The Copywriter Underground

Writers cook up success strategies like Paris Hilton generates headlines, yet one of the most enduring strategies extant is “find a niche that interests you, then dominate it.”

That’s exactly what writer Tom Gaylord did, and interested in his success formula, I called him out of the blue to talk.

Gaylord is paid to write extensively in the airgun market, and a quick survey of that niche reveals Gaylord’s name atop:

• The industry’s most-popular blog (paid for by the industry’s biggest specialty retailer)
• A series of paid (and successful) podcasts
• Countless paid product reviews and articles on multiple Web sites
• On the masthead of an online magazine as airgun editor

What’s astonishing to him isn’t that he’s writing about a topic he loves — it’s that he’s getting paid for every word.

That’s a prescription for lifelong success, and — dare I say it — long-term job satisfaction. (There’s a sentence worth reading twice.)

Gaylord’s animated face stares out from the industry’s biggest Web site.

The Airgun Market: More Than Hot Air

I became aware of Gaylord while teaching an online marketing class; I used Pyramyd Air (the airgun industry’s largest speciality retailer) as a case study in the benefits of high-quality content marketing.

(Helpful Hint: use them as an example in your own pitches.)

While their Web site is not exactly a thing of beauty, Pyramyd Air leverages high quality content better than most Fortune 500 firms. They engage customers with a wildly informative daily blog (written by Gaylord), twice-a-month podcasts (created by Gaylord), numerous “how-to” and product review articles (yes, written by Gaylord), and even short video snippets (Gaylord again).

If you look closely, you’ll even see his animated face talking to visitors from the “Tom’s Picks” product recommendation page.

Pyramyd’s site isn’t pretty, but to search engines and airgun junkies, it’s pure art.

All that high-quality content generates excellent native search results for Pyramyd, and the stream of useful engagement content renders Pyramyd’s Web site far stickier than competing sites (engagement marketing binds customers to brands via shared passions and values).

In fact, Gaylord’s blog posts often generate more than 100 comments, and the comment count on popular posts exceeds 300.

Those are startling numbers given the size of the airgun market (as a niche, it’s not exactly in the same league as celebrity gossip or computers).

With the help of their successful online marketing strategy, Pyramyd’s retail growth has been phenomenal; expansion is forcing them to relocate to a bigger building.

What I didn’t know about Pyramyd was that Gaylord pitched all those projects to the company (a practice I advocate), and that much of the company’s online success could be laid right at his feet.

In the interest of brevity, I segregated our interview into categories. Enjoy!

The Successful Writer

Tom Gaylord is a direct, precise speaker (he speaks much like he writes), yet his directness belies a thoughtful interior. He often paused after I asked an unexpected question, and his answers were responsive and to the point (not always a given).

Still, it’s not hard to see what matters to him — the first words out of Gaylord’s mouth were: “Most important is to write about the things you love doing.”

Gaylord’s writing style is conversational, and not intimidating or pedantic.

“I see my role as more an educator than salesman” he said, and his straightforward style of writing reflects it. He’s been writing about airguns for almost two decades, and expects to “continue doing so until I drop.”

How does he generate so much copy for so many venues?

“You should write about the things you love so much that you can’t wait to write the next post or article.”

The Successful Pitch

Pitching new media technologies to most business organizations isn’t for the easily discouraged. When pressed for the secrets of his success, he said “You have to start by getting to know people. You need to meet them face-to-face.

“I went to the trade show and met the owner of Pyramyd. When we first spoke about the blog, I already had a business plan ready.”

In this sense, Gaylord was lucky; the president of Pyramyd soon bought into the SEO and engagement benefits of a blog. Still, that’s not often the case, and Gaylord’s secret weapon is to find an internal champion for his information products.

“Often that’s an IT or marketing guy. Once someone on the inside is on your side, things happen.”

After the success of the blog, Gaylord kept pushing; he pitched a podcast (despite not knowing how to produce one), taught himself the technology, and delivered a catalog of podcasts that garner extremely high listening rates.

Gaylord couldn’t produce a podcast until he sold one. Now he has a page of them.

Still, the initial pitch wasn’t a no-brainer — until Gaylord found an effective sales tactic.

“I told them it was better to pay me to write the articles than it was to spend the money on SEO optimization or a huge keyword buy.”

That’s an intriguing tactic. Many companies spend small fortunes on AdWords and SEO optimization, but are experiencing diminishing returns.

