5 Awkward Reasons Potential Clients Totally IGNORE You 😬

Key Takeaways

have you ever sent an email a message or a proposal to a potential client and all you got was yeah here are five reasons why and what you can do about it [Music] hey guys it's Alex and this video is dedicated to many of you new and aspiring copy writers out there who have commented on my videos and slid on into my DMS asking Alex how do I reach out to clients what do I do and what do I not do well in this video I am counting down the five absolute worst ways to approach new clients and what you should be doing instead this list is inspired by my own experience both as a copywriter and as a business owner who hires writers as well as the freelancing horror stories I've heard from my team and my entrepreneur friends these five things will absolutely destroy your chances of getting a client so let's fix it shall we and if you're looking to learn the copywriting marketing and branding skills you need to pay your bills you are in the right place I'm your girl hit subscribe below to join the coffee posse here on YouTube I release a new tutorial every single week dedicated to helping you start and scale your copywriting business all right guys now here they are five ways not to approach clients and what you should do instead to flip that flip alright number five you don't have a personal brand so if I were to ask you what your specialty as a copywriter is and what kind of news you write and best would you have an immediate and confident answer and if I looked you up online would I be able to easily access your portfolio and find out everything I needed to know about you and the work you do on your social media accounts as a freelance copywriter or a digital marketer or social media manager or designer I'm talking to all you freelancers out there branding is an essential element of your online business and no I don't mean a logo and a color palette and a font and all those things that make up a visual brand I'm talking about a clear brand voice that is consistent across all of your online channels sure you can sign up for freelancing sites and start pitching to prospective clients with a basic profile and proposal and hope that they'll notice you but remember in this scenario you are the product and your client is the customer so if you don't have a well-defined personal brand just like everybody else the copywriters I know that no longer have to search or advertise to get clients have well-defined brands that catch the attention of prospective clients these writers are also more likely to get referrals from past or existing clients so put some time and effort into conceptualizing and defining your own personal brand ask yourself how do I want to present myself what do I specifically do and how do I want to get that message across give your potential clients the opportunity to look you up and be impressed by what they find so while having a blog or a website is a great idea it's not absolutely necessary to get started you can define your personal brand through your various social channels especially the ones you plan on contacting your clients through you'll also want to thoughtfully complete your profile on freelancing sites like up work to make yourself different than everyone else or try writing guest blog posts on authority sites like medium.com and you can even write articles and samples on your own LinkedIn profile I can't tell you the number of times I've gotten DMS or emails or comments or messages from people asking me to hire them or coach them and then when I click through to their profile they're essentially ghosts there's no bio there's no description of what they do their profile picture is completely blurry or not even a picture of them and sometimes their names aren't even on their accounts guys what newsflash if you're asking for work on a channel like Instagram you might want to put in a little bit of effort into looking legit if you don't want to use Instagram professionally that's totally cool optimize your LinkedIn profile instead this doesn't just boost your credibility but it also makes you more relatable to the kind of client you want to attract okay moving on to big ol mistake number four you don't offer a specific benefit chances are you will never get hired if you reach out to a potential client and say hi I'm a copywriter and I will write copy for you if you do that's just like some sort of sorcery and you're a real-life miracle but for the rest of us mere mortals we need to be specific about the benefit we offer I will write copy for you is not a benefit guys it's your offer and this is marketing 101 you need to communicate a specific benefit if you want to convert your prospects into paying clients so think long and hard about what you're truly able to help your clients achieve add some juice to your offer to make it more compelling there are several ways to do this but I suggest look you know what your potential clients already have going on and then pivot and innovate sure they might have a sales page already but that doesn't mean they don't need copy help copywriting is about way more than just sales pages or website copy guys think outside the box and offer assets that most businesses and yes copywriters tend to completely forget or don't even know they should have like cart abandonment sequences retargeting copy or upsell pages then all of a sudden your offer goes from hi I'll write copy for you to oh hey I see you have an awesome sales page and I'd love to help you boost your revenue per user by writing a cart abandonment sequence for you um hello now that is valuable so put some thought into what you want to offer to your clients that's unique to you and beneficial for them alright moving on to number three you lead with price so a client gets back to you back siding right I know they got back to you and they ask you for a quote you're so excited that you just blurt out some random number on the spot look I get it it's exciting when