How Freelancers Can Expand Their Business Using Personal Coaching

How Freelancers Can Expand Their Business
Using Personal Coaching

by copywriter and marketing coach Chris Marlow

Back in 1985 when I first started copywriting, the only help I could find on
the subject were books by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Bob Stone, David Ogilvy,
and a few others. I didn’t even look for books on how to build a copywriting
business because it never crossed my mind that one would exist.

Since that time copywriters have access to some very fine books on how to
build their businesses, most notably books by Bob Bly, Steve Slaunwhite,
and Peter Bowerman. But even these books can’t help you when you’re
confused about how to make a project move forward that’s “stuck,” or what
to do with a client’s new hire who doesn’t seem to want to work with you.

These are problems one of my coaching clients had last week, and I was
able to solve both of her problems with one document that I have refined
throughout the years and which has kept my direct response campaigns on
target 100% of the time.

This particular client reported back at our next session that everyone was
thrilled with “her idea,” and the new hire became warm and friendly, and
offered lots of eye contact.

This is just one real world example of how personal coaching by a veteran
copywriter can increase a copywriter’s business success. My clients come to
me with all of the challenges, issues, and problems I encountered on my
own for so many years — challenges I’ve overcome the hard way by making
mistakes, spending too much money, and growing ever so slowly toward
success.

Today I’m enjoying the benefits of working with some of the world’s most
prestigious companies, of having many contacts in the industry, and being
able to choose the projects I want to work on and reject those I don’t.

In recent years I’ve helped many copywriters, mostly those who became
friends. But now I have gone one step further by offering my services on a
professional basis. Today I am coaching a seasoned copywriter on the best
way to get more clients; for another, I’m getting her on track for earning
more money; and for a third — a newcomer to copywriting — I’m helping
him create powerful marketing materials.

Rarely does a copywriter come to me with a single issue. Usually they’re
trying to achieve a short- or long-term goal, so we set up weekly one-hour
phone sessions with 24/7 support in between. After each session, the
copywriter (or graphic artist) completes “homework” that pertains to his or
her goals.

Issues common to the business of freelancing include making more money,
getting more clients, getting paid what you’re worth, and working for the
companies or industries that respect copywriters and designers, and that
pay well.

Marketing is another area in which coaching is helpful. Copywriters grapple
with getting samples and getting the results of their lead-generating or
order-generating campaigns. They wonder how to go about doing a
successful lead-generating campaign for themselves. And they wonder how
best to sell themselves to a potential client once they do have a “hot” lead.

There are also things to know about copywriting that a writer may never find
out about. For instance, do you know how some copywriters are able to
make millions of dollars each year? (They create their own products and use
their master copywriting skills to sell them.)

Did you know that in some industries, you can get paid royalties for writing a
direct mail piece, just like book authors do? (Publishing and alternative
health are two big ones.)

And did you know that many “high powered” copywriters don’t do all the
work themselves? (Most of the famous guys use “copy chiefs,” sometimes as
many as five, to go over an order-generating piece, until it has its best
chance of winning in the mail, on the Internet, or in the case of a print ad, in
a magazine.)

If I had known what I now know when I started out in this fascinating
business, I might have made different choices. But even if I had not, one
thing is for sure, and that’s that I would have achieved success much
sooner.

If you’re ever in a quandary, or if you’re goal-oriented and want to build a
successful freelancing business as quickly as possible, now you know
someone who will give you the support and information you need. For more
on personal coaching for copywriters, designers, and other business
freelancers, visit http://www.TheCopywritersCoach.com.

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Chris Marlow shows copywriters and other freelancers how to land the
high-value, high-quality clients through her popular Coaching Program
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