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"Watch a Real-Life Account As One Canadian Transforms A Situation Bordering on Financial Crisis Into a Steady, Abundant Source of Freelance Copywriting Income…
After two years of studying copywriting and marketing, John goes out to see if you really can earn a yearly six-figure income as a wordsmith.
Along the way he interviews other copywriters, sharing with you their successes and failures.
No matter where you are on your copywriting journey, RealityCopywriting.com offers you inspiration, raw case studies and some good laughs."
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Saturday, January 7th, 2006 Stratford, Ontario, Canada
From the walnut writing desk of John A. Manley:
Fellow Copywriter,
Plenty of controversy out there… You’ve heard it. You may be living it:
• Copywriters making $500 for a 10-page sales letter—hardly a “doctor’s fee.”
• Students spending 40-80 hours writing spec assignments only to have them turned down immediately upon submission.
• “Spokespersons” heralding that you’ve been told lies, lies and more lies. They proclaim that the big copywriting schools are only interested in selling you their courses, not helping you actually stand-up in “financial gravity.”
Then you hear the other side of the six-figure bill:
• “One-course students” who simply setup a website, make a few phone calls, buy $25 in Google Adwords or write a single sales letter…and “miraculously” have more work than they can handle. PLUS it pays well too.
• Entrepreneurs who skip seeking clients and start up their own internet/direct mail businesses. Next thing you know they’re making $40K-120K a year doing nothing more then checking their ClickBank stats.
Through “Reality Copywriting” Watch Me Go Fulltime Freelance And See For Yourself, In Detail, What Really Happens
You’ve heard of reality TV? Maybe you’ve even been subjected to watching it. Well, welcome to the internet/blog version of it…
As of January 2nd, 2006 I’ll be a fulltime freelance copywriter. Ready or not.
I’m going to give you the day-by-day successes and struggles:
• Paycheque by PayPal e-receipt: Yes, I’m going to share with you exactly what I’m making… What I’m spending (how much does it really cost to run this business?)… And what's left over.
• The success of each of my projects, and their failures. It’s one thing studying copywriting; it’s another putting it into practice. I’ll be open with you about what I’m writing and what the exact results are.
• The happy clients, the elusive clients, the clients who cause me more trouble than a $8,000 paycheque can compensate. Find out the truth about clients… Are they really the headache some copywriters testify? Or are there a few nice ones out there?
• A daily detailed log. In my online weblog you’ll see exactly what I was up to each day. An hour-by-hour account of what this fulltime copywriter does each day so he can give his fridge a purpose in life (or, I hope, even take a vacation each year…me, not the fridge).
Sometimes the only the way to learn how to hit the target is by firing again, and again.
My name is John A. Manley. I am not in the most ideal circumstance to begin a fulltime career as a freelance copywriter.
I, however, have little choice.
“Ready. Fire. Then Aim.” Most likely you’ve heard this potent and true saying. I’ve seen it in practice by many successful people. I’ve been forced to use it repeatedly in my own life.
From Toronto To California To Italy… Back To Canada Again
I graduated from high school a year early. I spent the next four years on a farm 1,400 feet up in the Nevada Mountains . Southern California is far, far away from my birthplace of Toronto, Canada.
I returned to Toronto in 2002. I discovered that being half-blind proved more of an obstacle to becoming a freelance artist than I had expected. I could produce good results—it just took me twice as long as my competition (thus half the pay).
I Was Completely Unable To Endure The Slavery Of 9-5 Minimum Wage
Have you ever worked in a restaurant? I did. For a few months… Until I became ill from the sheer slavery of the situation. I finally got fired (which was a relief).
I ended up finding various self-employed work to do: selling some art, shovelling snow, selling my personal belongings…
In the process I couldn't afford an accountant, so I became my own bookkeeper. Eventually, I became other people’s bookkeeper, too.
While this was all going on, I married my wife Nicole, a reflexologist and counsellor. We soon moved out of the big city to rural Southwestern Ontario (well within the snow belt). Took our Burmese cat and three-legged tabby with us.
Around this time, I had a “brilliant” idea: I loved to write. I knew I had some knack for it. What about magazines?
Kept that up for about a year. Even made some money at it. You’d be surprised how far you can stretch 6 cents/word.
No Money. Baby on the Way. Copywriting Seemed Like The Only Answer.
Finally in December of 2004 I came across a link to the American Writers and Artists Institute's (AWAI) copywriting course...a day before my wife found out she was two months pregnant! We’d need more money, no question. Copywriting seemed like the answer—a high-paying, writing career with flexible hours.
I signed up for the course. It never came. I called. I emailed. Nothing showed up.
In the meantime, I was reading everything on copywriting I could find on the net and through the library.
By February, I had a paying job: $500 for writing AND designing a website for a consultation business. It took me 80 hours to write a letter that turned a good conversion rate (1%). It took another 40 hours to learn how to handle the HTML design, forms and auto-responder.
Let’s Do Some Math Here…
I’m going to be doing a lot of math on this site).
