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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Seems I’m ranting a lot these days, and a little more opinionated than the norm. Perhaps it’s my broken back, which is killing me, that’s making me more sensitive or irritable. I don’t know.

But something someone recently said in my copywriters forum irritated me. And it’s not what this person said specifically, but the mindset behind it that’s bothering me.

In a thread about an Internet marketer who was recently arrested (yes, it had something to do with forced continuity, but it had more to do with refusing refunds and avoiding customers than it had to do with forced continuity itself), one member said:

“There is NO such thing as an honest business man. (…) Ask any accountant.”

Now, I have no clue as to why this person said this. And my opinion here is not about this person specifically. Again, it’s about the thinking process that some people have when they make such assertions.

Personally, I believe this view of business people is skewed, off, and wrong. It’s destructive, too.

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Here at the Big Seminar in Atlanta, the same question seems to pop up over and over again. I walk with a cane now, and people keep asking me, “Michel, What’s wrong? Are you OK? What happened?”

I don’t blame them. My wife told me I was turning as white as a ghost, so we’ve decided to go back to our room to take some time — and pressure — off my spine.

I thought to myself, “Maybe I should take advantage of this downtime to blog about this — that way, more people will know what’s going on.”

You see, I have a broken back. Literally.

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After reading my articles on how to find copywriting clients, a student of mine, Jeff, asked me an interesting question.

He’s an aspiring copywriter and wants to build his own freelance copywriting business. When he read that I wrote copy for free when I started my career as a copywriter, he asked me about doing the same:

“Mike, my friends have a very small business, and they have asked me to do copy for them. They say they can’t really pay me that much. I have told them I will do it for free as long as I get rights to the copy and can use it for a reference and in my portfolio. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to get more experience, but my wife wants to see some money on the table. I value your opinion. Can you help?”

Here was my answer.

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When a sales page is not performing up to your expectations, the worst thing you can do is nothing.

In most circumstances, there are steps you can take to alter the copy to improve your results immediately. By taking action and making changes, you can strengthen your copy quickly and improve your sales conversions.

The key to this process is testing to boost your outcome.

However, when most people start testing their sales copy, they immediately think of something they can add or tweak. Or they’re confused as to what to test, particularly what to test first.

I’ve found that the best and most efficient element to test is to actually first remove the things that are stopping people from ordering. In other words…

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My last post, where a disgruntled copywriter demanded “the truth” about creating wealth in copywriting, inspired copywriter Andrew Cavanagh to share the story of his beginnings on my forum:

“Here’s how I made my first ‘money’ in copywriting.”

Then one by one, other copywriters started adding their own. The responses were nothing short of amazing!

Many of the stories show that there’s indeed hope. They also show that we were all struggling copywriters once, too. And we didn’t all become overnight millionaires with million-dollar clients, as “Chuck,” the disillusioned copywriter, postulated.

I loved it so much that I posted my own story. I’ve decided to share it with you here. (By the way, the picture at the top is of me, circa 1991. A lot thinner, with glasses, and a lot more hair!) Anyway, here is my story…

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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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