A member on my copywriters forum started a thread on what makes my forum so popular. Everyone chimed in with some great answers, and I appreciate the feedback.

(The cool thing about it is, that very thread also reached an important milestone. It was the 10,000th one! Talk about a coincidence, eh?)

But then someone asked:

“Michel, can I ask how you initially got the word out about your forum?”

My answer revealed a bit more than what the member anticipated. Instead of talking about how my forum became so popular, I went on a tangent and explained the step-by-step process I used to book copywriting projects.

The answer was so well received that I decided to reprint it here.

Now, you may be wondering what promoting a forum has to do with promoting my copywriting services. Keep reading because you’ll soon understand why…

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I know Paul Hancox.

Paul is a fanatical tester. He’s also an excellent copywriter.

But what you may not know is that Paul is also the creator of the very first split-testing software I’ve ever used. We’re talking, um, circa 1999, I believe. It was called “Sales Page Master Pro.” (Paul has a new version out now.)

Well, another copywriter, Paul Myers, recommended this new “report” written by Paul Hancox. I snatched it up in a heartbeat. I did because the simple title piqued my curiosity. In it you discover how to raise the conversion rate of any piece of online copy you write.

Not to 2% or 3%. Not even to 5%.

It shows you how to boost your conversion rate…

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In my coaching program, a student who is an upcoming copywriter recently asked where he could find clients willing to pay higher rates for his skills.

Having built a client base through networking on Internet forums geared towards start-up business owners, he now wanted to find opportunities that would allow for upward mobility within his craft.

This is a common scenario, because start-up businesses are easy to find and provide plenty of opportunities to practice your emerging copywriting skills.

I talked about three tips for aspiring copywriters in the past. I recommend any new copywriter to follow these three tips to build a track record and get to a level that makes them appealing to higher-paying clients.

After your skills are developed, however, it becomes necessary to seek out clients — better, more lucrative clients — who are established enough to pay a fair wage for your skills and, above all, your results.

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Scarcity is a tactic often used in copywriting to create a sense of urgency and convince the “on-the-fence” customer to make a purchase decision. Above all, the goal is to prevent prospects from procrastinating.

As online consumers become wise to these direct-response copywriting tactics, one question often arises:

“What about digital products and electronic downloads, like ebooks and software? How can you create a sense of urgency for something that, in itself, is limitless (or perceived as such)?”

Here’s how to use scarcity selling effectively with digital products:

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Remember when I talked about hiding content, in my free report The Death of The Salesletter, so it could open up based on a user’s actions and thereby personalizing the salesletter (and also making it short)?

You can hide content on the same sales page, making the page look shorter and less intimidating. And only desired content appears depending on a user’s choices.

In some cases, people break salesletters down into various pages, and add links to them in the letter. Traditionally, I recommend to my clients that they have the extra content open up in a pop-up window, as to not be distracted.

What does using this tactic help to do? Other than the potential for personalization, it means that people don’t have to be bothered by…

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The most profitable and often overlooked free publicity generator is the news release (also called "press release", although news release is a better term).

News releases are not only great marketing tools but also far more credible and believable than advertising since they appear to come from an objective third party.

While publicity is the most powerful promotional tool there is, it is the one that is the least effectively used.

All too often, business owners view news releases as a form of advertising. The copy is self-serving, promotional in tone, and one-sided, and offer no real value to a news-reading audience.

Don't get me wrong. The media’s goal is to report on stories that affect, or are of interest to, their readers or viewers. So, news releases are their best friends — but only if they follow a few important guidelines.

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Last Sunday, a bunch of copywriters shot the breeze on the Nuts & Blogbolts talk radio show. At the end, Mike Sansone asked if we would individually respond on our blogs to this question:

"Writing for the visitor is more important than writing for the search engines. Can both requirements be met without sacrificing quality?"

Ryan Healy posted his answer on the subject. I agree with him, but only in part. This is not because I disagree with anything Ryan said, because he makes some great points. But because I think there are ways around it.

So my answer is both "yes" and "no." Here's why…

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