(05-19-2016, 09:58 AM)apollolux Wrote: As someone who's worked in an agency, even though I wasn't the copy guy (I was the web guy) I worked closely with the copy guy and had access to the same resources he did and can attest to similar anecdotes to those both of you have shared so far. Agencies (especially one like my old one where it's surprisingly competitive) are trials by fire for content creators and you'll be more experienced in churning out quantity by deadlines but not necessarily quality. Approach agency work at your own risk, and for freelancing be prepared to fire clients if they're too much hassle.
I'm pretty used to letting go of clients when they're too much drama. That was a common theme in the traffic biz when clients thought i was supposed to get them sales with my traffic. I can't hold a gun to the head of each visitor demanding that they buy lol Or even funnier when a client comes to me all hyped up over the new product they're promoting and it becomes 1000% apparent that both the offer is crap and they have zero idea what they're doing.
So yeah, the only iffy thing at this point is whether or not I'll actually reach out to an agency for work. Oddly enough the dude who recommended i go that route actually had a pretty solid experience with the agency he started out with. I don't know all the details, but it was a nice job for him for several years until he decided to go solo. Perhaps that's an anomaly in the system (which I'm guessing it is since he's one of few who has spoken highly of agency work).
One of the few truisms I've learned from my business experiences is to never go for the easy stuff. Look at the really difficult hard stuff, the things that people are willing to pay hand over fist for, and master that.
Most of my friends and colleagues outsource their sales pages like they're buying lattes lol I get that most are big picture thinkers, but how much better off would they be if they learned how to sell? For some i get that they make more money outsourcing all the pieces to their machines than mastering sales copy, but surely for some it could help them at least broaden their sales mindset so that they see opportunities they wouldn't otherwise see?
In a way, for years I was a bit afraid of sales copy. I knew there was some methodology behind it, but doing it was reserved for sales masters and gurus who knew the rules of that special game I just wasn't part of.
I'm pretty sure the usage of BASE, and a few other things I'm doing, has led me to break past that fear and to at least confront an industry I've always thought I wasn't good enough for.
A serious lesson and growth oriented adventure awaits me, I'm sure
