How much do I need to spend on a copywriter for this project.

It's a little like saying "How much do I need to spend on a gourmet meal?"

Depends on how "gourmet" you want it.

To get a taster wade through the Warriors for Hire ads (an extensive and sometimes an eclectic range of "options" - choose the writer who you feel can get you the response you want)

Further down the line...

The bigger question might be "Now I've got my delicious copy, how much will I HAVE to spend on traffic to get the good people to read it"


Steve

...i've just had a thought... (more of a cognition and a true realisation).

I know the interweb is all the rage.

But isn't your "lead capturing" idea about as close to perfection for phenomenal postcards as its possible to get.

Astonishingly great copy on the card, delivered precisely to your target audience, offering a limited "free" something or other and a consultation to get a super fast response.

Your ace salesperson just needs to be sitting next to the phone eagerly converting all the calls.

Could be abundantly more profitable that a squeeze page stranded in cyberspace all forlorn, lonely and unread (unless you constantly throw sackfuls of cash at google).

They're rich enough, now it's your turn.

Card and ink can be your direct road to fame and fortune.


Steve

Yes.

Steve

P.S. Because I'm not sure how many people would stagger through a 57 page spiel on the virtues of life assurance.

But before aiming it at the trash can, I would certainly glance* at the key benefits your policy offers on a Postcard. And if I was in the market I would want to know more.

* That's the real USP of a postcard you can't help BUT look at it.

Yup. I agree it depends on what you want to achieve. For your blog or for your website or sales letter? Legal article or not plays a part too. I've spent $50 USD on an article before and was scolded by my friend for splurging. I've friends who spent $10,000 USD on sales letter. lol... You can try go Hire Freelancers & Find Freelance Jobs Online - Freelancer.com to post your project and wait for people to bid. It works quite well for me. Hope this helps.

I like Steve's idea for postcards. But would I do that INSTEAD of an online campaign? Nope.

There's ungodly amounts of emotion you can hit on for life insurance. It would be a fun campaign to write.

Simple sales letter? Just? There's no such thing as JUST trying to sell, anything.

This is a hot-button issue, especially if the campaign focuses on JUST tartgeting family men.

How much do you want to profit?

How much time are you willing to spend on the collaboration process?

How clear are you on your avatar?

Can the copywriter have access to your "master salesman?" (He or she needs to reflect the messages in the copy. It's all about continuity, right?)

I'd say you're looking at the $8,000 range. Add a 1 in front of the 8 if you want a guy like Rick Duris. ;-)

Mark

...so, $8,000 - $18,000 PLUS all the costs in driving the traffic.

Before a single policy has been sold.

Can you see why postcards make such good sense.

For a fraction of the cost they immediately start selling for you, creating the revenues you need, and there should be buckets of money left to build your interweb empire.

If it were me, I would be tempted to just keep sending out the cards.


Steve

How much would the copy for a post card run?

Best way to work it out.

Use Ricks rate, add Marks rate...and divide by 7.

(double sided costs a bit more)

Or run an Ad in the "Warriors Looking to Hire You" subsection.


You could look at the very first post on this thread.

There's a lot of good information there - which will help you get the copy done.

(this option lets you post the finished copy and get valuable "critiques" for nought)


Steve

Well, good luck with that approach, Nate.

First, I have no doubt someone can write you a wonderful "simple" sales letter for you.

But having it convert consistently in a hyper-competitive market like life insurance?

There's nothing simple about it.

I know. Because one of my teams does life insurance lead generation for the big boys.

I can't really get into the specifics for competitive reasons, but my advice to you is to find a copywriter who will really stick with the project. Because no doubt, you'll need to course correct along the way.

Factor that into your expectations. Especially if the copywriter has no experience in life insurance lead generation.

I advise structuring the copywriter's compensation based upon an upfront fee plus a backend fee or bonus based upon results. Maybe that's just straight leads. Maybe that's conversion to customers.

It's up to you.

Good luck with your endeavor,

- Rick Duris

PS: I appreciate Mark's comments, but with my team, the minimum spend for leads is $100,000 a month. Not counting the set-up fee. Not trying to insult you, Nate. You'd have to peek under the hood to fully appreciate the business model.

I've tried to give you a structure were you could get started, skin your knees a bit at first and then optimize your campaign from there.

Don't give up. Work at it. The code can be cracked.

...as Rick said don't despair, the code has been cracked many times.

And because you're in a very competitive market it might help to use a media that most others don't.

Did I mention postcards?

Also...

One of the all time great advertising headlines (which could be adapted for your product)




Steve

I would personally take a Stansberry VSL approach with this.

How many stories can you corral? Seriously? Get your copywriter to interview a bunch of widows. Tell the stories about what happened - because their man left them with nothing.

"I have to work three jobs just to make ends meet! He left us with nothing..."

Then interview men who are grateful for the security and piece-of-mind they're leaving behind.

Tell the good...

And amplify the negative.

You might think you're just getting leads.

But that's not true.

You're pre-qualifying prospects - taking them from cold to warm to pipping hot. By the time they submit their information, your salesman or salespeople will be WAY ahead of the curve - if you do this right.

Listen to what Rick said. Don't go about this half-hazardly. Create a complete funnel... and play around with different traffic sources to find the Shangri-La of leads... for this particular offer.

Mark

The great thing about postcards you don't have to use them to send prospects to a control.

They ARE the control.

And if the copy is outstanding - the good people will call.

Response boosting copy follows a formula - Irresistible Offer + Something Valuable Free (only if they call by a certain time) = A Fast Response

You'll have noticed just how many calculators, pens, clocks etc. insurance companies give out.

One reason why life cover is such a tough sell - most people under 50 don't believe they'll die.

At least not from old age.