Still better than writing poetry…
I went onto “massaging” other clients’ copy. I wasn't willing to actually “write” anything until I saw a decent offer.
April comes around. Our daughter, two months early, is born and dies all on the same day. A devastating experience that lead to me dropping copywriting.
Well, that was only part of the reason. I had been turned off by the emphasis on hype and making things “bigger-than-life” in direct-response marketing. It didn't feel like a professional way to communicate.
Didn't even think of going back until August. Waited until our finances were in worse shape. Our savings disappearing.
So I signed up for the AWAI course again. And this time it actually came.
I also immediately began seeking out clients. Landed a job with a local business that been provided work for quite a while now. Also did some consulting for an online alternative health business.
The only thing was: I started writing copy the way I wanted to be sold to. It was the only way I could pursue this career.
The pay hasn't been anything to boast about though. Not enough to live off. Certainly not enough to “retire this year.”
My wife has had serious medical problems. Since she lost the baby, she hasn't been working. She needs extra attention (more than Canada’s health insurance policy covers). A chiropractor and some massage therapy are first on my list.
Ten Goals for 2006
1. I’m going fulltime as of January 2nd, 2006. I’ll be online by the end of the first week with my self-promo sites
2. I’ve put out what little money I have for a mentor. He’s newly “released” Canadian copywriting coach Shaune Clarke. It’s a risk putting out the cash for “professional help.” But it’s a risk not putting out the money too.
3. I enter 2006, with no copywriting work lined up. (But that should change by Feb 1st – if not earlier).
4. I have some high-content pay-per-click websites up, and others coming soon. (FEB 15th 2006 UPDATE: I’ve found this as about as lucrative as writing poetry.)
5. I have some money in the bank. Enough to keep us going until mid-February (if you don’t mind living off $1,800 CAD/month).
6. I need to gross a minimum of $6,000 before the end of February.
7. I'm aiming to profit $15,000 a month. For luxuries like: savings, good food, new clothes, some proper office equipment, high-speed internet, a headset…
8. Then I’d like to get my wife some alternative health care treatment.
9. And - please stop me if I’m getting greedy now - maybe a water pillow, theater tickets (I live in Canada’s leading Shakespeare festival town)… a swivel chair for the office (don’t ask me what I’m sitting on now)… custom framing (I have about 10 pieces of my fine art drawings hidden away in my closet)…
10. Okay, now I’m going to go overboard… I would really like to take my wife to California. I know that out of all the places in the world at which she’d like to spend a week or two, it’s Pacific Palisades, Mount Washington and Encinitas.
Creating a Winning Mindset, Setting Goals and Working Smart Will Lead to Success… Maybe More Than You Expected I want no misunderstandings about what this site is for. It’s not to teach you. It’s not to mentor you. It’s not to advise you. REALITYCopywriting.com is here to motivate and inspire. To share with you what is working and not working as I strive for success as a freelance copywriter. If you want a mentor, I can recommend a few. In fact, one of the most reassuring things about returning to copywriting was finding Shaune Clarke. I didn't like the type of copy I was writing at the beginning. As a result, I was seeking, experimenting and striving for copy that connected to people in a more natural way. Shuane's Clarke's approach, based on tapping into the deeper reasons people buy through interviews and then expressing that in copy through empathy, resonates with me strongly. I know many clients I have worked with in the past would have preferred this type of copy. They wanted some thing more than editorial copy…but they knew the “snake-oil” style letters turn their customers off. So the moral here is, if it doesn't feel “right,” find a way that does… I often hear people who’ve been given big promises by copywriting courses, complaining that they are not making any money. I usually ask them, “What's your website address?” They tell me they don't have one. So, I ask, “Who have you mailed self-promo letters to?” They tell me they’re still working on that. “Okay, so what have you done?” All too often, they’ve done nothing more than scouted about on one of the web-based jobs boards. And even then, they haven't submitted a proposal. So I really wonder how much blame should be directed at these “malicious” copywriting schools… Create a mindset. Set goals. And get started. You can fine-tune things later. This is what I’m doing here with this site. I’m making myself an example. I may fall on my face before the entire worldwide web. I don't care. If I can do this with everybody watching, then you can start working as a freelance copywriter too (without the risk of public humiliation). Do you want to know how you can find out if you’re good enough without risking a client a single cent? (And no I don't mean working on spec!) Set your fees high. Don't skimp on yourself. If you are able to sell yourself for $4,000 plus royalties then you’ll know you’re a good copywriter…a copywriter who can write copy that sells. Because you’ve sold yourself first. Give a guarantee. Promise you’ll hit a certain conversion rate. Trust me, if your skills aren't up to that yet, you’ll figure it out. It may take you 80 hours like it took me on my first project. But even 80 hours into $4,000 is still $50/hour. Can you live with that for starters? Don't forget the royalties! (Truly, even if you were not able to make your client's copy convert, you could give a cut to another copywriter to give you a hand… So don't worry.) I sincerely hope this site proves valuable to you. If it does, I’d appreciate hearing from you. Please sign up below, if you haven't already…
All the best to you in 2006,
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