Copywriters - Can We Talk?

[Tinkerbell]

EDIT: Just popping in to say thank you to those of you who replied and agreed to the interview, whether here in this thread or privately. I appreciate your taking time out of your busy day to do this and am exciting about sharing your responses in The Inner Circle (my Warrior Forum blog).

Original Message...

I would like to interview some of you. Nothing too long, somewhere between 10-15 questions. No calls or anything like that to disrupt your schedule. I'll send you the questions through PM if you're interested in participating.

Naw, it ain't for a WSO. I have questions I'd like clarified a bit by "those in the know" and I thought I might share what I learn with others who are intrigued by the supreme skill you guys and gals display...particularly the "effortlessly-carve-money-from-people's-wallets-using-mere-words-as-a-weapon" skill.

PM and let me know if you're interested.

Tina

[milan]

Tina, you should be talking to this crowd here:
The Copywriting Forum

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by milan

Tina, you should be talking to this crowd here:
The Copywriting Forum

Hi Milan,

Yes, I know the copywriters forum is there, but wanna know something funny? I posted in the copywriting forum a day or so ago, and *they* said I should have posted *here*. Now I posted *here* and you say I should have posted *there*. I don't know whether this is here or there, but...I think the copywriters visit both sections of the forum.

However, if the moderators or powers that be think this post is in the wrong place, please move it to wherever it will be more effective. <shrug>

Tina

[milan]

Lol I was just trying to be helpful. Hey, at least I bumped it and now your post got more visibility

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by milan

Lol I was just trying to be helpful. Hey, at least I bumped it and now your post got more visibility

Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

My questions are done...a baker's dozen of them I believe. Just waiting for a few of you wordsmiths to raise your hand, jump up and down in your seat Arnold Horseshack style and yell, "Oh! Oh! Mista Cahter...!"

Tina

[Alexandre Valois]

Tina,

I'll step forward and be the first to have a look at those questions, if you don't mind

Alex.

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Alexandre Valois

Tina,

I'll step forward and be the first to have a look at those questions, if you don't mind

Alex.

Hi Alex!

Sorry it took so long to reply. I kept vampire hours last night and was sleeping. Sending the questions over now, and Thank You!

Tina

PS: Anyone else (copywriters, I mean) have the time or inclination for being interviewed?

[Kyle Tully]

Tina the lack of response is a copywriting lesson in itself.

You don't have an irresistible offer.

You're essentially asking for personal coaching for free.

10-15 questions could take 30-60 minutes of my time... maybe longer depending on the questions. That represents $250-$500.

You'd get a much better response if you asked your questions in public.

That way the group benefits from the answers and the copywriter's time isn't wasted because they get to demonstrate their skills in public... and may pick up paying clients because of it.

[Justin Mandel]

Exactly right Kyle.

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

Tina the lack of response is a copywriting lesson in itself.

You don't have an irresistible offer.

You're essentially asking for personal coaching for free.

10-15 questions could take 30-60 minutes of my time... maybe longer depending on the questions. That represents $250-$500.

You'd get a much better response if you asked your questions in public.

That way the group benefits from the answers and the copywriter's time isn't wasted because they get to demonstrate their skills in public... and may pick up paying clients because of it.

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

Tina the lack of response is a copywriting lesson in itself.

You don't have an irresistible offer.

You're essentially asking for personal coaching for free.

10-15 questions could take 30-60 minutes of my time... maybe longer depending on the questions. That represents $250-$500.

You'd get a much better response if you asked your questions in public.

That way the group benefits from the answers and the copywriter's time isn't wasted because they get to demonstrate their skills in public... and may pick up paying clients because of it.

Hi Kyle and Justin.

The questions and answers will be posted to the public. My intention was to interview copywriters and post the responses I get on my warrior forum blog (provided it hasn't been deleted by the admin while I waited for people to respond).

I have had some people respond--just not here in this thread. I'd love to send my questions to you too. Interested?

Tina

[dorothydot]

Tina,

I will send you the replies you've asked for, with one huge "but"... some of the answers are subjects that we copywriters have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to study and learn about. It doesn't seem right to simply give this info away to the first person who asks. And so I won't. I will respond generally, though.

Judging by the questions you've posed, you likely already know most of the answers... so I'm a little curious why you are pursuing this angle. Why do you need these answers for a blog? Isn't a blog supposed to be one writer's way of documenting a journey or pathway?

Kyle Tully's question seems valid - it almost appears like you're asking for free coaching. And the suggestion to openly post your questions so that all Copywriter Warriors could benefit from the responses is also, to my mind, more valuable and helpful than using someone's blog.

