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LinkedInCopywriting apocalypse: 6 survival tips for when the shtf
No matter how professional or experienced you are, the day will come when the sky turns dark, the earth trembles, and the apocalypse crashes the world around you.
In other words, a copywriting project will go bad. Way bad.
Maybe it’s your fault. Maybe it’s the fault of your client or boss. It doesn’t matter. One way or another, you have to deal with it. So I’m going to give you a simple, 6-step survival strategy.
But first, let me tell you two stories. In the first, I screwed up. In the second, my client pulled a fast one. In both cases, the SHTF and I survived.
Story 1: Years and years ago, when I was just starting out as a freelance copywriter, an agency asked me to write copy for a self-mailer. It was an easy assignment to promote an award show for a local advertising organization.
So I came up with a headline, wrote a few paragraphs explaining the show, crafted a simple call to action to register for the event, and typed up a list of the various sponsors and speakers. Simple right?
Unfortunately, I made one giant blunder.
Why smart copywriters write about people
There’s a saying: Dumb people talk about people. Smart people talk about ideas.
It’s a saying usually recited by those who think they’re smart and enjoy rattling on about obscure trivia. However, these people aren’t as bright as they think they are.
The saying is wrong. In fact, I’m going to show you why talking, or rather, writing about people is very smart indeed and how this can help you dramatically improve your copywriting .
And I’ll prove it by taking you on a tour of my local grocery store, the experimental lab of evolutionary biologists, and my own direct mail swipe file.
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11 quick ways to kickstart your slow freelance business
How long has it been since someone called with a paying project? A week? Two? Welcome to the life of freelance copywriting.
Unpredictable workflow goes with the territory. One week you’re scrambling to write all the sales letters, brochures, and web pages you’ve been hire for, the next you’re knocking around in your skanky old bathrobe waiting for the phone to ring.
Don’t worry about it. Even the very best freelancers go through times when business is slow. Depending on your reasons for freelancing, you might even consider these mini-vacations a perk.
Then again, if you’re like me, those occasional slow periods can also freak you out. Sure, I have plenty of money in the bank to tide me over, but I’m happier when I’m working. And frankly, so is my wife. She is no fan of that skanky old bathrobe.
So what can you do?
Down time gives you the ideal opportunity to do a little marketing. In fact, there are some quick and easy ways to kickstart your slow freelance business and generate paying copywriting projects.
The world’s simplest computer crash recovery plan
How much of your life is on your computer? What would happen if it all just … vanished? Email, documents, photos, financial records, address book, samples, soft rock from the 70s, everything.
EVERYTHING!
Scary isn’t it? I know because it happened to me.
A few years ago, my computer crashed in the middle of a busy week and it almost destroyed my business. I had a backup of my data, but it wasn’t up-to-date because I was always too busy or too lazy to do regular backups.
So I lost weeks of work, including paying projects worth thousands. And since all my contact data was on my computer, I couldn’t even call clients to tell them what happened.
Talk about a nightmare! This is the very definition of scared straight.
I saw the error of my ways and decided this was never, EVER going to happen again. Oh, I might have another crash. But I would never again sit in my office helplessly staring at a dead computer.
My experience inspired me to devise a computer disaster recovery plan. So that no matter what might happen to my computer – virus, hard disk failure, power surge, theft, software corruption, fire, flood, meteor strike, zombies, anything – I’ll be able to recover in hours rather than days or weeks.
And the real beauty is that my plan is totally automatic. You set it and forget it. You don’t ever have to think about backups or spend a second worrying about the safety of years of personal and business data.
Translating freelance “Client Speak” into plain English
Freelance copywriters face many challenges, especially when they just start out. One of those challenges is understanding the special language used by business clients, which I call “Client Speak.”
Client Speak shares many common traits with standard English, with one notable exception: All the words have a different meaning.
This may sound like it would cause confusion. But all it takes is a little experience, and you’ll be able to translate Client Speak all on your own.
