Silly freelancers, tricks are for kidz

Remember last week's email called:



"How NOT to sell freelancing services"



It was about a copywriter who contacted me cold, saying what he

thought was wrong with it, and offering to rewrite one of my sales

letters for free in exchange for $500 if it did well.



Plus, of course, he would "need a copy of the product"



(lulz).



Anyway, I got the following comment/question from a self-described

newbie freelancer I wanted to show you.



Plus, my response to him explaining why he's wrong.



I think it'll help struggling freelancers.



And, make y'all some more $$.



Here. we. GO -





=====



RE point #2: In Bob Bly's Secrets of a Freelance Writer he says

Milt Pierce said to write letters to companies saying "I've

analyzed XYZ and I've come up with 7 ways in which I think I could

improve your response rates..."



The goal of the letter being to get a follow up meeting/phone call.

He also says you run the risk of offending the person who wrote the

copy -- which is what I think happened in this case. Plus, he asked

for too much in the first interaction.



I've found this works well if you are going after business owners

who don't know copywriting (easy to spot these). I would not use

this approach on an experienced marketer/copywriter, unless you

have a strong track record.



How I would rewrite this guy's email. Would you be more likely to

respond more favorably to these?



I'm not going to be pitching you. Just curious, as I am a new

freelancer.



Method 1: Ben, I know you've probably done a lot of testing with

your landing page. It seems like you're doing ABC. Just curious,

have you ever tried XYZ?



Method 2: Ben, I really enjoy your blog posts and find them all

very informative! I checked out your landing page for ___. I have a

couple ideas that worked well for ____. I think they could also

help you boost your response rates. Do you mind if I send a few of

them over?



=====





Okay, first things first:



All due respect to Milt Pierce...



(a respected direct response copywriting pioneer)



But he's wrong about that.



Maybe that works sometimes.



Hey, even a broken clock is right twice per day, yeah?



But you should realize, he is also from a different era when maybe

that was the only way you could get someone's attention. Back then,

you didn't have email or blogs or dirt cheap websites. Google

didn't send you traffic via SEO or PPC. And there were no forums to

strut around like a peacock on seducing would-be clients who don't

know better by regurgitating what you read in books. Nor could you

build an email list and market to it. In fact, from what I heard,

even if you had an article printed in a major publication, they

wouldn't let you put your phone number, just an address.



So maybe then that was the way to do it.



(In addition to cold calls, direct mail, etc.)



But we live in 2013 not 1971.



People are bombarded with amateur opinions/pitches.



The Internet gives everyone a voice.



But, it also drowns most voices out.



And so, if you want to stick out, you must learn how to sell.



To address your rewrite of how to pitch me:



I wouldn't have contacted me at all.



Sell to buyers -- people **actively** looking for copywriting.



Not people you think need it.



At least, if you want to get higher fees.



What this guy did is the equivalent of trying to sell me aspirin by

trying to persuade me why I have a headache. But it's much better

(and easier) to sell aspirin to someone *already* suffering from a

headache.



And that was his downfall.



I couldn't care less about anyone's unsolicited opinion.



And, would ignore both your approaches.



I'm way too busy for people's brain farts nor do I have any

interest in it -- especially when someone comes off as a newbie or

amateur by contacting me at all when I'm not in the market for what

they have.



That's why I find these approaches so amusing.



(Especially the "I'll need a copy of the product" part...)



Anyway, sadly, most freelancers can't sell.



All they do is pitch.



Even worse...



They use psychological persuasion "tricks" they learned from

guys like Cialdini (who wrote his book to consumers not marketers,

trying to WARN them about us) we can see coming a mile away.



Sigh.



Silly freelancers.



Tricks are for kids.



This is one reason I wrote "Crackerjack Selling Secrets".



I don't mention it a lot.



But today is a special occasion.



The info in this inexpensive eBook works for ALL kinds of selling:



* Freelancing

* Copywriting

* Face to face sales

* Phone sales

* Email

* Direct mail

* Online

* Offline

* Even on the sidelines...



Want to learn how to SELL?



Not just PITCH?



Then check this bad boy out at:



http://www.CrackerjackSelling.com



Ben Settle









Ben Settle

Email Specialist

Settle, LLC

www.BenSettle.com



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