Like you, I receive the emails every week. They spell out a golden “opportunity” which allows me to write for an emerging content site.
Inevitably, the arc of the communication is predictable; it always ends at a place where the site gets the content, and the writer gets screwed.
What’s remarkable is how many people tumble for this scam – where they work for free, so others can monetize their content.
Somebody’s Lost Their Marbles
This particular pitch came from a new sporting site called MarblePlay.com. Launching sometime this fall, the site’s feature list was impressive. The pitch aggressive. And the flattery apparent.
But there was no mention of compensation.
In today’s “content’s free, no matter what the cost to the creator” environment, that’s a bad sign.
I have little interest in building wealth for others, but yes, I wondered where this gig fell on the Ripoff Richter Scale.
The editor forwarded the “Contributor’s Agreement.”
I read it. And then gave it a 10.2. (In terms of its rapaciousness, it moved heaven and earth).
First, compensation ranged from zero to… nothing. So what does our lucky writer get? Why, the chance to self-promote himself.
What does the lucky MarblePlay.com network get in return?
Amazingly, this was a “work for hire” agreement – the magic phrase that means you transfer all rights to the work you contribute to the site.
Simply put, they’d own your words, and you’d own… nothing. (Helpful hint – always looks for the words “work for hire” in anything you sign, and recognize what they mean.)
Astonishingly, it gets worse.
You Won’t Compete… For Free?!
Because simply giving the work away wasn’t quite enough, MarblePlay ushered in the concepts of regular deadlines and (wait for it)… a non-compete clause.
Which means I couldn’t work (for free or otherwise) for any competing sites.
Over the course of my entire career, I’ve signed exactly three non-compete clauses – and all in return for a sizable payout.
For free? Limit your right to work elsewhere, and do it for free?! (Imagine writing a book’s worth of content for this site – and then realizing you can’t publish that book because you didn’t own the words.)
A dozen comparisons leap to mind (most include lubricants). In truth, this agreement is so abusive, I’m not even sure it’s legal – a court would have to find that the “opportunity” to self promote rose to the level of real consideration.
Regardless, MarblePlay isn’t the only network doing this.
And the target clearly isn’t professional writers as much as amateurs willing to be seduced by a few kind words (and the writer’s equivalent of a crust of bread).
Still, this kind of thing is on the rise, not the decline, which suggests somebody is falling for it.
It’s one thing to write for free because you want your words to be seen.
It’s quite another to give that work away – along with the right to publish where you want – all in the interest of fattening someone else’s bank account.
Moral of the story?
Ask up front what’s in it for you.
Don’t sign any “work for hire” agreements unless you’re being compensated (my copywriting clients typically gain full rights to my copy, but they pay for that right)
If you sign a non-compete, you deserve to be compensated for your potential loss of income. Or just don’t sign.
Don’t work for free, especially when someone else stands to benefit
I first published this video in November, 2007, and because it’s more timely than ever, thought I’d run the video again.
Sure, Harlan Ellison is an abrasive pain in the ass, but he’s repeatedly put his money where his sizable mouth is when it came to protecting the rights of writers and content creators.
In a time when the concept of “paying creators for content” is conspicuously absent from most Internet business plans, this video’s worth another visit:
Tell ‘em Harlan.
Next time you’re about give away your work, remember: Pay the Damned Writer.
Freelancers are suffering a recession-linked double-whammy – not only are clients and customers cutting budgets, but the newly unemployed are swelling the ranks of the self-employed, and driving fees downward.
This New York Time article (found via the Copywriter Maven) looks at the recession’s effect on the self-employed (and under-employed), and touches on an often-overlooked emotional side-effect (we’ll get to that later). First, the numbers:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks the number of self-employed workers who say they are working “part time for economic reasons,” which means that they work fewer than 35 hours a week because they can’t line up more employment. In March 2008, 622,000 self-employed workers across the country put themselves in this category. A year later, the number had almost doubled, to nearly 1.1 million. “What you can see in this data spells real trouble for these people,” says Susan Houseman, a senior economist for the Upjohn Institute, a nonprofit research center.
