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Humble Business Copywriter

Perhaps you may be getting the idea from so many of my client and industry-leader testimonials all over my site implying that I’m “the real deal” — so let me explain.

I’m not one to get complacent, or think there’s a place I’ve reached that I no longer have to try as hard, or keep training, or stop being curious to the point of obsession to find what will work. It takes a hard-working, ever-positive, highly-trained, very upfront, straight-shooting copywriter to keep digging in such a competitive internet marketing playing field. So if you’re sick of working with egotistical copywriters, I’m your gal.

I have a ton of experience in real-world business – specifically in public relations, sales, marketing and management. That school of hard knocks taught me to stick to the highest level of integrity and follow-through, which are two characteristics I find missing in many copywriters.

One of today’s copywriting greats I follow is Bob Bly. I like him because he tells it like it is, even if it’s not pretty. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He’s built himself into a copywriting god over many decades, and yet he’s so humble.

Like Bob, I try to keep this humble compass in front of me at all times, in my work and relationships with my clients. And like him, I’m a realist. That means that even though I have many winning sales letters and VSLs, I’ll admit I’ve also written masterpieces that my client and I LOVED, but didn’t do as well as we wanted. Any copywriter who tells you they’ve written 100% winners is lying. Even the best copywriters on the planet produce losers and need to go back to re-create and test again. That’s internet selling reality.

And here’s the humble business difference: I don’t just say “oh well” and leave. I roll up my sleeves and rework the hook and intro copy until it does work.

Now since this extra work is actually R&D that is a necessary evil of all businesses, the business owner is responsible for the cost of this time and effort. A business or entrepreneur who is testing internet marketing is just like a business that is testing a new commercial, or a new product. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. If it doesn’t work, you change it until you hit your winner… until you nail something that people actually want. But of course there’s a business cost to that testing.

All marketing is a test, including promotions sold through web copy.

Here’s the article from Bob Bly on this topic:

It mystifies me how it has come to pass that so many copywriters
have huge egos.

After all, copywriting is one of the most humbling professions I
can think of.

My colleague BC explains it this way:

“So many times I have put together a campaign, launched it, and
sat back and said ‘work, damn it, WORK’ — and it did not. Very
humbling.

“And by the same token, I launched what I thought was watered
down drivel — and saw it pull like gangbusters.”

Any copywriter who says every campaign is a winner and claims he
has never had any losers is either a liar, or putting out very
little work, or not swinging for the fences to beat strong
controls.

Once, I mentioned to a big-name client that I thought their top
go-to copywriter, a famous freelancer, was great.

She snorted derisively and said, “He has more losers for us than
I can count.”

Another big-name client confided in me that a legendary
copywriter they used wrote 7 promotions in a row that bombed for
them.

Once, my client PN called me and said, “You want a laugh?”

On my recommendation, PN had called Mr. X, a famous copywriter,
because PN’s company had way too much work for me to handle
alone.

“I asked the guy what percentage of his promotions were winners,”
PN told me. “You know what he said? 100%! Ha! I sure hung up the
phone fast!”

Another famous copywriter wrote a package for a new client that
was so brilliant and creative, the client began recommending the
writer to all his cronies.

Then weeks passed, until one day, the famous copywriter got a
phone call from the client who said abruptly: “Remember that
package you did for me? Total bomb. Didn’t work.”

The copywriter was stunned … and the referrals all dried up.

By the way, all of the copywriters I am talking about here are
actually tops in the field.

The point is that even the best copywriters don’t write winners
every time.

Like Mr. X, any copywriter who says every single one of his
promotions is a home run is a liar.

And given that even the best copywriters write packages that
bomb, it is a mystery to me why so many copywriters out there
have huge egos.

If anything, being a copywriter is a humbling profession.

One day you can be king of the world, and the next week eating
humble pie.

And that’s the way it is, despite all the bragging you read by
copywriters on Facebook and elsewhere to the contrary.

Sincerely,

Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant