The Real Value of a Direct Response Copywriter
/"If your words sell, you're liberated. If they don't, you're stuck doing manual labor." Perry Marshall.
I’ve never met Perry Marshall but he’s a big name in the Internet marketing space. He’s well known for his pay per click (PPC) expertise but he’s also a copywriter. I saw him at a conference in Atlanta and he was wearing a t-shirt saying something like, “Trust Me…I’m a copywriter.” Nice.
I get his emails and one of my clients travels thousands of miles to attend Perry Marshall seminars.
In one of Perry’s emails, I read the manual labor quote and it’s quickly become one of my favorite sayings. Let me give it to you one more time.
"If your words sell, you're liberated. If they don't, you're stuck doing manual labor." Perry Marshall.
In fact, I’m reorganizing the content on my website around the quote.
When I meet people and I say, “I’m a direct response copywriter” I get a blank stare—even from people who are in marketing…hmmmm…
If the person wants to know about my work, I’ll tell them what I really do—which is SELLING.
I’m not a writer. I’m a salesperson. And I’m the most cost-effective salesperson a company will EVER hire.
Let me take a step back for a second.
If I go up to a business owner and I ask, "how important are your salespeople to you?" the intelligent business owner or executive will answer, “extremely important!” The top salespeople come with BIG price tags and the companies that are willing to pay the salary and bonus and everything else know it’s a tremendous investment. Yet—when it comes to hiring a direct response copywriter these very same decision makers will try to find the lowest priced copywriter.
Let me put this bluntly.
I AM NOT YOUR WRITER.
I AM YOUR SALESPERSON.
I’M HERE TO HELP YOU MAKE MONEY—LOTS OF IT.
AND YOU GET THIS…OR YOU DON’T…
And if you don’t, then you’ll be stuck doing manual labor…just like Perry Marshall says. And, my brothers and sisters, Perry Marshall knows a lot more about marketing than 99.99999% of business and marketing decision makers. Seriously.
Remember...my client in Australia, who is an outstanding marketer, travels 9,000 miles to attend Perry Marshall seminars.
Oh and if you want an HOUR of Mr. Marshall's time, that'll be $1299. Don't believe me? Go here.
Let's Run the Numbers.
A business owner might pay a salesperson $100,000 to pull in $1 million in new orders. Actually—let’s say it’s $200,000 for the $1 million.
Whatever.
If you’re in a business that relies heavily on your website and printed materials for sales and leads, then the BIGGEST mistake you can make is to choose a cheap copywriter.
Let’s say you hire a guy from a ‘developing’ country to write copy because they provide a crazy low price like $200. And the copy persuades 3 out of every 1,000 website visitors to buy what you’re selling. And the lifetime value of a customer is $5,000. Woohooo! You think...I got $15,000 for $200!
So let’s say you pay me $5,000 to write copy and it turns 30 out of 1,000 website visitors into customers.
Yes, my fee is $4,800 more than the 'el cheapo' coywriter. But, because I'm a BETTER copywriter, I've turned your $5,000 into $150,000...
I just beat the other writer by $135,000.
As Jay Abraham said: “Give me a quarter and I’ll give you a dollar.”
How many service providers can provide this level of ROI?
Not your accountant. Not your lawyer. It’s not your commercial property agent.
Look—either you get this or you don’t. If you don’t, head over to Elance with all the other short-sighted marketers who are obsessed with paying as little as possible for copywriters.
But if you GET IT and you understand that I’m the least expensive and most effective salesperson you will EVER hire, then you’re on your way to generating massive amounts of revenue. You're on your way to being LIBERATED.
Yes—you may well have to spend more to hire me than you might for other writers. It’s the best money you will ever spend.
And—unlike most salespeople, I will not:
- Constantly demand higher commissions.
- Threaten to leave for the competition and take all my leads.
- Demand an expensive company car.
- Charge for mileage and other expenses.
- Ask for health insurance.
- Show up late on Monday and leave early on Friday.
- Take vacations.
- Call in sick.
- Take smoke breaks every 40 minutes.
And YES you can pay me based on results. In the business, we call this a royalty. But be warned, you may have to write a check that way exceeds my ‘regular’ fee.
Let me ask you another question.
Do you want to make a lot of money?
There are business owners in a wide range of businesses who routinely pay direct response copywriters BIG PILES of money.
These business owners MAKE A LOT OF MONEY AS A DIRECT RESULT OF HIRING A DIRECT RESPONSE COPYWRITER and paying that big pile.
Are you going to join these business owners?
Or are you going to remain stuck doing manual labor?
The choice is yours…
THANK YOU Perry for the quote...
I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment for clients around the world. I increasingly specialize in sales pages and landing pages. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here.