you hear back from those potential clients you could almost smell the money rolling in but naming your price without first finding out what the project entails or how much you can truly help them is a huge mistake if you're lucky they say yes on the spot and the gig turns out to be the most amazing thing you've ever worked on and the client is amazing and it's one of the best experiences you've ever had as a copywriter that hardly ever happens guys so if you're not so lucky you either one scare away the client with your price because you haven't done enough to justify it yet and they were just looking for a cheapie or two they accept but you completely misunderstood the job scope and you end up putting way more time and energy into completing that project and then you discover that the client is a total nightmare and you end up hating the entire experience so instead of leading with price lead with value say hey thanks so much for your message but before I can give you a quote I'd love to get a better idea about your brand and your company and what you specifically need so I can understand the best way to be of service for you can we hop on a quick call that initial exchange alone will create so much rapport and value between you and the client they'll feel like you really care to do a great job and you'll be able to set proper expectations and all of this will make it so much easier to get a yes to your price because of the value that's been built and to help you get crystal clear on how to price your copy projects check out my video on my 8 pricing rules right here alright moving on to number 2 on the list you are not honest about your skills or experience you've heard me say this a million times guys always be real and transparent about how much or how little you know when it comes to copy writing so many freelancers out there are claiming to be experts at something they know nothing about so just don't be one of those people please I know it's tempting to say yes to a job into a client because you really need that experience and the money but the last thing you want to do is embellish your skill or knowledge for starters it's just not cool plus it has a high and almost definite chance of backfiring in your face you can come across as unprepared or uneducated or worse produce really copy that will ruin your chances of ever being hired by that client again or having them refer you to someone else your reputation is all that matters in any business so be legit if you're brand spanking new to this whole copywriting thing that's cool let a client know be honest and upfront about your capabilities and your expertise trust me passion and a willingness to learn and dedication go a long way so always take time to really understand your clients business and market so that you can express genuine interest if you're approaching a new client because you are so excited about their brand and business and are willing to start in the trenches so that you can learn and grow you'll have a lot better chance of getting hired and maybe do something other than copywriting to start like content writing or social media management to get your foot in the door and then work your way up I promise this will not make you look bad it will actually do the opposite it can help you gain trust and support from a prospective client and make them likely to hire you again and again and again alright we have gotten to the number one biggest mistake on my list and that is you don't market yourself as I mentioned before it's not enough to just fill in the blanks on a freelancing site so many freelancers make the mistake of just sitting back after they've created a profile or put up a website and they eight for a client to magically appear in their inbox meanwhile all the badass hustlers out there who are proactive about getting clients and following all the steps that I'm talking about in this video are raking in clients left right and center you don't want to be a copywriter who sits on the sidelines you want to be a copywriter who hunts gathers plays and slaves yes those are my four methods for finding clients and I'll link to that video at the end of this video so that you can watch it next so guys if you want to be your own boss you got to act like it this is all about business and business is all about sales so you need to put yourself out there to earn the success you deserve so once you get a handle on the four points I mentioned earlier make marketing part of your modus operandi alright get active on social media and join relevant groups and communities to spread the word make it known to your network and even your groups of friends that you're available for hire as a copywriter J Klaus the founder of freelance in school suggests sending out an email to five potential clients a day he also recommends adding some urgency to your emails by offering a special price for a certain period of time or offering a specific package of services for a limited number of clients and be sure to have your portfolio ready so you can attach and share immediately on request even the ones that say no might come back later and say yes which is why it is so important for you guys to follow the steps that I just talked about in this video so that you can come across as a pro and if you want step-by-step guidance and support directly from me and my team as you start and scale your copywriting business click the link in the description below to learn more about my copy posse Launchpad in this coaching program you'll learn how to create a portfolio of high converting high-paying copy assets so that you can ignite your copywriting business and only eight weeks next up guys as promised check out my video on the four ways to get clients you can watch that right here and as always thank you so much for watching and subscribing I will see you next week until then I'm Alex ciao for now [Music] what is this jacket remind you of bonus points to anybody who can get it I'll give you a hint as f