The Small Business Internet Marketing Blog

The Most Important Secrets Michael Masterson Taught Me About Writing Copy

January 11, 2012 By Jason Leave a Comment

(This article was also published by Early to Rise.)

I’ve been a student of Michael Masterson for quite a long time. He doesn’t know I exist (although he’s critiqued some of my copy) and I haven’t met him personally… yet. But even without a personal connection to him, he and Bill Bonner (of Agora fame) have had more influence on the way I think about business, marketing and copywriting than just about anyone else I can think of.

Just in case I never meet either of them, I’ll take this opportunity to publicly thank them both.

I first learned about Michael Masterson when I purchased AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting. The material in that course contributed to me hitting six-figures very quickly as a new copywriter for hire.

At the time, I was making $85 an hour as an independent technology consultant. I was in control of my time, but at that point, my time just wasn’t that valuable in terms of dollars and cents. Actually, I wasn’t even making $85 an hour because I had just moved to a remote part of Indiana, far away from the big city of Chicago where I built my technology business.

I needed to start over in a business that I could run from anywhere. Freelance copywriting fit the bill perfectly. So on January 1, 2007, I hung out my shingle as a copywriter for hire.

So What’s the Big Idea?

I remember listening to a recording of Michael years ago where he was describing a successful company he worked with and how each of their “franchises” was basically centered around a single big idea; or a unique way of viewing the world.

At the time, I thought I got what that meant, but I really didn’t.

Great copy is built on great ideas. BIG IDEAS that is. In particular, a single big idea which serves as the foundation for everything to follow.

Early in my copywriting career, I wasn’t so good at the big idea thing. Instead, I settled for small ideas and tried to make up for them with “good” writing. I’m a good “writer” so I thought that would be enough. That, my friends was a mistake.

The world doesn’t need small ideas and it doesn’t respond to them. It doesn’t line up and wait for hours in the cold and rain to hear someone spout off small ideas; ideas that people probably already know.

Writing copy based on small ideas is pretty much noise in the marketplace.

BIG IDEAS, on the other hand, stir people to action. Big ideas sweep people into other (better) worlds, propel them closer to their goals and draw them magnetically towards solutions to their problems.

The world needs BIG IDEAS. And boy does the world respond to them.

Great copy has little to do with just words, and it has everything to do with expressing BIG IDEAS with words.

These days, I often take a new project and sit around for a week or so (I don’t always have this luxury) and let the big idea drop out of the sky into my lap. Sometimes that takes longer, sometimes it’s much quicker. Once that core idea is cemented in my mind, however, the actual writing of the promotion is pretty easy.

To me, figuring out HOW to say something is not nearly important as figuring out WHAT to say.

A good copywriter is proficient with words. A great copywriter is a master of IDEAS.

Uncovering the Big Idea is Like Reading Between the Lines

I was going to leave this part of this essay out. After all, it’s challenging to teach someone how to “see” a big idea when it comes to writing copy.

It’s hard to give you a step-by-step, here’s how you do it, system to follow.

It’s a bit like those books of magic illustrations you see in the bookstores. Those are the ones where you’re supposed to stare at a page until you begin to see the real picture hiding on it.

The big idea isn’t always obvious. It’s more a product of looking at all of the obvious things, blurring your “vision” a bit, and then seeing a “bigger picture” based on all of those details.

Despite this disclaimer of sorts, I’m going to do my best to communicate this process to you anyway. Mainly because this skill, the ability to see “the big idea” in any selling opportunity, is the core ability that separates great copy from trash.

Big ideas are persuasive. And that’s what great copy does. It persuades.

So let’s say you’re selling a newsletter. That’s a hard sell because no one really wants a newsletter. Who really wants to pay money so they can add yet another item to the reading list they never have time to get through?

The answer is no one wants that. And yet, plenty of newsletters sell like hotcakes every day. Why?

Because no one is buying a newsletter. They’re buying something else. They’re buying a “big idea.”

You might think you’re selling a newsletter. But that’s not what your customer is buying. The chances are better than not that what they are buying has more to do with things like:

Permission to access a world and valuable (secret) information that might otherwise be off limits to them…
A credible source of validation and camaraderie for their views regarding their way of living, investing, or earning money.
A proven shortcut to helping them reach their goals.
A fast and simple way they can relieve pain, whether it’s physical, emotional or both.
The promise of a better life.

These are very general, of course, but hopefully you’re starting to get the picture.

You might be selling a newsletter, but that’s the last thing that anyone is buying.

This really is, in part, marketing 101. Where it gets more advanced is when you start to take that core understanding and really “blow it up” so that it is almost larger than life.

Let’s say you sell a newsletter with unconventional strategies and tactics to grow a business very, very quickly.

You are tired of seeing people work so hard for so little and your path in life has taught you how to create big results fast. And even better is that you can create those results with such little effort that it’s almost hard to believe.

So you take that kernel of truth, blur your “vision” and start to understand what you’re really dealing with. That’s when big ideas start to jump out at you. Things like:

Perhaps your newsletter becomes a call to war in a worldwide battle of sorts. A battle between the “powers that be” and the underdog hero (your subscribers). Your subscribers are not just customers, they are warriors. And they are determined to go out into the world and claim the success that is truly theirs.
Perhaps your newsletter becomes a rallying cry for freedom from the oppression of the world of 9-5 office cubicle slavery that so many people endure.
Perhaps your newsletter simply becomes like a wise and mysterious mentor. Someone with the ability to masterfully direct and encourage others towards their goals.

These example are very simple, of course, but the goal is give you a rough idea of how this process rolls out. This is how you take a ho-hum newsletter and transform it into something that people will go out of their way to get.

Once you have your big idea, then it’s time to write.

They Have to Want It

In his book, The Architecture of Persuasion, Michael presents the art of copywriting as very similar to the art of seducing a romantic interest.

Rule #1 is to refrain from whacking them over the head, freaking them out and sending them running in fear. That, my friends won’t do anything for you.

Seduction isn’t about forcing your wants onto someone else. It’s about turning things upside down and becoming the pursued instead of the pursuer.

This is where copywriting meets art. And this is where it becomes very evident that the core foundational secret of great copy has little to do with words.

It has everything to do with understanding the emotional condition of your reader. Your reader has hopes, dreams and fears. They have aging parents, growing kids, and a load of stresses that they face each and everyday.

To the extent you can develop the ability to put yourself in their shoes and feel the feelings your reader is dealing with, the better your copy will be.

What Is Copywriting Really?

Many people will say that copywriting is about writing.

Fewer people will say that copywriting is about selling.

At the core, however, copywriting is not about either of those things.

Instead, copywriting is about developing an emotional connection with your reader. It’s about developing the ability to almost instantly kindle the beginnings of a relationship with a complete stranger; a stranger that you understand on a very, very deep level.

Selling things isn’t the result of great copy, it’s only a byproduct of the real result. The real result is a relationship with another human being.

Secure the relationship and you create a situation that makes selling possible.

That’s your focus.

Filed Under: Direct Response Copywriting

Wait For No One

November 2, 2011 By Jason 1 Comment

(This post was also published by Early to Rise here.)

Waiting for something to happen in your business just plain sucks.

Sometimes you’re waiting to hear back from a prospect or a vendor—sometimes you’re waiting on a payment from a client or a customer.

At other times, you’re waiting on someone to do something that they said they were going to do.

I’ve done more than my fair share of waiting. And when I fall into that trap, I end up feeling really stupid.

I feel stupid because I’ve allowed someone other than myself to slow down my progress. I feel stupid because when I’m “waiting,” often times that’s all I’m doing.

The progress of my business slows because I’m focused on the waiting.

But Waiting Is Not the Problem, It’s a Symptom

Waiting for someone or something in your business really isn’t a problem in and of itself. Waiting is really a symptom of the real problem, which is that you care more about what the world does than you care about what you are doing.

Waiting puts you in the position of caring about the effects of your actions more than moving onto the next action. Waiting puts you in the position of allowing yourself to be molded by the world instead of being the one doing the molding.

Here is the bottom line that you never want to forget:

The only thing you ultimately control in business is what you put into it. Despite what the business gurus tell you, I’ve never met anyone who had total control over what actually happens in a business. Sometimes it might look that way from the outside in. But when you’re on the inside, it simply doesn’t work that way.

So to put your focus on anything but your input is simply misdirected energy. It’s not going to do you any good no matter how hard you try. (And boy do we try.)

When you find yourself waiting around in your business, ask yourself, “Why have I chosen to put my focus on the actions of others instead of keeping my focus on my own action?”

That single question might be enough to snap you out of your trance and back into the mindset of a business builder.

The business building mindset is where you are focused on what you are doing. You are focused on the input. You are focused on the recipe. You are focused on things that you can control. You mess with that focus when you start thinking about what’s happening (or not happening) because of what you are doing.

In other words, you reduce your potential success when you get too attached to the results of what you are doing. It’s not that you don’t care what happens, it’s simply that you are not attached to the outcomes in an unproductive way. There is a difference and it is a pretty large one.

If you are waiting for anything in your business, I’d suggest that you simply don’t have enough work to do. Or at least you have not given yourself a long enough list of other productive things to do while the results take care of themselves.

In the absence of your list of important todos, you just sit and wait.

How Much Can One Person Accomplish?