OK, the numbers are terrible, but they only tell a piece of the story. There’s an emotional toll that doesn’t get a column in the unemployment statistics:
That trouble is about not paying bills. It’s also about the vertigo of falling out of the middle class. “We talk about it as middle-class poverty,” said Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director of the Freelancers Union, which has 70,000 members in New York City. “Your frame of reference, when you think of yourself as middle class, doesn’t include being scared about making ends meet, realizing that welfare and food stamps are your only option. Psychologically, that shift is devastating.”
Interestingly, the researcher also noted the different responses between those who lost jobs and freelancers who lost clients – an observation which will resonate with many freelancers:
Venkatesh sees a difference in how freelancers talk about the recession compared with workers who have been laid off. “They’re more alone, and they can’t help but feel like they did something wrong because they’re losing relationships with individual clients,” he says. “They think of themselves as ministering to their clients, so they also feel guilty about no longer helping them.”
It’s natural to develop relationships with regular clients – especially if you’re working hard, getting good feedback, and functioning as part of the team.
It’s easy to forget it’s a business relationship.
And when the client stops calling, it’s just as easy to blame yourself.
Don’t do it.
Sure – take a hard look at your business with an eye to making yourself more relevant. Are you offering the right services in a fast-changing marketing landscape?
But never forget this is business – and even the best agencies lose accounts, often for reasons far outside their control.
Add free-falling, recessionary marketing budgets into the mix, and suddenly, a certain amount of client loss can only be expected.
Do what you can to contain the damage. Beef up your service offerings. But don’t personalize the loss. Things happen, and getting depressed about it simply limits your ability to dust yourself off and find a new client – or develop a new offering.
I used to spontaneously craft lists just for fun, and today seems like the perfect day to revive the practice.
And rather than beat around the bush, let’s just call this list the “Eight Gratifying Moments in the Life of Any Freelance Copywriter or Consultant:”
Reading a short, pithy, “The copy’s perfect” email from a client
Shipping solid draft copy, and checking it off the list
Getting a check
Getting a check before it’s due
Getting a big check
Finding a signed work order – for a prestige project initiated by your lumpy mailer – nestled in your inbox
Discovering the blog/email program you recommended is working exactly as you said it would
Explaining modern Internet marketing to a class of entrepreneurs, and realizing they get it
I’ve experienced all the above in the last 1.5 weeks, and while I’m not threatening to burst into song (Tonight on the Underground: Copywriter Karaoke!), I’m reminded that even after 23+ years in this business, good stuff happens with gratifying regularity.
Sometimes, better copy isn’t the solution to a client’s marketing problem.
As a value-added copywriter – someone offering your clients more than vowels and consonants – you should know how to generate success for you clients, even if it doesn’t mean another rewrite.
Which is why I’m introducing you to three letters: RFM
They stand for Recency, Frequency, and Monetary. And they represent a simple, smart way to dramatically increase profits.
Why Segment?
Smart marketers preach the gospel of “know thy customer.” RFM segmenting uses customer data most businesses have already collected to define their customers by their past buying habits – the single best predictor of what the future holds.
And yes, a few of you just stopped reading. This is, after all, the stuff of the direct response nerd – the data-mining spreadsheet geeks who dwell in the shadow areas behind the more glamorous “creative” work.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
RFM is just one more tool in the savvy marketer’s toolbox; an extremely useful item that solves problems for marketers the same way hammers solve problems for carpenters.
And I pity the copywriter who sits down at a meeting, wants respect – and then has to ask what RFM stands for. Don’t be that yutz.
Why RFM?
Easy. It tells you – quickly and easily – how your customers are behaving.
Let me help you visualize how it works.
Take a long list of customers and their data. The basic idea is to divide them according to their habits, creating a grid where each square holds customers that are distinguished from the customers in the other grids.
We do this by assigning an RFM “score” – easily done if you have access to customer data.
Each letter corresponds to a customer trait. For example:
“Recency” tells you how long it’s been since a customer last shopped (or bought, or surfed your site – whatever)
“Frequency” tells you how often a customer shows up
“Monetary” is how much they spend
Let’s start with the easiest: Monetary.
All you’re doing is dividing your list into five equal-length segments, and assigning the customers in each segment a score from 1 to 5 (let’s make 5 the biggest spenders, 1 the least).
(Hint: You can use any grid size, so if your list is small, using scores from 1 to 3 is easier and still plenty effective.)
So everyone who has spent from $1-20 at your e-commerce site gets a “1″. From $20-$40, they get a “2″. And so on. The top spenders get a 5. (CHAID is a far more scientific way to do this, but it’s also far more complex. Keep it simple at first.)
Then you do the same for the Recency and Frequency. Divide those lists into five equal-length segments, assign them a score from 1 to 5 (5 being the more desireable behavior), and viola!
You’ve got an RFM grid.
What? “Where’s my grid” you ask?
Simple. You don’t actually draw a grid and place names in it. You create virtual one by combining scores.
For example, your “best” customers are those who scored a “5″ on all three attributes. They’re your 555s – the people who visit most often, spend the most, and and did it just recently.
By contrast, an RFM score of 135 means:
Recency = 1 (they haven’t showed up in a long time)
Frequency = 3 (they used to come fairly often – a middle of the road type)
Monetary = 5 (when they came, they spent big)
By contrast, your 111 customers haven’t visited recently (R=1), don’t come often (probably once: F=1), and didn’t spend much when they did show up (M=1). Don’t invest too much marketing to this group.
See How it Works?
You want your middle-of-the-road customers? They’re likely the 222/333 crowd.
Want to know who used to spend and visit a lot – but hasn’t in a while? (And believe me, that’s useful information.) Look for the 155/255/145/245/154/254 crowd.
Quick Quiz: What’s the RFM for a customer who showed up relatively recently, never came back, but spent a lot?
(Answer: Recency (R) = 4 or 5; Frequency (F) = 1; Money (M) = 4 or 5. So you’re looking for a 414, 515, or some similar combination).
I saw this procedure done on a casino marketing database that contained literally millions of records.
They created an RFM grid using a simple database (On smaller lists, a spreadsheet will do).
Given the competitive nature of the casino business, how much of a monetary return did they enjoy through the simple act of segmenting their customer list?
To call it “sizable” is to call Everest a “big hill.”
This stuff works.
More Useful Than You Know
It’s tempting to look at your newly defined RFM rankings and do the obvious thing – market the hell out of your 555 crowd.
That’s probably a mistake.
My advice? Don’t overlook all the niche possibilities (copywriters understand niches).
For example, marketing to your high-value crowd is obvious; they’re already great customers.
But what about the customers who used to be great customers, but aren’t any more? That’s a potentially rich vein of ore – especially since you can now easily identify them.
How about the big spenders who only showed up a couple times, then stopped? Is it worth marketing to get them to come back? (RFM = 525/515/424/etc)
And how about the steady spenders who fell a little below your radar, then stopped coming? Aren’t they worth an attempted jump start? (RFM = 222/233/etc)
For that matter, you can target specific traits of specific groups. For example, you can identify the folks show up rarely, but spending lots when they do. What can you do to bring them around more often?
See the utility?
Class Dismissed… Almost.
RFM is a basic building block of marketing, and smart marketers are also applying it in the online arena (often using variations like RFD [D = duration, as in how long someone spends on a microsite]).
It’s not the kind of thing a direct response copywriter will do every day, but if your client is using RFM to segment a list, then you’d damn well better know what’s happening – and what segments you’re marketing to.
If your client isn’t using it – but should be – then you become the hero for suggesting it.
RFM is a universal technique that sees use at any business with repeat customers.
Casinos, airlines and others like them use fairly complex RFM systems to market more effectively, but there’s no reason a smaller company – or e-commerce site – wouldn’t benefit from this simple, quick, no-special-tools-required technique.
Keep marketing, Tom Chandler.
UPDATE: Multichannel Merchant just posted an article about email list segmenting. It mentions RFM in passing, but focuses on other email-specific traits. My take? It’s easy to say “notice that someone buys once every three months and market to them then” but how do you maintain that level of granularity in your work?
Frankly, I say stick to the basics and add where it’s possible, but don’t get sucked into the vortex of data generated by online marketing – unless you’ve got the time, tools and budget. There are probably easier fruit to pick.
For some freelancers, acquiring new clients is a hit-or-miss process, and many wait for work to come to them.
In the past, I’ve detailed my tried-and-true Six Point Lumpy Mailer Plan designed to put you in touch with high-value contacts at the companies you want to write for.
The article goes into a lot of detail (scripts, etc) that I didn’t. You might find Martha’s plan more to your liking than mine.
After I left my second agency job, I made a lot of cold calls, and yes – collected new clients. Success is in the details, and Martha does a good job of outlining the steps. (Build a client profile, write a script, follow up, etc.)
I prefer my system because it’s more selective and lumpy mailers are fun, but either method will find you on the phone with your target companies.
My six year-old HP laptop has never failed me. But lately, it has been making me wait.
It’s running Windows XP, and even after a clean install – once its 512K MB of RAM was burdened with service packs, security updates, anti-viral software and a modern browser – it becomes the Little Laptop That Can’t.
At least not quickly.
It’s not the end of the world; I run my company on a fast new laptop. But I keep the HP upstairs, so I can surf and check email without heading downstairs to my office.
Was I screwed? Time to shell out for another laptop?
Maybe. But when you’ve got nothing to lose, you’ve got nothing to lose by trying something new. I went looking for a faster alternative. And found it.
The Linux Story
Linux is an operating system that runs many of the servers on the Web (this blog’s server runs Linux).
Linux is also available for the desktop, yet it’s rarely found on the information worker’s PC (desktop market share has grown to just over 2%).
A free version of the age-old Unix operating system, Linux is considered an operating system for techies, scientists and cranks. It’s fast and powerful, but often labeled “user unfriendly.”
Yet recently I’ve heard the rumblings. The newer versions are “friendlier.” Easier to install. Cuddly even.
True? Or false?
I’m no propeller head. But I am a good test subject. I’m a marketer, copywriter and online guy. And I don’t mind tinkering (a little).
In short, I use a PC the same way most online-savvy folks use PCs. And here I sat with a slow laptop; a perfect test bed for a Linux installation.
The Ubuntu Effect
Among all the Linux distributions, Ubuntu has been called the friendliest, easiest-to-install Linux distribution. That made it my starting point.
Which is when I experienced my first Linux Surprise.
Ubuntu isn’t one system; it’s many of them.
Several flavors are available, including a server version, an education version (Edubuntu), two “standard” desktop versions (Ubuntu & Kubuntu), an interesting studio version for multimedia types (Ubuntu Studio), a mobile version, and yes – a small footprint version for slower PCs (Xubuntu).
Bingo.
Installation was straightforward; I downloaded an Xubuntu CD image, burned a CD, and rebooted from the Xubuntu CD.
Expecting a painful confrontation with an extraterrestrial installation process, I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of indecipherable choices, I faced four installation options:
Install the Linux operating system over the old system (reformatting your drive and destroying all your old data)
Install Ubuntu in its own partition (it divides your hard drive into separate virtual disks; you decide which operating system boots at startup)
Install it on on your Windows disk (maintains all your Windows data and system; Linux runs a little slower)
Run it from the CD (quite slow, but you can test-drive the system without altering one byte on your Windows disk)
Because I didn’t care about maintaining my old Windows XP installation, I went with option #1.
And gritted my teeth.
This was where it was going to get messy.
This was where I was going to meet the Linux Monster head on.
This was… done already?
Installation went smoothly. Very smoothly.
The only holdup? The wireless card didn’t work, so I had to plug my laptop directly into my router. It connected immediately, and automatically downloaded the driver software for my wireless card.
Done. Finished.
Ready to compute.
In other words, installation was easy. Damned easy.
In 40 minutes, I was looking at the Xubuntu desktop, complete with open source (free) word processor (Abiword), spreadsheet (Gnumeric), Pidgin all-in-one IM software, and plenty other goodies.
Still, I’m a fan of OpenOffice (an open source, MS Windows Office equivalent), and installing it was a snap.
I simply ran the Package Manager, which automatically downloaded and installed software for me.
Fast. Simple. Easy.
What was I afraid of again?
With a little configuring (the browser had to download some non-open source plugins to run flash), my old laptop was once again a useful Web surfing tool.
It isn’t blazingly fast, but it is faster than when running XP, and Xubuntu handled my laptop’s limited memory far better.
The interface is clean and simple. Upgrades and updates are automatic. And yes, there was much rejoicing at the Underground.
The End of the Story?
Not quite. Running (and yes, enjoying) the streamlined version of Ubuntu forced me to ask the question: would I prefer the full-featured desktop version of Ubuntu to the copy of Windows Vista running on my business laptop?
I’ll be blunt. I don’t much like Windows Vista. It makes my fast new laptop run like my old slow desktop. In fact, it feels like little more than a slow, tarted-up version of Windows XP – and many of the interface “improvements” leave me scratching my head.
It doesn’t feel like an upgrade worth waiting years for. And I have zero interest in moving to the latest version of MS Office. In fact, my daily software set is already largely open source.
Wtih that in mind, was Ubuntu a faster, updated-more-often, better-designed choice for my everyday work computer? Was it possible to find out in a relatively painless fashion?
The Ubuntu Project: 30 Days of Linux
Turns out it was. I installed the full-blown glossy version of Ubuntu in a partition on my new Dell Inspiron laptop (total: two hours).
Most the software I wanted was already in place, but I quickly downloaded the few bits that weren’t (the big list looks like: OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Evolution, Audacity, Kompozer, Scribus, Gimp, gTwitter).
Ubuntu running all the usual suspects: OpenOffice, Firefox, gTwitter, IM manager…
Some are simply Linux versions of the software I already use. Others (like HTML editor Kompozer) replace commercial Windows products.
Meanwhile, Vista – and all my old software – reclines on my hard drive, ready to boot if needed.
Like Morgan Spurlock of “30 days” fame, I’m going to live with Ubuntu Linux for the next month.
If I like it, I switch. If I don’t, Vista stays.
First Impressions
Ubuntu is faster than Vista. Not by a factor of several times, but noticeably faster.
The interface is (to my eye) cleaner. And I’m already using mostly open source software, which means I barely notice the switch.
There have been glitches.
Playing a standard commercial DVD wasn’t possible without messing with indecipherable command lines. It’s an easy fix, but it’s clumsy. And while there’s a lot of open source software available, Linux currently lacks a killer blog editor.
I loved Windows LiveWriter on Vista, but have been relegated to using the oddly designed ScribeFire (Firefox-based Java app) for blogging. (Don’t Linux people blog?)
I already miss some of the peripheral software available in Windows. Like the Twhirl Twitter editor and the Q10 “dark screen” text editor.
And moving contact data from my Windows PIM (Time & Chaos) and into Evolution (the open source equivalent of Outlook) has been a surprisingly painful experience.
Outside of the few glitches, I’ve enjoyed an easy move. And with Web-based software becoming more common, the application barriers to moving to Linux are going to come down (in most cases, they already have).
Of course, larger questions of availability, scalability, compatibility and even philosophy are at work here, and I’ll get into those during my month-long Ubuntu test.
Garry Kasparov is the greatest chess player the world’s ever known. While few of us can replicate his impressive mental powers, we can leverage the methods he used to achieve the chess world’s highest ever rating.
His secret?
He played the game backwards.
A Strategy For Success
Most chess players view a game’s current position as a starting point, and simply search for ways to improve their position.
Kasparov’s method turned that thinking upside down. According to chess writer Jacob Aagaard, Kasparov envisioned what he wanted to see on the chessboard – creating a “fantasy” position in his head – and then calculated a way to make that fantasy chess position a reality.
The result was the highest rating ever achieved by a chess player, and an unparalleled run as world champion.
Chess teacher Jeremy Silman outlined a similar method in his hugely successful chess training book, so clearly, it’s an idea with legs.
The parallel for marketers and copywriters is plain.
You can invest your energy incrementally improving your current situation (your life, your business, your latest campaign).
Or you can decide where you want to be, then find a way to make it happen.
The difference is subtle. But significant.
One method moves you forward, but slowly.
The other finds you working towards your dream situation.
The Application of Fantasy
What do you really want to write? Who do you want to work for? What kind of work situation would you like?
Construct that situation in your head. And then figure out what it takes to make it happen.
To help, I’m offering you the design for a simple worksheet – something I adapted from a leadership workshop I attended years ago.
It’s simple and effective. You simply outline the current situation in the lowest box (Now). Then create your fantasy scenario in the top box (the Wow).
What then becomes apparent are the steps in the middle – the things you need to do to make your situation come true (the How).
Write down the steps, editing out those that aren’t truly necessary or don’t move you towards your goal.
What’s left is a simple set of steps that lead you to your fantasy situation.
Best part? You can use this simple worksheet to complete short-term goals, or even while taking individual steps towards your larger goal.
It’s a simple idea, but one that turns most people’s thinking upside down.
Figure out where you really want to be, and only then figure out how to get there.
Prior to my family emergency, I promised you the results of my recent new client pitch — the culmination of several posts about picking and pitching the clients you want to work for (instead of letting clients pick you).
Lumpy mailers have gotten a bad rap; some feel they’re misleading (a sheet of bubble wrap in credit card mailers is generating bad press), but in this case, we’re delivering something of value (even if it’s just fun), and I’ve never once heard a complaint.
In the age of badly written email and hair-trigger attention spans, a lumpy mailer is pure power.
This time I sent two high-value prospects a pair of chattering teeth (yes, it’s a communications theme, and yes — I have a box of the things sitting on a shelf).
Attached to the teeth was a card laying out the benefits of my proposed program.
One prospect immediately called for a meeting, and last Friday, we met.
I pitched an engagement/membership program, and at first, the client was skeptical. Then she grew very interested.
Frankly, you have to be prepared for this; unlike the clients who seek you out — presumably after identifying a need for your services — prospecting on your own means pitching people who don’t necessarily think they need your help.
In short, the prospect requires a little education, and you don’t have much time to do the educating.
In this case, the client liked what she heard. At the risk of bragging, I wasn’t that surprised. Copywriters often fear they have little to offer (it’s the most common fear among newer copywriters).
They’re typically wrong about that, but in my case, I’m very comfortable pitching engagement marketing to marketing professionals. This client responded to that pitch.
How do I know?
For starters, our one-hour meeting ran 2.5 hours, and the walk back to the office (from the cafe) was repeatedly interrupted by stops (she wanted to go over more possibilities).
I didn’t walk away with a signed work order, but I’m now the proud owner of a prospect deeply interested in the kind of project I want to write — one who asked me for a detailed proposal.
How about you; have you picked a small handful of clients you want to work for and then pitched them?
If not, why not?
Let me help; take 60 seconds to sit down and hand-write a list of the four companies/organizations/causes you’d kill to work for.
It’s time to show up on the prospect’s doorstep, and convince them they can’t live without you.
It’s time for a pitch.
Gushing is Bad
Pitch hint #1: Don’t show up empty handed, sit down at the conference table, and gush about yourself.
Don’t gush about your accomplishments. Don’t gush about your capabilities. Don’t gush about your ability to meet deadlines.
Don’t gush.
In a former life, I worked at a high-tech ad agency, and sat through a pitch from a freelance writer. He advertised himself as the area’s “foremost copywriter,” but over the course of the pitch, revealed himself as something less lofty.
He talked endlessly about himself. And never once asked how he might help us.
When you write copy, you do so with this question in mind: “What’s in this for the reader?”
The same is true of a pitch. What’s in it for the harried, sleep-deprived marketing director sitting across the table?
People are busy. And even those who aren’t busy have better things to do than sit in conference rooms while you convince them you’re the second coming.
The area’s “foremost” copywriter ignored that rule, and walked out without a prayer of getting an assignment.
When Gushing Might Be Good
If you absolutely must gush, gush about the benefits to the pitchee.
You know. The growth in revenue. The truckloads of leads. The increase in loyalty. Regrowth of their hair. Whatever you’ve got.
Don’t be afraid to be specific, and then back those specifics with real data (if you’ve got it).
For example, this prospect is a non-profit, so I researched non-profits running similar membership programs. I emailed two of them asking for help, and now I’ve got a handful of warm, fuzzy statistics plugged into my pitch.
With a solid foundation of benefits in place, I move on to the next step.
The Pitch Outline
Ok, so you’ve opened with a few strong benefits (like “I can help Conglomco triple its membership retention rates”). The next step is to connect the benefits to your proposal.
Paint the broad strokes of your proposed project, but don’t delve into unnecessary details.
People get hung up on details, and the last thing you want is for your carefully built pitch to sink beneath the waves because the prospect hates the purple in your sample layout, or thinks the blog you’re pitching should run on TypePad instead of WordPress.
Make it deft, keep it light, and (once again), connect the benefits to the project itself.
In other words, don’t just toss out a few benefits, outline a project, and call it a day. The prospect needs to see how the project produces the benefits. It’s your job to weave the two together.
I do this mainly via spoken word, though I’m not above putting together an outline to keep me on track.
Do I prepare visuals for the prospect? Yes. Sometimes a flow chart, outline, org chart or informational graphic are necessary.
I don’t like prospects reading proposals while I’m pitching them, so I tend to keep it simple. And I haven’t yet fired up an animated presentation with a soundtrack.
That makes me a passive part of the process, and computer-run presentations don’t respond to your prospect’s questions or body language.
And while you’re prepping, don’t forget to formulate answers to potential objections (time, money, impact on an overworked staff, etc). You can’t predict what might get thrown at you, but it’s worth five minutes of your time trying.
What’s Your Leave Behind?
The pitch is finished. The prospect’s eyes are bright and shiny. They’re licking their lips over the program. They want it. Bad.
Yet they can’t make the final decision. But their boss can. Can you really rely on them to repeat your pitch from memory?
My preference is to leave behind a single sheet of paper summarizing your pitch. What should it contain?
The benefits (duh)
A very brief outline of the project
A compelling argument why you’re the perfect person for the gig
The call to action (everyone forgets this)
This isn’t rocket science; keep it clean, simple, and smart. Bullet it where needed, and don’t forget a call to action — the prospect needs to know what you want from them.
When you leave, don’t forget to push for a resolution — or at the very least, let them know you’ll call them in a few days.
Full disclosure: lots of people do this differently (more visuals, animated presentations, etc). It works for them, this works for me, and I’m not suggesting there’s One Way to do this.
My six year-old HP laptop has never failed me. But lately, it has been making me wait.
I’m working on a pitch right now. (And yes, I generated the meeting via a