DISQUS

Over the last few days I've had six (yes 6) chargebacks awarded in my favor.

Personally I find the whole thing stupid.

I have to go to a WHOLE lot more trouble to prove that a charge back is unwarranted than I do to issue a refund on products I sell and generally speaking if anyone asks for a refund from me for any legitimate reason I give it.

So these idiots have claimed charge backs on products they clearly bought and intended to buy (hint: opting in for the update list after you buy a product is a bit of a giveaway).

I was always brought up to believe that your integrity is everything.

And all through my life when I had tough times I never compromised my principles.

Things being difficult for you is NOT an excuse to try to screw someone else under any circumstances.

Do the right thing and things have a way of turning out okay in the long run...no matter how dark they look now.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Thank you so much for sharing this Michel.

A great Australian just like Juan Mann and a great inspiration and reminder that regardless of our differences we all feel pain, disappointment and struggle in life.

And we can all keep moving and keep giving to others.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Great tips Michel.

For many years I've used the last P.S. for extra testimonials that don't fit in the copy.

In some cases I might have 20 or 30 testimonials at the end of the copy.

The advantage of doing it this way is when your client gets a new testimonial you can just add it in without screwing up the flow of the copy.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

When I look at my sales statistics it always amazes me how many of my sales come from my blog.

A blog is an amazing way to build trust with your prospects, deliver value to your clients and attract search engine traffic to you.

Oh and you might sell some products too!

Nice tips Michel.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

I'm always thrilled when I read the early stories of successful copywriters and realize I was not the only bumbling idiot.

Great post Michel.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Spot on Michel.

There is nothing more important than finding a hungry market.

Many times I see people talking about 10%, 15% even 30% response rates from online sales letters.

Over time you learn that the truly exceptional response rates are really about where the traffic to a sales page is coming from.

Put simply if you have a whole pile of people who desperately want and need what you're selling and are willing to pay for it you're going to get a great response rate.

But if you're trying to sell to people who don't care or don't want to spend the money or if you haven't taken the time to really understand the hot buttons of your hungry market your sales letter is likely to bomb.

The biggest secret instead of looking for product ideas or promotional ideas is to look for hungry markets you can get easy and economical access to.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Discounting is the lowest form of marketing.

I've tested various exit offers and the one we found made the most sales was revealing bonuses that weren't offered in the sales letter.

But I you really need to think about why your prospect is leaving your sales page in the first place.

As Michel points out most people aren't leaving due to price.

You need to make an attempt to deal with the most common objection or problem people have when they leave your sales page.

Another obvious strategy is to offer an email course or gift related to your product in exchange for an email address (or even just right there to download).

That can help pre-educate prospects who are already leaving on why they should buy from you.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

I agree with Michel on this one but I think one point should be clarified.

I've avoided speaking with clients on the phone at all and insisted they sent me their questions, feedback etc by email.

That saves a lot of time because it forces a client to think through what they say and write down exactly what they want.

People ramble meaninglessly on the phone.


I also learned that the quickest way to land a prospective client you actually want is to call them on the phone within 2 hours of them contacting you (whether they call you and leave a message, email you etc etc).

I think the key phrase here is "a prospective client you actually want".

There MUST be an element of qualifying the prospects you're willing to call back.

I'd also agree with Michel on the point that prospects who ask for phone consultations are usually a pain in the arse, are generally wasting your time and are not used to hiring professional copywriters.

Having said that if you're another copywriter competing with me for a client and I've gone the extra step to actually speak to that same prospect and build some one on one rapport my chances of getting hired are much higher (as long as I've maintained or increased the perceived value of my service).

So if you are 99% sure this prospect would be worth having as a client I suggest you get him on the phone immediately and start asking questions about his project and what he's looking for.

I don't suggest you give advice.

Good prospects know and expect to pay for advice.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

The statement "There is NO such thing as an honest business man. (...) Ask any accountant."

is just about as ignorant as

"There is NO such thing as an honest employee. Ask any business owner."

You have to be one or the other.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

My thoughts and best wishes are with you and your family Michel.

If you ever want some suggestions one of my clients used to work with chiropractors helping patients realign their spines with natural movement therapy.

He also had a double blind study published in the Annals Of Internal Medicine showing that 3 months practicing his specially designed therapy gave significant relief to sufferers of chronic lower back pain.

My financee has studied with him for over 4 years.

Two of the keys are to build muscles around the vertebrae without inflaming them and to move the vertebrae.

Most people think of joints as being hard but their actually soft like sponges and movement is crucial to allow nutrients in and take waste out.