I still remember the first week I tried planning out my work and blocking out my time. I basically ran out of things to do before the first day was over! That’s a bit of an exaggeration but it’s in an effort to make my point clear:

Despite how “busy” we say we are, very few of us actually have enough to do. Enough of the right things to do that is.

Instead, our days are filled with busy work and only highlighted with the occasional important activity.

The important activities come so rarely that we feel like we did something special just for completing one. Then we wait around to see what happens because of our “major accomplishment.”

That’s the trap you want to watch out for.

Operating like that is a sure sign that you need to better plan your work. When you decide to stop waiting for success and start pursuing it, you realize that one of the most difficult things to do is to plan enough work to fill your time with important tasks.

It might be hard to believe, but this is actually hard work and requires a lot of discipline in my experience. But it’s work worth doing. Because In the absence of a plan like this, you end up falling into the trap of “waiting” for something.

Wait For No One, Because Waiting is Wasting Your Life

I think a better way to operate is to go in with the attitude that, “You wait for no one.”

The idea isn’t that you should be a jerk and demand that everything happens on your terms. While that might be the stereotypical success personality, who wants to go through life acting like that? You might end up successful, but you’ll also end up alone. And that, in my book, is total failure.

The core idea I want to communicate is that when you’re waiting for someone to do something or for something to happen, forget about it in an instant and take action on something else to build your business.

Let’s say you are waiting on a payment from a client. Days go by and the payment doesn’t arrive. You wait and you wait, but still no payment.

You have two options:

The first option is to wait around and stew about it. Choose this path and you’ll be focusing your energy on a target that will do you absolutely no good.

The second option is to move on and focus on something you actually control. This will keep you in the driver’s seat of your life and your business.

Getting caught “waiting for the world” is a fool’s game. You will never win, because the world is not there to serve you. You are there to serve you.

Are you waiting on something or someone in your business?

Stop waiting, stop stewing, stop complaining.

Just start doing.

Filed Under: Millionaire Mindset

5 Questions with Craig Ballantyne

August 9, 2011 By Jason 3 Comments

Name: Craig Ballantyne
Name of Your Business: Early To Rise and TurbulenceTrainingCertification.com
What Your Business Does: Helps people grow and move closer to their life of their dreams (in fitness.
business building & personal development)
URL: www.EarlyToRise.com and www.TurbulenceTrainingCertification.com

1. What’s your biggest business accomplishment and what did you learn from it?

At first I was going to say my Turbulence Training Certification, because it’s something that I’ve truly been working on since I first started working out in high school. I remember telling a friend in my first year of college that I wanted to take my style of workouts and fitness to the world via books and seminars and all that…and finally it’s a reality as there are Certified TT Trainers around the world in over 7 countries.

But really, I wouldn’t be able to do this without my team…and so building a team of incredible people, most of whom get to work daily on their Unique Ability (a great concept from Dan Sullivan), so they are engaged in work that they see as changing lives – which it is. As many of the books I’ve read (like Good to Great, Rockefeller Habits, etc.) will tell you, people don’t just work for money, they work to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

And I like to think that we are building that environment with the help of my team here.

Now to be honest, I’m an introverted, sometimes-curmudgeonly leader. So that makes it all the more of an accomplishment to me…haha.

The biggest lessons I’ve stumbled across putting my Certification and team together are:

a) Nothing helps you get work done faster than a a deadline. I was struggling with creating the final content for the Certification, so I reserved a hotel seminar room, paid the fee, and was therefore given a final date and a punishment if I missed the deadline. Of course, I found a way to get the work done. It’s a simple solution anyone can use if they are struggling to finish a project.

b) Have a MISSION in your business. My fitness message went from good to great as soon as I told the world that our Mission was to help 1 Million men and women transform their bodies and their lives by 2020. Now all of the sudden, people, readers, and total strangers want to be a part of it – all because we are naturally attracted to being part of something bigger.

c) Put it out there to the Universe. Trust me, I know it sounds hokey, but it’s also practical. There comes a point where you have to tell at least a few people about your big, hairy, audacious goals…because they will know someone who knows someone who knows someone who can help you. So if you really want to achieve a dream, tell someone. Put it out there.

Sorry for cheating and listing 2 accomplishments and 3 lessons. My apologies.

2. Favorite Book EVER and Why:

Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl

Frankly, most people today in Western Society have grown soft. We complain about everything. It’s too hot, it’s too cold, I’m tired, my feet hurt, I’m hungry, I missed Jersey Shore and my TIVO is broken.

(And don’t get me wrong, I do my fair share of complaining…but I immediately realize how ridiculous it is.)

We have no true perspective on what it is like to deal with true suffering.

Most people don’t realize what humans are capable of achieving, overcoming, and dealing with.

