Mike Palmer is a successful financial copywriter who was trained by AWAI, leaders in the copywriting industry. He discusses how copywriters can increase their income by increasing their efficiency. He provides three secrets: 1) Limit distractions like email to only a few times per day. 2) Write first thing in the morning without distractions. 3) Use Gene Schwartz's 33-minute writing technique to focus intently on writing or editing for 33 minutes at a time with breaks in between. Adopting these habits allows copywriters to earn more while working fewer hours.

1. Copywriting Articles by:
Mike Palmer
Mike is a successful financial copywriter. He was trained by
AWAI – The undisputed leaders in the copywriting industry
This special report is brought to you free courtesy of
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2. Make a Lot More Money—and Do Less Work
Every six months, I add up our copywriter royalties.
And when I was adding up the totals for the first half of 2008, there were some
surprises. Some of the very talented copywriters in our group make A LOT in
royalties. Others don’t make much at all. Why?
Well, the answer basically comes down to one thing…
To make more money as a copywriter… you simply have to turn out more copy.
No big surprise there. But how do you do that?
Well, here’s the thing…
Believe it or not, you don’t have to work any harder or longer than you are right
now to make more money. You can probably even work less. The secret is simply
to become more efficient.
In the copywriting world, efficiency = money.
One of our copywriters, for example, has been the model of efficiency in the first
half of this year. She’s knocked out three blockbuster packages for our $1,000+
trading services, a promotion for an introductory $99 newsletter, a special
renewal offer, a promotion for a software program, a ―welcome series‖ for one of
our introductory letters (including upsell letters), and a Google pay-per-click
campaign.
And keep in mind, none of this work was rushed out the door, in fact, one of the
$1,000+ trading service promotions she produced became our #1 seller of all-
time.
As a result, she got a big, fat (and well-deserved) royalty check. (I almost forgot
to mention that this woman also commutes from Virginia, 90 minutes each way,
three days a week.)
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3. So the two of us were having a conversation the other day, about what she’s done
differently this year.
It turns out that she’s adapted three of the things I believe are secrets of
becoming a rich and efficient copywriter.
If you can simply adopt these habits, you will probably be able to make all the
money you will ever need, working just a few hours per day.
Here’s what to do…
Secret #1: Turn off your email.
If you’re checking email first thing in the morning – and again a dozen times
throughout the day – you’re wasting an enormous amount of time. I recommend
you take a quick peek in the morning, just to make sure there’s nothing that
needs urgent attention (spend five minutes or less). Then, turn it off till lunch…
then turn it off again till an hour or so before you leave the office. Email is the
biggest distraction and time-waster in the world. None of us needs to be checking
email more than 2-3 times a day.
Surfing the internet is almost as bad. Besides the normal research you do, I
strongly recommend limiting yourself to 30-60 minutes each day to get your
internet fix… reading the news… checking the markets, etc.
Secret #2: Write first thing in the morning without distraction.
I used to think I wasn’t a morning person. Now, I know that mornings are by far
the best time to write and think. I believe everyone would be more efficient if
they learned to work first thing in the morning, before hundreds of distractions
appear in your day.
I promise that if you can turn yourself into a ―morning person‖ and can drag
yourself out of bed at the crack of dawn, you will make more money. Those first
2-3 hours are golden. Your mind is clear. It’s quiet. Even if the rest of the day is a
complete waste, you’ve still gotten something significant done. (This doesn’t
mean you have to work more hours… it’s just a matter of shifting your schedule
around. Work first, then do other things in the afternoon.)
I never schedule a meeting or appointment until the afternoon. Mornings should
be your time to write and think and edit. Afternoons are for reading, research,
meetings, running errands, working out, doctors’ appointments, making phone
calls, etc.
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4. (By the way, I learned last week that Gary Bencivenga—one of the best
copywriters of the past 20 years—still does this. He calls it his ―Power Hour‖ and
writes for one hour every day of the week… even weekends and holidays.)
Secret #3: Use the Gene Schwartz 33-minute trick.
I thought this idea was ridiculous when I first heard it, but I’ve been using it for
about three years, and I’ve found that it’s by far the best way for me to get a lot
of writing done, very quickly.
If you don’t know about Gene’s trick, here’s how it works…
Set a timer for 33 minutes. (There’s nothing magical about the number 33…
sometimes I do 40… but never more than that.) Start the timer. During that 33-
minute period, you can do nothing but write or edit the copy you’re working on.
You can’t check email. You can’t answer the phone. You can’t look something up
on the internet.
That’s the only rule—you can’t get up from your chair… the only thing you can do
is write or edit what you’re working on.
Sometimes you’ll sit there for a few minutes and not know what to do. But since
you’ve got to be there for the next 33 minutes, eventually you’ll start tinkering
with your writing… and before you know it, your timer will beep, and 33 minutes
will have passed.
At this point, stop what you’re doing, even if you’re in the middle of a sentence.
Take at least a five-minute break. Then, do it again.
(The one thing to remember about this technique is that it only makes sense for
writing and editing your work, not research, which doesn’t require nearly as much
brainpower or concentration.)
If you can do six of these 33-minute sessions a day (that’s just three hours), you
will produce an incredible amount of copy. It’s an extremely efficient way to get
your writing in. Very few copywriters get in three hours of completely
undistracted writing per day.
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5. There you have it: Three ways to be more efficient, work fewer hours, and make
more money. I didn’t invent any of these techniques, but I’ve been using them for
years, and I can tell you they will change your life if you’ll give them a try.
For more great strategies and tactics to help you become a successful freelance
copywriter check out AWAI’s Versatile Freelancer Program.
www.ProCopyWritingTactics.com