I got a royalty check from a client in my mailbox. That always makes me smile.

And as I was looking at that check, it made me think about how much fun this particular client is to work with — and I was reminded that I had an audio interview with this guy somewhere in my archives.

I found the interview, listened to it, and realized it’s just as relevant as it was the day we recorded it. So I’m giving it to you today.

This interview is a case study from one of my clients. I present it for inspiration and education only, and there is nothing for sale (not that there’s anything wrong with sellin’ stuff, mind you).

I worked on this Product Launch with Real Estate teacher Jack Bosch back in 2008. That was almost two years ago. Jack remains a client of mine (he’s still paying his royalties, like clockwork). This interview was recorded the day after we closed the cart on the launch.

It’s worth noting that, on day two of our launch…it seemed luck was not with us.

On the second day of the launch, a massive US Financial Collapse began.

The largest bank failure in US History was in the headlines. And yet…

We brought in over $1.12 million in 7 days. (Please note: I’m not claiming you can do the same. Most launches don’t do these kinds of numbers – this is definitely atypical… which is what makes it worth studying.)

Click Here To Listen To The $1.12 Million Launch Case Study With Ray Edwards

Listen to this case study interview and learn…

• How a penniless immigrant with no money and no English made $1.12 million in just a single week.
• The secrets that allowed Jack to create a massive info-product… assemble a team… and do a $1.12 million dollar launch in less than 3 months.
• If you think you have no experience, no expertise, and no chance of success… once you hear Jack’s story you will NEVER let those excuses hold you back again.
• How Jack learned the secret of rapid product creation, and how it changed his life (his first ebook took him 5 months… while his massive 26-CD course and 400 page manual only took 8 weeks!).
• The simple, easy-to-duplicate tactic that allowed Jack to create a 400 page workbook… without writing a word!
• What gets people “stuck” in creating their own product, and the magic that dissolves those mental blocks and makes things happen.
• Why Jack was shocked at my $30,000 retainer… and why he’s now GLAD he paid that amount (and more).
• Why copy is so important to JV partners — and it has NOTHING to do with the sales letter!
• The power of having an organized approach to doing a product launch… and which pieces are critical to your success.
• The “unexpected benefit” that brought in new JV partners like bees being drawn to honey… and it happened totally by accident (but from now on, Jack will be doing it on purpose).
• How to develop content for your videos and other marketing pieces using the power of persuasion in print to make your VIDEOS and AUDIOS more profitable.
• Why Jack was able to pull off a seven-figure launch even though disaster struck on Day 2… the largest bank failure in US History! (The secret tactic that allowed us to bring in 60% of our sales AFTER the bad news about the economy…and how you can apply this same secret in your own marketing).
• The one critical element that accounted for $400,000 in sales that would not have happened otherwise (how much money are you leaving on the table right now because you’re not doing this?).
  
• The deadly pitfalls that can stop your launch (or your business) in its tracks… and the simple steps you can take to avoid them every time (the secrets of how Jack picked a launch date 3 months in advance and actually launched on that day!).
• Why it’s okay to start even before you “know what you’re doing” — and why it might even be crucial that you do in fact “start before you’re ready”.

Click Here To Listen To The $1.12 Million Launch Case Study With Ray Edwards

A lot of different kinds of people read this blog.

From time to time, I am asked some version of the following question: “Why do you write the blog, and what exactly is it you do for a living? How do you make money?”

For those who are curious, here are some answers…

Why I Write This Blog

While I doubt this question can be answered completely in a few simple sentences, I can at least give you a fairly accurate, if somewhat incomplete answer. Here are a few of the reasons why I write every day:

• I write because I feel compelled to write. There’s something about expressing my ideas on paper that leaves me calm, cool, and collected.
• I write to prove that I know I’m talking about (and lest you think that is a shallow motivation, please note that this is not about ego gratification: it’s about the development, training, and getting of clients and customers.)
• I write to develop a relationship with my readers, to dialogue with them, and to learn from them.
• I write to develop material for my books. My next book will be published in November, and I have plans to publish no less than four books next year. If I wasn’t writing every single day, it would be difficult to keep up such a grueling publishing schedule. My books, incidentally, are a key component of my marketing machine and designed to feed into my overall strategy-everything I do is designed to build credibility, establish my expertise, train and develop potential client and customers. You would be well-advised to pursue a similar method of operating.