The Successful Blog

Gaylord’s Five Rules of Successful Commercial Blogging are refreshingly simple, and reflect his down-home approach to the subject of writing for a living:

• Write about what you know and love
• You don’t have to know everything
• Charge appropriate to your market
• Serialize when the subject gets long
• Edit your work (People may use poor grammar and punctuation, but they don’t want to read it)

His posts are crammed with information, and slaughter some of blogging’s sacred cows. They’re long (by blogging standards), and though he breaks up the text with frequent subheads, the subheads (and copy) lack hype or strong benefits.

It’s an excellent illustration of engagement writing; he’s talking to a very engaged audience, and the slow buildup of disbelief fostered by excessively amped copy would eventually damage his credibility with readers.

They want information and a demonstrated passion for the sport, and he provides it. Gaylord’s writing is either a great example of a refined editorial/commercial writing style, or one of the softest sales pitches you’ve ever seen.

The Conflicts

When I asked Gaylord about walking that fine line between PR hack and credible writer, he knew exactly what I was talking about.

“I have to maintain my credibility, so I don’t say good things about bad products. And though I’m not an employee of Pyramyd, I represent them, so I watch what I say.”

Apparently, Gaylord’s done a good job maintaining credibility with readers and retailers; his articles appear on the Web sites of several competing retailers, and he recently wrote a blog entry largely condemning a new air pistol with “As the Typhoon stands today, it has very little to recommend it.”

Nothing creates credibility with a client like success, and given Gaylord’s contribution to Pyramyd’s rise, he’s built the credibility needed to deliver a less-than-shining product review — or pitch Pyramyd on new technologies.

The Job

“I’ve held a variety of regular jobs in my life, and I did not like them. When I found out I could make a living doing this fulltime — something I’d probably do anyway — I said to my wife ‘they’ll pay me to do this?’”

The fact that Gaylord hasn’t read a shelf of “How to write copy that sells” books likely works in his favor; the new engagement writer isn’t pitching products, he’s engaging via shared passions and values, and engagement doesn’t exist in an excessively hype-laden environment.

In fact, Gaylord isn’t really a copywriter in the classic sense, and he’ll likely never have the lead spread in Inc. magazine.

He’s simply a writer seriously engaged with his subject matter — so much so that he infects his readers with his enthusiasm.

In short, what Gaylord’s really selling isn’t airguns or pellets; the product here is his rampant, authentic passion for airgunning.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler

Technorati tags: tom gaylord, pyramyd air, copywriting, writing, engagement, engagement marketing, engagement writing, airguns, interview

Once again, we’ve made it to the show. We’re part of the “in” crowd. The Copywriter Underground gets to sit at the cool table at lunch.

Yessiree — we’ve again been selected as one of the Top 10 Writer’s Blogs. (Michael Stelzner is so full service he even provided us with a nifty logo.)

Naturally, my upstate New York upbringing is kicking in; I scanned the list of very deserving nominees (and a few that weren’t nominated) and came to the conclusion I should buy a lottery ticket today.

This year’s Top 10 list includes some new faces. I added them all to my RSS reader, and believe you should too:

1. 1. Copyblogger, by Brian Clark: Holding the number-one spot for the second year running, this site excels at teaching the art of writing.
   2. Freelance Writing Jobs, by Deborah Ng: For writers seeking new work, this site is your sole destination and maintains a top spot in our contest from last year.
   3. The Renegade Writer, by Linda Formichelli and Dianna Burell: Are you a freelance journalist looking for inspiration? Look no further.
   4. Web Content Writer Tips, by James Chartrand and Harrison McLeod: With a focus on making more money as a writer, this blog is full of helpful how-to articles.
   5. Web Writing Info, by Courtney Ramirez: This excellent blog looks at social networking and emerging web-based opportunities for writers.
   6. The Golden Pencil, by Anne Wayman: Wayman, a second-year winner, examines how to go for the gold as a freelance writer.
   7. Catalystblogger, by Jennifer Williamson: Williamson writes about the pains and trials writers face.
   8. Freelance Parent, by Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamara Berry: Two moms provide excellent perspective on writing with a dash of parenting.
   9. Write from Home, by Amy Derby: Derby provides fresh commentary and advice on writing.
   10. Copywriter Underground, by Tom Chandler: This site, a second-year winner, provides regular doses of inspiration for copywriters.