Frankl’s book has affected me on many levels. First, physically. I know that everything I do, from working outside in bone-numbing cold or setting a personal best in a difficult workout in the gym, pales in comparison to what men and women have had to suffer in generations past. Even people making minimum wage today have a better life than royalty did 300 years ago.

Second, his book gave me one of my mantras, “it will all be over soon”. While we all suffer, we must remember that all suffering ends. Better days lie ahead for everyone.

So instead of complaining, we should look for the lessons we can learn in all suffering, look for the positives to focus on that will help us endure any suffering, and then share this so that we can help anyone going through the same suffering.

But, the “it will all be over soon” mantra has a second meaning and reminder that life will be over all too soon, and if I want to achieve something, then I better get working on it now.

I truly believe Frankl’s book should be mandatory reading in high school. Sure, the messages would be lost on 90% of the kids, but it could make a real difference for the rest of the kids, and we need to start somewhere.

3. What’s one thing people online don’t know about you that you’d like to share?

I take a lot of inspiration in my business from rockstars rather than Internet Marketers.

I watch how the good ones treat their fans, how they go the extra mile in their productions, how they continue to be creative even when they are on the road touring, and how they invest money back into their businesses.

My #1 inspiration is this musician from Toronto named Deadmau5. He plays electronic music, and wears a giant mousehead on stage at his shows. And dozens of fans build their own and bring to his shows – where he autographs them. It’s really an incredible phenomenon.

Deadmau5 (named for a deadmouse he once found in one of his computers) has millions of Facebook fans, and he still takes time to do live Ustream chats, visits to high schools, upload tons of personal photos and info to his pages (allowing a greater connection with his fans), and many, many other things that “social media gurus” are out there teaching people to do for big money…but this guy just does it because it’s “right” for his fans.

He doesn’t live a flashy life, but he pours a ton of his money back into making the coolest stage show in the electronic music scene, and therefore creating the ultimate customer experience. Plus, his act has spawned an incredible merchandising spin-off of the regular t-shirts and stuff, but also figurines, mouse ears, and so much other stuff that stimulates participation in his “herd” as Dan Kennedy would say.

Essentially, he’s doing all the right stuff…but not because he went to some slick Internet Marketing guru’s seminar, but just because he wants his fans to get the greatest quality product (his music) and have an incredible emotional experience at his shows.

Folks in all industries could learn a lot from him…just as most of us could from generally looking outside of the IM industry to the real world. There’s a lot of good people out there doing great stuff without a “mind control” IM agenda.

4. What’s one mistake that you see business builders making online and what should they do instead?

Too many people think that they “deserve” a million dollar product launch.

First, most people don’t have a BIG IDEA that will support a product launch. Their product and marketing is the same as everyone elses, and they think that if they can just get enough of the “big affiliates” to promote their launch, then they will be able to retire to the Caribbean.

It doesn’t work that way. I’ve watched plenty of launches, some with gimmicks, some with massive affiliate support, and the only ones that work like gangbusters are the ones where there is a big idea with a unique hook as part of the product.

If you don’t have this, you won’t have a great launch.

Second, even if they have a big idea, they don’t appreciate the work that it takes to run a product launch, and I don’t just mean from a marketing and affiliate recruitment perspective.

There are so many things to consider: You need copy that converts and makes your affiliates more money than they could get somewhere else, you need adequate hosting for all the traffic, you need to make sure you have the right upsell flow to maximize revenue, and so on and so on. It’s not just as simple as creating an ebook and asking affiliates to mail.

Third, they think that one product launch is going to make them rich and end all of their worries. But in reality, after you pay affiliates (bonuses and commissions), a launch consultant, web hosting/design, and the dozens of other little things that add up to real money, you only come out with a fraction of that “big launch money”.

The real money comes from the work you continue to do in the relationship building – and back end sales – following the product launch.

People are naturally enamored by the gurus who claim $4 million dollar product launches, but don’t know the real truth about the numbers – mostly because the gurus don’t want Dorothy to see what really goes on behind the curtain.

5. If you started over building your business today, what’s the ONE thing you’d do differently?

I wouldn’t have been so cheap. But hey, that’s what happens when you grow up poor on a farm and have a Scottish father and an efficient German mother. Now I’m not really blaming my circumstances, just making a joke. I take full responsibility for my poor decisions of not investing earlier in coaches, mentors, professional SEO help, courses, etc.

As a result of my cheapness, I had an email newsletter for 2 years before I started selling anything (1999-2001). And then 2 more years of a couple bucks here and a couple bucks there. It wasn’t until I bought Bob Serling’s “Info Millions” in 2003 that my business really started growing.

Although it still wasn’t until 2006 when I hired my first business coach, Tom Venuto, that things exploded and set me on the fast track to success.

