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| The Client Letter |
| Why Marketing Legend, Dan Kennedy, Published My Newsletter |
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October 4, 2011 Sedona, Arizona A few months ago, I sent out a mailing to prospective consulting and copywriting clients. The letter was created with the focus of providing tangible value in a unique and creative way. Believe it or not, THIS is part of my system for selling my services. On Friday, while being interviewed by a well known copywriter on the topic of attracting and managing clients, I found out that my little “newsletter” had made it all the way to Dan Kennedy’s “Marketing Your Services For Freelance Copywriters” newsletter. He reproduced all six pages of my letter, along with his comments. Now just in case you’ve never heard of Dan Kennedy, don’t worry, I’ll spare you the flogging that should normally follow such behavior. Kind of hard to do that through email you know. Plus, I’m feeling extra nice… today. Dan Kennedy is perhaps THE best known living marketer in my world of direct response marketing and copywriting. He’s been at this for decades and is an example of someone with the discipline and guts to blaze his own path. If Dan Kennedy is a new name to you (just like he was to me back in 2006 or so), go to Amazon and buy everything he offers. You’ll probably spend less than $100.00 and come away with a graduate level crash course in “in the trenches” marketing. If you stick to Dan’s stuff on Amazon, you’ll be fine. But a word of warning if you venture outside of those boundaries and end up on his website. At that point, watch out. Because you’ll most likely find it very, very challenging to keep your wallet closed as he leads you down his slippery slope that is Planet Dan. Of course, any investment you make in his teachings could very well alter the course of your life, just as they played a part in altering the course of mine. And, paying him a large amount of money in exchange for his knowledge and expertise might just give you some ideas you could use to double, triple or quadruple your income. In our current world of the “insta-guru,” Dan Kennedy is the closest thing to the “real deal” as I’ve ever encountered. He certainly ISN’T for everyone and he may just rub you the wrong way. It just goes with the territory. As a professional service provider, however, he is someone you must pay attention to. The strategies and techniques he uses to build a marketing gravity that PULLS clients and business to him is a seminar in itself. And all you have to do is watch. I’ve been studying that “gravity” part of his business VERY closely, and let me tell you… YOU can do the same thing. The story about my newsletter above is the reason you focus on increasing the volume of material you create. The fact is, you never know where it’s going to go or whose desk it is going to land on. At most, it cost me about $.80 to get that letter into Dan’s hands. Was it worth that investment? Are you kidding? It’s hard to quantify the value of publicity like this, but I’ll take those returns any day of the week. What do you have out there that can bring value like that back to your business? If you can’t think of anything, it’s time to get to work. See you tomorrow,
P.S. Just got this latest testimonial for my Six-Figure Copywriting book that I want to pass along: “Great ideas are often found in the most obvious places once we know how and where to look for them. Jason’s book ‘How I Became a Six Figure Copywriter’ does just that. There are many books and courses that teach how to write copy but not too many that teach how to make a living as a copywriter. That part of the process is most often left to the student. Jason describes his best practices in detail – what worked for him and what didn’t. In reading his book I quickly realized that his ideas and how to apply those ideas will save me a great deal of time and frustration. Jason’s honesty and candor are truly refreshing. I have at times been overwhelmed with all of the various Guru’s columns, blogs, ezines and “must haves”. While I’m sure that most do have some or even a lot of valuable content, to effectively manage my time I have had to weed out all but a very few. Jason Leister is one of the professionals that I pay attention to. Many thanks Jason.” Mark Estlick, Louisville, KY If you’re a copywriter and want to attract better clients and charge higher fees, pick up a copy for yourself. P.P.S. Like I said, Dan Kennedy is one smart cookie. Do you think it’s any coincidence that my newsletter happened to have a glowing review about his recent book on pricing? He’s always marketing. Take that lesson to heart. |