Just my 2 cents, I will be sending you my answers soon.
Dot

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by dorothydot

Tina,

I will send you the replies you've asked for, with one huge "but"... some of the answers are subjects that we copywriters have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to study and learn about. It doesn't seem right to simply give this info away to the first person who asks. And so I won't. I will respond generally, though.

Thank you, Dot. I wouldn't expect you to reveal anything you aren't comfortable with. That's fine. A general answer is at least an answer.

Judging by the questions you've posed, you likely already know most of the answers... so I'm a little curious why you are pursuing this angle. Why do you need these answers for a blog? Isn't a blog supposed to be one writer's way of documenting a journey or pathway?

I am pursuing this angle for others, for those who "don't already know the answers". I believe my blog in the Warrior Forum would be a good place for this because it just seems likely people who would need or want the information frequent this forum.

Kyle Tully's question seems valid - it almost appears like you're asking for free coaching. And the suggestion to openly post your questions so that all Copywriter Warriors could benefit from the responses is also, to my mind, more valuable and helpful than using someone's blog.

I am not asking for free coaching.

Nor am I hiding my questions or seeking to deprive anyone from benefitting from the responses. It has been my entire plan from the moment I asked for interviews to post the questions and answers publicly-to help fellow copywriters, but if so many are leery of my questions and intentions, fine. I'll post them here.

Just my 2 cents, I will be sending you my answers soon.
Dot

Thank you so much for participating, Dot. As you can see, there aren't a lot of folks here willing to do so. I'm looking forward to it.

Tina

Tina

[Kyle Tully]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell

As you can see, there aren't a lot of folks here willing to do so.

Tina,

Again, there is a copywriting/marketing lesson here.

Are people not willing to answer your questions? Or would they answer those same questions if you presented them in another way?

I saw the questions you asked in the other thread you started. And I'll tell you straight up that you would have gotten a LOT of great replies if your approach had been different from the start.

Who, what, when, where and why would have been a good place to start.

Kyle

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

Tina,

Again, there is a copywriting/marketing lesson here.

Are people not willing to answer your questions? Or would they answer those same questions if you presented them in another way?

I saw the questions you asked in the other thread you started. And I'll tell you straight up that you would have gotten a LOT of great replies if your approach had been different from the start.

Who, what, when, where and why would have been a good place to start.

Kyle

Hiya Kyle.

Thanks for your response, and I'm glad you poked your head into the other thread for a look-see at the questions I asked. You know what? I'm just gonna put all my beans on the table here.

I pretty much thought I caught all those basic journalism questions with my original post.

Who? Copywriters.

What? I wished to interview them.

When? After they'd put up a hand to let me know they were interested.

Where? When I sent the interview questions to each person who asked for them, I let them know their responses would be published on my public blog, The Inner Circle, here at the Warrior Forum.

Why? From my original post: I had questions I'd like clarified a bit by "those in the know" *and I thought I might share what I learn with others* who are intrigued by the supreme skill you guys and gals display.

No one was forced to take part. I did ask politely, and I did explain why I wished to do the interviews.

You say that if I had "presented my questions a different way I would have gotten LOTS of great responses", and that may be true, but what good would they do me if I could not use them as I originally intended? Is that something only some people here can do but not others?

I knew people would think I was planning to toss the interviews in together and sell it as a WSO, so I made it plain right off that was not my intention. Yet people were still offended. Why? Because I asked for the answers to come to me privately before I posted them on my blog-which is also public?

Anyway, that's beside the point. Tell me, why is it okay for me to interview the copywriters here so long as my questions and their responses are posted publicly in the forum, for all to see.

But it is not okay to ask to interview them one on one, compile the answers as would best assist others who want to learn more about copywriting, and post them to my blog--which is also located here on the forum?

Tina

[Kyle Tully]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell

I pretty much thought I caught all those basic journalism questions with my original post.

Yes they were all answered, but only from the point of view of what you want. Nothing said about who you are, what experience you have, or what you're actually looking to achieve.

We don't know if it's your first day learning about copy... if you've been at it a few months... what books/courses (if any) you've read/studied... etc

We don't know if your questions are easily answered by searching the forum... whether they're deep technical questions that will take a lot of time to answer... or whether you are just after some private coaching etc.

A lot of people come in here expecting a hand out, and at first glance you're no different.

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell

You say that if I had "presented my questions a different way I would have gotten LOTS of great responses", and that may be true, but what good would they do me if I could not use them as I originally intended? Is that something only some people here can do but not others?

Presenting your questions, and yourself, in a different way has nothing to do with what you do with them.

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell

I knew people would think I was planning to toss the interviews in together and sell it as a WSO, so I made it plain right off that was not my intention. Yet people were still offended. Why? Because I asked for the answers to come to me privately before I posted them on my blog-which is also public?

I don't think anyone was offended, just trying to help you get the response you'd like.

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell

Anyway, that's beside the point. Tell me, why is it okay for me to interview the copywriters here so long as my questions and their responses are posted publicly in the forum, for all to see.

But it is not okay to ask to interview them one on one, compile the answers as would best assist others who want to learn more about copywriting, and post them to my blog--which is also located here on the forum?

Nothing is "right" or "wrong".

You can present your offer however you like.

But again, there's another copywriting lesson here... know your market and present an irresistible offer.

The lack of response says you failed on both those counts.

[dorothydot]

Tina,

I think what Kyle Tully is getting at is, if you posted on this forum, you'd have tons of viewers and responders - many, many would learn.

If you post on your blog - well, just the word "your" implies possessiveness. I do realize that blogs - all the Warrior blogs - are open to "the public" - meaning us Warriors, I assume.

But that's just it. There are so many blogs to choose from, why would we know to go to yours for this important copywriting information? And I suspect I'm not the only one that doesn't partake of blogs in the normal course of events.

But I certainly do partake of the Warrior Forum-Copywriting section.

Dot

[Tinkerbell]

Kyle, Dot,

Gotcha (meaning=I understand).

When I posted my request, I never thought to sell anyone on it (yeah, even knowing I was in the copywriting section). Guess I didn't realize a lot of you would still be in "work" mode. I tend to think of the Warrior Forum as a giant gathering of friends, and figured a question like "Hey, any of you wanna be interviewed?" would be okay/enough. I suppose I was wrong this time, and I'll do my best to remember that in the future.

As for who I am, here's a bit from my "intro" from the old forum...

[quote]an Introduction to ME...

I was born a female...no? Don't wanna start that far back?

Okay, then, when I was five...no. That'd be an expose
article. We won't go there.

When I turned thirteen, I decided to go to Harvard-majoring
in big business management (I've always had dreams that
were too big for my britches, I guess).

When I turned sixteen, I changed my mind, and got married
instead.

At seventeen, I had my first child. At nineteen, baby #2
came along. At twenty-four, bundle of joy #3, and at
twenty-five I was blessed with blessing #4. Barely a
breather there, and at thirty and thirty-one respectively, wee
ones #5 and #6 arrived.

Today, for the first time in twenty years, I can think without
the words "maternity clothes", "diapers", "bottles", or
"training pants" being uppermost in my thoughts.

So what'd I do during those twenty childbearing years? Are
you kidding? What do you think I did, rest on my laurels? I
chased kids! And...I wrote a romance novel. Unbelievable,
yes, but I did it. Finally managed to get it published too.

I also played around with building and running many
different websites, mostly related to books.

Today, I have come to realize that I have a decided lack of
focus (all that jumping around chasing kids, d'ya think?) and
an also sad lack of self discipline. If that weren't true, I'd
have sent Mr. Halbert the book he suggested I write already.
Sheesh. I'm getting there, though. Just a wee little bit more
and it will be done.[quote]

That's kinda me still, except since that post I did finish the book Gary Halbert suggested I write, wrote a special report on maintaining focus, wrote a couple other reports, and a second full-length romance novel and am working on a third.

I continue to play around with building websites. My latest is one I started for fun because I'm a fan of Jason Moffatt and Frank Kern. It's kinda a silly site, and has no meaning or purpose other than...fun.

Handouts: I don't come here expecting them, but I "did" ask a few people to look at some copy I wrote recently. I was looking for feedback. The copy was done, so I had already completed 98 percent of the work before I asked. Some of those people I asked agreed and I was greatful for their responses.

And those questions I asked in the copywriting interview? I put that list together last year after I joined Jason Moffatt's EVS and combed through his copywriting section there. I felt like some things, some information was missing or just not deep enough. So I put together a list of things to send to Jason...but I never sent them. Instead, I turned the list into a set of questions for copywriters here.

What do I know about copywriting? I know I know how to write copy...I just rarely do it.

So anyway, thanks again Kyle and Dot. I'll take this as a lesson for future reference, but forgive me if I didn't put it into practice with this post today cause I was up late last night, slept late today, and I'm still tired. LOL.

Tina

[zapseo]

[quote=Tinkerbell;76389]Kyle, Dot,

Gotcha (meaning=I understand).

