My beef with "results or you don't pay"

this is not good... ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Lately, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in my inbox... A tsunami-sized FLOOD of pitches that all contain the same 5 words over and over again. “Results or you don’t pay” Today, I want to show you why it’s a terrible way of selling your services 99.9999% of the time. Because the truth is, this offer only works if you know how to tactfully put it in front of exceptional clients. You know… People with track records of taking freelancers on spec, testing out new projects aggressively and paying invoices after you’re done. Most clients are not like this. So that already cuts your pool of people to pitch in half (or more). But also: The kinds of clients who are tempted to take deals from freelancers with the stipulation that either “the plan works or they don’t pay” are exactly the type of businesses you want to avoid. How do I know? Because I learned this lesson the hard way early in my freelance career! I was hot off the heels of collecting a FAT 5-figure royalty check for a promo I wrote for Agora. For that promo, I got paid basically nothing upfront. But I stood to get a percentage of sales when it went live (standard Agora stuff). And when it did, I made more money in that one day than I did at any time in my life. So naturally, I became obsessed with structuring ALL my freelance projects like this … And also naturally for me, it quickly blew up in my face. The first client who took me up on the deal had been balking at my upfront fee for a long time. Every time I’d send a quote, he’d say, “let me think about it…” And then proceed to NEVER reply. So I knew he would be the perfect person to pitch this model to ... and I was right. We sat down for a coffee and within 2 seconds of me finishing my pitch, he agreed to pay me nothing upfront (easy choice, btw) and up to 25%(!!!) of sales depending on how well the launch did. Now you should know the client was modeling for this to be a high 6 and possibly even 7 figure promo. So 25% of that for little ol’ me? That sounded real nice. Of course, you know where this is going. The promo didn’t do anything close to that. In fact, when it was all said and done, the launch ended up doing somewhere close to 5 grand. Ant technically, I was entitled to 10% of that. So I remember emailing the client when it was over something like, “Hey, I know basically peanuts, but here’s the invoice for $500 for my 10% of the promo.” He wrote back: “Actually, your 10% was on the net profits. And after all the software and expenses on our side, we didn’t net anything on this. So your share is $0.” 😲 I couldn’t believe it. I’d spent MONTHS on this promotion only to get my first taste of promo heartbreak back. So how did that happen? Did my copy just stink that bad? Nope. Actually, considering the size of the list the offer ultimately launched to (180 people), it did alright. The problem was the client. He wasn’t invested in the initiative so a lot of the videos we shot ended up stale, boring and forced (even though my script was pretty good). Also, he lied about some of the facts and figures that initially got me excited about the deal. Ex: One part of the promo hinged on a big affiliate (who happened to be one of his friends) with 250,000 subscribers promoting the offer. And it turned out, the affiliate wasn’t THAT good of a friend. Because he ended up flaking and not sending any emails about it. And so those 250,000 people we banked on disappeared overnight. And we ended up just launching to the client’s list of personal friends on Facebook(!!). The point is: None of these details would have mattered had I just kept freelancing on my normal terms and collecting half my fee upfront. He only became interested in working with me when his financial risk dropped to zero. Meanwhile, my risk was shooting sky high. And this is a pattern you see amongst almost everyone who is attracted to working with freelancers on these terms. They want zero risk for themselves … And really couldn’t care less if the project works out. Because if they did, they’d be willing to put real money on the line. Let me say that one more time (larger this time for emphasis): They want zero risk for themselves … And really couldn’t care less if the project works out. Because if they did, they’d be willing to put real money on the line. So do you see why the offer is bad? It attracts the worst types of clients. The clients you want to work with almost always WANT to pay you. They don’t need zero money down deals to want to work with you. The best clients know that charging good money is a signal you know what you’re doing. The best clients assign actual monetary value to human labor and skills. In fact, some of the best clients I’ve ever had were willing to pay just to get on the phone with me and [get pitched for more expensive services down the line](. I think you’ll find the same to be true for you. So I would STRONGLY recommend avoiding the “results or you don’t pay” offer structure that’s floating around right now. Even if it gets you leads, it’s not the kind you want. Plus, in my experience, there’s a far more compelling offer structure that copywriters and agency owners can use to book calls with real 7 and 8 figure business owners … who want to invest a good chunk of change in their services. It still involves lowering risks. Just the right kind (not monetary). It’s something I plan to cover in my upcoming Cold Email course (name tbd)… Which I plan to launch early next month. If you’d like to get on the waitlist, [click here and I’ll make sure you’re the first to know when it’s live (with a special deal for a limited time)](. It’s on track to be my best and most requested program to date. And I can't wait for you to see what's in store. Rob “Results or I’ll Reveal My Middle Name” Allen P.S. Btw, this email only scratches the surface of the problems with this offer structure. I didn’t even discuss how it impacts your status, branding, scalability, tracking results to actually get paid, and more… The TL:DR is don’t do it. Want to invest in your copywriting education? [Check out resources on email marketing, copywriting services, client tips and more.]( Looking for something to watch? [Watch hours of impactful copywriting training on my YouTube channel.]( Are we connected on Twitter? [Follow me here!]( No longer want to receive these emails? [Unsubscribe](. Kings of Conversion PO Box 1175 Boise, ID 83701 ‌