Copywriting For Brick & Mortar Businesses
"Eighty percent of success is showing up."
– Woody Allen
Wednesday, 9:27 PM
Dear Friend,
I knew it would happen eventually.
Something would try and stop me from publishing one video a day during my 30-Day YouTube Challenge.
I have to admit… yesterday it was pretty darn inconvenient.
But TODAY was a bitch.
Yesterday I was suffering from a really bad allergy attack and just felt awful. I felt even WORSE after taking some allergy medicine. The only thing I felt like doing was going back to bed.
But I got up and did my morning routine… 33 minutes & 33 seconds of guitar practice, followed by 33 minutes & 33 seconds of writing copy.
After that I answered e-mails, returned phone calls and did another 33 minutes & 33 seconds working on copy.
Later in the day, I did my Kitchen Table Business protege coaching webinar… all the while feeling like I was going to pass out at any minute. (I don't know which is worse… the severe allergies or the side effects from the meds.)
Even though it was inconvenient and I had a long list of things to do… I'm glad to say I also got my YouTube video edited and posted.
Today was a different story.
I felt pretty good… until spending the entire afternoon in the doctor's office and getting some really bad news.
The only thing I felt like doing was coming home and going to bed. That would be a normal response under the circumstances.
But a commitment is a commitment.
So in spite of feeling really crappy… I spent the next two hours shooting and editing my video.
Then due to some weird technical glitches during the upload to YouTube, I was forced to spend an additional unexpected 2 & 1/2 hours importing the video into iMovie a second time and re-editing all over again.
And now an extra 45 minutes writing this blog post.
It all reminded me of Woody Allen's quote.
He didn't say "success is showing up when it's convenient and you feel like it… and you're in perfect health and everything is going your way."
No, he simply said you have to show up.
I can tell you from experience it's almost NEVER convenient. And many times… actually, MOST of the time… you won't FEEL like doing what you need to do.
See, when you make a commitment to grow or better yourself in some way, sooner or later something – a situation, inconvenience, illness, a person (usually it's a family member or friend) – is going to come against you to try and stop you.
A loser makes excuses.
A successful person keeps his commitment.
So I expected this would eventually happen. I just didn't know it would happen so soon.
The important lesson here is… in spite of how bad you may feel… and how inconvenient it may be… and how much you don't FEEL like doing it… you keep your commitment.
And because there are so precious few people like that… this one secret alone can make you an extremely valuable and HIGHLY paid guy or gal in the business world.
Oh yeah… the video below will show you how to make a lot of money, too.
Even if you're just a hack copywriter or rookie direct marketer, you could easily be making 5 figures a month VERY quickly.
All the best,
Dan! This is so great. Two fantastic ideas in one day. This 30-day challenge is proving to be a great project that I am learning from. Frankly, I like your ideas better than your guests, and that is a nice finding too. I like Deutch, don't get me wrong.
Today's tip is one I will treasure, because it is rather simple, effective and necessary. Thanks a million for this one.
One question from a beginner. How can I best and in as short amount a time as possible start building credibility? And I mean, I am a beginner.
Thanks for the series and your advice.
Hi Niels,
I just checked out the "about" page on your blog. That looks like credibility to me!
But I know what you mean. Credibility for your copywriting/marketing you can demonstrate to prospective clients.
A couple things.
Like David Deutsch said, create your own product and write the copy to sell it. Sell an e-Book on Clickbank. Keep track of all the results and processes and show that to prospective clients as an example of what you can do for them. You not only develop an income stream, you build your skills and credibility.
You could also offer to do a job on "spec". In other words, do the work without any up front fee for a brick & mortar business owner you trust and he then pays you the monthly recurring fee.
Get one client like that you produce good results for and getting more will be a walk in the park. He'll probably even get more clients for you by talking to other business owners he knows about the results you got him.
Hope that helps.
DD
OR… You could do both.
Hi Dan,
Sean here. I write for a division of Agora from my home office. But, with just a few hours a week I am building two kitchen table businesses. One is offering direct response style press release services to local businesses. And two I'm getting ready to launch a membership site for copywriters unlike anything else out there.
So, my "day" job working with Agora I get some of the best mentoring and real world copy testing and a nice income while growing my own biz.. Pretty cool.
But I have to say, if I was going to do it over again, I'd probably skip the Agora gig and go straight to producing my own biz and local clients.
Thanks for all you do,
Sean
Thanks dood especially under the circs you endured today. Keep 'em coming.
And keep smiling.
Andrew
Kudos to you, Sean, on the kitchen table projects you're putting together.
I envy the multi-million dollar education you're getting there at Agora. And you're one smart hombre cuz you're getting paid to learn, too.
Thanks, Andrew!
I'm doing EXACTLY this right now at this moment.
But here's what you need to do:
(1) TEST MAILING FIRST
To test out the service what I did was SEND THE SALESLETTER OUT FIRST… and after I've received the appropriate level of response, then I start creating the exact service.
