The Cafe is not about copywriting anymore.
Up until recently we were, and still are, on the side.
Front and center now? We have a new focus. The Cafe Writer community is:
The #1 Place Where Writers Create Profitable Businesses
More than a writing or copywriting group, we are first and foremost a business-building group.
Stay with me for a quick explanation…
A business can’t grow without sales.
Marketing, systems, funnels, and copywriting can all contribute to and enhance sales.
For most businesses, however, some element of human-to-human selling is involved.
If you’re selling a high-ticket service, or almost any service of any price, a funnel won’t do that. YOU need to sell.
If you’re an adviser of any kind (better pay than being an “order-taker” copywriter), you’re selling.
If you’re a copywriter-for-hire, you should be up-selling your clients, helping them get even more of what you offer.
No matter what your business is, you are in the business of selling not only your products and services, you’re also…
Selling Yourself and Your Ideas
We have to get good at selling ourselves, before anything.
The better you are at selling, the more money you’ll make.
Selling fuels the economic engine of the world.
The best thing that can happen to any economy is to have more good salespeople selling quality products and services, keeping the wheels of industry turning.
You’re actually doing your prospects and clients a disservice if you’re not good at selling.
Selling gets people involved in things that enhance their life. Things they wouldn’t have gotten involved with if not for YOU.
THAT is good, it’s powerful, and it’s beautiful!
And, by the way, just because you’re good at copywriting doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at selling.
The opposite is also true. A lot of good salespeople don’t know anything about copywriting.
Yes, I know, copywriting is “selling in print.”
But unless you’ve gotten good at selling IN PERSON, you won’t reach your full potential as a copywriter.
They’re two different things, and if you were only going to master one, I’d say master selling and be average at copywriting. Really.
“Where do I start?”
People ask me all the time, “I’m fairly new. What should I focus on? What should I do first?”
I have a different answer than you’re hearing anywhere else.
Some copywriters will tell you to spend inordinate amounts of time diving into the old masters, reading book after book about copywriting, and copying classic sales letters by hand.
The Reading, Studying, and “Learning by Osmosis” School.
Others will tell you to rub shoulders with people in high places, get to know them, and they’ll introduce you to their friends, who will then hire you…maybe.
The School of “I know so-and-so.” Works for some people (the ones you hear name-dropping incessantly). Not a solid business-building strategy, though.
Still others will tell you to become the absolute best copywriter you can be.
Then, go after the best clients who already hire great copywriters, go head-to-head with them, and see if you can beat them!
The “So good they can’t ignore you” School.
Or as I like to call it, the “Pounding Your Head Against the Wall” School of Copywriting.
Why would you purposefully go where lots of copywriters already are?
Look, you need skills, of course. Connecting with sharp people is certainly a good thing.
And I’m not knocking the idea of mastering copywriting, but it’s not the only piece of the puzzle, by any means.
Plus, going after the same clients everyone else is going after is setting yourself up for frustration and head damage.
A Different Approach
So what’s MY advice?
- Develop some skills, of course.
- Package them into a service, in a way that makes it easy for people to buy.
- Have good client conversations, where you bring them into your world, instead of going into theirs.
It’s almost the opposite of what everyone else is teaching these days.
If the other way is working for you, stick with it.
If you’re trying to figure out what approach will work for you, consider a fresh one.
See, I have a different take on all this, and part of it comes from the fact that I have a different background than most people giving advice in this space.
It’s not something I just picked up in the last few years. I didn’t get it from some super secret hack. I didn’t learn it from books or courses. I learned it in the trenches.
For 17 years of my life, before I ever got into copywriting, I made a very good living working on straight commission in corporate sales.
I gave over 10,000 one-on-one sales presentations before I turned 25. I’ve been selling ever since, to this day.
More than anything, we need to learn how to sell ourselves and our ideas.
It’s time to put selling in its rightful place, front and center.
With my Premier Members in the paid Cafe Writer community, we’re talking about this. I’m teaching it, and I’m even role playing it.
In fact, in my private Premier group, we’re doing LIVE client conversation video calls so you can SEE what it looks like and HEAR what it sounds like.
Who else is doing that?
Writing and Beyond
Cafe Writer is about using your writing skills to make money. I’ll help you do that.
In addition, I’m going to keep talking about selling, teaching selling, and putting selling into action.
Because selling is fundamental to building a business. Period.
And Cafe Writer is the #1 Place Where Writers Create Profitable Businesses.
Don’t worry, either – selling is a learned skill, just like copywriting. I intend to lead the pack on this, and let others follow suit later.
Oh, and these people who talk about “old selling” versus “new selling”?
Don’t listen to them. Selling is selling. (And they probably weren’t even on the scene before “new selling” anyway.)
I’m not into the “Don’t be salesy” crowd either.
If you’re good at what you do, no need to apologize.
Why We Do What We Do
Last thing. Selling is so incredibly rewarding. I find it extremely satisfying to make a sale, much more so than selling via copy I’ve written.
It’s emotional.
You’re making a human connection. You don’t get that writing copy. I never have anyway.
Can you tell?
I’m quite passionate about this subject, and I’m just scratching the surface. Want to stand out and build a business in today’s marketplace? Here’s the full, step-by-step scoop.
Writing is what we do. Selling is how we get it out into the world.
I’ll do everything in my power to help you.
Thoughts? I’d love to hear your take on it.
