When you do something well, you often take that skill for granted.
Take copywriting. I’ve been doing it professionally for 14 years. I’m not the best in the world by any means. But it comes easy to me. I can do it well.
That’s not the case, however, for many of my fellow authors, speakers and coaches.
Many of these folks are great at what they do. They deliver great results for their clients. But they can’t write good landing page copy, an email campaign or a basic sales page.
These are critical marketing assets you need to have in place if you want to have any hope of success as an author, speaker or coach.
Unfortunately, most of them don’t know where to turn. And that’s when Casey Demchak saw a real opportunity.
In this interview, Casey reveals:
- What this market is all about
- What these folks need from copywriters
- How you can find the best-quality clients
- What you can charge
And much more.
The notes that follow are a very basic, unedited summary of the show. There’s a lot more detail in the audio version. You can listen to the show using the audio player below. Or you can subscribe in iTunes to get this show delivered straight to the Podcasts app on your smart phone, tablet or iPod.
Tell us about yourself
Casey Demchak has been writing marketing materials for over 20 years, 16 of those years as an independent copywriter and consultant. He started as a screenwriter but burned out in his 30s. It was then that he checked out copywriting.
Eventually, Casey landed a job with a health care company. After working for them for two years, he moved into a position as a copywriter for a medical device company. After five years, he left to work independently.
Today, he writes marketing copy for medical device companies and other B2B companies in other industries.
A few years ago, he started writing for the lucrative author/speaker/coach market.
How did you break into the author/speaker/coach niche?
Casey has a friend who specializes in designing book covers. His friend noted that most authors can’t write good back cover copy.
So Casey decided to attend an author conference. He displayed a “I write marketing materials that sell books” banner. He got tons of interested from authors and marketing consultants. Within three months, he had landed $12,000 to $15,000 in assignments from marketing consultants.
Tell us more about these marketing consultants
These consultants helped authors with their self-publishing and book launches. The goal was to earn the title of “best selling author” by selling several hundred books on launch day. To reach this goal, they heavily promoted the launch through e-blasts and online sales pages.
These consultants needed copywriting support for their authors’ book back covers, e-blasts and sales pages.
Can you give us an overview of the author/speaker/coach market? What are the dynamics?
It’s a huge market. Lots of people are publishing.
The author/speaker/coach market is a lucrative (and untapped!) opportunity for copywriters.
The market consists of:
- Independent publishing companies
- Independent consultants
- “The guy who wrote a book.”
Independent consultants are typically authors with a C-level corporate background (e.g. CEO, CFO, CIO, VP). They’ve left their executive position and are working as authors, speakers and coaches.
Typically, they’ll have a book and related information products. They need copy for their business, to sell their information products and to promote their book.
These independent consultants are accustomed to large numbers. They value quality over price. They know that good marketing copy costs money.
“The guy who wrote a book” are authors from a variety of backgrounds with limited marketing experience. They may not have a professional background. They would balk at your pricing.
What do the independent consultants value most about your writing?
These consultants are educated. They want to work with the best. If your pricing estimate is too low, they’ll think you don’t know what you’re doing.
They have a hard time writing about themselves. They’re too humble. Casey brings out their talents and accomplishments. He writes about them in a way they would never write about themselves.
These consultants are also a great source of referrals. They’ll tell their colleagues in the author/speaker/coach world about you.
What are some of the more profitable projects?
Casey offers a package of marketing materials to his clients. This package can include website copy, sales page copy, a series of e-blasts, back cover copy for the book, a sales sheet for the book and a postcard for the book.
The sales page is usually four to five pages long. Once that’s written, he uses it as the basis for the other pieces. It keeps the messaging consistent and makes the process go faster.
The total messaging package is about 10 to 13 pages long. He charges about $5,000 to $7,000 for it.
Occasionally, he will write the sales page alone for about $1,2000. But he will only do the other pieces as part of a package.
How would advise someone to break into this area?
Look for speaker and/or coach organizations in your local area. Search for professional speaking groups. Try networking in those areas.
LinkedIn and Facebook have a lot of these kinds of groups. They always have questions about marketing. Join in the discussion.
Used LinkedIn’s blogging tool to write on this topic and share it with your groups.
Guest posts are another powerful way to promote your services.
Are clients open to writers who don’t haven’t experience in this area?
It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling medical devices or books.
Talk to prospects about the motivational and sales sequences you apply in your writing.
Even if clients have written their own books, they understand that writing a book requires a different skill set than selling a book.
Where can listeners learn more about you?
Casey’s website: caseydemchak.com. Sign up for his free newsletter to get persuasive sales writing tips.
Twitter: @caseydemchak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseydemchak/