I got a 20% response on my lead gen. for a service exactly mentioned by Doberman, the one where he talks about Aweber.
(2) CALL AND ASK FIRST
Also, I called up the "boss" in the company and ask them if they'd be interested in (offer, communicated in a headline way, example "Increasing Your Customers From Each Advertisement By Up To Double")… if they said "YES"… then you go and create the free report or promo video showing them how.
This way, you're GUARANTEED a response.
P.S.: by the way it's super important that you speak with the person who SIGNS THE CHEQUE, otherwise you'll be dealing with a bored receptionist, someone from another department on a power trip or worse a "wannabe boss" and wasting your energy trying to convince a douche that you can help…
DD,
Not to be a wet blanket, but at the price point you suggest aren't most B&M businesses likely to pitch a conniption fit? How do you convince these folks to sign on for what amounts to a big cash outlay (you mentioned 2-3K up front and 500.-1k a month thereafter)? To most of these businesses 10K or so a year would represent considerable cost. How do you convince them of the benefit up front? And if the benefit to them is increased business down the road, why wouldn't you ask for a royalty/percentage of the increase in business instead of what you outlined?
Love your stuff, by they way.
Best,
Marc
Hey Dan,
Great video… and you know what makes it even greater? I am doing exactly that right now! And I started from zero…
My plan was to get my foot in the door by offering local SEO services (which is really pretty easy). But I had no credibility, no current testimonials… so what I did was I used my cousin's photography business as a guinea pig.
I achieved multiple top local search engine rankings for him (using Traffic Geyser's free first month trial) and captured that on video. Thereafter, I put that video on the home page of my website (WebProfitsLab.com) and drove prospects to it.
How did I do my prospecting? I approached businesses who are already advertising on Adwords. This way, I know my prospects are already predisposed to the power of Internet marketing. I sent email and snail mail to them. I got their contact details from their websites or by doing a Whois search.
Over a period of 2 months, I contacted about 30 businesses. I got 6 responses, of which I have closed 3, one on the way (going to their office next week to deliver invoice and pick up cheque for upfront fee) and another one I am doing a trial SEO campaign (I'm confident of closing them once they've seen the results of the trial campaign).
I approached them with local SEO services, but once I was in the door, I upsold them on email marketing services and social media services. From those I closed, I got an upfront fee of $2,000 and thereafter, a monthly fee of $700.
So I am definitely proof that what you talk about in the video works.
Andy
Hi Dan,
I don't need the big dogs like Agora and Boardroom. I just want clients who pay good fees so I can earn a decent living for a change. I'm not out to make millions, so if I can thrive with the little dogs, it's fine with me.
I listed my website, but it may be a few days before it's up. Yeah, it still has bugs we'll have to work out, but the important thing is to get it up. The hard part is getting my son, who is doing the technical part, on the same page I'm on.
Thanks Dan!
ALSO – I would advise AGANIST going with traditional media, especially newspaper and magazines.
This is actually a horrendous strategy when you're talking about "Brick and Mortar" businesses who do not have the financial clout to dump thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on full page ads.
Traditional media is dying out faster than a sneeze.
On March 22nd, it was revealed that Canadians now spend more time online than watching TV.
In my country, TV stations are getting so desperate to suck advertisers in that spots on television now less than a half-page ad in the main paper.
Google "Newspapers going out of business" you'll be flooded with articles about that topic with different commentators giving you their two cents on why newspapers are disappearing before your eyes faster than you can blink.
Go for the big dogs who have the ability to place full pagers, with what ever readership left you'll be able to at least get some good response going.
This is really good info from a guy in the trenches.
Thanks for being so generous and sharing this with us.
DD
Here's more proof from a guy making it happen.
That's awesome, Andy!
Thanks for sharing your secrets with us.
Good luck, Dale. If you keep at it, you'll do great.
You've got a plan here to make some really good money working with the little dogs.
And take it from me… it's not very fun working with the big dogs. It may sound sexy… but it really isn't.
My pleasure, Andy.
Good point.
It amazed me to find out how much money these B&M business owners were paying to appear in those local magazines I showed in the video.
These magazines are given away free on newsstands throughout the county. I'd be willing to bet these ads are a 99.9% LOSS every month… but since the B&M owners know nothing about marketing and never track their results, they don't even realize they're losing money.
These guys are BEGGING for the solutions we can offer them.
Hi Dan,
That is terrific. I am on it. Thanks for taking the time to give this feedback and for the kind words about my site.
Niels
Killer advice, Dan.
As a newbie, this makes perfect sense. Instead of swinging for the fences…hit 'em where they ain't.
It sort of flies in the face of the traditional advice to pick a niche in which one might have expertise or interest…financial, health, travel, etc.
Nothing sexy about your advice, but damn straight thinking. And it occurs to me that setting up a "template" if you will, adjusting the copy content from client-to-client would not be too time consuming.
