I got a small job as the result of a one-to-one with a networking partner today.
I didn’t go there to get work: I went to find out more about her to see if I’d feel comfortable recommending her to others (yes).
This is how it happened.
I was offering some pointers (including ones I’ve been providing here) and mentioned that the best, most believable, form of advertising is written testimonials from happy clients. I said that not posting legitimately-acquired testimonials was like leaving one hundred dollars bills on the sidewalk and not picking them up.
She perked up when I said that and asked if I would create a form asking her clients to consider writing testimonials explaining the benefits of what she had done for them. So I’ve done that and she’ll pay me on Friday. (We have between now and then to tweak what I created, if she sees anything amiss.)
Mind you, I’ve been attending this networking meeting for almost six months now. This is the second paying client from there, and both of the projects I’ve landed were small. (Most first/pilot projects are small so people can get a taste of how effective a professional writer’s copy is.)
But I have a lot more people really getting to know me and lots of business owners picking my brain while thinking of ways to use me down the road. That’s my role as a network partner–to be a provider and an agent; to point people I know to other providers who will do a great job for them in their niches.
So little by little, month after month, my network of alliances grows. At some point, I’ll have all the work I want (and more than I need) and then I’ll raise my prices. (Yes, I will. I’m writing for a lot less than most pros to keep myself in sufficient work to keep me happy and my head above water; when I raise my prices fewer people will be able to afford me, but the ones who can will have the money to invest to make sure they get stellar copy–and they’re my actual target market: the people who know what great copywriters do for the bottom line of a business!)
Alas, most start-up business owners and entrepreneurs consider copywriters an expense rather than the income producers we are, so they’re afraid to lay out the money. And it’s scary to do it because a lot of them have been burned by self-proclaimed copywriters whose words didn’t produce the results they expected. (Once burned, twice shy.) It’s a real shame and nothing that can be solved other than making sure you know what you’re doing when you choose a copywriter.
I went to another networking event last night and was tickled pink when another wordsmith came to me to say, “Your copy is like a flat rock skipping across a lake.” (Wow! What a metaphor! That’s copy writing! I like it!)
In other words my copy gets him where he needs to go in a series of sequential lift-offs, so it appears smooth, natural, effortless and easy. Something exciting and wonderful to behold: “like a flat rock skipping across a lake”. Wow and wow. The statement made my night and makes my day every time I recall the conversation!
My writing abilities come from a lifetime of loving words, of seeing how they interact with each other side by side. They come from internal cadences and rhythms that I call on when I’m writing. They comes from alliteration, from skillful oratorical repetition, from hypnotic segues, and from a variety of other techniques that I do my best to fold into the copy I create.
I want whatever I say to be compelling, to be worth the time it takes to get through it. Writing that bores people is completely unnecessary.
If it’s worth writing down, it’s worth writing down in a way that feels natural but is noteworthy.
Don’t force people to slog through the words you want them to read. Make sure your words invite them into the dance. If you can do that, they’ll gladly participate. You lead, they’ll follow.
So lead somewhere great–lead to a result they’ll crow about– so they’ll eagerly dance with you again whenever they aren’t out and about ‘virally’ extolling your virtues in social media and within their other spheres of influence.
