Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Rich Copywriter, Poor Copywriter
For some reason, this morning I started
thinking about Robert Kiyosaki of Rich
Dad, Poor Dad fame.
In his 2nd book The Cashflow Quadrant,
he outlines a 4 square grid.
The 2 squares in the left column are
Employees and Self-Employed. The 2
squares on the right side are Business
Owners and Investors.
The key to getting rich is to move from
the left to the right side.
(By the way, the difference between
self-employed and business owner in this
scheme is not normally explained, except in
the E-Myth books. You're self-employed
if your business is your personal service.
You're a business owner if you control a
process that could work without you.
If you own a store where you're chief clerk
and bottle washer, you're self-employed. If
you own a store that could run without you
(even though you may be actively working
within it), you're a business owner.
The disturbing aspect is that copywriters
are clearly self-employed in this scheme.
Many have assistants who perform various
support duties, but the actual writing is
done by the copywriter. When we're on the
beach, we aren't making money.
True, this is offset a little by royalties on
controls and profit-sharing plans. But I
suspect that only a few top copywriters could
live for the rest of their lives off their
current royalties and profit sharing plans.
One copywriter, Clayton Makepeace, seems to get
deeply involved with the business of his
clients. He has the skill, knowledge and
experience to really help clients with their
marketing. He makes a lot more money than
most copywriters simply because he does
become part of his clients' business.
Other copywriters do use their skills. Carl
Galletti no longer accepts new clients, to
the best of my knowledge, and says so on
one of his websites. He said at his
Internet conference in summer of 2005 that
he was making his income from marketing
affiliate products online.
I know another expensive copywriter who
does still take on clients, but he is
building a number of "Undies" sites --
that is, following the techniques
outlined by Ed Dale and Frank Kern of
the Underachievers. He has a big
advantage in being able to write great
salesletters for his own Undies sites.
William Bonner, so far as I know, was
never a copywriter for anybody but
his own business, Agora. It's hard to
believe that his classic letter for
International Living was his very first.
Most of us need training, leading to the
example of American Writers and Artists
Institute -- AWAI, founded by
copywriters as their own business.
And of course, copywriters should be
good investors, at least those who
write packages for financial newsletters!
copywriting software
thinking about Robert Kiyosaki of Rich
Dad, Poor Dad fame.
In his 2nd book The Cashflow Quadrant,
he outlines a 4 square grid.
The 2 squares in the left column are
Employees and Self-Employed. The 2
squares on the right side are Business
Owners and Investors.
The key to getting rich is to move from
the left to the right side.
(By the way, the difference between
self-employed and business owner in this
scheme is not normally explained, except in
the E-Myth books. You're self-employed
if your business is your personal service.
You're a business owner if you control a
process that could work without you.
If you own a store where you're chief clerk
and bottle washer, you're self-employed. If
you own a store that could run without you
(even though you may be actively working
within it), you're a business owner.
The disturbing aspect is that copywriters
are clearly self-employed in this scheme.
Many have assistants who perform various
support duties, but the actual writing is
done by the copywriter. When we're on the
beach, we aren't making money.
True, this is offset a little by royalties on
controls and profit-sharing plans. But I
suspect that only a few top copywriters could
live for the rest of their lives off their
current royalties and profit sharing plans.
One copywriter, Clayton Makepeace, seems to get
deeply involved with the business of his
clients. He has the skill, knowledge and
experience to really help clients with their
marketing. He makes a lot more money than
most copywriters simply because he does
become part of his clients' business.
Other copywriters do use their skills. Carl
Galletti no longer accepts new clients, to
the best of my knowledge, and says so on
one of his websites. He said at his
Internet conference in summer of 2005 that
he was making his income from marketing
affiliate products online.
I know another expensive copywriter who
does still take on clients, but he is
building a number of "Undies" sites --
that is, following the techniques
outlined by Ed Dale and Frank Kern of
the Underachievers. He has a big
advantage in being able to write great
salesletters for his own Undies sites.
William Bonner, so far as I know, was
never a copywriter for anybody but
his own business, Agora. It's hard to
believe that his classic letter for
International Living was his very first.
Most of us need training, leading to the
example of American Writers and Artists
Institute -- AWAI, founded by
copywriters as their own business.
And of course, copywriters should be
good investors, at least those who
write packages for financial newsletters!
copywriting software
