Recession? What Recession?!

All this talk about recession and layoffs has a lot of people crawling under their beds, fearing the worst. I know I was certainly in that category as I began a big marketing push. But I learned something interesting: the business is still out there. Business is still getting done. Companies are still marketing their services, and they need copywriters and marketing people like me to help them get it all done. Small businesses are starting up left and right, and people everywhere are hiring graphic designers, ordering material, and paying for all manner of goods and services. Just like old times.

Here's another thing I've learned: There are entire groups of people who will never feel the recession. They will never wonder if they're still going to have a job tomorrow, or worry about if they'll have enough money to retire. And they are buying things to, as witnessed by this recent article in The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Expensive Australian water and cell phones inset with Swarovski crystals appear all the rage among the well-to-do, even while others are cutting back.

I have a theory that there are money levels. Reach a certain high enough level, and you'll never sink below it. You'll always have plenty of money to do whatever you need or want, money that is tied up in safe investments. Donald Trump and Bill Gates are in this level.

There's also a lower level that is so low it makes it hard to rise to the top. For these unfortunate souls, times are always tough, no matter how well the economy is doing. But I believe that even these people can rise above this level if they will only realize that there is a way out for them.

So what does that mean for us copywriters? Well, check out this article from millionaire copywriter Clayton Makepeace on five ways to profit from these lean times.

So, how is the recession effecting you and your business? Do you have too many clients? Not enough? Are the people you're working with feeling the crunch? What are some ways you've learned to recession-proof your business? Post a comment and let me know! Let's start a conversation.

5 Success Secrets of the Copywriting Masters

Want to know how the pros really create winning copy that sells? Try these 5 expert tips for starters, and you’ll be well on your way to writing copy that promotes your products and services—just like some of the greatest copywriting superstars of all time.

Focus on the Consumer, Not on Your Product. The question on everyone’s mind is, “What’s in it for me?” Answer that question about your product or service to the prospect’s satisfaction, and chances are good that they will become paying customers. They don’t care how long your company has been in business, or what you were doing that made you come up with the idea for your product or service. They only want to know how it will help them solve a problem that they are facing.

Use Everyday Speech. You’re writing about widgets to ordinary people, not an academic paper on Hemingway’s use of the comma. Avoid the stilted, high-falutin’ Corporatese that poisons many a marketing piece. Use ordinary, everyday speech, and avoid jargon if possible.

Start a Swipe File. This is the one thing that all successful copywriters do, and if you’re going to be writing your own copy, you should too! So start saving those pieces of “junk mail” that you get, and print out and save any web sales letters or emails you come across as well. They can be a fountain of inspiration for your next promotion. Why reinvent the wheel?

Read. You can’t be an effective writer—of any type of material—if you don’t read. Read magazines, newsletters, Web sites, and blogs relating to your industry. If you’re at a loss for industry publications, check out Tradepub.com, which offers free magazine subscriptions and whitepapers for dozens of industries. I get many of my ideas for my blog posts and this newsletter from reading marketing publications.

You should also read outside your industry and for pleasure. Not only is it a great way to pass the time, but it can teach you about language and sentence construction, which come in handy when you’re writing your next promotion. Read business books, as well as your favorite fiction. I like science fiction, but any genre will do, and it all helps you learn how to tell a compelling story, which works as well in marketing copy as it does in today’s bestsellers.

Test, Test, Test. Another thing all successful marketers and copywriters do is test. Run your sales letter or webpage against another, changing only one thing at a time, like the headline. Whichever one outsells the other, use that one as your primary sales message, then test again! Change something else about the letter, like the lead, or the offer, or the guarantee. Heck, even use a different font! Even the most seemingly insignificant element will make people more likely to whip out their credit cards than another. Keep testing and testing until you’ve got something that continues to pull better than anything you set it up against. This becomes your Control. Use it as the basis for everything else you create.

That’s it! 5 super copywriting secrets you can start using right now!

Getting Things Done the Benjamin Franklin Way

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”—Benjamin Franklin

One of the best success strategies used by everyone who has become successful is called modeling, where you find a person who is successful at what you want to do, and then do what they do.

For example, someone who wants to be successful in real estate could model Donald Trump. For copywriting, there’s Bob Bly, Clayton Makepeace, and Peter Bowerman.

But you don’t have to model the success of only those people who are still alive. History is full of successful men and women who can still be an inspiration to us today.

