“Santa Kim” is back at it this afternoon, answering some of the burning questions submitted by your fellow Copy Insiders (or perhaps even you, ).
So let’s get right to it — it’s going to be 5 o’clock somewhere before we know it!
Copy Insider Nancy Bush is looking for advice on landing retainer clients. She writes…
“I’ve had copywriting experience off and on for three years but in the past few months, I’ve been working on it full-time. I can’t seem to get a retainer client or an in-house gig. I’m certified by Sarah Turner and Troy Ericson. I’m in Kevin Rogers’ Copy Chief Accelerator right now. Should my next step be to go fall in on charming cold emails, a la John Buchan, or should I focus on cover letters for in-house jobs, or should I focus on places like Up work and Contra to get whatever gig I can to get those stats everybody wants?”
Great question, Nancy. It sounds like you’re a fairly experienced copywriter, but to be fair you’ve only been at it full-time for a few months. You need to give it more time, even after going through these different programs.
It’s great that you’re investing in these various programs, though I’m not sure how much they focus on really upgrading your copy skills to the level you need to attract certain clients — and, more importantly, get those “stats everybody wants” by writing successful promos and campaigns that will open doors for you.
I know these programs focus on a variety of skills and tactics (including copy) that I’m sure are helpful, but if you’re looking to really level up your copy, keep an eye out for when I open the doors to my Copy Champions 2025 Gold mentoring program next week! This program kicks off in mid-January.
In the meantime, I would try to land more copywriting gigs, ideally with higher-quality clients via referrals (something I talk about doing in my Client Badassery Secrets book, available on Amazon and elsewhere online).
As far as checking out Jon Buchan’s offerings, if his cold email outreach approach appeals to you, definitely give it a try. It could help showcase your humor and creativity in a way that lets you stand out from the other cold emails clients get.
Something else you may find enormously helpful is the 3Rs program on royalty and retainer deals that top email copywriter Chris Orzechowski and I put together.
It gives you our best tips and strategies and even the actual “scripts” to use when approaching and closing retainer clients, along with proposal and contract templates. You can get it for $100 off the already-low price here.
The main thing you should be doing is to put your very best effort into every client project you work on… not just so you can get better results (though that’s huge), but so that you develop and deepen your relationships with those clients.
Just as we want clients to be “good” clients, clients have similar expectations of copywriters. You want to always exceed those expectations, be great to work with, deliver “perfect” copy on time every time, and maintain lines of communication as far as follow up.
It’s getting those repeat projects and continuing to deliver results — while being good to work with — that lay the foundation for retainer projects or getting hired in-house. (I cover some of this in my aforementioned book plus the in’s and out’s of various arrangements. Chris and I get into this topic in our 3Rs program as well).
Good luck! Keep me posted on how it goes.
Okay, next up… Copy Insider Paaez Coleman has a burning question about funnels. Here’s his question:
“How do I fix a funnel that’s not converting? It’s a product marketing funnel — DTC. I write the copy, but I’m also I’m charge of making sure the funnels convert. I’ve had issues getting new funnels to work, but I wonder if it’s the traffic, copy, or CRO.”
It’s possible that some of what’s going on has nothing to do with the traffic, copy, or CRO (conversion rate optimization). It could be that the direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing channels you’re using are way too saturated.
Facebook and Instagram are fighting to keep users on their platforms, and aren’t yielding the same results they once did. All because there’s too many offers competing for attention in an overcrowded channel.
And if your company or client is just in a constant mode of acquiring customers and hoping to get as much as they can out of an initial funnel — rather than build relationships that lead to more sales on the back-end over time — then it’s harder to scale profitably. That’s why it’s important to also focus on maximizing LTV (lifetime value).
But back to those funnels. If they used to convert well but they’re no longer performing like they did, it could be that your copy is fatiguing and you need to test NEW copy.
If they never worked that well to begin with — or they’re new funnels as you mentioned and they’re not panning out in initial testing, it could be a copy problem — but it also could be an offer problem and/or audience mismatch. (However, do make sure you personally walk through every step in the funnel to make sure there’s not something that’s tripping your prospect up!)
Let’s assume you’re targeting the right audience with the right offers. Then I’d focus on testing different copy approaches, especially top of funnel. Make sure you’ve identified what it is your product does that gives it some kind of advantage — what problem does it solve in a superior way?
Even if there are other products with similar features, you can emphasize your product’s advantages and dimensionalize the ways they improve your prospect’s life. If you’re doing this in a way that grabs attention, resonates, and builds belief better than what your competition is doing, your copy results are sure to improve.
Just like with any testing, be sure to test only one element at a time. That way, just like in a scientific experiment, you’ll know it was that specific variable that either helped or hurt results. You can do this with different offers within your funnel as well. Good luck — hope you found this helpful!
Alright, I’ve gotta wrap this up now, but I’ll be back at you next week. However, I would love to have more burning questions to choose from to answer.
So send yours over to me at Kim@kimschwalm.com. Better yet, use this simple form here, and you’ve got a good shot of having me address them in a future issue.
Yours for smarter marketing,
Kim
P.S. Keep an eye for more details next week on my new Copy Champions 2025 Gold mentoring program that kicks off in January. And if you’re a recent mentee or on my mentoring wait list, you’ve got just a few more days to grab your spot before everyone else. Some spots have been claimed already as we speak!
P.P.S. If you don’t have my Client Badassery Secrets book yet (what are you waiting for), you can get it on Amazon here. Note: this is the U.S. Amazon site. It’s also on all the other Amazons around the world, so you may need to switch to your country’s Amazon site. It’s also on Barnes and Noble and other online sites.
When you get my book, either in print or e-book format, you can download my free Client Badassery Secrets Tool Kit, which gives you a handy-dandy client screening questionnaire and sales call script to help you rein in those deals.