How I Get Paid

I do very little direct work for clients these days, preferring to work in partnership with other entrepreneurs, and to develop my own business properties. However, I do derive a substantial amount of income from the writing of copy for clients, and the giving of advice to clients. The reason that I say I do “very little direct work” is because I do a lot of work for a very small number of clients. This is by design.

When I started in the business of writing direct response copy, and providing consultation services, I juggled as many as 8 to 10 clients at a time and produced a voluminous amount of copy. This quickly took a toll on me mentally and physically, so I raised my prices so that I could devote more quality time to fewer projects. It’s a course of action I recommend to anyone who’s interested: I promise you it’s a healthier, more profitable way to do business.

Now, because I know this next is the question that is really on your mind, I will answer it… with some misgivings. Maybe this is a mistake – time will tell. I’m  sure I will attract some criticism because of what I’m about to reveal. So I guess I will just pinch my nose, jump into the deep end of the pool, and see what happens. Here’s what I charge…

Profit Strategy Retainer: $120,000 and 10% of gross revenues.  This usually means I’ll be helping to manage a product launch or similar campaign for a client with an established business and track record. This arrangement typically lasts for a full year. For those who can’t afford this kind of arrangement…

Profit Strategy Coaching: $12,000 per year,  payable in advance.  This is a small group of hand selected coaching students, whom I deal with by telephone and Internet almost exclusively, helping them create profit architecture for their business that is superior to what they may have been able to achieve on their own.

The Apprentice Program: I also oversee a small number of apprentice projects, which means copywriters who have been trained and approved by me do the actual writing work for clients who are seeking my advice but cannot afford to pay my direct fees. I have oversight on the copywriting project, offer critique and direction and final stamp of approval for any work that is done, and this proves much more economical than having me do the work directly. Even though this allows me to work with more clients, there are still only a limited number of these projects I can oversee, because my schedule is very full.

Information product publishing: I produce a number of information products, training programs, and online classes each year. These training programs and products are offered at a variety of price points, delivery methods, and time intervals. This is the area of my business that provides me with the most leverage, and is also the area of my business under the most scrutiny at the moment. I’m developing a strategy for expanding and multiplying this particular income stream.

Book publishing: my first business book will be published in November of this year, and as I’ve mentioned previously I will be publishing no less than four books next year. This is a new arm of my business endeavors that is designed to bring more clients and customers into our marketing funnel, and I’m pursuing it with a vengeance. Don’t be deceived; this is part of a larger strategic initiative, and should not be attempted by the faint of heart nor the ill-prepared. Publishing books as a sole means of producing income is not a very good way to make a living. In fact, it’s a very good way to stay broke and frustrated. However, publishing books as part of an over-arching strategy for building a financial empire, however, is a very good way to make money. I’m sure I’ll have more to say on this in the near future, but for now the overview should suffice.

That’s probably enough self-revelation for the time being.

I get lots of questions about these sorts of things almost constantly, so I’m offering this posting as a bit of an experiment: if you’re truly interested in knowing more about how I run my own business, I’m happy to share (up to a certain point). However, I don’t want to be boorish and spend too much time talking about myself-so you’ll have to let me know whether you want more of this kind of information or not.

This article is only for those who already have a website that’s making money online.

I’m about to show you how you can double or triple your conversions without lifting a finger.

Seriously.

So, if you have a money-making site online right now, keep reading.

The rest of you may be excused (sorry, just figured I might as well be up front about who this is for).

Here’s the deal…

Have you ever heard that story about the ocean-going ship engine that failed?

In the version I heard, it was the Queen Elizabeth luxury liner.

The vessel’s owners brought in all their on-staff engineers to fix it, but none of them could get the engine running.