So I wasted many years just “doing okay” when I could have made a bigger impact and helped more people. And that’s another thing…I didn’t fully understand that by not having a bigger business, that meant that I was not helping as many people as I could. When you switch to that mindset, and realize that you have a solution that people need, then you’ll start taking action faster to get your solution into their hands.

Trust me, the list of things I’d do differently could go on and on…but that should serve as encouragement to people, because if I can succeed with all of the mistakes I’ve made, you can too.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

5 Questions with Matt Smith

July 20, 2011 By Jason Leave a Comment

Name: Matt Smith
Name of Your Business: Early To Rise
What Your Business Does: Publishing
URL: www.EarlyToRise.com

1. What’s your biggest business accomplishment and what did you learn from it?

My biggest business accomplishment has been developing relationships with a wide ranging network of influential, interesting and impressive people.

This has lead to numerous financial opportunities for me, but that’s not the half of it. Surrounding yourself with truly impressive people enriches your life on all levels.

The biggest thing I learned from the experience is actually HOW to do it. Just five years ago I was making a lot of money, but was essentially living in a very unsatisfying vacuum. One day I simply decided I was going to stop chasing money and only do things that interested me.

Interesting people interest me. So, that’s where I started.

Building a network like this demands that I demonstrate, in every encounter and consistently over time, that I am both a person who adds value and a person who can be fully trusted.

I actually detailed this process in a report called the Network Infiltration Report. You can download it free here.

2. Favorite Book EVER and Why:

For me, books are all about timing. Some things seem to ring especially true at certain points in your life. In my case, one of the most influential books I’ve ever read (and I’ve read it no less then a dozen times by now) is “Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life”

I don’t expect that to be on anyone else’s top ten list, but for me it was, and continues to be, hugely influential. Epictetus along with a few others have provided the perspective by which I view MY life and what I need to do with it.

The Stoics aren’t very popular these days but in the last couple of years they’ve gained some fame when Tim Ferriss started talking about another great Stoic, Seneca. http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/04/13/stoicism-101-a-practical-guide-for-entrepreneurs/

3. What’s one thing people online don’t know about you that you’d like to share?

Frankly, I’ve been doing business online since 1998 and most people in this community probably have no idea who I am and if they’ve heard of me they know little to nothing about me.

I think I prefer it that way.

4. What’s one mistake that you see business builders making online and what should they do instead?

The internet is training us to be fast, short term thinkers and has made success too easy. Too easy? Yes, and I think that ‘ease of success’ has created a trap for business builders.

Very few internet marketers, in particular, seem to understand the basic value equation that’s driven the success of businesses pre-easy button days.

Just like building a great network, businesses are built on constantly adding value to your customer’s lives and demonstrating that you are trustworthy. Too many marketers are hide behind good intentions while spending 90% of their time trying to separate people from their money.

Nothing wrong with making sales. That’s why we’re in business.

But, our businesses are dominated by the guiding principle that we’ll provide more value, each and every day to our customers then we ever ask for in return.

Beyond that more people need to take to heart the ideas discussed in Seth Godin’s short book, Tribes, and rehashed in numerous other places. The world needs leaders. It needs people to stand up and stand for something.

5. If you started over building your business today, what’s the ONE thing you’d do differently?

I’ve created eight companies in the last several years so I’ve had the opportunity to refine my approach with each. The biggest thing I’m focusing on now is trying to make sure that I’m working on things where I can best put my strengths to work and avoiding everything else.

As Entrepreneurs, we tend to naturally fill voids. If there is a problem, we jump in to fix it. If we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be successful. But, as our businesses reach a certain level you just can’t do that. You have to focus on your “stupid human trick” as a wise friend of mine likes to call it.

Filed Under: 5 Questions Interviews with Internet Marketing Experts

How to Starve By Teaching a Man to Fish

July 18, 2011 By Jason Leave a Comment

I sent this out to my subscribers this morning. I’m posting it here just to give you an idea of the type of information you receive as a subscriber. If you think it’s important to the success of your business to get a steady diet of information like this, then get on the list. You can subscribe a bunch of places on my site. Here’s the message I sent:

Dear Business Builder,

I’ve got a few client deadlines staring me in the face and I
was writing some email sequences over the weekend that
reminded me of something important.

The quote below pretty much sums it up. Oh… I took some
liberties with it and adapted it just a wee bit.

So here’s my “adapted” quote… with apologies to Confucius:

“Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a
man to fish, and you’ve fed him for a lifetime. Teach him to
fish before he pays you for your help and they’ll be NO fish
for you!”

Selling is about focusing demand on what you have. It is
about focusing that demand so clearly that someone can’t
help but to buy your product or service.

There is tension there that the sale releases. But teaching
creates little to no tension. And teaching creates little to
no attraction.

