So what's your plan for 2012?
I know what mine is.
I'll be helping copywriters not only EARN more, but SAVE more in the form of wealth-building! (More on that in upcoming announcements.)
For now, let's think about how to increase your income in 2012. The financial world hasn't been kind to us lately and it's time to fight back!!!
For those of you who are signed up for my Copywriters Marketing Roundtable, you're hearing from a broad cross-section of successful copywriters who — for the most part — fly under the wire.
Almost all earn in the six figures, quite a few in the two-hundred thousands, and one is in the high six-hundred thousands!
As we all know, there is money in copywriting.
However my own statistical pricing guides — the Freelance Copywriter Fee & Compensation Surveys — show the larger group of us at around $40,000, $50,000 and $60,000.
For a lot of copywriters, there is room for financial improvement.
And this isn't just about making more money for the sake of making money.
Many of us have had our financial worlds ripped right out from under us in the stock market crashes of the past decade and real estate debacle of today.
So it's time to get serious about making more money so you can mitigate any losses you might have incurred.
In this spirit, I offer you 5 of the top ways that copywriters can dramatically boost their income in the coming year — some of it gleaned from the illustrious group of copywriters being interviewed in my Copywriters Marketing Roundtable series.
INCOME BOOSTING TIP #1: INCREASE YOUR VALUE
Take look at the services you provide. Are they "expenses" in the eyes of your client?
Jobs like writing ebooks, articles and blog posts aren't directly tied to ROI.
However, services like SEO can bring huge traffic and clients will pay more for a service like that.
In fact, SEO pioneer Heather Lloyd-Martin can charge $350/hr for her services because she brings leads, and ultimately, sales.
If you were to look at the history of my own copywriting websites you'd notice that I don't list ANYTHING that is not tied to leads and sales simply because I want to earn the highest paycheck I can.
And the only way to do that is to provide the highest value in the eyes of the client.
INCOME BOOSTING TIP #2: RAISE YOUR FEES
You may be undercharging.
I see this all the time with my coaching students.
If you're a beginner and you're working with companies, organizations, and institutions (not individuals), you should start at $75/hr.
If you've been in business a couple of years and have done well for your clients, you should be charging $125/hr.
If you have a specialty that brings direct ROI, you can charge much more.
In my Copywriters Marketing Roundtable I'm seeing $350/hr as not uncommon for experienced, specialized copywriters who can produce results.
The highest hourly rate comes in at $1,500/hr (no kidding!).
Bottom line, raise your rates accordingly if you provide significant ROI.INCOME BOOSTING TIP #3: BECOME MORE PRODUCTIVE
One of the things I notice as I interview the featured copywriters in my Copywriters Marketing Roundtable is that those who earn more, are disciplined.
Interestingly, those who have less time to devote to copywriting tend to earn more.
They have figured out how to juggle "parental needs" with the needs of earning an income.
Look at your own performance. Where can you improve?A book I highly recommend is "The Power of Full Engagement" by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.
It teaches that managing your energy is the key to high performance and personal renewal.
INCOME BOOSTING TIP #4: LOOK AT YOUR NICHE
Some niches are enormously more profitable than others.
Niches in which you routinely generate orders pay very well, especially if you can work with the very large mailers.
In B2C about 80 percent of businesses are order generating.
The statistics for B2B, however, flip flop. About 80 percent of the work available is lead-gen.Does lead-gen pay less? Not necessarily. Consider how immensely valuable a good white paper is to a company.
You can earn many thousands to write a white paper, in fact as much as $20,000 for a white paper at the very high end.
The point is, view your niche with fresh eyes. Where are the biggest opportunities?
INCOME BOOSTING TIP #5: SOLVE A MAJOR PAIN
Look for the greatest areas of a company's pain, and determine whether the marketplace is meeting that need.
If it isn't, you can create the solution. We do this all the time in my coaching programs.
Not only can you charge more to solve a major pain, but your workload is almost certain to go up as well.
What might a hidden opportunity look like?
Here's one: According to the IBM Corp.'s "Global Chief Marketing Officer Study," (October 2011), 70 percent of CMOs are overwhelmed with the data of social ROI.
As a copywriter who offers higher value — because you are a problem-solver — this is an opportunity to put your thinking cap on.
What service could you offer, or what company can you partner with, to bring a solution to such a huge group?
These are some tips to help you get your brain in gear for the coming new years.My coaching clients will be earning more in 2012. What about you?
Warmly,
Chris Marlow
Achieving Goals Through Trusted Advice™ Since 2003
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