Finally, they brought in an expert who had been fixing ships all his life.

The old expert hauled in his bag of tools and looked around a bit.

He crawled all over that engine room, looking, touching, thinking.

Finally, he went to his bag, pulled out a small hammer, and tapped a few times on a valve.

The engine roared to life.

A week later, the owners of the ship received a bill for ten thousand dollars.

They were outraged. After all, the man had only tapped on a valve with a hammer!

They immediately demanded he send them an itemized bill explaining his charges. He sent them a bill that read:

“Tapping with a hammer…………………$2

Knowing where to tap………………$9,998″

Knowing where to tap is important to your sales copy, too.

The simplest changes can make the most profound difference in your results.

There is an art to writing copy, but there is also a science to getting the maximum result. And that science is called “testing”.

Here’s the “magic formula”: get a sales letter that makes SOME money.

That gets SOME conversions and sales.

Then TEST the heck out of new headlines, deck copy, subheads, offers, guarantees, pictures,etc.

In other words, use the ART of copywriting plus the SCIENCE of testing to find out…

WHERE TO TAP.

As marketers and copywriters – knowing where to tap is what we get paid for.

Why do you believe what you believe?

How often do you stop to consider that question?

For decades, a majority of American car buyers thought Toyota made the highest quality and safest cars for the money.

What do you suppose the majority of American car buyers think about Toyota cars right about now?

Key question: what caused the change?

The easy answer is: the recalls caused the change.

A more sophisticated answer is: the news coverage of the recalls caused the change.

But neither of those answers recognizes the deeper lesson: management (or mismanagement) of how and when a story is told powerfully influences the stories we believe and tell ourselves.

How many of your beliefs did you choose consciously?

Most copywriters and marketers would agree  that if you could read your prospect’s mind, you could be a lot more successful writing copy for – and selling stuff to – those prospects.

Because you’d know their world.

You’d understand their pain.

You’d know their deepest fears, and you’d understand their highest aspirations.

So how do you do that? Here are 7 practical tips. They sound simple, but when you actually use them their impact can be profound.

1. Learn everything you can about your prospect. If you’re in direct marketing, it’s easy: just look at their data cards. When you have demographics, you can infer a lot about the “average” person who represents the group. If you don’t have that kind of data… guess. It’s a lot more accurate  than what most marketers do (which is: they don’t bother with any of this stuff).
2. Imagine yourself living your prospect’s typical day. Go through it step by step – from rising out of bed in the morning to getting back into the sack at night. Use all five of your senses: what do you see, hear, feel, taste, touch and smell? Make notes.
3. Think about their biggest fear – the one that wakes them up at 3 in the morning in a cold sweat.
4. Think about  their highest aspiration – what do they dream of? Not the little dreams (the ones we all tell our buddies), but the big dream in their “secret heart” (the dream that they don’t dare tell anyone).
5. Go where they live. Find a neighborhood that is like your prospect’s and walk through it (driving doesn’t work – looking at it through a window is just more TV… nice to look at but not REAL). Talk to people.
6. Read what they read. Read their magazines, newspapers, blogs and Twitter.
7. Watch what they watch. Watch the TV shows your prospects watch. Especially the ones  that don’t interest you.

If you do this, you’ll develop the apparent ability to read your prospect’s mind.

And you’ll sell more.

But something funny about this is: you’ll also most likely care more. And that’s far more important than any selling technique.

The world’s a funny place, ain’t it?

Many people want to know the “magic formula” is for writing web site and ad copy that sells.

If you’re one of those folks who would like to know that formula, I have some disappointing news: there isn’t one.

“But Ray,” I hear you say, “Haven’t you yourself  taught several different copywriting ‘formulas’?”

Yes.

But.

They are not “magic” and they don’t work universally.

What a formula can do is give you a basic structure on which to hang your “argument” (your logic for why someone should buy your stuff); what the formula cannot do is somehow magically compel people to buy something they don’t really want or need.

What a formula can’t do is teach you the fears and aspirations of your readers, so that your persuasion power comes from the point of intersection between your audience’s needs/desires and your product’s features/benefits.

Only you, as an empathetic writer, can do that.

This one is for those of us who are freelancers, service providers, or who have ongoing relationships where we work with clients.

Gary Halbert – one of the greatest copywriters to ever work in the field – used to wear a hat that had two works embroidered on it: “Clients Suck”.

Do they?

A lot of people say they do.

For a long time I bought into that idea. I had good reasons. Most of my clients seemed to be too demanding, too unwilling to follow my advice, and too determined to carry out some weird idea even though it was clearly not in  their best interest. Some of my clients were even abusive, taking advantage of me in ways I don’t want to go into here (it wouldn’t help anybody to do so).

The one day I realized I was making a contribution to each of those relationships that helped create that situation. My contribution was three-fold, and it directly contributed to making those relationships miserable for me (though they were, in fact, great for my clients). One lesson for you: if the relationship is only great on one side… it’s not great. It’s dysfunctional, and somebody is getting hurt.

Here are the three things I was doing that made it seem as though “clients suck”:

1. Not carefully selecting clients from the beginning, screening out those with whom I was not a good match.
2. Not setting boundaries for the relationship so that both parties know what those boundaries are, and teh reasons tehy are in place.
3. Not realizing that I was free to “fire” clients who were “problem children”.

Once I finally figured those three things out, and changed the way I selected clients, how I set boundaries with them, and how I communicated with them when those boundaries were crossed, I was completely freed from the notion that “clients suck”.

Because mine don’t … now.

And that’s the lesson: you too can quickly reach a place where you love and appreciate your clients, where they don’t trample on your schedule or your value, and where you can easily resolve any conflicts that might arise.

All you have to do is:

1. Develop criteria that describe your ideal client and use those criteria to screen out any clients who don’t meet them.
2. Carefully and respectfully set the boundaries in your relationship from the beginning – and stick to them.
3. Communicate immediately with the client when those boundaries are crossed – and when you suspect that you need to “fire” a client, do it sooner rather than later. Trust me, you’ll know when it is time.

If you will do those three things, then when someone says to you that “clients suck”, you’ll be able to give them the same response I do: “Mine don’t.”

Inspired by Seth Godin.

As you’re crafting your next marketing campaign, here are 7 questions to ask yourself.

Answering them will virtually write your sales copy for you.

It’s easy to do.

But very powerful. Try it and see.

1. What problem are you solving?
2. What is your solution?
3. Who is it right for?
4. What will it do for those people?
5. How does it work?
6. What are the reasons someone might NOT buy it?
7. Why should they trust you?

After each answer, ask ‘why is that so important?’

You probably know who Clark Kent is.

He’s the fumbling, bumbling, mild-mannered newspaper reporter who wears the big geeky glasses.

A nice guy, but not exactly a role-model for manhood.

After all, we can ALL identify with Clark.

But when an emergency arises, Clark sheds the glasses and the business suit, revealing a being of extraordinary strength and power: Superman.

The Man of Steel.

The “strange visitor from another planet … [who] … fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!”

You don’t really need me to explain Superman to you.

And that’s the point of this piece.

If you’d like to really amplify  your marketing message, one of the best ways to do it is to become the superhero of choice for your prospects.

Here’s how you do that…

Identify The Villains Your Customers Face

These could be economic villains like rising interest rates, or psychological villains like poor self-esteem, or even health-related villains like arthritis. Once you’ve identified the villain – get specific and identify the villains superpowers and weapons.

Name Your Hero And His Powers

This could be you personally or your company – but you need to have a “title” or “superhero name”. Something that sums up who you are and what you’re about. It should be short, catchy, and self-explnanatory.

Clearly State Your Mission

Superman’s mission statement is a great model: “Superman … fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!”

Build  your own mission statement – it should be short (ideally one sentence like Superman’s – more like a “slogan” than anything else).

A Real Life Example

VILLAIN: Anemic Advertising. This creepy character sucks the life our of small business advertising budgets – by spending all your money on ads that get very little response. Ad dollars go out, but revenue doesn’t come in. Leaves victims penniless and discouraged. Destroys many businesses.

HERO: Captain Copywriter. Magically transforms limp, lazy, lackluster ads into profit-pulling powerhouses. Multiplies revenue while at the SAME TIME slashes your ad spending. Produces sales, profits, and peace of mind.

MISSION STATEMENT: “Captain Copywriter fights a never-ending battle for better ads, producing more profits, more often.”

Use Your Identity

So how do you use your “superhero identity”?

Well, first of all, start “living it”.

If you were a copywriter who had now become Captain Copywriter — how would the Captain behave?

How would he talk?

What would his costume (web site) look like?

Does he have an insignia?

What are his sayings and catch-phrases? (Superman had “Up, up and away!” – what would YOURS be?)

Even more important than all of this: once you start putting yourself into the state of mind of your “superhero character”, you’ll easily start thinking like he would think!

Let me prove it.

If you came across a bank robbery in progress, you might not know what to do (other than maybe call the police).

But let’s say you were Clark Kent and you came across that same robbery in progress. NOW what would you do?

You’d intervene, of course.

You’d duck behind a door or into a hallway, put on your super-suit, and then move into action.

See how simply IMAGINING a super hero identity gives you access to superhero strategies?

The only thing you need to do is step into the ROLE of your business superhero… and then just as yourself, “What would Captain Copywriter do about this?”

And then walk it out.

So.

What are you waiting for?

Take off those glasses, snap on that cape, and commence your crusade!

[flashvideo file=http://rayedwards.s3.amazonaws.com/x11Video2.flv image=http://rayedwards.com/images/magicpower.png /]

(NOTE: This is an update of a previous post… enhanced with video. Please be sure and let me know what you think of this “multi-media” approach, okay? It’s quite a bit of work, and I’m happy to do it if you think it’s worthwhile.)

As marketers and entrepreneurs, we have a simple job – to get other people to do what we want them to do.

I’ll leave the discussion about the ethical side of this for another time; let’s just assume that you and I will always work for the best interests of our customers and prospects, okay?

So. We want to get people to do what we want. It will help them. It will help us. But exactly how do we do it?

There is a tactic that gives almost magical powers of persuasion.

You can, quite simply, get practically anyone to do practically anything.

It’s so simple you’ll be tempted to shrug it off.

Don’t.

Take just a moment to think about the fact that you already know this works, because you already know people who have this power. Don’t you know at least one person who seems to be able to persuade people on just about any issue?

Don’t you know at least one person who can seemingly “sell ice to the Eskimos”?

So how is it that some people are able to do that – and more importantly, how can you do the same? Wouldn’t that make an enormous impact on your business?

Here is the big secret…

“Enter the conversation already taking place in your prospect’s mind.”

As far as I know, that idea originated with the late, great copywriter Robert Collier.

If you can “join up” with what your prospects are already feeling and thinking, get in synch with them, and get them to identify you as a “friendly” in a hostile world… they will listen to what you have to say.

Think of it this way: the easiest way to influence someone is with whatever is already influencing them.

It’s a simple principle, but not easy to do.

So how do you do it? Here are some tips that will help you harness this seemingly magic power:

1. Listen. Pay attention to what people say. Hang out in online forums. Track trends on twitter. Collect the words, phrases and ideas your market uses. Speak back to them in their own words.
2. Watch. Be conscious of what your store or website visitors actually do. What causes them to opt in? To opt out? To buy? To ask for a refund? Nothing teaches like behavior. People vote with their feet. Watch their feet.
3. Think. How can you solve their problems? How can you solve them quickly… easily… and with simplicity? Be the “aspirin for their headache” – and abundance will be yours.

If you can do these things, your readers/visitors/ listeners will be nodding their heads, slapping the table top, and saying, “Yes! That’s exactly how I feel!”

And when that happens, Constant Reader, they will do anything you ask.

Because anything you ask will be in alignment with what they already desire.

That’s a deep well I just pushed you into. Follow it all the way down, and be rewarded with the cool fresh water of more sales, more often.