So, you give them some very powerful and emotive "accident" and "illness" statistics - with of course the horror picture of the family being left bereft and broke.


Steve

Have a look on people per hour for some good copywriters. Fees are going to vary. I have a few copywriters that I use and the quality of work isn't always what you would expect when you look at their prices.

My cheapest copywriter actually provides me with the best work so I advise you to look around and find people with some solid portfolios

Mark,

When I was young I didn't worry about dying.

Maybe the "new" generation are concerned.

If research proves it then I agree hit that audience.

And what's all this about "postcards not inspiring confidence?"

It's one of the main things (amongst many others) that they do do. (oops needs a touch of editing)

Think of a holiday postcard you got from a good friend "Wish You Were Here" style.

Makes you confident you've got great pals.

Think of an exclusive invitation to THE best gig in town.

You can make an advertising postcards look just like it.

It wouldn't exactly destroy your self esteem would it?


Steve

Seriously consider testing a postcard against a lead generation letter.

We may be overcomplicating this situation.

Nate said he has a "master salesman who only needs warm leads"

Not an insurance company looking for world domination.

Now, what a salesperson always wants is a never - ending abundance of leads.

At a low cost (otherwise it may cut too deeply into the commission).

Certainly, we can put all of Marks points on a Postcard - awareness, authority, empathy and for goodness sake "branding". Plus everything else an Ad needs for it to work.

(side note - any Ad in any medium automatically creates "branding"...moving on...)

Whats needed is a constant supply of "warm - to good - to some really good - to red-hot leads.

(side note - there is no medium on gods earth that guarantees to always provide red - hot leads)

So, rather than spending a fortune on the best writers on the planet and devise an all singing and dancing interweb site.

Throwing horrendous amounts of money on traffic (remember it's a hyper - competitive market - who can outspend, outbid and knock out anyone trying to get traffic).

Just do Postcards.

There is a great offer

With something free (with a deadline).

It's easy to target the audience.

So get a Postcard campaign up and running and start making the phone ring off the hook.

Keeping it all simple, at a low cost and best of all extraordinarily effective.


Steve


P.S. Still keeping it simple with a blazingly fast response you could create a 3 step Postcard sequence (or a 4,5,6,7 plus step - become a friendly visitor to the homes).

You can keep sending them till people buy, say stop or they die.

Ironic if they do without having bought the life cover.

P.P.S. To get great results - the copy on the Postcards has to be astonishingly good (as it would have to be on the interweb, sales letter or anywhere else).

One method: You could approach the people who have responded to you here and find out what they'd charge to implement their idea with you. Multiple good ideas here to choose from.

Talk to each one and have them map out anticipated costs to put their idea to the test.

There was a car insurance broker who used to post here frequently. He'd trawl for good direct response ideas and then hire the copywriters who came up with the them.

You could try the same strategy.

- Rick Duris

This isn't the type of project I would be interested in as a copywriter at this time.

Having said that, here are my thoughts on the overall concept.

I'm not sure an online salesletter -- video or non-video -- would be the best way to go. You'd add the challenge of getting the right prospects to the online salesletter. If you try to reach them by email, then you have email deliverability to worry about. SEO and/or PPC... you're going against some heavy competition that have extremely deep pockets. IMHO, there are easier ways to reach the types of prospects you want.

Unless your salesletter or video has some interesting info in it then you're going to have a hard time keeping them engaged for multiple pages of online sales copy (long form or video script) about life insurance.

The financial/investment newsletter niche is able to do it because they use blind copy to either tease a future breakout stock or a future breakout stock market trend... I'm not seeing how life insurance would offer a similar appeal.

If it was my choice to make, I'd probably look at infomercials on local TV stations and then postcard marketing. The idea being to quickly rouse their interest and get them to pick up the phone and make the initial phone call. In both cases, you're going to want a full marketing funnel -- ideally with inbound and outbound telemarketing included.

Identifying the right mailing lists... identifying the right TV stations & the best time slots to run your infomercial are CRITICAL. It could mean the difference between losing your shirt and producing more leads than your team can handle.

This is where the expertise of the copywriter you opt to hire has to factor in. If they know the lay of the land for infomercials and/or postcard marketing then you'll avoid a lot of costly mistakes. If they don't then you could take a big financial hit.

I'd also look at what other offline businesses I could do reciprocal marketing with that serve the same types of customers as your business does.

Like Rick said, you're going to need to course correct as you go along. I would encourage you to talk to multiple copywriters, starting with the ones (besides me) who have posted in this thread. I would also encourage you to offer some type of compensation which includes ongoing royalties because you're going to want your copywriter to continue to work with you on the ongoing testing and course correction. Don't make your hiring decision based on copywriter quoted fees... make your decision based on hiring the most qualified copywriter to help you get your marketing positioned best for success.

Good luck,

Mike

I would definitely A/B test copy to see which converts.
Having said that it has a lot to do with targeting. I wouldn't go after the 'family' man. EVERYONE does. I would go after the career parent with SOLE custody. They have sole custody for a reason. IF something happened to the, who would be responsible for the kids? Grandparents/sibling that may not have the income to support the kids.

Yes, it had got an "annuity" feel about it.

Nate might pop back and enlighten us.


Steve

Hey Nate!

Would you mind telling us what you do... and how it goes?

Bump this thread - when you get some data/results.

Cheers man!

Mark

Mark,

It's your fault if he doesn't come back with you bambling on about "branding"...

And worrying everybody about "self - conscious" Postcards.

It just not the right mindset (lol).


Steve

You should also take a seriously look at a series of insurance lead generation letters written by copywriter Jeffrey Dobkin. Go to www.jeffreydobkin.com.

you have to find a good copywritter and talk with him about price so you'll know how much you'll have to pay