That's why arthritis progresses so rapidly once the joints are too painful to move.

There's simply no efficient way for nutrients to get in and waste to get out without the soft cartilidge in the joints being squeezed and released by movement.

Your vertebral discs are the same...soft like sponges sitting in between your vertebrae.

The real art is moving your back without causing pain or damage.

That's where the years of training and experience comes in.

There is no safe way to exercise your back in your condition without customized guidance from a highly trained professional.


Again I wish you the best.

A well known Buddhist monk once said that suffering increases your inner strength and wishing for suffering makes the suffering disappear.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Actually I got full access to Matt's seminar and it really did cost me just $1.

There was no attempt to trick me into buying his $497 upsell (that was 100% transparent).

There certainly is a monthly newsletter subscription you can cancel any time (that's the forced continuity).

I agree 100% that you should be transparent about forced continuity.

Common sense tells you that if you want paid subscribers to continue paying you they need to be sold in advance on the idea.

Otherwise you'll just be flooded with cancellations and refund requests.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Great post.

A lot of my early work building a portfolio was done in exchange for products.

Many of the clients where I did copy in exchange for products ended up hiring me for other projects later and paid good fees.

The way you set up those deals is vital and Michel's guidelines in this post are spot on.

In any negotiation you have to maintain a very high perceived value for your service.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Great post Michel.

Funny that it took you so long to start making money from partnership deals.

A lot of my early copywriting work involved these deals.

These deals can make you money and can be an effective way to get your door into the industry but you will get ripped off a lot when you're starting out.

Incidentally getting ripped off when you start out is really not such a big deal.

You get the experience of working with a client and samples you can use.

Michel's rundown of working with clients is also very accurate.

After you've written copy for hire for a couple of years you do get tired of the constant grind and your marketing knowledge grows.

It's just a natural evolution to start creating an income that continues when you're not working...creating your own products and/or looking for a percentage of turnover on top of your copywriting fee.

I'd add that I've met many copywriters and while it can be quite difficult to get to the point where you make a six figure income most of the copywriters I know do make money...often a very nice living working quite reasonable hours with no real capital investment and no real risk.

And they have the freedom of working from home and setting their own hours (as long as they meet deadlines).


When you compare that to traditional business it is a fantastic deal.

When you compare it to trying to make a living writing in other ways it's also a pretty hot deal (just try to make a living as a fiction writer and you'll see what I mean).

I'd also add that many copywriters can make a good living selling their internet marketing/website creation services to businesses in their local area.

That's a very easy way to make money where you can get paid immediately and they quality of your copywriting is not an issue.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Yeh those "death of" reports were getting progressively more ridiculous.

Internet marketing is probably the fastest growing industry on the entire planet.

The prophets of doom for internet marketing, sales letters (whoops), and every other field that's been covered as clearly in some terrible tanking demise should just take a step back and look at this industry from the outside.

Have they even checked to see exactly how many billions of dollars this industry has grown even in just the last 2 years.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Nice post Michael.

One of the subjects you didn't touch on is how to use the sequence of your emails to keep your list responsive.

I experimented for quite some time with sending a couple of emails leading to high quality content THEN an email leading to a pitch.

Then I realized how dumb that was and moved to creating high quality content as a lead in to all the products I was marketing.

A large portion of your open rate is dependent on the relationship you've built with your subscribers.

Think about how you check your email.

Don't you scan the From line first and stop on the messages that are from someone who's in your "good" books.

If you're ALWAYS sending links to high quality content you're going to build trust and your open rate will most likely be far higher than sending your subscribers to one sales letter after another.


On the subject of personalization I would say the biggest reason the response is lower is because the personalization makes no sense.

In many cases personalization is just someone's name jammed into a subject line because that's supposed to increase your open rate.

It's a lot like really amateur sales people who use your name too much..off putting and annoying.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

I've seen no discernible difference between male and female copywriters.

I'm actually working with a cub now who are a husband and wife team.

You can't tell.

It's all just copy to me.

I am old enough to remember my single mother getting paid less for doing exactly the same job because she was a woman and treated like she was of wayward sexual morals because she was divorced.

That was in the seventies...not so long ago.

Sexual discrimination is not pretty.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

This is really simple, obvious advice to anyone who's studied copywriting or online marketing for more than a few months but...

The potential to make a huge income by helping regular businesses make over websites that have very little chance of making significant sales is huge.

And this is a very simple blueprint to get you started.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

This is spot on David.

