|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
Not a Subscriber Yet? Subscribe for free to make sure you don't miss future e-columns
Attention All Copywriters:
“Without Using Hype, Here’s How To Write Kickin’ Copy That Converts Even ‘Window Shopping’ Prospects Into Loyal Customers, So You Can…
Increase Your Fees and Attract High-Paying Clients Who Love Paying You The Royalties You Deserve”
"How A Shy College Dropout Earned Up To $516.53 Per Day Writing Articles, Posts and Rants With Free Blogs!"
Jimmy D. Brown reveals... "How I Pull In Up to $32,781 In PROFITS Per Month Email Marketing Strategies" Click below for an 8-hour audio seminar revealing how to make a living (if not a fortune) writing emails...
|
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Is the Copywriter's Keyboard Mightier Than The Dentist's Drill?
Fellow Copywriters,
You've all heard the expression, "The pen is mightier than the sword." A little medieval... Well, today, I guess you would say... "The keyboard is mightier than the machine gun." Machine guns, sure, I can believe a skilled writer might end a war before it gets started. But what about drills? More specifically... dental drills? Before I lose you, let me explain... Many of you who've been following my copywriting chronicles for the last while are aware that one of my clients (a dentist) was refusing to pay the rest of his invoice. It amounted to $1,500 plus 6% GST (an annoying Canadian sales tax). Well, as I accounted earlier, as soon as the final ad was completed and sent to the Yellow Pages, all communication with him ceased. He would not respond to emails, faxes, voicemail or even messages I left with his staff. I had been paid $1,000 upfront, with a $1.50 royalty owing on every phone call my two-page ad generated. As one of my mentors, Bob Martel (www.areyoufinallyready.com) said, "The royalty is probably why you aren't hearing from him. Royalties are Great But Best Left for Later... When You Know You Can Trust Your Client. As it turned out, though, there was more going on than just royalties. Around December, I discovered that my ad was never printed. Which, of course would mean there would be no phone calls on which to earn a royalty. Of course, in our contract I cited that if he did not use the ad, he owed $1,500 in compensation. Still, why didn't he use the ad? He saw all the proofs, signed his okay. He knew he was getting a direct-response ad, not an image ad. As far as I can reckon, everything was going fine until his Yellow Pages rep saw the ad. It was from that point that things fell apart. I spent an hour on the phone with this YP rep earlier, negotiating the ad size, etc. Interestingly, this rep understood direct-response promotions. He had actually attended a seminar with a well known Yellow Pages expert. He knew direct-response worked exceptionally well. He knew if the ad I wrote was printed it would dominate the dentist category and suck up most of the leads. Which meant many of the dentists would either pull out of the Yellow Pages or reduce their ad size. Making Money With Bad Ads You see, the Yellow Pages specializes in publishing bad ads. By bad, I'm referring to ads that give the reader little or no content that would help them decide which business they should call first. It usually comes down to who has the biggest ad, or which picture they like the best. Knowing this, I think the YP rep called my client (to whom he was also a patient) and "warned" him not to use this unconventional ad I had produced. He probably told my client he wouldn't get any calls—too many words, or I didn't make my clients name prominent enough... something uneffective like that. In the end, my client listened to the sales rep selling him the space—and not to his copywriter, who was working on a partial royalty. Interestingly, the same rep agreed with me on a certain "arrangement" that I presented. He told both me and my client that we were making a wise move because none of the other businesses knew about this tactic I proposed. It would ensure my clients ad was listed first in the dental section. No One Knew, Until I Brought it Up.... The rep, however, wanting to give everybody a "fair" chance, obviously told all the other dentists. How else can you explain why this tactic was suddenly employed by five other of the dentists. Well, I can only wonder how my client felt when he saw that his rep had lied (or at least manipulated the truth) about him ending up #1 in the dentist section. I think he is on the fourth or fifth page now. So maybe, he also realized that the same rep probably misled him about not printing my ad. Wouldn't be the first time I've seen it happen. I ran into similar trouble with a newspaper in 2004 that kept on "losing" my file—so my client finally switched to another newspaper. Anyway, that's my former client's problem. He dropped me, ignored me and was trying to get out of fulfilling his payment. He earns no sympathy from me. And he most certainly was not going to get away without paying me the agreed upon $1,500—plus interest, if he didn't get to it right away. Next ecolum, I'll tell you what action I took and whether I got the money owing to me.
I Would Like to Say... ...that that was the only problem I've ever had with a small business owner not fulfilling their side of the contract (or any client for that matter). I'm currently working on a two hour a day retainer for a naturopathic clinic in Ontario and loving it. I get 10% of the gross income. Each month that 10% is growing, thanks to my copy and marketing efforts. It may not be the same as writing $400K letters for Agora (but how many copywriters are really doing that?) but it's a great way to earn good money writing. Especially if you're starting out. My goal is to transform his clinic into a 1.2 million dollar a year business. That'll be a valuable testimonial which will allow me to demand high fees for my evolving skill and experience. If you'd like to do the same, I'd suggest emailing Shaune Clarke to find out about his Client Acquisition Program that works for even the rookie copywriter. Or click here to listen to a short interview with one of his coaching students. Her first project paid $2,500 for a one-page ad. Capture, captivate, convert!
John C. A. Manley
|
|||||||||
|
John C. A. Manley 228 Kemp Crescent, Suite 7 Stratford, Ontario, N5A 5C6, Canada tel: (519) 273-7969
Copyright John C. A. Manley © 2007
This ecolumn is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this ecolumn is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of John C. A. Manley.
All contents and images Copyright © John C. A. Manley 2006
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
