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Where To Find the Best Copywriting Clients
Author : Chris Marlow
In my life, I've had two freelance careers, one that limped
along miserably for a number of years, and one that took off
like a rocket after only three months of marketing.
What happened in between was eight year of excitement, growth
and misery at a high-powered direct response agency, and a
life-changing event at a hospital from overwork. What I'll
always be thankful for, however, is that I learned exactly what
it takes to get a lead, and convert them.
Prior to my years at the agency I managed to maneuver myself
onto the board of the Oregon Direct Marketing Association.
During this time I was often in the company of list brokers.
One broker I wrote copy for was fond of reciting the "40/40/20
rule," which I thought was a not-so-subtle attempt to put me in
my place.
According to the 40/40/20 rule, 40 percent of the success of a
mailing comes from the quality of the list; another 40 percent
comes from the quality of the offer, and only 20 percent comes
from the copy.
I'll grant he was right, except in the case where a mature
marketer has tested all the lists, and tested all the offers,
and now all that's left to test is copy or creative.
New businesses (and new copywriters) must start with the list,
and the more qualified it is, the greater (and faster) the
success.
That's why I spend several sessions with my coaching students
when it's time to start building their lists. I emphasize that
nothing is more important than targeting the right people!
One of my list-building secrets is the online database, Who's
Mailing What!.
Who's Mailing What! is a huge archive of "classic" direct mail
packages, postcards, magalogs, catalogs, and self-mailers. It
exists to give businesses access to competitive marketing
materials, and to provide copywriters with a research tool and
copying service.
For instance, say you got your first job writing a promotion for
the Seminars trade. You could spend about $70 for a one-year
membership to Who's Mailing What! and pull up information on
thousands of archived mailers selling seminars.
For an extra $40 or so, you can request that one of these
mailers be copied and sent to you in either a traditional
photocopied format, or (if available) an instantly downloadable
PDF.
Sometimes you'll find a sample that the Who's Mailing What!
editors suspect is a control (due to the fact that same package
keeps reappearing).
There are two types of control identified: the "Control," and
the "Grand Control." The Grand Control is a mailer that has
mailed many times, and over a long period of time.
Personally, I've never used Who's Mailing What! to see what
others are doing since I have an extensive swipe file of my own.
But I've often used it to build my prospect database.
What makes Who's Mailing What! such a valuable resource for the
copywriter is that it lists known mailers. You don't do better
than that when trying to determine whether a company is a likely
prospect for copywriting services.
What's more, in the Who's Mailing What! database you can search
by niched category. For instance, if you specialize in
nutritional supplements you can search category #346
(Nutritional Supplements and Vitamins) for high quality
prospects.
You'll find many repeat entries, but that's ok; it just means
that particular mailer is mailing frequently, which making them
all the more desirable for your list.
An example: In a quick search of the database for the
Nutritional Supplements and Vitamins category - and limiting to
just the last two years -- I found 66 entries. One strong mailer
is Mountain Home Nutritionals, with eight mailings in two years.
Now that's all I need to know in order to "qualify them" for my
list.
However, if you wanted to go deeper, you'd learn that Mountain
Home Nutritionals doesn't mail the same package over and over;
rather, it appears they test offers, as well as certain products.
Go even deeper, and you'll find that on one mailing, they used a
#11 envelope, that the mailing specs were 13 pages of four-color
process, that it was an acquisition (prospecting) mailing...and
that the concept/copy for the outer envelope was:
"Stock Up Now on Dr. Williams' Top Health-Boosting Formulas!"
Now one caution: this is all very fascinating, but you're simply
looking to qualify a potential prospect. Resist the urge to look
deeper as time is of the essence.
What you need to do next is go to your potential prospect's Web
site to get contact data...and that may not be as easy as it
seems.
For instance, plugging "Mountain Home Nutritionals" into Google
didn't bring it up...but it did bring up "Dr. David
Williams"...and that's the brand under which Mountain Home
Nutritionals is sold. So this is where you gather your contact
information.
With hundreds of categories...from fund raising and investments
to technology and insurance...Who's Mailing What! is an ideal
source for building your prospect list. Start here, and I
guarantee you'll step into the marketing side of copywriting
with more confidence...and more success.
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