CALLING: All Copywriters Who DEMAND Royalty Payments Tied to Their Results!

Your opinion is based on your concept of fairness.

But it doesn't work that way... it's based on supply and demand.

If the demand for your service exceeds the available supply, you have leverage, and you can negotiate better terms.

VL

My long term plan is to eventually start asking for royalties, but I'm not really in the position to do that yet. Wouldn't you need a lawyer to structure something like that?

You will only get a royalty deal when two conditions are met:

1) You have a proven track record as a copywriter.

2) You find the right type of client for setting up a royalty deal. For example, you want to make sure that the client is very direct response marketing savvy and has a good list and relationship with his customers to ensure a royalty deal will pay off for you.

A freelance copywriter can structure his service however he wants.

IF you are a Clayton Makepeace, the go-to guy in financials, you can DEMAND some back-ends.

Probably aren't too many Claytons here...

I would advise the copywriter to do what he needs/wants to do. Sometimes there are quick and easy POP-UP assignments which don't take much time, if they are in your wheelhouse, and you can get a fast and easy check, often in a matter of days, why not?

Sometimes you can get longer term assignments, for example, my last contract was for 90 days and it was renewed twice, so that was 9 months of payments and a commission structure for the project.

It depends on what you bring to the table and how you do your business.

Newer copywriters have to prove themselves, which is one reason I advise (against the grain here) that writing on SPEC is acceptable...if going up against a control, I'd write on Spec anytime...in the right markets.

My subject header contains some KEY words for copywriters and marketing consultants in general.

Consider if you are writing for a house organ, or a subscription vehicle like a newsletter and it goes out to several thousand people with monthly offers...you'd want a piece of the back-end action. HOW do you get it?

Again, bring it to the table.

You may have an idea which fits in with what the newsletter is all about. For example, an Entrepreneurial newsletter about selling specialty products, you could write a report on SOURCING the items, which could be a bonus, separate product or a continuous part of the newsletter.

These are examples culled from my experience, and of course, yours may be totally different.

If you write a promotion that has potential SYNDICATION, that is, the promotion written for a dentist could be used by other dentists all over the country, you could license it out.

Residual income is from ongoing sales, think insurance policies...an example in the Remote Direct Selling industry might be an auto-ship program, where you would collect ongoing payments as long as the customer continues to order.

This differs from Royalties, which are paid on SALES from your promotion as long as it is in force...hit a home run, which could run for years...you'd have some pretty nice PASSIVE income coming in.

Now, to answer the specific questions.

Who would actually say yes to that deal?

There is a recent post here regarding the AWAI seminar and someone provided a list of marketing companies who hire freelancers. Probably everyone on that list has commission agreements with someone...truth is, they are happy to pay you IF YOUR PROMOTION WORKS.

Another truth, finding salesman in print, is as hard as finding a hen with teeth...why do these companies go to the expense of attending a job fair like this? BECAUSE, if they find just ONE person out of the hundreds or thousands who can produce results...this person is worth a ton of gold to them.

Alas, most will leave the job fair empty handed, without making a discovery of another Halbert...but, they may give you a chance if you don't come at them with your DEMANDS, if you are an unproven commodity...and make no mistake, YOU are a commodity.

Wouldn't you scare off a bunch of potential clients?

Clients want people who can move stuff, salesman. IF you can prove to them that you are that person, you will find them open minded as to your commission and structure the deal which is mutually beneficial.

Wouldn't you limit yourself to only a certain type of client?

Maybe. But if you come out of the gate with this attitude, prepare to starve for awhile, get a good supply of RAMEN. However, if you can back up your attitude with results, then go for it.

Wouldn't you have to turn down otherwise good work projects?

Again, YOU get to decide what you want to do. I don't turn down 1500 to 3000 dollar assignments, which are within my area of expertise just because I want a piece of the action. Some assignments just aren't that big, and the reason a marketing company might do them IS...

A quick 50 to 100 thousand bux net profits for a small audience project may fund several tests of the home run, million dollar projects.

So, you will find even the big Direct Response guys hitting singles and doubles while they swing for the fences.

And, wouldn't you sometimes be tempted to take them anyway?

Back to what YOU want to do. One thing I see here, there is a lot of attitude from newbs...but that is OK, cause attitude may go a long way to help you achieve your goals.

Which begs the question: What are your copywriting goals? Do you have them? Are they written down? Do you work daily to achieve them?

I'd wager most of you do NOT have a Plan Of Action to reach your goals, do you?

Under what circumstances would you take them?

Short term quick assignments which bring in quick cash are always welcome on my desk, especially from someone I know, and have worked for and the subject is within my area of expertise, which eliminates much of the research needed.

What do you think?

