Month: June 2020

HOW TO TRIPLE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

Posted on by Alastair Walton

Many moons ago I read about something called the Pompodoro method.

This is a time management method invented in the 1980s by a guy called Francesco Cirillo.

How it works is that you break your time down into 25 minute segments.

Each segment is called a, “Pompodoro” and is followed by a 5 minute break, totaling 1hr.

(BTW, pompodoro means tomato in Italian.)

This guy called it the Pompodoro method because of a tomato shaped timer he used.

And while it might sound simple this technique works like a charm.

The key to using it is to race against the clock.

You want to push yourself as hard as you can during the 25 minute section.

Avoid all distraction and focus only on your work.

Then do absolutely nothing during the 5 minute break.

With this you can also avoid something called, “Parkinson’s Law.”

This law states that work will stretch to fit the time allotted for it.

By assigning only a certain number of segments to a task you’ll be able to avoid this.

Not only that, with each segment you complete momentum builds up.

Eventually you get into the, “Flow state” and hours pass without you even noticing.

With the Pompodoro method you can triple productivity.

It’s something I use every day to get more done.

It’s also why I rarely miss deadlines and can complete so many projects in such little time.

Remember, productivity is absolutely critical to business success.

The more you do the faster you’ll move up the ladder.

So try this yourself and see how effective it is.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

WHY DO COPYWRITERS CHARGE SO MUCH?

Posted on by Alastair Walton

If you’ve ever tried to hire a world class copywriter you’ll know they charge through the nose.

But have you ever wondered why they charge so much?

It’s simple.

You see, copywriting is the art (And science) of writing adverts.

More specifically, it’s the art of writing direct response advertising.

With this type of advertising you can measure your response.

By response I mean the number of people who read your ad and buy the product.

What this also means is that you can measure your ROI.

Here’s an example that illustrates this:

Say you have a product with a price tag of $47.

You spend $500 on advertising.

Your ad costs $1000.

1000 people see this ad and 5% respond.

This works out to 50 people which means you make $2350.

Ultimately this means you spent $1500 to generate $850.

At this point you can scale things up, run the ad again and make a fortune.

The fact is that winning sales letters can turn a profit year after year after year.

This is why you need to STOP seeing copywriting as an expense.

Instead you need to start looking at it as an investment which can pay dividends for decades.

Good copywriters know this, which is why they charge so much.

Here’s an even better way to illustrate this idea:

If I gave you $10 for every $8 you gave me, how fast would you give me those bills?

Something to think about.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

SHOULD COPYWRITERS HAVE A BLOG?

Posted on by Alastair Walton

Should copywriters have a blog?

The answer is YES.

In fact, blogging is one of your most powerful marketing tools.

You see, here’s something you need realize:

Most copywriters get hung up on having samples. But I’m not really a big believer in this. Most of the time clients don’t even read them. Also, if you’ve been working a while you probably have dozens or even hundreds samples. Eventually updating and maintaining your sample file becomes a massive chore.

The solution to these problems is your blog.

Why?

Because everything you write is a sample.

So instead of giving clients examples of your work simply send them to your blog.

For copywriters this is almost too perfect. Blogging gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of marketing and persuasion. Every post you write allows you to show off your skills and prove that you know what you’re doing.

The caveat is that you have to make an effort.

You have to write each post as if you were being paid a thousand dollars.

As if someone had a gun to your head and you had to convince them to hire you.

Blogging also has other benefits. It’s a great way hone your skills and also gives you something to do when you don’t have client work. If you’re not busy just write a couple of blog posts – it’s better than sitting around all day and doing nothing.

The last step is to set up an email list.

This will also help you market to prospective clients.

It doesn’t have to take any extra work.

Just send them the blog posts you’ve already written.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton