The Copywriter Underground

A couple weeks ago we experienced what the local paper termed “The Storm of a Lifetime” – which left six feet of snow on the ground, many of the trees on my wooded three-acre lot broken and toppled over, and the power out for the better part of a week.

That it happened while I was running headlong into several copywriting and consulting deadlines is likely proof of a vengeful god, and – like the snow-shattered trees in the yard – I’m still cleaning up the mess.

I’m also making big changes to my business model, and if it’s one lesson I’ve learned over the years, writing your own copy and consulting on your own marketing plan are much, much harder than doing it for others.

As several other bloggers have noted, the copywriting world is changing fast, and not always for the better. I’m simply recognizing those differences.

The new venture is the logical outgrowth of my focus on the value-added copywriter, and while I’d suggest I’m taking a bold new step, the reality is less hyperbolic; I’m hurrying the transition that’s been occurring for the last handful of years.

I’m a fly fishermen, and given water’s tendency to flow downhill, I’ve always known that you never foot in the same river twice.

Given the nature of our times, it’s equally true you never step out of bed into the same world you left when you crawled in.

Ignoring that reality is a prescription for something other than fulfillment, gratification and success.

We’ll resume normal function here soon – once the trees are off the roof (and the porch, and the driveway, and the…).

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

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.

This Freelance Switch post details a cold calling plan that eschews the lumpy mailer step, focusing instead on calling 300-500 prospects.

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.

Cold calls? Lumpy mailer?

You decide. Just don’t decide to do nothing.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler

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).

We started back here — the post where I suggested getting your foot in the door of high-value clients via a lumpy mailer.

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.

There. You just started the process. I already laid out the next few steps. So what are you waiting for?

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

I’m a big advocate of pursuing companies you want to work with instead of blindly marketing and accepting whatever comes back. But turning a short, carefully vetted list of prospects into a roster of clients has never been easy.

Enter the Lumpy Mailer

It’s the digital age, I’m online, so my first contact would come via the digital pipeline, right?

Wrong.

Are Hopping Smile Teeth the key to prosperity? Strangely, yes…

Imagine crafting a sales e-mail. Well written, carefully crafted and hugely persuasive, it’s a paen to lyrical copywriting – yet it’s likely to be wholly ignored, surrounded as it is by a tidal wave of other communications.

For all the prospect knows, it’s one of ten thousand mailed that morning.

It’s not unique. It doesn’t make them feel special. And the client has to act on it immediately, or you’re sunk.

Now imagine holding a padded envelope with a lump in the middle. Or a Priority Mail box that rattles ever so slightly. And then pulling out a fun toy attached to a strong sales message.

Bingo.

Put Them on Notice

By mailing a three-dimensional object – through a channel that’s fast becoming “obsolete” in so many marketers’ eyes – you’ve tapped into the very human desire for something unique.

Many years ago, I sent an ad agency a battered bowling pin, asking if they were truly bowled over by the work they were currently getting.

As part of another agency pitch, I once shipped a large toy robot arm with a pitch card in its grippers. It told them the edgy creative they’d always wanted was now within their grasp.

Last week’s prospect received wind-up chattering teeth attached to a card, which asked the prospect if they wanted the online world talking about their products.

Why go to all the trouble? Simple. I hand-picked this very, very small group of prospects, and I want them to feel “hand picked.” And I want to get my message across with clarity and humor.

And finally, I want them to take my phone call.

Don’t Forget to Ask

Once you’ve created a lumpy mailer, don’t assume you’ve dazzled them into submission. Readers still need to know what you want, and the mailer isn’t a complete sales pitch. It’s simply a foot in the door.

My goal? A phone call, though I sometimes create a landing page so the client has an option. (If you have even mediocre Web skills, landing pages are fast, affordable, and continue the dialog that began with the mailer.)

Still, don’t expect the lumpy mailer to do the whole job for you; it’s an amuse bouche — a single taste of your communication skills. It’s not designed to do the whole sales job for you, but gets you in the door so you can make your pitch.

It’s not a silver bullet (if the prospect doesn’t need you, they don’t need you), but it is a powerful way to grab a little mindshare and make a prospect smile — especially given that cool objects tend to live on the recipient’s desktop for a while.

Lumpy mailers aren’t cutting edge. They are, however, damned effective, and belong in every copywriter’s arsenal – for you and your clients.