That’s fine if all you’re trying to do is TEACH.

After all, teaching is a valuable thing. It can change
lives. But if you’re in the selling business, teaching can
be a killer if you don’t use it correctly.

Teaching doesn’t sell. SELLING sells.

A lot of people are good teachers. Far fewer are good at
selling.

If you want to change lives, learn to teach. If you want to
get paid really well for changing lives, make sure you learn
to sell.

I don’t control the way the world works, but I do my best to
pay attention to the way it works.

Talk to you soon,

Jason Leister
Renegade Internet Entrepreneur

http://www.jasonleister.com

P.S. The Hotsheet goes out in just a few hours… If you
want it, hop onboard now:

http://www.jasonleister.com/hotsheet

P.P.S. Just an update. I’ve had to make some changes to the
way I work with new clients. Here’s a link to the details
just so there’s no confusion:

http://www.jasonleister.com/contact

Filed Under: Internet Marketing Strategy

How to Sell a $6,800 Item with a Four Page Letter

July 7, 2011 By Jason 2 Comments

A few years ago, my wife decided to sell one of her musical instruments.

At the time, I was just getting going in the copywriting world. I wasn’t writing for clients yet, but I WAS writing for myself.

Of course the first thing I thought of to do was… to write a letter and sell it that way.

Wouldn’t you know it, the letter was extremely effective and, to the best of my knowledge, the instrument was gone in about a week.

4 pieces of paper turned into $6,800.

The power of the written word is amazing.

Take a look at the short letter below:

Filed Under: Direct Response Copywriting

Internet Marketer Found Guilty on All Counts

June 25, 2011 By Jason 2 Comments

I’ve tried to keep this a secret…

But once it hits the press I’m not going have a choice, so today is the day to tell you the story before you hear it from someone else.

I’ve been found guilty on a long list of internet marketing charges.

What’s the crime?

Well, there’s only ONE, but it’s a BIG one. And it’s one with far reaching ramifications for the rest of my life. Here’s the charge:

Conspiracy to Give Away the Farm

I have to admit, I’m sooooooo guilty.

The evidence is really everywhere. In countless (OK, a couple hundred) blog posts, articles and reports.

You name it… if it’s “free,” I’ve probably done it and given it away.

I’m not trying to ignore the seriousness of this offense or make flimsy excuses for my behavior, but I can see now how it happened.

Everything was fine until I kind of fell in with the wrong crowd. I met the “free line” folks one day when I was just minding my business walking down the street.

They pulled me in with their promises of “the easy life” and their talk about sitting on beaches and sipping cold drinks.

“Just give it away for free, and the buyers will come,” they said.

I would ask, “If I give it away, why would anyone buy…?” but they just got that funny grin on their faces and talked about zooming around town in their Porsche.

At first, I thought they were nuts. But then I saw their cars… and I went to their houses…

“How do these people DO it?” I asked myself.

I’m not sure if it was NLP crap or if they had some mind control device that gave them an unfair advantage, but I DO know that, over time, their plan worked.

I became a free line zombie, and started churning out huge amounts of value with a “Free, somebody PLEASE take it” sign on it.

Now you’ve probably not heard of this “conspiracy to give away the farm” charge before. I think I’m probably the first person to be successfully prosecuted for this. But apparently they had to make an example of someone and my number came up. It’s life, it happens.

The thing is, I know a lot of people who are guilty of this same crime. (I have something to say to those folks in a second.)

I really started with the best of intentions. I wanted to help people. I can honestly say that I had no idea just how much damage a strategy like this can inflict on a society.

The lawyers called it a few steps below a “crime against humanity.” My mouth dropped open, but the more I thought about it, I have to say, I kind of agree with them.

So what’s the penalty for all of this? Well, it’s pretty serious. It’s basically:

Probation for Life

Part of my agreement with the prosecutor includes strict adherence to a set of guidelines that I’ve listed below. From this point forward I’m strictly prohibited from engaging in these activities:

Giving away free advice that I could charge thousands of dollars for.
Creating free content that teaches people to do things for free without asking for anything in return.

And there are also two MUST dos that they put on the list:

Invest all of the extra money I will be making in a conservative mix of stocks, bonds and mutual funds.
With all the money I have left after THAT, I’m supposed to treat my family to a nice vacation… AND buy myself sumpin nice too.

I get the first two “don’ts,” but I’m not sure why they threw in the last one. As you can see, this is a pretty serious list of stuff.

Listen, I can’t change what I’ve done, but I can turn over a new leaf and just look forward. I’m starting fresh today.

So I’m being forced to change some things around here.

Mainly, I’ll only be posting to the blog once a week or so. I will be communicating via email ONLY for the rest of the time, so if you want to get a regular dose of reality from an “in the trenches” internet entrepreneur, then you have to get on my list.

