Reality Copywriting: 10% Retainer Fee

Ecolumn - Wednesday, February 14, 2007

10% Retainer Fee

Just signed a contract with a naturopath doctor in Canada for a 10% retainer fee on gross income for the clinic.

So for all those write asking, can you make money with copywriting, read on...

I've been working with him since December. Started with a $250 consultation and worked our way up. Have done a lot of internal marketing (emails, newsletters) to his current patients, and the response has been positive and profitable. He's a great doc to work with. He's caught on to direct-response marketing quickly (I think it was love at first sight -- he'd enough of courting branding and image ads).

Every week he had a new project he was booking me for, 30 days in advance. I was getting tired of all the contracts and invoices and everything, so I proposed a daily retainer.

Basically it involves a 24-30 minute phone meeting each day, and 60 minutes of copywriting and setting up marketing systems. In exchange I receive 10% of the gross income of the clinic.

I may very well invest more than 60 minutes, as knowing one out of every ten dollars I can attract to his clinic gets diverted to me.

Why is he paying me that much? Simple, he's seen what I've done so far, and knows that I could easily double his current income in 12 months' time.

Like most businesses his marketing was virtually non-existent. Business cards for advertisements. No frequent communication with his clients (e.g. some he hasn't even spoken to for two years).

If you know basic (I mean REAL BASIC) direct-response marketing and how to write good copy, you can help many a small businesses make a complete turnaround.

Sadly, most small businesses don't realize this. They hang on to ineffective and lazy advertising like a wino to his bottle -- until it finally destroys them.

Yet, I think about two out of every hundred are willing to be led to a better way...

It's not easy to seek them out and connect with them, but it can be done. Shaune Clarke's been working for almost 12 months now on improving a small business client acquisition program for copywriters.

Just got some news from his coaching students (who are all in the midst of self-promotion campaigns). I'll share with you their success stories on Friday.

Until then, if you want to get on board with projects that start at $2,500 (we were saying $1,000 a month ago, but the market seems happy to pay more) for a writing job that will take you between 10-30 hours to complete (depending on your skill) send

Shaune an email at...

shaune@dynamicresponsemarketing.com

If you're still fresh at this, then it's time to start learning the basics. Click below to find out more...

www.realitycopywriting.com/ad_magic

Capture, captivate, convert!

John A. Manley

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