For me, one of those people is Benjamin Franklin. A successful entrepreneur, Benjamin Franklin retired at the ripe old age of 40. He was a skilled writer, invented bifocals, charted the Gulf Stream, created the first insurance company, volunteer fire department and lending library, and was a statesman and U.S. ambassador to France.

He really packed in a lot of successes. Sure, he lived to be 84, but he still couldn’t have done all this without becoming a master of time management.

Fortunately for us, Franklin spelled out exactly what he did in his autobiography.

Rising at 5am, Ben would ask himself one question: “What good shall I do this day?”

Then he would get ready for his day and have breakfast, followed by four hours of work.

At noon he would eat while either reading or reviewing his accounts. Then back to work for four more hours.

At 6pm it was time to “Put things in their places, supper, music or diversion, or conversation; examination of the day.”

Then he was off to bed for seven hours sleep before doing it all over again the next day.

Yes, it sounds regimented, but it was necessary in order for Ben to get things done. Perhaps you can use this as a guide to come up with something similar for your life.

I believe that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish most anything you set out to do in life, whether it be to become wealthy, start a business, write a book, whatever. And a big part of that is becoming a master of time management.

So start today. As old Ben would say, “Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.”

The Myth of Permission

Are you waiting to get started because you don't have a degree, don't know enough, or some well-established guru hasn't told you you're ready?

If so, you may be suffering from what I like to call the Myth of Permission.

You see, our culture has taught us that we have to get a degree and then work and slave for years, putting in long hours doing menial, thankless tasks until some glorious Expert looks down from his crystal mountain, points his wizened index finger and says, "You are worthy."

This, in short, is a crock. You don't need permission from someone on high in order to feel worthy. All you need to do is learn all you can about it, and then go out there and do it. Only then will you truly feel and be "worthy."

Remember, you don't need permission to be successful. You already are.

What is Your Verb?

Alex Mandossian posted something very interesting to his blog entitled "What is Your Verb?" that I think is a very good exercise for us all.

What is your verb? What is it that you do that defines your very essence? For example, for Rene Descartes it was "I think, therefore I am."

Alex's is "I improve, therefore I am."

Mine is "I write, therefore I am."

What is your verb? According to Alex, if you change your verb you change your whole life.

Advertise on Your Laptop

Now here's a real coffee house conversation starter:

There's a company called Schtickers that lets you create your own customized laptop skin. You can get everything from van Gogh's Starry Night to your company logo emblazoned on your trusty laptop.

These things are great for writers, copywriters and other solopreneurs who like working remotely. James says check it out.

Be Careful What You Wish For: Adventures with the Law of Attraction

Although I didn't know it at the time, I attracted my laptop using the Law of Attraction.

Back in early November of last year, the Dell desktop my wife won at her company Christmas party died. Not with a whimper, but with a bang. Literally.

It had caught about nine viruses, including a particularly insidious form of spyware whose modus operandi was to pop up ads for phony antivirus software.

Well, in the course of trying to fix the problem, the Dell's power supply blew a fuse, and with a loud pop, a tiny flash of flame from the back, and the smell of burnt plastic, she was gone. And so was my livelihood, for the time being.

It was time to go computer shopping. We had to. There were projects to finish, and more yet to take on.

Here's where my first experience with the Law of Attraction came into play.

For months I had been wanting a laptop. I would sit and think about it during my less busy moments, imagining what it would be like. How I could write from remote, exotic locations like coffee shops and parks. How my wife could surf while I got some work done.

Well, I got my wish, but at the expense of our desktop. This wasn't what I wanted, I thought. My point in having a laptop was so that we could have TWO computers!

Well, long story short, but the Dell is all better now, and for the moment, virus free. And I am happily typing this missive on my Gateway laptop.

If there is a lesson on the Law of Attraction here, it is this:

Think about what you want. I wanted a laptop.

Act as if you have already received it. I imagined myself typing on that thing almost every day for months.

Feel what it would be like to have this thing. I imagined how great it would be and how much it could help me leverage my limited time every day.

Take advantage of opportunities as they arise. The "opportunity" here was that our desktop died, and we had to do something. I was a little angry that the fates had not given me the laptop in some specifically pleasing way, but it all worked out. But be careful here. You don't want to be too general in what you ask for, but you don't want to get hung up on specifics either.

In other words, be careful what you wish for and how you wish for it.

I'm studying the Law of Attraction in earnest now, and hopefully, as time permits, I'll be able to share more of what I've learned with everyone who reads this blog.

Best of Continued Success,

James