Happy suckers, in some cases.
Content suckers, in probably most cases.
Maybe even rich suckers, in a scant few cases.
But suckers they are.
And I’ll tell you a story that perfectly illustrates why:
In the book Backstory 2 there is an interview with an absolutely brilliant screenwriter (but also a total sucker — and he basically all but admits it) from the 40’s and 50’s named Curt Siodmak. You may not be familiar with that name. But I can almost guarantee most have at least heard of some of the movies he wrote — like The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, Son of Dracula, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Woman, and a whole bunch more.
His scripts made hundreds of millions for the studio.
(He only got $500 per week, if that gives you an idea of his suckernessness)
Anyway, he drops a zinger I think every freelance copywriter should hear.
Even if you don’t “want” to hear it.
Frankly, freelancers should read it especially if they don’t want to hear it.
Here is what he said:
“Irving Thalberg once said: ‘The most important man in the motion picture business is the writer. Don’t ever give him any power!’ Even today the writers are oppressed. Even today a writer gets little appreciation. That’s why good writers become writer-directors, or writer-producers, to get more standing, and of course to make more money. I haven’t met a writer yet who owns a yacht like producers or directors. But don’t let them kid you. Where would they be without writers?”
Now swap out “writer” with “copywriter.
And “motion picture” with “direct response marketing.”
And “writer-director” & “writer-producers” with “clientless-copywriter.”
That’s why I say freelance copywriters are total suckers.
Oh, it’s not personal, nor meant as an insult. We’re all suckers in some ways. I certainly am, for example, when it comes to all the time and effort I waste writing fiction that will, in all likelihood, never make back anything more than the cost to have the covers created.
We all have our vices…
But freelance copywriters are a special breed of sucker.
At least the ones who think they’re anything more than high-paid employees. Absolutely nothing “wrong” with that, btw. If that’s your bag, and you like it, and I know some who love it, do it. Just like I write fiction for the love of it. But don’t for a single nanosecond think you’re not a sucker.
After all:
You are literally creating a better lifestyle for your clients than you are for yourself — and doing it all while creating some of the most important work and while getting little or any of the real payout and/or glory. And even if you do eek out and get recognized with a bit ‘o glory, you’ll never make but a fraction of what they do.
And that’s okay.
That is really how it should be.
The clients are doing the hard work of building the lists, building the brands, building the followings, and building the world, the offers, the infrastructure, and the business as a whole — at their risk, with their own money, and using their own resources.
As a freelancer you are basically a parasite who, hopefully, makes the host healthier.
But that makes you no less a parasite.
Thus they – the host – absolutely should make the lion’s share of the money.
And the freelancer – the parasite – absolutely should get paid peanuts compared to that.
But, that makes a freelancer who fancies themselves an entrepreneur no less a sucker.
Entrepreneur implies risk.
There’s very little real risk for most freelancers.
If an ad they write bombs, they may take a hit to their reputation. But they presumably still got paid. If the copy they wrote pisses off someone at the FTC (or an exec at a competitor who has the FTC in their hip pocket — which happens especially in the health niches) the client gets fined, sued, blinded with paperwork, possibly even tossed in the slammer. If the product sold gets overrun with refunds the client has to deal with the merchant account fallout, bad PR, and customer service hassles.
And so on, and so forth.
The freelancer doesn’t really have to worry about that.
They get paid either way, unless they are absolute noobs at making deals.
Especially as so many have to keep hustling for more work, having to keep putting up with a lot of disrespect, keep putting up with clients who are both ignorant & arrogant (as the great Bob Bly once quoted someone as saying, those are the worst kind — and it’s a fact), keep having to play the game, keep spending all your time working on someone else’s fortune, and keep putting long hours into someone else’s world and nest egg while getting crumbs compared to what you have actually contributed… and the list goes on.
I fully expect a bunch of freelancers living in cognitive dissonance to balk at this.
I can already imagine what the dumb Facebook thread will look like if someone complains about this there, with all the usual fluffpreneurs rationalization hamster-spinning everything I’m writing about, throwing out anecdotes that don’t apply to the whole, and missing both the big picture and nuance.
That’s fine.
This message ain’t for them.
And, frankly, the vast majority of freelance copywriters should do client work. They should be taking orders and doing as they’re told. And they probably should chase that secure fee, if such a thing even exists. Although the ones I keep hearing from worried about A.I. … I dunno.
Them boys & ghouls are truly a special kind of sucker.
The kind I certainly can’t help.
But, there’s also a small handful of freelancers reading this who know I speak the truth.
They can’t stand kissing client booty.
They hate having to constantly wonder where their next gig is coming from.
Or, they wish they were their own client (i.e., an Alt-copywriter – which is a term I invented about 5 years ago to describe a copywriter who either does client work in conjunction with selling their own stuff like a Gene Schwartz, or just sells their own stuff like a Bill Bonner) and making the same — or hopefully more — money they do at freelancing… but are so entrenched in the game, they don’t know how to leave it. I’ve had more than a few copywriters working in the financial niche especially tell me this is their plight — since they get paid just enough in fees & royalties, despite knowing they are selling utter crap or info that is too old to truly be useful to the market by the time they are writing about, to stick around and not do their own thing.
Those are the ones this message is for.
And, if it does nothing but light a fire under their arses I’ve done my job.
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Ben Settle