When I posted my request, I never thought to sell anyone on it (yeah, even knowing I was in the copywriting section). Guess I didn't realize a lot of you would still be in "work" mode. I tend to think of the Warrior Forum as a giant gathering of friends, and figured a question like "Hey, any of you wanna be interviewed?" would be okay/enough. I suppose I was wrong this time, and I'll do my best to remember that in the future.

As for who I am, here's a bit from my "intro" from the old forum...

[quote]an Introduction to ME...

I was born a female...no? Don't wanna start that far back?

Okay, then, when I was five...no. That'd be an expose
article. We won't go there.

When I turned thirteen, I decided to go to Harvard-majoring
in big business management (I've always had dreams that
were too big for my britches, I guess).

When I turned sixteen, I changed my mind, and got married
instead.

At seventeen, I had my first child. At nineteen, baby #2
came along. At twenty-four, bundle of joy #3, and at
twenty-five I was blessed with blessing #4. Barely a
breather there, and at thirty and thirty-one respectively, wee
ones #5 and #6 arrived.

Today, for the first time in twenty years, I can think without
the words "maternity clothes", "diapers", "bottles", or
"training pants" being uppermost in my thoughts.

So what'd I do during those twenty childbearing years? Are
you kidding? What do you think I did, rest on my laurels? I
chased kids! And...I wrote a romance novel. Unbelievable,
yes, but I did it. Finally managed to get it published too.

I also played around with building and running many
different websites, mostly related to books.

Today, I have come to realize that I have a decided lack of
focus (all that jumping around chasing kids, d'ya think?) and
an also sad lack of self discipline. If that weren't true, I'd
have sent Mr. Halbert the book he suggested I write already.
Sheesh. I'm getting there, though. Just a wee little bit more
and it will be done.

That's kinda me still, except since that post I did finish the book Gary Halbert suggested I write, wrote a special report on maintaining focus, wrote a couple other reports, and a second full-length romance novel and am working on a third.

I continue to play around with building websites. My latest is one I started for fun because I'm a fan of Jason Moffatt and Frank Kern. It's kinda a silly site, and has no meaning or purpose other than...fun.

Handouts: I don't come here expecting them, but I "did" ask a few people to look at some copy I wrote recently. I was looking for feedback. The copy was done, so I had already completed 98 percent of the work before I asked. Some of those people I asked agreed and I was greatful for their responses.

And those questions I asked in the copywriting interview? I put that list together last year after I joined Jason Moffatt's EVS and combed through his copywriting section there. I felt like some things, some information was missing or just not deep enough. So I put together a list of things to send to Jason...but I never sent them. Instead, I turned the list into a set of questions for copywriters here.

What do I know about copywriting? I know I know how to write copy...I just rarely do it.

So anyway, thanks again Kyle and Dot. I'll take this as a lesson for future reference, but forgive me if I didn't put it into practice with this post today cause I was up late last night, slept late today, and I'm still tired. LOL.

Tina

I remember Tina from when she posted that introduction on the WF.

I have -- mixed feelings -- about Tina's questions (sorry, Tina, guess I should have told you in private...). I mean -- a ton of my answers ended up being "sounds good to me". Others, I feel stupid because I don't really have an opinion about. So, at this point, answering the questions doesn't seem to serve me, because I don't think I have much to offer. That's opposed to the fact that I do believe I have something valuable to offer my copywriting clients. So it's kind of a weird place to be in.

What WAS the book Halbert told you to write? Oh wait. The one we talked about via pm. I'd forgotten it was supposed to be a book, LOL. Or that you'd written it.

Cheers!

Judy

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by zapseo

What WAS the book Halbert told you to write? Oh wait. The one we talked about via pm. I'd forgotten it was supposed to be a book, LOL. Or that you'd written it.

Cheers!

Judy

Judy, don't worry about the questions. No problem there.

The book was "The (Secret) Core Desire"...

...No one does things for arbitrary reasons. People truly only have one single motive, and that motive is what drives you to do the things you do...everything you do. And it's the same for everyone. You see...

Core Desire is an extremely powerful motivator.

This strange and virtually unknown force pulls you here and there, day after day after day...and most people don't even know what it is. In fact, this driving force that lives inside every person in the universe is so little known, it may well be a "secret".

Almost no one knows what it really is...

This mysterious force inside you moves you to act--knowing and understanding this force and how to use it brings a power so effective a single solitary person could change the entire world. When you get it, you'll have the keys to a completely new and better life...

LOL. Couldn't resist. Sorry.

Anyway, what got Gary interested in it was this:

With just seven little words, I can give you the power to bring the entire female population to your feet. Do you want to know what those words are?

Or maybe it was the rest of the letter, too, but he definitely wanted those seven words. <grin>

Tina