That’s right, you have to give me your email address.

Sorry, my hand is being forced. There are sign up opportunities all over my site.

Here’s one right now:

The fact is, I can’t give things away without getting something in return.

You’ll find the same policy in effect at some of my other sites.

SPECIAL NOTE TO THE PROSECUTOR:

Mr. Prosecutor, I’m even doing a paid webinar next week called, “The 5 Freelancing Mistakes that Have Cost Me at LEAST $105,000 in Lost Fees” over at Clients Suck. It’s for freelancers and professional service providers and anyone else who works with clients. People can sign up here.

Things have gotten so bad in the marketplace, with this “free” crime running so rampant, that it sounds weird to even say that I expect something in return for providing value. How rude to assume that there should be an even exchange?

Business is an exchange of value. It is not a ticket to come to a free buffet. Do you wonder why you’re always still hungry after you’ve eaten at a free buffet type website?

You’ve gotten food but you really haven’t been fed.

I’m going to start feeding people, but only the people that are prepared to invest in their food.

One more thing before I wrap this up. It’s really a plea that I told the suits I would make to everyone else who is committing this egregious crime on a daily basis:

Give Yourselves Up

If you are sitting there reading this, KNOWING that you are guilty of this crime, it’s time to come out in the open and fess up.

Come out of the dark. Stop hiding in the corners. Stop running, the risks are just too great.

If you have a family and kids, you have to stop. You have to realize the damage that this “free” thing does to you, your family and all of the people that should be your clients and customers.

Take it from me. Learn from my experience.

Otherwise you could be next.

(They’re watching you.)

Filed Under: Internet Marketing

Increase Your Fees with These 8 Golden Questions

June 22, 2011 By Jason Leave a Comment

One of the ways you can raise your fees as a freelancer or professional service provider is to start asking better questions.

The more of the right information you have, the better your position will be to communicate VALUE to your client.

For example, if you ask no questions and simply take orders, there’s not much you can do when a client says something like, “We need a brochure designed… how much is it?”

In that situation, the client is in control. You answer the question with a number and then he either accepts it or starts to negotiate.

Questions can completely change the situation.

Not only that, but in any discussion with a prospective client, whoever is asking the questions is in control.

You want to be in control. I talk about other ways to “be in control” in my book, Moneymaking Secrets of a Renegade Freelancer.

If you’re going to be smart about working with clients, the answers to questions like the ones below are what you need to know.

There are many, many valuable questions you can ask, here is just a small sampling:

1. What exactly are you trying to achieve?

2. What is it worth to you and your company to reach that goal?

3. What makes you think I can help you reach that goal?

4. My fees vary, but often times they fall within the range of $XX-$XX. Will that be a problem?

5. What is the biggest obstacle you feel you are facing right now?

6. How much of a problem (in dollars and cents) would you say that is creating for you?

7. What types of things have you tried in the past to solve this problem?

8. Who else is involved in making the decision about the project we’re discussing? (Note: if you’re not talking to the person that signs the check, then stop talking and schedule a meeting with the RIGHT person.)

The skill of getting the right information by asking questions is totally learnable. I learned it, I teach it, and it’s totally worth the effort to get it under your belt.

But let me tell you, if there’s one skill you need to master in the client selling process, this is the one.

It is GOLDEN.

Without the right information, it’s easy to make assumptions that really really hurt you.

WITH the right information, things like “closing the sale,” become irrelevant.

Filed Under: Millionaire Mindset

Why It Pays to Be Shallow on the Internet

June 20, 2011 By Jason 3 Comments

I don’t mean a shallow person, I’m talking about your business building skills.

I mean it pays to go broad in your skills instead of deep. Concentrate on being very good at a lot of things instead of world class at one.

I know this isn’t what you hear from the famous folks writing bestselling business books, but I’m not writing business books, I’m building my business.

You don’t have to be in business too long to realize that business building is pretty much synonymous with problem solving. You’re either solving problems you have or solving problems other people have.

And the more tools you have in your bag, the more efficiently you can solve more problems.

But you can’t solve 50 different problems if all you show up with is ONE tool.

If you’re an expert copywriter building a business, things can get a little skewed. Because all you know is copywriting.

All a hammer expert sees are things that look like nails. Whether or not they’re nails doesn’t really matter, because everything looks like a nail.

That’s a pretty boring and slightly dysfunctional way to approach business building.

And being boring violates the #1 rule of marketing:

Don’t Be Boring

If you’re an expert in one thing you run the risk of:

Missing opportunities outside your field of vision. You simply don’t know what you don’t know.
Trying to solve business problems with the wrong solutions. The company is suffering, so let’s sell more stuff, says the marketer.
Getting killed if your one area of expertise all of a sudden stops working.

