How I got my first Client

The job of copywriting sort of fell into my lap. My friend created an online business that started with blogging. I put on the writers hat and blogged for about 8 months while he took care of the affiliate side of things and created a product for our list. After driving 10's of thousands of people to the site every month we decided it was time to try and sell the product and needed some copy. Naturally, because I was the main writer for the blog, I became the copywriter as well. From that point on the rest is history and we are happily selling several products online and continually expanding. It all kind of happened by chance.

Thanks for the topic!

Let me share mine.

When I first started, I specifically looked out for
poorly-done ads in the mainstream newspaper.

Why newspaper? Because that means they
are seriously thinking about getting more customers.

They already have a need.

And to advertise prominently in the mainstream
newspaper...it shows that they have the ad budget
(that means they can probably pay you decently
if you can do a good job for them).


Okay...so I came across an ad in the newspaper.
I thought could be way better.

I emailed them to ask their permission to give them feedback.

Now it's important to ask for permission first.

Because there are people who hate unsolicited feedback.

And by asking for permission, you are showing them
you are sincere, respectful, and seem less of a salesperson.

Once they gave me the go-ahead, I listed down as
many feedback as I can think of.

I gave them upfront value. Useful advice they can use
on their own without the need to hire me.

So it turned out the director of the organization
liked what he has heard and requested a meet up.

And we talked. The meeting was all about them.

I just listened. And then I offered my input on how
to improve their marketing activities.

And listened some more.

Once we gotten a good rapport, I knew it will
be easier to get them on as a client.

They did became my client.

One thing lead to another...and they asked me
to do their copy. They like it. And asked me to do
for other products they have.

So there you go. That's how I got one of
my first clients.

Today, we are more like friends rather than
a client-service provider relationship.


Few things I want to recap here:

- Only look for those that have a need/problem
and sell yourself as a solution

- Only select clients who have the capability
to pay your work fee.

- Only work for clients who have a good product
and that you can be proud promoting for.

- Show them respect and give them value first

- Listen a lot more than you talk.

- Give them what they want...and they will
give you what you want.


Best,
Jag

It took me a month to get our first client, well there's a lot of factors that you need to consider. Both parties need to agree on the following:

1. price
2. skills
3. working schedule

Good thing, they still trusting us and still continuing their project to our company.

Some people on here are going to be pretty surprised when they read this...

I got my first paid job from our own Kevin Bidwell.

He trained me, and a few others on here, for nothing and then gave me the job of writing the copy for a product.

He didn't use it in the end, but he still gave me some payment for it. Considering the training he gave, I was just happy to get the chance to write for him.

And, I got some pretty good feedback from other writers which, considering it was my first attempt, wasn't bad at all.

I think I've come a long way since then, but I never forget the people who help me along the way.

I've now booked myself for another of his courses which starts next week. An advanced traffic course.

And, you know what?

He's priced it crazy low, as usual.

He's only taking on 25 people, so PM me if you want the link.

Hey all,

My first client was John Carlton. Yeah, THE John Carlton.

I'm a member of John's mastermind group. He approached me and another copywriter to compete against each other in writing a sales letter for his seminar DVDs.

I worked my ass off. In the end I beat the other copywriter and John's running with the letter.

Scariest thing i've done in my life. But it paid off.

Colin

I'm afraid I've not got an interesting story like some of the above:

A guy posted his site here for a critique - it got ripped to pieces - he asked if anyone would rewrite it for $100.

After a couple of days I thought why not. I couldn't have made it any worse and I'd been studying for months with zero income.

I sent the guy a PM, explaining my credentials and how I thought I could help. He quickly replied, seemingly eager to work with me. The money appeared in my Paypal account when he said it would so I started work.

My next client contacted me out of the blue with a 50/50 payment offer and I've been working with him on various things since.

Next month I plan to spread my wings a bit more and start promoting myself.

Cool topic.

Here's my "first client" story...

I had written for myself and studied a lot of the books...

Learning about direct-response was something that I was passionate about.

So, at about age 17/18... I got an invite to the JV alert membership site when it first opened...

At the same time... I had seen another new copywriter (probably the first one to do so) offer the "cheap salesletter" thing on the warrior forum... and his prices had risen quickly from using this technique.

(What he did, if I am remember correctly, was to start out very cheap and then increase his prices each month or for each client... or something like that)

So, I decided to put together an offer and send it out to the JV alert database with the same idea.

The offer was for 3 folks only where I'll write you a salesletter for $97 plus commissions if it does well.

The result?

I got about 12 inquiries. I then ended up selecting the 3 most promising folks. Two of those ended-up working-out very well and became long-term clients. The third never ran my ad for whatever reason.

Lesson learned: Find a targeted list... put together an irresistible offer... and generating clients when needed becomes much easier. Though, it's true... it does take work... and word-of-mouth is easier.

I Ask storeowners about their need for somebody to make write ups about their products, to be published on local newspapers; I offered to provide them with samples of my work if they requested.

I also Contacted catalogues and product brochures. Looked at the contact numbers of catalogues and product brochures, and contacted them to inquire if they need more catalog copywriters. Once I wasable to talk with a representative from their company, I inquired about their need for copywriters, I offered to send some samples of my work. The rest was history