I think every copywriter should DEFINE her goals, KNOW and UNDERSTAND what she is trying to achieve and then SPIDOG it...solve problems in the direction of the GOAL.

The clearer your focus, the better you will be at approaching the right kind of potential clients and then, once you get some cred, THEY will begin to approach you.

More importantly:

What would be your advice on where to look, find, and acquire such a client?

Start with that list of companies attending the AWAI job fair, and then make sure you understand that is a small percent of companies out there who do Remote Direct Selling.

LOOK to your areas of interests, what markets excite you, what markets do YOU buy in...are you getting financial newsletters? Are you receiving Golf newsletters? Are you getting monthly instructions on how to build a boat?

SEE? Start with what you know and are familiar with.

You ACQUIRE a client by either approaching them with a good idea and demonstrate your willingness to work with them (without making DEMANDS)...

Since you are a SALESPERSON, YOU want to use your KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING of the sales process on a potential client. They are HUMAN.

You will be pitching, at first, to ONE person. If you can't sell that person, you won't be able to sell the "group" of decision makers.

Use a Remote Direct Selling vehicle, like a direct mail piece, to get their ATTENTION and to make your pitch.

As an old dog salesman, I'd offer you this advice...see the people, see the people, see the people...which means there are hundreds of potential clients, the more you approach, the more likely it is you will get hired.

In any case, I consider my new friend a very able copywriter. Yet, I'm not sure WSO copy clients are the exact place you would look to start. (Maybe it could be.)

WSO has become something of a specialty for some copywriters, and as long as there is money to be made, why not start there? Just remember it is a very specific type of copy, intended for a specific audience and for the most part (in my opinion) does not translate well for the client who is most likely to pay you a commission. Best thing to do is get their sales materials and see what they are already doing.


Perhaps you could shed some light on this for the both of us?

Hope I did.

Final note, CONTRACTS. You should have a basic understanding of royalty contracts and how they are structured and how the payout goes. Like most salespeople on commission...you normally get a percent of sales against returns and minus certain expenses and for a given duration of time.

Copywriting for royalty income requires YOU be knowledgeable in all areas of Remote Direct Selling and Direct Response Marketing, including how Net Profits are figured, and how YOU, as a hired salesperson, get paid.

If you have NO experience, it will be almost impossible for you to DEMAND a commission from the get go...good luck with that...there, will of course, be the occasional anecdotal exception, which could be YOU.

PS. Oh yeah, if you were work this type of language into your "letter of agreement" contracts, how would do you do it? i.e. Would there be a kill fee, anything else, etc.?

The agreements are VERY specific and contain a lot of legalese, one term you MUST know is indemnify...which you want to avoid in many cases, unless you want a boatload of legal problems down the road.

The contract spells out exactly how sales are made and measured, gives you access to the accounting procedures, usually has returns and expenses in it...a very finely tuned instrument. Kill fee? Hmmmm. Good luck there.

The most important part isn't in the agreement, it is in the TRUST you have in the company and the TRUST they have in you...which is why it is so hard for a newb to get work, let alone make DEMANDS on the company. But, again, if that is your thing, more power to you.

PPS. Perhaps "demand" isn't the exact right word, but you know what I mean. ;-]

Yea, we get it. All things in the agreement can be negotiated. It doesn't hurt to have a commission structure at your end, it is a chip in the game...you can always take the chip off the table...that is part of negotiations...give and take, so use of the word DEMAND may have been a little strong, however, it certainly doesn't hurt to negotiate a commission.

Truthfully, there is a lot more to copywriting for royalties and commissions than just producing the copy...knowing the business and how it works and how it DOES NOT work will help you in the long haul.

Good luck.

gjabiz.

PS. There are NO rights and wrongs, you can do what you can get away with and there are NO rules when it comes to selling yourself and your copy...but there are some general principles of dealing with Remote Direct Marketers...learn and study what they already do...get on their lists and get their current promotions...cause, some copywriter, somewhere, got paid to do them.

This kind of offer would only work with big mailers and not so much for small business owners from my point of view. I think it's more about finding the right clients instead of presenting your offer to any potential client.

I have always offered copywriters 5% on the back end since it promotes a much higher quality of work. I wouldn't do it any other way.

First of all, thanks for your answers everyone.

Gordon, you dished out lots of good takeaways. I appreciate it. You really gave it a 110%. And I can tell you're really passionate.

Funny. Just got something from Clayton the other day. And you bring up another thing. I've noticed licensing deals to small business looks like a great opportunity. Been racking my brain on that one.

I think this pretty much takes the cake:

And thanks for the AWAI tip. Remote Direct Selling just joined my vocabulary for the first time.

Thanks again,

Marc

PS. Anyone know how to solve a sticky "m" key? Just kidding... but seriously.