.

It's interesting how you read a lot about something -- I even annotated successful promos-- and feel like you understand it. But after going out to try it yourself, you find out you don't know shit.

He pointed out my flaws and asked me to go rework it. I was really glad he didn't just say, "your writing sucks, can't hire you" or something along those lines.

I reworked it and submitted. All of the back and forth between I and the publisher of the 6th division, lasted 3 weeks.

I was really into it and I thought I was about to break into the industry. But what happened next shattered that mirage. I received this email:

"Thanks for taking the time to write this. Round 2 was much better, but still comes up a bit short for our immediate needs.
Keep on writing and reach out in a year or so when you have more copy under your belt."

It took me a few days to recover from this rejection. I also even fell sick two days after. A week later now and I'm back on my feet with a plan.

1. I will study more successful sales letters
2. I will practice writing headlines and leads
3. I will cold email more companies (not just Agora companies)

I'll send two types of cold emails. The first I will offer short form copywriting, and the second I'll offer longform copywriting. For those who I offer short form copy, if i don't get my first email replied, I'll write an email or advertorial and offer it to them to use.

Just yesterday, one of the Agora companies I cold emailed and wrote a free advertorial for replied. He thanked me for the advertorial and asked where I was based. I feel my location (the country where I am) would disqualify me as I suspect they're interested in hiring in house or something along those lines.

Anyway, I'm happy to be back grinding. My illness really killed my momentum but I'm trying to get it back. I believe this post will help make me more accountable.

PS: Anyone here into direct response copywriting (bonus point if it's in the financial niche)?

You're making progress. There are people on this forum who have taken Agora's in-house copywriting training, so maybe they can provide more insight into what Agora might be looking for.

In the meantime, there are plenty of other companies to write for. Agora seems like a good way to create a high-paying job for yourself, but if you don't want to work in-house then it may not be the way to go.

 

[Dennis Demori]

Hey guys. I've been lurking around for a while now and I decided to make a post. I read TMF twice --the first time was before college and the second time after.

The book was life changing and I fell in love with the idea of running a business. But there was a big problem.

I was dead broke. I had nothing.

So I decided to learn a skill, make money, leverage on it to start a fastlane business.

I stumbled on direct response copywriting late December last year, but it took me a while to get enough information on it. I wanted to write for the financial niche. From January till April I read books, blog posts, watched videos, studied and marked up and even hand copied sales letters.

By May, I decided it was time to go after clients. Agora was my target. I read about how going for short form copy is easier in breaking into the industry so I cold emailed all of the companies under Agora offering short form copywriting (advertorials, email lifts, etc).

I had to email most of them several times before getting a response.

Here's how it played out (to differentiate each of the Agora companies without mentioning their names, I'll just calk them divisions):

The first Agora division (the person I emailed) indicated he was no longer with them and referred me to someone else. I emailed him and got no reply.

The second declined my freelance request, indicating they only hire in house.

The third asked for a sample and after sending it, he went silent (ouch).

The fourth said he'd forward my email to the person in charge. But I am yet to hear from them, despite sending several emails.

The fifth division gave me a spec assignment to write an advertorial for one of their current promotions. It was a VSL and I couldn't get a translation so I asked for it and got no response. I eventually worked my way around it, wrote the advertorial and submitted but still got no response.

The sixth gave me a spec assignment to write a headline and lead for a big idea. This was surprising as all the emails I sent, I sold myself as a short form copywriter. After writing the spec assignment, I got a feedback. My writing was good but I totally missed the mark on the BIG IDEA.

It's interesting how you read a lot about something -- I even annotated successful promos-- and feel like you understand it. But after going out to try it yourself, you find out you don't know shit.

He pointed out my flaws and asked me to go rework it. I was really glad he didn't just say, "your writing sucks, can't hire you" or something along those lines.

I reworked it and submitted. All of the back and forth between I and the publisher of the 6th division, lasted 3 weeks.

I was really into it and I thought I was about to break into the industry. But what happened next shattered that mirage. I received this email:

"Thanks for taking the time to write this. Round 2 was much better, but still comes up a bit short for our immediate needs.
Keep on writing and reach out in a year or so when you have more copy under your belt."

It took me a few days to recover from this rejection. I also even fell sick two days after. A week later now and I'm back on my feet with a plan.

1. I will study more successful sales letters
2. I will practice writing headlines and leads
3. I will cold email more companies (not just Agora companies)

I'll send two types of cold emails. The first I will offer short form copywriting, and the second I'll offer longform copywriting. For those who I offer short form copy, if i don't get my first email replied, I'll write an email or advertorial and offer it to them to use.

Just yesterday, one of the Agora companies I cold emailed and wrote a free advertorial for replied. He thanked me for the advertorial and asked where I was based. I feel my location (the country where I am) would disqualify me as I suspect they're interested in hiring in house or something along those lines.

Anyway, I'm happy to be back grinding. My illness really killed my momentum but I'm trying to get it back. I believe this post will help make me more accountable.

PS: Anyone here into direct response copywriting (bonus point if it's in the financial niche)?

Trying to get into Agora Financial or any of their companies as a beginner is harder than getting into the NBA.

It's a great learning experience if you can get in, but I'd get some experience somewhere else first.

 

[WolfofWallstreet]

Interesting. So basically I should reach out to other non Agora companies and start there?

I wanna work with Agora. They're the best. I wanna learn what they do and then go out there and use that knowledge to create my own business.

So I guess I should first spread my tentacles and see what clicks

 

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[WolfofWallstreet]

You're making progress. There are people on this forum who have taken Agora's in-house copywriting training, so maybe they can provide more insight into what Agora might be looking for.

