How to generate regular (monthly) repeat business from copywriting clients?

[William Reynolds]

Hey guys,

First post! I'd just like to get some feedback from the copywriting community here. I've been playing the standard game of chasing after new clients incessantly, and of course most of the jobs turn out to be one-off assignments; at best, I hear back from the client a couple times a year. So I created a blogging and newsletter article-writing service to encourage repeat monthly business, only to find that my clients, while they're happy with my work, are inconsistent about making regular re-purchases.

(One client bought a 4-article newsletter from me, then used only 2 of the articles in a rather skimpy final product so he could save the next 2 for the following month instead of re-purchasing. Another client enthusiastically bought a set of 4 blog articles, then posted them...after a two-month delay...at the rate of one per month...Well, you get the idea.)

How can I re-model these recurring products to reduce "user error" and better guarantee a consistent income stream of X dollars per month from the clients who use them? I'm grateful for any thoughts or feedback.

[Matt Willard]

What I've been learning lately is that you need to maintain a presence in their mind. Now, I'm still fairly new to the freelance game (only just got my first big client) but when I'm done working with him, there are three things I'm going to do.

1. Ask him if he needs anything else from me.
2. Ask him if anyone else needs any of my services.
3. Contact him later on to touch base with him once again, to get him to remember me.

This may not guarantee MONTHLY work, but by doing that, I should have a better chance of getting more repeat stuff. Also, this way you can use your current clients to make it easier for you to find new ones.

Also, you could also use discounts, special offers for referrals, etc. I landed this first client because I offered a discount, and later I might do it again if he refers me to someone else. Just little things you can do every once in a while to keep a client coming back.

[MontelloMarketing]

Heads up...

This is a copywriting forum... Not an article writing forum. I bet you could find a lot of advice on this if you were asking in a place full of article writers.

As for us lowly copywriters we can't relate.

[fling33]

One thing that has worked for me is sending out monthly emails to all my previous clients. Just a simple email containing a "This month's special" sort of thing. Make it look like they're getting an exclusive discount (it doesn't have to be big) and make them feel like there's a limited time to use the discount.

This technique does 3 things:
1) It reminds them that you exist and you had done good work for them in the past,
2) It reminds them that they might need to get something else written,
3) It makes them feel special because they're getting an "exclusive" discount offer and that makes them want to take advantage of the offer before it's too late.

Good luck, hope that helps!

[Daniel Scott]

Hey Will,

As Vin says... we're mostly sales letter writers here... but here's my experience.

First of all... you can't make clients do anything. Back in the day I wrote a $1500 sales letter for someone and they never even put it up.

$1 500 buys a flat screen LCD TV... so it's not exactly chump change. Why someone would drop that amount and not even put up the copy boggles my mind... but it happens.

The other thing I'm wondering is if you're getting the right KIND of clients.

I found when I started charging more... my clients were more responsive... easier to work with... and actually DO stuff with their letters.

Which, of course, brings in results that looks good for you.

So basically... my guess is you aren't QUITE targeting the best kind of prospect... but I could be wrong.

-Dan

[MikeHumphreys]

Originally Posted by William Reynolds

Hey guys,

First post! I'd just like to get some feedback from the copywriting community here. I've been playing the standard game of chasing after new clients incessantly, and of course most of the jobs turn out to be one-off assignments; at best, I hear back from the client a couple times a year.

There's multiple ways of generating regular or month business from your copywriting clients.

Let me give you some strategy tips on one tactic. Since I cover the topic in much more depth in one of my paid products, "Secrets of Marketing Your Copy", I'm not going to give away everything here for free. At the very least, it's not fair to the people who bought my product to do so.

Okay, here's one way to tackle the problem.

Think bigger. What are the full needs of your copywriting clients? Not just what they are asking for... what else do they need, especially things that they may not have thought of? Many times it's more than one copywriting assignment. So sell it to them ethically.

[BrandonLee]

I do product launches, which is not exactly the same as copy -but I find myself sometimes in the same boat -ie you do the job, make a lot of money and then you need to find the next client.

One solution is to get a business to partner with you. Clayton Makepeace has a product, The Makepeace Business System, which I just bought and it does a very good job of covering that.

Brandon

[Keeslover]

You might try something like sending your clients emails with a link to something they might be interested in (either personally or professionally). You could also do this snail mail with a relevant newspaper or magazine article. Then maybe you could casually mention something you're doing (again, either personally or professionally) and let them know you're available if they need anything.

Let them know you appreciate their business...thank you card, thank you email, somethign like that. Ask them for referrals.

[kwopp]

Maybe if the problem is at their end in not using the articles you're writing, you need to be the one who distributes the articles for them. You could outsource the work easily and cheaply, so you'd only be left managing it, but it might help create more repeat business from clients who are seeing the results without the effort.