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LinkedInMagalog? What the heck is a magalog?
Ask a roomful of copywriters to describe a brochure, sales letter, or web page, and most will give you a pretty good definition.
But ask about a magalog, and you’ll get a lot of blank stares.
In my Direct Marketing Glossary, I provide a simple definition:
Magalog — Direct mail sales format that looks like a magazine or catalog.
That’s accurate, but maybe not as helpful as it could be if you’re a copywriter and your boss or client asks you to write one.
So let’s take a look at an actual magalog sample and see if we can get a better idea about what it is. When you click that link, you’ll open a PDF in a separate window. Note: The order form and a few photos are missing because I couldn’t get a final sample. But you’ll get the idea.
Web copywriting: an interview with James Chartrand
This is the first of a series of interviews with copywriters who specialize in a particular brand of copywriting.
First up, James Chartrand from Men With Pens. James lives in Canada and writes web copy for an international roster of clients.
In our short interview, we discussed some of the ins and outs of web copywriting and James’ quirky sense of humor.
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Dean: How long have you been writing web copy? How did you get your start?
James: I began my career in early 2006 — completely by necessity, really. At the time, I had absolutely no money, and I needed it badly. Winter was coming, there were no jobs to be had, and I had kids to feed. I found out that people would pay me to write … a whole $1.50 for 500 words.
So I wrote. I took the hard knocks and learned the lessons. I hustled like mad and kept building and building until… Well, here I am today. I never expected things to turn out as fantastically as they did, and frankly, I’m still working hard at reaching even bigger goals.
The freelancer’s short guide to getting paid
Recently, I wrote about freelance contracts, the point being to weed out bad clients at the beginning of a project and improve the odds of getting paid.
But what happens when a client doesn’t pay on time or refuses to pay altogether?
Let’s begin by looking at the right way to invoice for your freelance services.
After you’ve completed your work, make sure the client is happy and has received everything you have promised. This is important because you may think you’re finished when, actually, the client has a few extra changes to make.
Also, if you send documents by email, there’s always the chance they will get caught in a spam filter or may get lost in a client’s in-box.
Once you’ve confirmed the project is truly finished and your client is satisfied, send your invoice within a few days. There’s something irritating about sending a bill too soon, but you don’t want to drag it out either.
I create my invoices in OpenOffice from a template, save them as a PDF, and email them as an attachment. I add the words “Please confirm receipt” at the top of my email message and use the delivery status notification and return receipt features in my Thunderbird email program. Again, you want to be sure the email gets through.
In most cases, your invoice will be paid on time. But if it’s not, here are some tips:
7 elements of a solid freelance copywriting contract
Freelance copywriters can be a bit shy about the business end of freelancing, especially when it comes to contracts.
That’s because most freelancers are writers first and business people second.
But contracts are an essential part of any copywriting business. Why? Three reasons:
1. A contract helps you set a businesslike tone at the beginning of a project.
2. A contract specifies and clarifies your responsibilities and the obligations of your client, primarily the work you will do and what the client will pay.
3. A contract acts as a screening device to weed out bad clients.
For me, that last point is the most important.
An open letter to direct mail designers
When I first published this in Direct Marketing Magazine many years ago, it ignited a firestorm of hate mail from designers and agency creatives all over the country. It must have struck a nerve. That’s what happens when you tell the truth.
Dear Designer,
When clients go to the trouble and expense of doing a direct mailing, they expect results.
Response will be calculated. Orders will be tracked. Dollars will be counted. Profits will be measured a dozen ways. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars are riding on my shoulders and yours.
So I’d like to make a few suggestions:
Read the copy before you start designing. Pour yourself a cup of coffee. Sit back. Read every word. Twice. Make sure you understand what’s being said and why it’s being said.
Be clear on the benefits, the offer, and — most importantly — the action we want the reader to take. Every element of your design should help lead the reader toward that action.
You and I are partners in generating response. I’m the voice and you’re the body language. If we’re not in sync, we’ll blow it for the client.
Tons of productivity tips for professional writers
Did you ever take notes on an important topic, file them away, then forget about them?
Well, that’s what I did a couple years ago with some productivity tips for writers. I googled some nice links, thinking I’d do a quick blog post, then immediately forgot about them. Until now.
Actually, they aren’t all tips for writers. Some are for designers, bloggers, or small business owners. But they’re all good ideas from a variety of perspectives.
So here are a few of those long-lost productivity and time management tips.
- Productivity Tips for Writers
- Time management for graphic designers
- Productivity Tips for Bloggers
- 30 Productivity Tips for Designers
- Five fast email productivity tips
- Twenty Unique Ways to Use the 80/20 Rule Today
- The Productivity Trifecta, Part 1: The Word ‘No’
- Inbox Zero: Processing to zero
- 10 Productivity Tips for Home-Based Businesses
By the way, here’s a little piece of advice about productivity tips: You don’t have follow every bit of advice you read. Pick two or three that work for you and go for it.
If you spend too much time worrying about time, you end up wasting time!