In the meantime, there are plenty of other companies to write for. Agora seems like a good way to create a high-paying job for yourself, but if you don't want to work in-house then it may not be the way to go.

Interesting. So basically I should reach out to other non Agora companies and start there?

I wanna work with Agora. They're the best. I wanna learn what they do and then go out there and use that knowledge to create my own business.

So I guess I should first spread my tentacles and see what clicks

 

[WolfofWallstreet]

Trying to get into Agora Financial or any of their companies as a beginner is harder than getting into the NBA.

It's a great learning experience if you can get in, but I'd get some experience somewhere else first

Wow. So I was trying to do the almost impossible.

I'll try getting experience somewhere else first and then circle back to Agora.

I have a question though: since I'm interested in the financial niche, must I gain experience under same niche before reaching out to Agora, or it can be under any other niche?

 

[Dennis Demori]

Interesting. So basically I should reach out to other non Agora companies and start there?

I wanna work with Agora. They're the best. I wanna learn what they do and then go out there and use that knowledge to create my own business.

So I guess I should first spread my tentacles and see what clicks

Agora's not the best. They're just the most well-known.

And your mentor is 10x more important than the company you join.

As a beginner, you need to take whatever you can get. Apply everywhere.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

Unfortunately copywriting has very little to do with starting your own business, and I know this is an unpopular opinion but it’s the truth. I was a copywriter before starting my business, they’re two entirely different things. My copywriting experience was partly helpful, but nowhere near the most important thing for actually running a business.

Copywriting is only super important if you have a WEAK product / offer. These people sell shit, hence why copywriting is so important for them. And they want to convince you how importabt copywriting is to sell it to you.

Do you think Elon Musk even knows what copywriting is? If you want to start a business you should focus on more important things:

PROVIDING A SERVICE/PRODUCT PEOPLE ACTUALLY NEED.

Then you won’t need that much copywriting. My 2c, as much as that’s worth to you. And btw, I run a direct response agency

 

[WolfofWallstreet]

Unfortunately copywriting has very little to do with starting your own business, and I know this is an unpopular opinion but it’s the truth. I was a copywriter before starting my business, they’re two entirely different things. My copywriting experience was partly helpful, but nowhere near the most important thing for actually running a business.

Copywriting is only super important if you have a WEAK product / offer. These people sell shit, hence why copywriting is so important for them. And they want to convince you how importabt copywriting is to sell it to you.

Do you think Elon Musk even knows what copywriting is? If you want to start a business you should focus on more important things:

PROVIDING A SERVICE/PRODUCT PEOPLE ACTUALLY NEED.

Then you won’t need that much copywriting. My 2c, as much as that’s worth to you. And btw, I run a direct response agency

Interesting. I'll keep this in mind whenever I wanna start a business. But right now I just wanna earn some money while learning a skill that is on demand.

Also, I think in the process of learning copywriting a lot of people learn internet marketing, right? And I believe that's valuable.

That last part about running a direct response agency really caught me off guard, considering your opinions on the industry. What niche do you focus on?

As an experienced copywriter, if you were to give some advice to a newbie on breaking into the industry, what would it.

Agora's not the best. They're just the most well-known.

And your mentor is 10x more important than the company you join.

As a beginner, you need to take whatever you can get. Apply everywhere.

Cool.

I appreciate the responses the both of you gave, they're insightful. At least now I have a better idea on how to go about things.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

That last part about running a direct response agency really caught me off guard, considering your opinions on the industry. What niche do you focus on?

Finance, ecommerce, coaching.

As an experienced copywriter, if you were to give some advice to a newbie on breaking into the industry, what would it.

Work for the right clients.

There aren’t that many clients who benefit from PRO copywriting to make it worth the fees. So you’ll be fighting over a very small segment of the market.

Which is not that bad if you want to be a freelancer. Less work, high pay.

But if you’re looking at it from a business POV, great copywriting simply isn’t worth the fees that great copywriters demand for most businesses. The value isn’t there.

Let me put it like this. The difference between the results of the best copy and strong copy for a client with a solid business foundation are 2-3x round about. The cost though is easily 10-100x. It’s just not worth it for most situations.

Now apart from working for the right client, you actually need to have the skills. You’re doing the right thing, reaching out to those kind of people, BUT I suppose that your skill isnt anywhere near the “best” level. So read some good books, study sales letters, copy them by hand. Follow some of the greats like Doberman Dan. I’ve shared books for copywriters many times here. You can probably search and find them.

But be warned that you’ll start peddling the same “magic show” that the rest of the copywriters do to justify their high fees. It’s called selling the dream. If you don’t work for the big boys, who with best level copy maybe find 1 winner among 7!!! Then you’ll effectively be in the business of screwing desperate people for their money. There are many out there looking for a savior though, who will eagerly buy into the dream you’re selling them…

 

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[WolfofWallstreet]

Some update...

A lot has been going on. After I made this post, I did same on a popular marketing forum. A veteran copywriter (40 years of experience) said he'd teach me how to write copy and make money off it. The deal was that if the copy I wrote was good enough, he'd run ads on it. I've been working on the sales letter for a security device for some time now.

Also, I just got in the door with a big financial publisher located in Baltimore after sending the owner an email lift for one of their promotions. Turns out the owner used to work for Agora a very long time ago. I also see ads for their promotions on Agora Financial emails (which is surprising cause it's common knowledge that Agora only allow external ads from their affiliate companies).

Anyway I'm being assigned to write a renewal and I was asked how much I wanna charge. How much do you guys think is appropriate?

Does it come with royalties? Or maybe I'm supposed to negotiate that also? Any experienced copywriters on here should please give me some clarity. It's my first time.