I want to thank you guys (and gals) on helping me with my copywriting education. I've been a lurker here for awhile -- just soaking it all up, this joint is definitely worth its weight in gold. But now I've taken the plunge and decided to get my nose bloodied in the real world, and take on my first paying client as a - bonafide -freelance copywriter.

I think it was Clayton Makpeace that said, Im paraphrasing here:"You aint a copywriter untill you get out there in the street and do it- all the books and study is great, but there comes a time to get a real education -- and that's real world experince." So true. Before one can get good - you gotta be bad first (at least for me anyway), and before you can be bad... you gotta start.

I wanna get the bad out of the way as soon as possable

Anyway, my first job will be a direct mail piece to the mega wealthy, for a personal trainer. He trains and coachs wealthy people and he's charging around $ 100 per session. I suggested he go after the super "mega" affluent -- and bump that per session price up to $250 or more. He's surrounded by this type ( players with money ) client, he lives in Long Island NY near Hamptons, NYC .

What I'm having a problem with is positioning, and deciding which dominant emotion to write to - fear, vanity, pride etc. And also should I just use an affluent zip code or go after a targeted list? The target age is 35-70.



Any suggestions would be a great help.


Thanks,
Joe

Loneliness.

Hey Joe,

Sorry - this probably isn't the answer you're looking for, but I have a question for you.

Just how many of these super affluent folks willing to spend $250 an hour for training do you suppose check, open and read their own mail?

I could be completely off here, but I'm guessing you'll need to do more than regular mail in order to stand out and be noticed, and even if you Fedexed letters to these rich folks, those are probably screened by assistants too.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but if you're client is going to be chargind folks $250 an hour, you'd better be prepared to spend some money to get those clients to contact you.

Oh - and if I had to, I'd guess that most of those folks are pretty vain and concerned about status more than most.

All the best from an Ex-LIer,

Steve

Target wealthy lonely people?

This primarily, would be for in home, personal training ... I didn't mention that. There's a big hurtle ( objection ) to jump, with many people with letting someone they dont know into their home. And I guess the super wealthy have even more reasons. Referrals are one way, I guess.

And what type list would you find wealthy lonely people?

Appreciate any suggestions,

Joe

Hey Steve ,

Thats right, maybe direct mails not the way to go. But I think they open their own mail at home still, no? Well, you guys are the experts... thats why I'm here. All I know $250 - aint chicken crap - to people that are in the income bracket I want to target. But, breaking into this world you'll need some serious positioning...that I do know.

There are trainers in Manhatten getting $700- $1000 per session training stars like JayZ and other Celbritys. And there are plenty of non-Celebritys making Celeb money.


Joe

Hey! I lived in Port Jefferson for 5 years!

By personal trainer do you mean sports/workout training? Or some other kind of coaching?

I am reading a book called Mischief Marketing. He makes a brilliant suggestion (imo) that might dovetail nicely with your client's objective.

He talks a lot about narrowing your scope down to a target of highly leveraged people. And he suggests doing background research on them that uncovers all sorts of personal information: marital status, number of children, hobbies, memberships, friends, favorite restaurants etc etc etc

And one thing I thought was interesting was finding out their birth order (firstborn, middle, only, youngest).

In other words, you collect all this info you can in order to figure out when, where, how, and why to reach them.

At which point you can personalize a marketing plan for each and every one of them.

I am going to guess that your client's ultimate success is going to be from word of mouth. But first he needs to convince those first few mouths.

Hey, an Ex Port Jeffer! That's not too far from where the gold is.

You're right Suzanne - I need to FOCUS in on a certain nich client for him to go after. perhaps it's " weatlthy lonely yacht owners " the between ages 45-55 , making over a million a year...

Then, write to them that if they use a certain personal trainer - they can stay limber and in shape, and sail that Yacht well into their 70's. You can't sail that sucker if you're all " locked " up with arthritis . Father time will kick your butt... if you let him.

Things to ponder and research.


Joe

You might want to check out

Copywriting | Direct Marketing - The Small Business Guide to Marketing to the Affluent

&

Copywriting | Direct Marketing - The Small Business Guide to Marketing to the Affluent Part 2