The rise of the Alt Copywriter

Last year I read a book called: “Backstory 3” Which is a bunch of interview transcripts with old timey day screenwriters. One of the more useful interviews was an interview with Richard Matheson. An extremely prolific guy back in the day. And quite influential, too — he was, for example, the guy who wrote the story (Omega Man) that the I Am Legend movie was based on. He also wrote the Twilight Zone movie, and several episodes of that show, and a lot of other stuff you’ve probably seen or works that have been adapted from or inspired by his work. And there is a part that stuck out that I would encourage a lot of freelance copywriters especially to read, think about, and take my unsolicited advice on. Here is the part: (the context is TV writing vs movie writing) QUESTION - do you consider TV to be lesser work or job work? MATHESON - No, I never considered that about anything. I just tried to do what interested me the most. That’s why I’ve suffered such terrible disappointment when things turn out badly, because I put myself into everything — to this day. I just finished a script for Universal based on Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, and it turned out great. Everybody was delighted with it. Then, what happens? Universal bought [the novel] Jurassic Park. That’s going to be their dinosaur picture, so mine is out the window. That crushing to me. Quite a bit to “unpack” there. And on the surface it’s a pretty good reminder for freelancers who have felt the bite of disappointment when a client didn’t run an ad you worked your arse off to write, and you know would have pulled a lot of sales never get run, for whatever reason. But it also is a good example of why I’m such a fan of being an “alt-copywriter.” To my knowledge, I was the first to use that term back in 2018. And I have seen many people adopt it since. But that basically means copywriters who either ONLY sell their own products/services (i.e. client-less copywriters), or who sell their own products/services in addition to traditional freelance copywriting. A freelancer thinks like a writer. An alt-copywriter thinks like a publisher. Big difference not only in approach but profit potential, especially for the average guy. Here are a few differences between the two kinds of copywriters: * Alt-copywriters don’t rely on clients — yes, they can have them, but they don’t need them. Thus, they can charge a lot more, don’t have to put up with any flack or nonsense, and, if they are “fired” or whatever, they’re still eating steak, either way. * Alt-copywriters have their own product line — and, when they do it right, make far more selling their own wares than any client’s. * Alt-copywriters have their own lists — when they want to make some dough, they simply mail offers to it, without needing to secure a client (and if they do, it’s purely optional). * Alt-copywriters are a bit eccentric — at least, the ones I’ve met or have gotten to know via the Internet over the years. * Alt-copywriters ooze confidence — sometimes, it even borders on arrogance, because, let’s face it, they can, which (ironically) often makes them more charismatic and attractive to would-be clients. * Alt-copywriters are obsessed with learning their markets — there’s a reason Gene Schwartz (the “godfather” of Alt-copywriters), for example, would read everything in what he called “low culture” he could — even though he was a high-culture kinda guy: Because he wanted to know his market better than any of his competitors. * Alt-copywriters are investor-minded and not opportunity-minded — Gene Schwartz, as another example, brilliantly did not take copywriting fees from what I hear… instead, he wrote for customer names, that he could then sell his own products to, making far more than he would just taking a fee. * And the list goes on… There are many more Alt-copywriter traits. And they are basically copywriters who think like publishers and not writers. Think like a writer and you’re beholden to all kinds of people, institutions, cancel culture, marketplace whims, and even laws. (That California law pushed by labor unions from a few years ago that basically made it so a freelance writer would have to move to another state if they wanted to keep being freelance copywriters — not sure whatever happened with that, but it was irrelevant to those of us who are publishers, not merely “writers.”) Think like a publisher and it all changes: You control your destiny for good or bad. You keep all the money instead of keeping just a pittance of what your writing makes. And you can even license out, repackage, and resell content as you see fit, and keep everything. You also can hire other writers who work for you if you want, or license their work, and on and on and on it goes. Those are just a few of the benefits. The ultimate irony of it all: Even if you prefer just being a freelancer and don’t want to diddle around being a publisher or being your own client for whatever reason… the best, fastest, most reliable and least stressful way to clients is to still sell your own offers. That way, you don’t “need” any one client, they smell it on you, want to hire you more… Plus, you have ample demonstrations of your skill and abilities since you write copy for your own offers and, if you’re smart, write daily emails selling those offers. If writing daily emails is your bag see our BerserkerMail platform. You can get a test drive at the URL below. And there are also several free podcast episodes you can listen to there (all short) that teach not only lots of cool email marketing ideas and concepts and principles… but will make it very easy for you to determine if BerserkerMail is a platform your business should be using or not too. More here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/berserker]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2024 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA