A Message from Kelly

Welcome to The Copywriting Connection! This week we are discussing marketing. As copywriters we are often hired to do other people's marketing. Whether it's through their website or creating a brochure, marketing is what we do. So, why is marketing our own business so difficult? And do you feel like a hypocrite saying what a great copywriter/marketer you are when in fact your own business is struggling? This week's feature article discusses a proven technique to help you get the marketing systems in place for your own business.

This weekend my daughter is going to her first homecoming dance. We've got the dress, the shoes, and have arranged for several of her friends to come here before the dance for a "get dressed and do our make-up" party. Why do these kids grow up so fast? And why does my 14 year-old look like a sexy 20 year-old in her dress? My friend, Marilee Yorchak with BMA Colorado, gave me the scoop on girls and these formal dances. Thank you Marilee! We are getting her a corsage and taking her friends out to dinner before hand. Remember the days...

Happy Copywriting!

Kelly

Making Marketing Easy – Systematizing Your Marketing

Most of us didn't start our copywriting practice so we could do marketing all day. We started our copywriting business because we knew we could help people in one way or another.

However, most of us quickly learned that our business isn't going anywhere without marketing. When we do market our business, we are ultimately able to help more people by writing more copy. And we can ultimately make more money!

Intuitively we know that marketing is a good thing to do, we just don't want to do it. I find this truth to be universal for ALL entrepreneurs, not just copywriters. The easiest and best way to turn marketing into a pleasant event is to create automated systems and processes, so the marketing happens even if you don't feel like doing it.

Let's talk about creating copywriting marketing systems in a little more detail. Fundamentally, understanding this process is the key to generating more income and increasing the size of your business.

When I talk about marketing systems I'm talking about taking action using a planned, ordered procedure. A marketing system is a methodical and fairly automated way to communicate with clients and prospects. The goal of implementing a "systemized marketing procedure" is to create a disciplined and organized approach to marketing. Marketing needs to be done, but you shouldn't have to spend all day every day stressing about it. When the procedures are automated you can easily teach someone else to do them and ensure your connect with your clients on a consistent basis.

There are several reasons (let's call them what they are – excuses) for not doing any marketing. Here are some of the top excuses we hear from our coaching clients:
"I don't do marketing because..."

1. I hate it
2. Because I don't know how to
3. Marketing is boring
4. I'm too busy
5. It doesn't work
6. It's too expensive
7. People don't like to be sold to. My business will come naturally.

Whether you love to market your business or not, putting systems in place so your marketing is done in a consistent and effortless manner ensures it happens – even when you are super busy or just don't feel like it!

Here are a couple of tips to creating your own marketing systems:

1. Put one system in place at a time. Get one down and then start another.
2. Schedule time each week to work on growing your business. Have a calendar system you use, such as Google calendar, and stick to it.
3. If there are things you really don't want to do, have someone else do them. Hire a virtual assistant, do a trade with someone, have a high school student or intern at the local college help you out.
4. An example of a marketing system could be sending post cards to clients on their birthdays. How can you do this? Ask for their date of birth in your introductory paperwork. Enter it into a simple spreadsheet like excel, or use an automated system like www.sendoutcards.com. You can choose a card at the beginning of each year and set the system up to automatically send the week before your client's birthday – without your involvement each week. Your involvement consists of asking for their birthday during the initial paperwork, and then making sure it gets keyed into the system. Perhaps someone does this for you every Friday, or the last Friday of the month. You decide what works for you. Whatever you decide put it in your calendar!

Systemizing your marketing not only ensures it will get done each month (or week), but it allows you to set up your business the way YOU want it set up, and then you can teach someone else to do it. Again, the way YOU want it done.

One of the key components of both our Build Your Copywriting Business from the Ground Up and our Marketing Foundation Package are helping you discover what marketing systems work for you and teaching you ways to automate and systemize your practice-building efforts.

© The Copywriting Connection. All Rights Reserved.

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Copywriters Challenge

We challenge you to truly examine what marketing you do for your copywriting practice. How much time does it take? How consistently do you do it? What marketing system can you put in place today?

Word of the Week

This week's word of the week is consanguineous [kon-sang-gwin-ee-uhs]. Consanguineous means having the same ancestry or descent; related by blood.

Tools for your Success

Top Ten Websites from BtoBOnline - Each year, BtoB highlights 10 business-to-business Web sites that are particularly good examples of how companies can use the Web to communicate with customers. This link is to their top 10 list. What do you notice about these sites? What do these large, complicated corporations have in common on their home page? I'm seeing tons of white space and little copy. Simplicity for a compicated world.

Special Offer

Build Your Copywriting Business

In this course you will get your copywriting business off the ground and put systems in place to attract high paying clients that love you! You'll have homework, write your own marketing materials, learn what's important to your target market and how you can best help them. You'll learn how to get to know your ideal client, how to uncover what they need from a copywriter and how to get in front of them.

You'll also learn what things you MUST do in order to be a high earning copywriter and learn what marketing methods work best for successful copywriters. Develop marketing materials – like your web site, business cards, a sales letter (and get feedback on them from those that have done it successfully!) And you'll create writing samples and learn how to get them published. The course also includes coaching and feedback on all assignments and written materials.

Read more about this class here: www.thecopywritinginstitute.com/buildyourbusiness.html

Learn the Ropes Copywriting Class

A hands-on copywriting class that will both train aspiring copywriters to write phenomenal copy (with my personal guidance and feedback) AND help businesses that need copywriting help but are having a difficult time finding qualified copywriters. Writing these assignments and getting feedback from me and my clients will without question make you an experienced, well-qualified copywriter ready to take on much larger and complex assignments with confidence and joy!

Read more about this class here: www.thecopywritinginstitute.com/learntheropes.html

Kelly's Speaking Engagements

Boulder Writers Alliance (BWA) - September 23rd - I'm speaking on "Tips for Freelancing Success" at the BWA Expo: www.BWA.org.

World Research Group - Las Vegas January 26th - 28th, 2009 - "Online Strategies for Health Plans".

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