As a freelance copywriter, I’ve put together a nice portfolio of major corporate clients, ranging from Bay State Gas to Pizzeria Uno. And I found most of them in a rather unusual way.
I didn't use SEO or pay-per-click. I didn't go to networking events and shake hands with half the Rotary Club. And I didn't take out billboards by the highway that said AWESOME COPYWRITER FOR HIRE.
I got most of these lucrative gigs in a way that wouldn’t cross many people’s minds — a way that’s unconventional and highly effective.
I sent them a sales letter.
Not the kind that's an HTML page, but a good, old-fashioned paper letter in an envelope with an honest-to-goodness stamp.
The same copywriting techniques you use for online pages can be moved to the physical mail world. (In fact, that's where they came from in the first place). Direct mail can still be surprisingly effective, and it has a few real advantages.
Why prospect by direct mail in the internet age?
I conducted my first direct mail campaign in 1997 and got an amazing 11% response rate of prospects asking for my information kit. From that I landed several high-paying, long-term clients. After a hiatus to focus on magazine writing, I decided to get back into copywriting this year and garnered a good client base (and a lot of interested prospects for my pipeline) with my very first wave of direct mail.
Here are a few benefits of prospecting via mail as opposed to e-mail:
- You stand out. When hordes of other freelance copywriters are shooting off e-mails (which are all too easy to delete), you stand out from the crowd by sending a nicely-presented mail package.
- You can customize your mailing. With e-mail, you wouldn’t want to send an unasked-for attachment because you run the risk of being labeled as spam. So all the prospect gets is...
