Category: Advice for copywriters

HAVE YOU DONE THIS TYPE OF JOB BEFORE?

Posted on by Alastair Walton

From time to time you’ll get the following question:

“I’m looking for someone to do X, do you have experience with this type of project.”

If you haven’t done X before, then what do you say?

You obviously want to avoid lying…

On the other hand, you don’t want to say no and miss out on the opportunity.

So what you need to do instead, is “reframe” your experience.

For example:

1. The client asks if you’ve done X before

2. You tell them that you haven’t, but you’ve done Y.

3. You demonstrate that X and Y and similar…

…therefore, if you’ve done Y, you can pull off X.

Along with this, you should mention anything else that makes you the best choice for the project. This could include personal experience, experience with the topic or audience, or even previous experience with other clients.

Taking all this into account, you could say something like the following:

“I haven’t written an advertorial before. That being said, I’ve written dozens of pieces of long-form copy which follow a very similar structure. With this experience I could probably put together a decent advertorial for you.”

“What’s more, I also have experience in the XYZ industry which is highly relevant. I understand your customers and their challenges, and know this market inside and out. I’m more than happy to send over some samples which demonstrate this.”

Now, this doesn’t always work.

A lot of the time you’ll be up against people who do have the relevant experience…

…but a lot of the time you’ll actually get the job.

And this only needs to work once.

You see, the next time someone asks, you will have what they’re looking for.

Alastair Walton

THE SECRET METHOD FOR GETTING GOOD AT ANYTHING

Posted on by Alastair Walton

What’s the secret to getting good at something?

And I’m not just talking about being “good.”

I’m talking about achieving God like mastery.

Well, believe it or not, the real secret is simple repetition.

You want to take something simple and practice it over and over and over again.

This means honing and practicing the basics until they become profound.

It also means daily repetition…

…sometimes for months or even years.

These posts are a good example. At this point I’ve written hundreds of them. Simply by doing this I’ve greatly increased the ability to formulate my thoughts, write them down, and come up with a halfway decent blog post. Even more importantly, my writing speed has greatly increased. What used to take hours, now takes minutes.

The problem with most people is that they don’t want to hear this.

People want overnight results with very little effort.

What they don’t understand is that this method often works a lot better.

You see, time is always passing…

…and eventually it all adds up.

So all you really have to do is devote a few minutes per day to practice.

Over time that combined effort will accumulate…

…and you to will achieve God like mastery of your chosen craft.

Whether that’s writing, speaking, marketing or something else…

…the fruits will be yours to enjoy.

More tomorrow:

Alastair Walton

WHY BE A BEGGAR WHEN YOU CAN BE A KING?

Posted on by Alastair Walton

So many marketers settle for being beggars.

But why do this when you can be a KING?

You see, one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is this:

Find ONE market and dominate it.

People don’t want to hear this.

They think I’m saying you need to focus on one tiny niche forever.

They don’t want to do this because they think…erroneously…that there’s less money to be made.

They want to sell to everyone all at once.

And this is why they end up becoming beggars…

…competing against dozens of other people and getting nowhere.

This is also why it’s so important that you focus on one niche at a time.

For example, say you’re an agency that offers digital advertising services. First of all, why not focus on one platform, for example, Facebook? Then, instead of offering your services to anyone and everyone, you could concentrate only on, say, people who own restaurants. You could get even more specific and focus on pizzeria advertising.

What you’d do in this case is start looking at what’s happening in that market right now.

Where do these people congregate online…what are they buying…and so on.  

You want to figure out how you’re going to dominate this market.

How do you become the go-to guy in your area for pizza parlor owners who want to advertise online? To start with, you’ll learn how to craft marketing that attracts these people. You’ll also want to start building a list…and make them get to know you…like you…and trust you. Most importantly, you’ll want to figure out what the competition is doing, but better.

To do this you need to dig deep and go beneath the surface.

Most people don’t want to do this because it’s “hard work.”

These people are more than happy to settle for being beggars.

On the other hand, if you’re willing to make a little more effort…well…

…that’s when you become a KING in that market.

It’s also how you end up dominating the market…

…and how you know when you’re ready to move onto the next one.

Alastair Walton