But what about being the best in the world? Even if you have to define the world as one legged golfers who wear green golf shoes? Isn’t that smart?

Hmmmm….

Being the best in the world really isn’t necessary and it isn’t practical. Do you have any idea how big the world is? Your client doesn’t care if you’re the best in the world, they care if you can solve their problem.

Being the best in the world requires such a focus and dedication on such a small target that you end up being a little bit dysfunctional and unbalanced if you ask me. (I’m picturing a nerd here.)

In my book, the real goal isn’t to be just an expert, it’s to be a self-sufficient business owner.

If you’re going to build a business online that has a strong foundation, you need to be proficient in a lot of things. PERIOD.

At the very least, you need an understanding of many different areas, not just one (like how to sell stuff).

I’ve been in situations where that was the case, and it creates problems. Real problems.

Here’s a video I created for copywriters a few years ago that talks about the decision we all have to make between specializing and generalizing.

Here’s a real world example, taken from my six-figure copywriting book. Now in the book, I use this as an example of what can happen when you get out of the mindset of being an order taker and get into the position of being a professional. But the story below can also serve as an example of what can happen when you come to the table with a bag of tools instead of just a single tool.

One of my biggest and most profitable clients contacted me for some help rewriting the copy on his website.

Had I given him what he “wanted,” the work would have probably been your run-of-the- mill, bread and butter copywriting job.

But you don’t help clients by giving them what they want, you create big results by discovering what they really need and then selling it to them.

So let’s take a look at this client through two scenarios. In the first scenario, I close the deal by email.

It would have been pretty straightforward. A few questions back and forth about how he wanted the site to go, what his goal was, and some sort of question to figure out the general range of the fee.

A few more emails about the exact price and it would have been done. The fee would be wired to my bank account and we’d be done.

Using the Phone to Double
and Triple Your Income

But let’s go back and find out what really happened.

The inquiry came in via my website. So I picked up the phone and called. And in less than five minutes, the prospect told me what he wanted (copy for his website) and asked the question: So what do you charge?

Remember, this is the stage where you either do something smart or do something stupid. I chose the former and asked him, “What makes you think that rewriting your website is going to do anything for your bottom line?”

He didn’t have a good answer.

Long story short, the project quickly turned from me being an order taker, delivering what the client wanted, to being a professional, selling what the client really needed.

If I had done that through email, I’d be out of a marketing job, a large fee and the agreement to get paid a percentage of future sales I helped to generate.

That one phone call eventually ended up being worth many thousands of dollars to me.

(If you want to hear more, you can download a copy of the book right now by visiting this page. It’s probably the best $99 you can spend if you are a freelance copywriter.)

The point of this whole article is this: specializing causes your world to shrink down around you. Generalizing gives you the tools and understanding to keep discovering new worlds of opportunity.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing

Can You Spot What’s Weird About This Salesletter?

June 20, 2011 By Jason Leave a Comment

A few years ago, I wrote a promotion for Martin Howey and TopLine Business Solutions. TopLine provides comprehensive training and support to help entrepreneurs become business consultants in record time.

Martin is an amazing man and his dedication to the success of the consultants he trains is without parallel. I have never met someone who invests so much time and real effort in helping others succeed.

The letter I wrote is about 9,000 words and includes video and audio as well as the written word. Take a minute to look at the letter and notice if you spot anything odd about it. Look carefully.

Here’s the link.

Do You Notice Anything Odd About the Letter?

At first, you might think it looks like a typical direct response style salesletter. You’d be right. You’ve got the headline, the lead, the body, bullets, testimonials, calls to action etc.

So what’s “weird” about it?

Well, the answer is its length.

It’s not a whole lot more copy than you might use to sell a $300 product or service…

Except Martin isn’t selling a big box of stuff that gets shipped to your doorstep for only $397. His offering is an intense multi-day event where you enter as a normal person and you walk out as a well trained and well prepared business consultant.

And he’s sold his training for up to $20,000 and maybe beyond.

What’s the Lesson?

The lesson is that a sale is a sale is a sale. And it’s often no harder to make a sale at $97 than it is at $20,000. In fact, personally, I find high ticket sales a whole lot easier than low ticket ones. I don’t know why, I just do.

So the next time you have a goal you want to reach, don’t shortchange yourself by making up some story about why you should cut it up into little pieces to make it more “realistic.”

In fact, don’t make up stories about anything period. They will limit your thinking and in turn limit your results.

If you’re going to do the work to make a sale, why not make it the largest and most profitable one you can?

Martin also learned another lesson from this letter which he posted about here. Take a look.

Always learning. Always learning. Always learning.

Filed Under: Direct Response Copywriting