Copywriting Fool

My Dream Copywriting Client September 6, 2009

I have a client — we’ll call him Bob — and he is my dream copywriting client.

He doesn’t pay me a lot compared to some of the one-off  projects I accept.

But he pays me on time every single month based on a percentage share of his monthly gross revenue. Even better, he’s a low-maintenance client who’s super easy to get along with.

Some clients will blame you when things don’t turn out quite like you expect. Not Bob. He has a very realistic view of a copywriter’s role — and ability.

If a letter doesn’t pull, he’ll blame it on the list… or the state of the market… before he’ll ever blame me.

Recently, I did a project for a different client. Working with this client is more bureaucratic, and everybody wants to give me their opinions. Plus, they push back at most of my suggestions. (“What? You want to send an email every day??“)

Well, after much arm-twisting, the management team finally bought into my plan to drive sales. At first, sales weren’t that great. Naturally, having already opposed my plans, the “I told you so” came out quick; they pointed their fingers at me.

But a funny thing happened. Because sales started to build and really take off.

All of a sudden, my client’s tune changed. Except for it wasn’t congratulations to me — it was “Go team!”

This in spite of the fact I had done 90% or more of the work required to make the sales.

Funny how that works, isn’t it?

If you fail, it’s your fault. If you succeed, the team gets the credit.

That’s why I like “dream client” Bob. He knows markets and lists affect sales FAR more than sales copy. And yet he still recognizes the value of having a veteran copywriter like me in his hip pocket.

Oh, and did I mention that he pays on time?