Am I surprised? Truly I am. The Copywriter Underground doesn’t have what you’d call a marketing agenda; it hasn’t functioned as a source of work and I’m not selling ebooks.

It’s simply a reflection of one longtime copywriter’s thoughts on the craft in what you’d have to call turbulent times. Thanks for tuning in. There’s plenty more to come.

Props to Michael Stelzner for all his work, and I gratefully accept this knowing Writing White Papers should occupy a place in the Top 10, but won’t as long as he organizes the Top 10 list.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

Technorati tags: copywriting, copywriter, blogging, top 10 writers blog, top 10 blog, freelance writer, freelance copywriter

I was asked to write a monthly column for Chief Marketer about blogging and engagement marketing, and my second effort just hit the newsstands (the virtual, online newsstand).

It focuses on The Britannica Blog — a stunning new blog effort from one of the oldest brands in the knowledge business. Until I’m back from vacation (my current dialup access is akin to two tin cans on a string), this will have to do.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

[tags]copywriting, writing, blogging, business blogging, engagement marketing[/tags]

One benefit of blogging is visibility. In my case, that visibility translated into a client or two, though even clients who find me via my “static” copywriting site mention my copywriting and engagement marketing blogs.

After all, credibility and visibility are critical elements of the sales process. Blogging helps with both.

It’s how Chief Marketer magazine found me when they wanted to interview a business blogging “expert” — which went well enough that I was asked to write a regular article touching on engagement marketing and business blogging.

Frankly, it’s little different from writing blog articles. But it exposes me to a whole new audience. That’s desirable for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which reflects one of my concerns about the blogosphere.

It can get a little incestuous. After all, the universe of non-blog-reading potential clients is huge. And — given my fascination with engagement marketing — I want to talk to the businesses who aren’t blogging or reading blogs.

Who do you want to talk to? And are you sure they’re reading your blog? If not, what are you doing to talk to them (instead of hoping they’ll find you)?

[tags]copywriting, blogs, business blogs, chief marketer, engagement marketing[/tags]

Roberta Rosenberg of the Copywriting Maven tagged me as one of the five blogs that make her think (if only a little).

I got a little rush from that; I read Roberta’s posts religiously (at her own blog and her guest posts on the Copyblogger site). We’ve both been around a long time, and frankly, she keeps me honest. Her “ground truth” approach nicely counters my wilder flights into the aether, serving as a reminder of what it takes to survive for better than two decades in this business.

Can You Name Five Thought Provoking Blogs? » Read the rest of this entry «

The GetOutdoors blog (a Top 10 blog in the outdoor niche) is looking for a couple bloggers.

The faint of heart need not apply.

They’re looking for good writers with a little attitude, and they’re even willing to pay for it. I’m too busy making millions off my own outdoor blog to single-handedly turn them into a success too, but maybe you’re not.

There you go — a good lead on a fun gig. At the Copywriter Underground, the giving never stops. Never.

[tags]blog, getoutdoors, job[/tags]

“Google Says Blogging is Dead” one headline screams, while BusinessWeek asserts blogs are being “Twitterized” — that blogging’s apparently too-thoughtful posts are being replaced by shallower, less-thought-intensive bursts of information.

Are blogs dead? Should my clients reconsider my advice to build and populate business blogs — and offer 140 character micro-thoughts instead?

Should I be planning for a new career in telemarketing?

Hype and Blogging

A blog isn’t a holy relic with supernatural powers (as some in the blogosphere might suggest). Nor is it the Ultimate Marketing Tool business has long pined for, but apparently it’s beyond the reach of many in the media to understand that.

A blog is simply a powerful, easy-to-use electronic publishing platform. They’re exceptional tools for businesses, even if only used as one-way conduits for pushing information to customers and prospects.

They’re affordable, they’re responsive, and it doesn’t require an advanced course in nuclear physics to get something posted on the company site. So why are they dying?

They Aren’t, Of Course

The answer, of course, is that blogs aren’t dying in any meaningful sense. New blogs are created every second, but not as many as before. To a hype-addicted media, slowing growth apparently now equals impending death.

And let’s be clear — growth is slowing among personal blogs, and nobody with a half a brain is surprised. Most human beings are not writers, yet approximately 15.5 million of them thought they’d give it a try, thinking writing was an easy, relaxing pastime.

Naturally, they were mostly wrong about that, and it’s hardly surprising that people are trading in their blogs for the bite-sized chunks of twitter and its ankle-deep stream of consciousness.