I went through the exact same experience myself a couple of months back buying a video camera....except mine was more lengthy and involved trying to buy off two different companies whose advertised product turned out to be different from what they were going to supply.

One good sales letter from the right company would have saved me many hours of painful research.

And that's one vital often overlooked part of long copy...that you're providing a genuine service to your clients by letting them know exactly if what you're offering is a perfect fit for them and exactly how it can benefit them.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

A few extra tips that no one every talks about in press release writing.

I was interviewed by about 20 different radio stations before I discovered "the secret" to getting ongoing media exposure.

And when I applied this secret it got me on a show that fed to 40 commercial radio stations repeatedly for over 2 years.

I appeared on that show for 2 hours at a time and I was allowed to do a full on pitch for my product at the end.

I used the same secret to make the front page of the newspaper repeatedly and get on TV news.

I turn down more media coverage in a year than most people will get in a lifetime.

What is this secret.

Write your press release in pairs and pitch the next story before, during or immediately after your interview...
http://www.copywriting1.com/2007/03/6-rules-to-...

Also most press releases are waaaaay too long.

If you can't do it on one double spaced page you've got a problem.

Because reporters and radio hosts will only read the first page.

Anything else is superfluous.

The objective is to get the media to call you for more information as Michel suggests.

But it goes further than that.

If you're smart you'll include suggested questions...that way your reporter or radio host doesn't have to do any work.

Just call you up and ask the questions.

See a proven press release template here...
http://www.copywriting1.com/2007/03/press-relea...


Finally, while free publicity can be enormously profitable most people make peanuts if anything...just thrilled they got "exposure".

That's just about as STUPID as repeatedly paying for image advertising to "get your name out there".

You need to measure the response you get from your free publicity because it ain't free.

It takes a lot of time and effort to get yourself on radio, on the television and in the newspapers and magazines.

It's just another form of advertising that you "pay" for with high quality content and the time and effort it takes to give a good interview...
http://www.copywriting1.com/2006/07/radio-copyw...

I have met very, very few people who really have any idea how to convert free publicity into real income which is a shame because it can be a genuine gold mine if you approach it the right way.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

It's always been an absolute delight doing business with you and learning from you Tinu.

I wish you the best of health and the best of success in anything you choose to do.

You deserve that.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

It sounds strange to say this but anyone who knew Gary or was a subscriber to his list will understand...

I'll miss being called a shitweasel, being regularly insulted about the crappy quality of my loser copy and generally being insulted on a regular basis.

Give em hell in heaven Gary.

Andrew Cavanagh

I'd add that probably the most important book you could read is How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

This book is recommended by Eugene Schwartz, John Carlton and many other very successful copywriters.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

I disable the comments on my blog.

I've noticed when you allow comments you get all kinds of entries from pure whackos.

I've even seen comments from some mad Aussie copywriter!

"a Do Follow plugin that reverses the default no-follow standard attribution."

Yeh I was gonna say that!!

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

If this really is a one-off never to be repeated offer then it's a good email done on the fly.

On the other hand if Patrizio really wants doing demos for musicians to be a large part of his income stream he should really create a free or paid report explaining the "7 Insider Secrets Of Breaking Into The Music Industry With Your Own Professional Demo".

Or something like that.

I was a professional musician for many years and I'm always amazed when I talk to musicians on how terrible they are at marketing themselves.

There's very little on the market on making money as an independent musician even though the evidence is now overwhelming that musicians will almost certainly make more money that way with less effort.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

If you want to get deeply spiritual you could just remind yourself that between us on a spiritual level there is NO separation - we are one.

So when you get mad at someone or attack them at a fundamental level you're only attacking yourself.

If you want a more tangible approach based around the physical world then you could look at the work of cognitive therapy and psychotherapy.

Any time you're angry with someone you're denying reality.

What do I mean by that?

Anger and most negative emotions towards other people arise because you expect someone to act in a different way to the way they have acted.

Which is impossible.

They are exactly who they are and what they have done is what they have done.

That is reality.

So when you get angry you're wishing they had acted differently - you're emotions are being ruled by a fantasy - something that didn't happen.

When you accept people exactly as they are, when you accept everything exactly as it is the anger dissipates.

That doesn't mean you can't endevour to change things for good or influence people's behaviour but you will be much more powerful doing that if you accept.

In Dale Carnegie's classic book "How To Win Friends And Influence People" the very first principle in the very first chapter is "don't criticize, condemn or complain."

Carnegie writes "Instead of condemning people, let's try to understand them. Let's try to figure out why the do what they do."

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh