It turns out that writing a newsletter is like going to the gym

You can never stop. Cause if you do, that’s it. You might as well buy the bigger pants now.

I missed two weeks cause I got some client feedback that sent me reeling. And my exercise class was cancelled. So I lost the day.

And then it had been a week and I was all ‘fuck it, nobody cares’.

But enough silliness..

They say the world belongs to the unreasonable*

I happen to agree.

So, let’s get into it..

🧠 Copy Chops → You are the funnel

🧲 Magnetic Marketing → Ask and I’ll tell you

📣 Client Chronicles → Gut checkin’

🌀 Weird Marketing → Outsourcing Since the 1700s

Here's a simple thing that helps me vet clients.

Every project, campaign, or offer starts the same way — small.

A toe dip. A test. Will it work? Will they show up? Will I?

That’s how I work with people I like and it's also how I run away from bin-fire-clients.

I mean, if you want to sell the big spendy thing first then sweet, but let’s hope they’re not annoying/obsessive/noisy eaters.

So if you're a cautious cathy like I am, get a little _yes.

And that’s true in copy too innit?

If we can get a little yes, like a reply or a click, then we train people to say yes to us. Which feels machiavellian but y’know, that’s marketing mind control for you.

So forget the fancy software for a sec. You’re the funnel BAY-BAY.

So start small, see what works, then make the next step a little bigger (or get out of there fast).

Do you know what’s really annoying about copywriting? (apart from everything..)

The fancy thing you said yesterday might not work today.

And it’s tempting to get into mental masturbation. But if we’re not asking our people what they want, then we might as well dick around with blindfolds on and earplugs in.

‘ooh, this message will resonate’

WILL IT?

Sometimes marketing is a best guess in time.

And sometimes, we can just ask people what they want. 

And give it to them.

Y’know?

Will it work? Who knows? But let’s talk to some people and see.

I stopped a project half way through. I’ve never done that before.

And if me and my client were being honest..

WE BOTH TOTALLY KNEW FROM THE BEGINNING.

The funnel thing worked. I took the mini project, nailed it.

Then I got way out of my depth with the next part.

I thought ‘…this could get unwieldy real quick’ and I took the payment.

Disclaimer, the client is awesome and I took it because I liked her. But the actual work wasn’t really what I do.

So all this to say, if you’re unsure at the disco call, shut it down man.

Otherwise you might read some poor feedback at 1am on a Saturday and it will properly fuck up your weekend.

Before there was Fiverr, there were painters with apprentices.

Take good ol’ Anthony van Dyck - a portrait painter so famous that fancy pants queued for months just to get their face immortalized.

But the demand was ridiculous. So VD did what any overbooked Flemish Baroque painter would… 

He outsourced.

He’d paint just the face and hands, then hand the canvas to his assistants to finish the clothes, jewels, background, meat joints.

The costume the client came in was left at the studio and the unfinished canvas was sent out to specialist artists. I’m assuming they rode home in their tracky b’s.

No one complained. In fact, that was part of the prestige - owning something “touched by Van Dyck’s hand,” (weird) even if 80% of it wasn’t.

Basically, his was one of the first agency models.

So if you’re drowning in aristocrats, you don’t need to paint the whole thing yourself.

Do the bit only you can do and maybe get someone else to paint the joints of meat.

Now then. I would really like to know..

I’ve been toying with the idea of setting up a community on Skool.

Not another course you won’t do, but a space where smart, creative people connect, collaborate, and do some fun money making stuff.

Part think tank, part deal flow, part “coffee lounge” for peeps who’d rather partner than pitch. People could host short trainings, swap skill-for-audience deals, or even license each other’s offers.

Would that kind of thing be interesting? Or is that not your bag?

Annabelle

*^{you’re a details person, I respect that, but I don’t know who quoted this}