It’s a perfect fit in a culture that sometimes feels a little disposable, and a quick visit to the twitter site tends to confirm that thinking.

Wither the Business Blog?

I don’t believe Twitter’s going to offer much impact on small and medium-sized businesses. (Somebody will prove me wrong of course. It’s simply a matter of time.)

Lifestyle advertisers like Coca-Cola and Nike might jump on it — turning a largely free service used by teenagers into a multi-million dollar division of the marketing department — but my average client? I don’t see much point.

The “traditional” businesses blog will continue to grow (and yes, you can quote me). For some, they’ll transform the way businesses communicate. For others, they’ll have little impact.

Hype, of course, will continue to fly like crap in the monkey house at the zoo, and it’s likely we’ll soon see other screaming headlines telling us blogging’s a dead horse, that it just laid down and passed on, when anyone with two eyes can tell you it just ran by and is looking stronger with every furlong.

[tags]blogging, blogs, business blogs, twitter, hype[/tags]

This tidbit from the Black Star Rising blog (the very cool blog of the Black Star photo agency) suggests ad agencies are lagging more than a little bit in the online department:

Consider this little story told by Jan Leth, executive creative director of OgilvyInteractive North America. The agency was assigned by Six Flags to do a promotion for the amusement park’s 45th anniversary. “They wanted to give away 45,000 tickets for opening day to drive traffic. So we got a brief to do whatever: ads, microsite, whatever.” While the creative people were trying to plan the project, the creative director went off and posted the ticket giveaway on Craigslist.

“Five hours later, 45,000 tickets were spoken for,” Leth said. “No photo shoot. No after-shoot drinks at Shutters,” and with some irony he continued, “Now, the trick is, how do we get paid?”

The last line is central to the problem: “How do we get paid?”

It’s one thing to charge a bazillion dollars for a sexy broadcast campaign. And yet another to get paid for simple online tasks — even those offering significant ROI.

How much can an agency charge for an activity the marketing director’s 12 year-old son could do?

And for that matter, how much can I charge a client for a handful of short blog entries — that could have a bigger impact on revenues than a $10,000 trade ad?

Marketing’s being turned upside down, and those who aren’t fast on their feet will end up standing on their heads.

[tags]black star, advertising[/tags]

You hear it everywhere on the blogosphere. “Find a niche, and then dominate it.”

It’s great advice – especially when your livelihood is tied to your blog.

I’ve long wanted to write a post on this topic, and when Michael Stelzner published his White Paper Industry Report, I knew I had my hook.

You see, Michael’s Writing White Papers blog feeds at the top of the white paper food chain, and his blog is a case study in niche domination (though he’d tell you a white paper is a better vehicle for conveying that domination).

How does he stay on top?

• His blog has a laser focus

• He produces useful content (much of it customer facing)

• He’s created an expansive, blog-centric Web presence

• He creates thought leadership publications like his Writing White Papers book

• He outright defines his niche with a just-released “White Paper Writer Industry Report”

The last two are the steps that most of us don’t take, and his book and report can’t help but pay off professionally.

Certainly, a blog can dominate its niche without a niche-defining report or book, but both expand the boundaries of a niche (and offer benefits to a writer beyond the blogosphere).

What have you done to dominate your niche lately? For that matter, what have I done? (Answer: not enough.)

[tags]blogging, blog[/tags]

If it’s one thing I know about Carson at Content Done Better, it’s that he doesn’t do much of anything halfway.

Recently he announced he was getting out of the business in favor of a high-paying job. And rather than let all his hard blogging work just waste away, he’s decided to sell his Content Done Better blog and domain:

That’s right, I’m divesting. It’s Crazy Carson’s Everything Must Go Content Done Better Super Sale!

If you’re a budding content writer or copywriter and want a jumpstart, this is a great opportunity. If you have an established related business and are looking for an additional way to create revenue and to collect clients, here it is. If you’re just someone interested in owning a handy-dandy PR4 site, you’ve stumbled onto the right blog post.

Part of me is pulling for him to score heavy (presumably the part of me that might someday sell the Copywriter Underground and Trout Underground blogs), while another part (the part that lies awake on Christmas Eve, waiting for the sound of hooves on the roof) wishes he’d just get over this whole job thing and fire up the blog again.

I’ll likely be disappointed on both counts.
[tags]content done better, blog[/tags]