Here are just a few examples of common phrases and their English translations.
“We’ve already invested a lot in this.”
Translation: We’ve wasted a pile of money on cheap writers and trying to do it ourselves. We’re screwed. I mean, totally screwed. Now we’re looking for someone with serious expertise to save our ass for dirt cheap.
13 basic design concepts every copywriter should know
How much do you know about design? Do you understand basic design concepts?
“Hang on,” you might be saying. “I’m a copywriter. What do I have to know about design?”
More than you think, actually.
A lot of copywriters think that “copy is king.” And that’s true. Sort of. It’s true if you mean that the message is what matters. And it’s true that, as a copywriter, you are the one primarily responsible for writing the words that deliver that message.
But you’re wrong if you think words are ALL that matter, as if design is little more than window dressing.
Let me ask you this: When you buy a ticket for a movie, do you expect to sit down in the theater and read the script? I don’t think so. I saw Avatar in 3D recently and I guarantee you that if all I got was the script and a pair of 3D glasses, I would have been very disappointed. That’s not a movie.
A movie is a script that has been brought to life visually. And advertising or marketing materials are copy that has been brought to life visually. That’s not a perfect analogy, but you get the idea.
A copywriter’s guide to consumer psychology
Copywriting is less about writing than it is about psychology.
You can be a great writer, but if you know little about how people think, you won’t succeed as a copywriter. On the other hand, you can be only a fair writer, and if you have a deep understanding of the human mind, you could do very well as a copywriter.
People can be pretty hard to figure out sometimes. Even though I’m a lifelong student of human behavior, I still can’t figure out why the young bagger at the grocery puts two dozen cans in a single bag but just one bunch of celery in another.
So providing guidance on something as complicated as consumer psychology is a little tricky. But there are a few things I’ve learned over the years that shape the way I write copy when my job is to motivate, persuade, and sell.
Are you making this career-killing freelance mistake?
Freelancing is a seat-of-the pants operation. You can buy a dozen ebooks and attend every freelance seminar that comes along. But in the end, you have to figure out how to make it work for you.
And you’re going to make mistakes. Lots of mistakes.
Fortunately, most of those mistakes are little ones, such as buying the wrong printer or under-pricing a project.
But there’s one mistake you don’t want to make, because it’s a doozy. In fact, it can be a freelance career killer. Yes, you can recover from it if you discover it soon enough. But it’s better to avoid it altogether because of the misery it brings.
What is this deadly freelance mistake? It’s all about how you answer a simple question: As a freelance copywriter, do you sell a product or sell a service?
The wrong answer will lead you down a difficult career path. It will get you involved with the wrong clients, create the wrong kind of reputation, destroy your self-confidence, and crush your paycheck.
Is your direct mail copy headed for the trash?
Direct mail is always a plum assignment for any copywriter. It’s the supreme test of your skills, but not for the reason you think.
Sure, you get to write envelope teaser copy, a letter, order form, brochure, and maybe a lift letter and other inserts. Lots of copy. Lots of space to strut your stuff.
But the real challenge is just keeping your work from landing in the trash can.
Despite all the time and effort you put in to crafting and polishing your copy to perfection, people don’t sit down and lovingly take in every word of your masterpiece. In fact, the way people “read” your direct mail copy is downright brutal.
Beware. If you’re squeamish, don’t read this. It’s not pretty.
Credible copywriting: Who ya’ gonna trust?
If you asked me what was wrong with most copywriting, I’d say two things:
1. Much of it is trite and lifeless. Like a bowl of limp noodles.
2. Too much of it is outlandish B.S. Over-the-top hard sell.
Both extremes can kill your copy, but the second is a bigger problem. Lifeless copy might still sell if the product and offer are appealing. But outlandish, unbelievable copy creates distrust and leads people to think, “Yeah, right.”
I’m talking about credibility. This is an essential but often ignored part of good copywriting. If people don’t believe you, they won’t respond to your copy.
