Paris is my favorite city in the world. Back in the 1920s, Shakespeare and Company on the Left Bank was the hangout for creative types like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce.
They gathered to compare notes, give critiques, and spur each other on. Classic novels like The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises ensued.
The Copywriter Cafe is my virtual version of the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. I started it with 40 of my copywriting friends in August of 2012 as a place for copywriters to get ideas, advice, encouragement, and feedback in a helpful, friendly setting.
It caught on, and within a few years we had a few thousand members. It was a grassroots effort, and it served a need: members helping members, not a top-down group led by some guru pontificating from on high.
Fact is, we shouldn’t do this alone. Writing, copywriting, and building a business can be a lonely endeavor. The Cafe brings people together for some great conversations. We talk about what’s working now, in the trenches.
At a certain point it got really big. Today we have over 11,000 members, and we’re one of the most active, fun, and engaged Facebook groups of its kind. See for yourself.
It’s still a great place to hang out and pick up ideas, but the real action is happening behind the scenes…in the Cafe Back Room.
The Cafe Back Room is all about Business Beyond Copywriting.
We talk about how to move beyond being a copywriter-for-hire or freelancer-for-hire (even if you’re highly paid), and why you’d want to.
Copywriting is one cog in the wheel. An important part, to be sure, but not the only part.
In the Back Room, we focus on building a business, a true asset. Something you can someday sell, if you choose to, parlay into other endeavors, or continue operating to reap the ongoing rewards.
We talk about bringing people into your world instead of going into theirs. We talk about Client Conversations and client retention.
We’ll show you how to get paid as much or more for your ideas, advice, and counsel as for the actual work you deliver. How to make your mark and make an impact. Maybe even leave a legacy.
The Copywriter Cafe is fun, helpful, and free.
The Cafe Back Room is a smaller community where we go deeper on ideas and implementation.
Our members are sharp, super friendly, and very generous and giving. We have newer copywriters, lots of intermediate business people, and a fair number of seasoned pros.
We’ll help you build a solid, consistent, profitable business you can ride for the next 5-10 years or more. I’d love to have you join us.