Many thanks for this 30-day broadcast…lots of great tips.
Wishing you the very best on the health front. Almost Opening Day…always good for the soul.
Suerte!
What you charge will probably vary… but a lot of these guys are used to paying that out every month for advertising.
I know a guy doing this in Vegas that gets $3k up front and $1,000/mo. with a minimum 6 month contract. He has so much business he has had to train two apprentices… and STILL can't keep up.
The secret is to only work with businesses that can afford these price points and are used to those kind of fees per month.
There are attorneys and chiropractors paying $2,500 a month just for their yellow pages ads!
Go for the B&M businesses with high average unit of sale.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Micheal Savoie and berniedorman, Micheal Savoie. Micheal Savoie said: Copywriting For Brick & Mortar Businesses | Doberman Dan http://bit.ly/az57rw [...]
Right on…
Especially about the tracking part.
I'm in conversation wih a client, who has 3 branches across the coutry, who showed me all his ads dating back into 2007 and… ALL of them are different from each other… WITH zero tracking device.
I'm there scratching my head wondering how the heck did they grow multiple branches with really bad advertising, (their marketing is not too good either)???
P.S.: Dan, you rock, I've never seen ANY top gun marketers/copywriter who responds to blog comments like you do. Shows how much you care especially when you take the time to respond back with even more useful stuff. You've got a new fan : )
Thanks, Mark.
Good thing you're working with this guy. If he can do that well with bad marketing, imagine what he'll do with your help.
This blog is my passion and legacy. I'm glad to respond to comments whenever I can.
Hey Dan,
Excuse my ignorance but what is B&M? Thanks!
Andy
I agree Dan. The way you are responding to comments and interacting with your readers is the way (I feel) this blogging thing should be done.
It's all about building a strong audience and a faithful Tribe. And you are definitely building a Tribe here Dan… at least you have a Tribe member in me.
Andy
My bad! It's an abbreviation for "brick & mortar".
Thanks, Andy!
I just hope I can keep it up as the list grows.
Hi Dan,
This is a great business idea! Thanks for your inspiration. I'm on it! (Two very rough pages of copy fell out of my brain this morning and I've started my prospect list.) Dan Kennedy recommends it as a great way for beginners to start too. He says "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king."
Any tips or resources you can recommend on how to optimize the client's site for a local Google search?
Also, who would be setting up the client's website, you or a third party? Would the client pay for that or would it be included in the initial 1K – 3K that they would be paying?
Thanks,
John
P.S. I really liked the stupid ad / smart ad theme of today's post. Based on the number responses to your brick and mortar business posts, I'll bet there would be plenty of interest in more posts on this topic too.
P.P.S. I'm about half way through your interview with John Angelache…very good stuff!
Hi John,
I really have a soft spot in my heart for brick & mortar biz owners. Most of them need a lot of help. And unfortunately a lot of them are not going to be able to stay in business for much longer in this current climate without some marketing help.
I'm working on something really big for them. If I can't put this deal together, a lot of brick & mortar business owners are not only going to survive, but prosper… and some copywriters/marketers are going to be heroes.
So keep reading the blog. I'll answer all your questions soon.
Dan,
I completely agree with you.
I live in a small, fairly affluent town on the CT shore (the same town where Katharine Hepburn lived her whole life). And even here the small brick & mortar businesses are dropping like flies.
They're like car crash victims on the side of the road and we're the emergency response team coming in with the paddles. Clear!!!
I'll be glued to the blog. Whatever you've got planned can't come too soon for many of these people.
John
This really saddens me. Some of these people have invested their entire lives and every cent they have in those businesses.
I really am working on a way to help those that want helped. But rather than package it up in a $2000 course that I THINK might work, I'm actually in the process of doing it myself. Putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak.
Once I've proven without a doubt it is successful for both the B&M biz owner and the guy doing the work (me!) I'm going to share it with the world.
In the meantime, I'll continue publishing actionable info here on the blog for B&M biz owners.
It saddens me too. Each one of those empty storefronts represents someones shattered dreams. I think that's why working with small biz owners is so appealing to me. You can make a real difference in somebody's life.
I'm going to offer web development (at least initially) in addition to marketing help to save the biz owner some money. It's probably easier to implement the SEO if I'm building the site too. If anyone else is interested in doing this also, I found a development tool which is pretty neat – XSite Pro.
It is far, far easier and faster to build a site using this than with Microsoft Expression Web (imo) and for less than $200 it's a screamin' deal. (And no, I have no affiliation with the company whatsoever.)
I'm just impressed with how easy it is to use. A beginner can build a customer's site with this software. It handles most of the tech stuff allowing you to focus on content creation and marketing strategy which is more important.
Dan, Thanks again for all that you do. You're clearly one of the good guys. I look forward to your next post on this topic.
Leave your response!
These email marketing secrets
work like crazy
Just use these fill-in-the-blank
email marketing templates
to sell more stuff right now...