How a Thriving Copywriter Went From Easy Street to Skid Row
Sad story…
I crossed paths recently with a full time copywriter who’s stuck on skid row.
His top client accounted for 80% of the copywriter’s revenue. And then the top client opted for a cheaper option.
Poof!
There went 80% of the copywriter’s revenue.
Now the copywriter is posting to public forums, saying he can’t pay his rent and asking, “What now!?”
(Yikes!)
The copywriter got predictable advice on the forum: Call past clients. Make yourself available on freelance sites. Post your resume to job boards.
One Captain Obvious told him to look for new opportunities “like your life depended on it…”
…as if I guy who suddenly can’t pay his rent was planning to hunt for opportunities after playing a few hundred rounds of computer solitaire.
I don’t know how to help this guy climb from the ditch.
But I do know how he could have avoided it: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. To be more precise, don’t put 80% of your eggs in one basket.
I’ve seen this story play out zillions of times. A business owner is cruising on easy street, thanks to the one big client who pays the bills.
The business hits the breaks on marketing and sales because life is good. Revenue is soaring. Profits are overflowing.
And then…
Poof! (You know the rest).
Here’s another version of “eggs in one basket” syndrome: Businesses choose one marketing channel to promote their business, or they generate 80% of their business from one marketing channel, and then…
Poof! That marketing channel gets shut down because Google or Facebook or Twitter or the email service provider changes the rules or decided the business violated some policy.
Bye bye marketing channel. So long leads. No new revenue. What now!?
The best I can do for that sad copywriter is offer hindsight advice. Bad news for him, but good news for you because you’re hearing it before you land in the ditch…
Don’t put too many eggs in one basket. Diversify.
This applies to your client base.
This applies to your marketing channels.
And, if sales and revenue and profits are good now, don’t rest on your laurels and assume you have a money tree will keep blooming.
Keep marketing…
…as if your life depended on it.
Don't go away yet..
p.s. Coaches, authors, and consultants hire me to power-up their creative content and storytelling to captivate prospects, stand-out and book more business.
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