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Have You Got The Balls To Do This...

by ewenmack
20 replies
This comes from Ray Edwards website if you are thinking of hiring him.

No long form sales letter.

No jedi mind tricks.

No testimonials.

Note all the qualifiers on becoming a client.

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Why My Clients Succeed

My experience working with top clients like Armand Morin, Jeff Walker, Frank Kern, Alex Mandossian and others shows me that there are certain criteria that almost always accompany a successful campaign or project. Here are those criteria:
You have a fantastic product or service.
You have a "house list" of at least 50,000 emails (or physical addresses) ... or ...
You have Joint Venture partners who have a combined "hot list" of at least 100,000.
You have excellent customer service systems in place.
You are coachable and plan to heed my marketing advice.
You are a "doer", not just a "dreamer", and you are a positive, pleasant person.
You are ready, willing and able to pay $1,000 for an initial consultation call (if we decide not to work together, your $1,000 will be promptly refunded ... if we do work together, it will be applied to your project fee).

I know it's possible to read those last three as being a bit arrogant.

Please understand that I intend no arrogance; on the contrary, I have put those policies into effect as a sign of supreme respect for your time, money and energy. By protecting my own time and using these "screening" methods, I am able to devote my full concentration to you and your specific situation and needs.
What To Do Next

It's quite simple: just click the button below, make your $1,000 deposit for a consultation, and my assistant will contact you to schedule a call between you and me.

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Gets you thinking.

Best,
Ewen
#balls
  • Profile picture of the author Courage
    I'm a big fan of Ray Edwards.

    This email is a sign of his skill of professionalism. Like you said no jedi mind tricks or B.S
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  • Profile picture of the author nigelburke
    We used to have a policy of having no more than 100 clients, if we wanted to take someone else on they had to be a better quality client than an existing one. This approach didn't take long to build a really good client base
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  • Profile picture of the author tobyR
    I agree great fan of Rays, had the privilage of meeting him a couple of times some years ago in London - such a nice, unassuming man with terrific skills
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce NewMedia
    Ewen, I agree Ray is one sharp marketer....I don't think I could pull that off though.
    _____
    Bruce
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    • Profile picture of the author Rezbi
      Originally Posted by brucerby View Post

      Ewen, I agree Ray is one sharp marketer....I don't think I could pull that off though.
      _____
      Bruce
      You could if you had his track record.
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  • Profile picture of the author PatrickP
    lol

    You have a fantastic product or service.
    You have a “house list” of at least 50,000 emails (or physical addresses) … or …
    You have Joint Venture partners who have a combined “hot list” of at least 100,000.
    You have excellent customer service systems in place.
    You are coachable and plan to heed my marketing advice.
    You are a “doer”, not just a “dreamer”, and you are a positive, pleasant person.


    Yea then pretty much you already have a successful business most likely.
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  • Profile picture of the author davemiz
    you guys are funny....

    half the story doesn't give you all the answers.

    What you're forgetting is this:

    people who are considering hiring him ALREADY know who he is, know what he's written and who he's worked for.

    What does this all mean?

    FRAME OF MIND

    And dont forget Ray was once a newbie JUST starting out.
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    “Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.”
    ― Dalai Lama XIV

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    • Profile picture of the author Stephen Dean
      Originally Posted by davemiz View Post


      And dont forget Ray was once a newbie JUST starting out.
      I remember! He saw there was already a copywriter named Ray Edwards and quickly bought up Ray-Edwards-Copywriting.com. A brutal but fair move, and Ray L handled it well.

      At the time he was just a newbie selling $297 sales letters right next to me. Now we both charge more, he just charges a lot, lot more.

      Cheers,
      Stephen Dean
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  • Profile picture of the author John_S
    Lots of people -- outside copy -- can do this.

    Call it annoyance-based pricing if you want. Many already have a price for clients that are a joy to work with, and another for nightmare clients. They just don't come out and announce it.

    Many filter. And you, as the writer, can "dial" that filter from low to high. This one is a solid nine. Possibly a ten. An eleven? If you decide not to work together, the deposit goes to a charity. Still a write-off, but you will not be kicking any tires.

    This approach disarms one big objection to a deposit, you come off looking good, and yet it still filters the riff-raff.

    Point being, if you're having a problem with bottom feeders (or in some business which attracts them) consider "some" filtering such as this. The whole "test it" parrot line is not a bad idea here.

    Alternatively, you can target best customers. Incorporations, for example. It does not take a rocket scientist or scads of money, but setting up a business will eliminate a decent percentage of dreamers.

    The real question is who to target, and how.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    Let me see, I only write for marketers who are already successful
    so that my copywriting skills can't be tested.

    I think that a copywriter should measure his/her skills by taking
    a 'nobody' and make him into a somebody. I'm never impressed
    by name-dropping to prove how good you are.

    I prefer to pride myself in taking marketers who nobody knows
    about and make them into millionaires. And yes, I've done that
    a couple times.

    The method he is using here is intimidation and it does filter out
    the time-wasters, but also the up-and-coming marketer who
    want to break into the market.

    His name doesn't hurt either.

    -Ray Edwards
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    The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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  • Profile picture of the author John_S
    I think that a copywriter should measure his/her skills by taking
    a 'nobody' and make him into a somebody.
    You'd need exponentially better filtering for that. Not less. Not none.

    Doable through a qualifying challenge that tests whatever you'd be looking for: Adapability, capability to learn new concepts, open mindedness, ability to take action and implement quickly, initiative, integrity. But that would be fairly sophisticated filtering. Something you'd use on protégé candidates, for example.

    A whole whopping lot of people are nobodies for a very good reason.

    On the other hand, recalling an old Henry Fonda Western, having the official title of "Nobody" might be useful. As in ..."nobody knows my customers, blah, blah" ..."nobody can tell me how to run, blah blah" Intriguing.

    Even the most egotistical copywriters would have to admit -- even if you're cramming the words into someone's mouth -- you had better filter for an ability and willingness to lipsync.
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    • Profile picture of the author Raydal
      Originally Posted by John_S View Post

      You'd need exponentially better filtering for that. Not less. Not none.
      I'm definitely not against filtering because you need some way to
      qualify your potential clients but if I write a letter for a great
      marketer and it converts well I don't feel as 'large' if I did the
      same for someone without the guru status.

      And I'm definitely not against anyone who use name-dropping to
      sell their services, just not MY preferred method.

      -Ray Edwards
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      The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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      • Profile picture of the author Kevin Rogers
        Ray's challenge isn't about balls, it's about reality. He doesn't need (or want) to work with dreamers. It's his personal choice, and a very wise business move.

        Like he points out, by putting this qualification in place, he's doing everyone who hires him a huge favor by not wasting time and energy filtering through the clutter. Instead, he's earning his fee by focusing 100% on your project.

        But there's something else at play here... even rpospects who understand his value and can afford his fee, might not meet all the criteria he lays out...

        ... maybe they have the list, but not the service record, or they have the JV support, but not the exact attitude he's describing.

        Ray knows this will NOT stop the true lions from wanting to enter his gates... but when they do plunk down their g-whiz for access, Ray is already in the power position because the client understands a concession has been made via the one or two weak lines of criteria.

        Excellent way to make clear who's steering this ship from the beginning.
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  • Profile picture of the author jewel3000
    I like it! Can't quite do it, but the thinking works for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Walker
    The reality is that once you start having serious success, your deal flow will start to grow exponentially. You will have more people wanting to hire you than you could possibly take.

    In my experience, the only way you can deal with that is by taking the approach that Ray is taking in that copy.

    Yes, it's takeaway copy... and yes, another name for that is intimidation copy. But as the saying goes... it ain't bragging if it's true. Once you get massive deal flow you HAVE to take that approach.

    - Jeff
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    JeffWalker.com
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  • Profile picture of the author writeandreview
    Ray Edwards has a great reputation around here. I think his e-mail shows that he's "done the numbers" and probably knows what's led to his success in the past.

    Of course, faced with such a qualifying letter, some would ask, "Okay. I met your criteria for a successful client, are you prepared to stake your retainer on a successful campaign?"
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  • Profile picture of the author premiumonlinewriting
    Why are people so surprised that well-written honesty is a successful way to sell something?
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    • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
      As Charley Eckman, famous Baltimore sportscaster used to say, "It's a very simple game!".

      Supply and demand. When the demand exceeds the supply, the supplier is in the catbird seat.

      Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author lchiles
    Strong qualifiers for sure, but that's who he wants (and probably needs), to work with at this point. Why work for people who don't see the true value?

    Life's too short.

    Lawton
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