From the desk of Razvan Rogoz
Dear friend,
Some time ago, I’ve worked with a self development coach. She is an amazing person. She had some great materials in which she put a lot of energy and love. She created more content than most people I’ve seen. Yet, the problem was that she wasn’t making any sales. Her focus was on helping her market, creating quality content but there was almost no cash-flow whatsoever. She was so focused of building the best things out there that she forgot the purpose of a business, to generate income.
I have been in this situation too. On my old version of this blog, I had over 300 blog posts. On my Facebook page, I’ve posted at least 1000 high quality posts on self-improvement and self-development. I must have gotten at least 10.000 likes from my interactions but I’ve never linked them to cash-flow. I’ve never promoted an affiliate product or a service.
To my defense, I was too busy writing kick ass copy to do affiliate marketing and I’ve never intended on becoming a self-help author or coach. But this stands to make a point here. Creating good content is great. Helping your market is great. Yet, the thing that really matters in a business is cash-flow, how much money is coming in.
You know, as any freelance copywriter, I’ve had difficulties at some points in earning money. This is because I price myself in the premium section of the market and I turned down any offer under that. Now, everything is alright, I can safely say no to someone knowing that I’m not losing anything and that I have other three opportunities down the line. But in that moment, I was saying no when I was earning no money and I had nothing to do. This means I was focused on positioning more than on cash-flow.
You can get too focused on many things and ignore the king – cash-flow. You can create too much content or focus too much on generating leads without closing them. You can focus too much on the present moment in serving your paying customers without actually building any structure for income in the future. You can focus only on income that is going to come three months in the future while you can’t pay the rent now.
There is no formula to this but rather, only common sense. Balance long term opportunities with short term rewards while judging everything but the key metric of how much money is coming in. You can justify this in whatever manner you want, but if you’re not bringing money, you don’t have a business. You have an hobby and for your own sake, I hope you have another source of income.
My philosophy is simple. I must make sure I’m getting enough cash-flow. All I’m doing is very nice, I’m enjoying writing this blog post, I’m enjoying creating videos but at the end of the day, I’m asking myself if my money is coming in. This means that I say no to anything that doesn’t bring me money. I don’t give my time for free. I don’t write spec copy because the people that ask for spec copy are not the kind of people I want to work with. I can’t justify investing 20 hours just so someone can appreciate my writing and for future opportunities. If Tony Robbins comes to me and asks me for one, I’ll do it, for the testimonial alone but unless the lead name is known by tens of millions of people, I’m not in the charity business to write copy for free.
This is true with giving my time. Everyone has an idea and everyone needs some advice, especially on Facebook. All I get in return are thanks. Thanks don’t pay the bills. I can’t put the thanks as a category in my income statement. So I say no by default. I do offer a consultancy service for $100/hour and I’ll gladly help them there. If they want my time, they have to pay or they must settle with what I’m posting on this blog and in other sources.
This sounds selfish, doesn’t it? But why is it selfish? It’s a business. It’s the same with every single successful business. Actions must lead to profit. If my girlfriend comes to me because she needs something, of course I’m helping her. But I’m providing a income generating service to income generating entities so of course I expect to be paid.
And this is my point for you too. Your income, your cash-flow should be your main priority. You can’t use praise to buy a new car. You can’t use “thank you” to pay for your bills. A business is not fueled by the goodwill you generate from people but from the income that you generate from the market. It is common sense yet in this age of social media, it feels like income should come last, as someone who is income oriented is greedy. Well, I’m saying that the people who want something for free from you are greedy because they don’t appreciate who you are and what work you’ve put in.
Business is business. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling 747s or coaching. If the customer doesn’t appreciate what you have, he can simply not buy. It’s very, very simple. People who want what you’re selling pay for it, people who don’t want, don’t pay for it. Your job is to get to those who pay and to make them happy so they pay more. You are not a charity and you should never treat your business as a charity. No matter how important someone makes you feel for giving your time and your effort for free, it is a losing game. You’ve lost money (by offering something that costs you time or energy for free).
And if what I’m saying resonates with you, then let’s work together. You’re the kind of person I’m seeking. I want someone who says “let’s create a campaign that makes sales and doubles or triples my revenue”, not someone who says “let’s create educative content”. You’re serving your market, but you’re serving those who serve you. You have no obligation to do anything for free and the stuff you give for free will rarely if ever actually lead to anything good to your bottom line.
An activity that pays $5/hour is better than one that pays $0/hour. One that pays $10/hour is better than one that pays $5, all other things being equal. In all honesty, me writing on Fiverr.com where the rates are really low and a good offer is what wins the game is a better deal for my cashflow and for my business than me giving advice for free to people on Facebook that haven’t earned my time or my effort. After all, $5 is not much but it can pay for a coffee and a bagel. Their thanks take 30 seconds in writing and means nothing, as I’ve rarely seen anyone who I’ve helped actually become a quality customer.
Here’s a good example. A few years ago, many years ago, I’ve done a work on Fiverr. It was a $10 work. The customer was so impressed that it transformed into a $2000 project. Now you see how it works? $10 can lead to $2000. $0 never leads to anything more than zero and the people who were interested in paying you would have bought anyway, no matter if you’ve given them something for free or not.
I’m not greedy. I’m pragmatic. I write this article with the intent of getting money from you for my time. You’re hiring me with the intent of selling your products and services. We’re in the business of selling, of direct response. I’m not writing this to make you sleep better at night or to give you a happy marriage because honestly, I’m not your doctor and I’m not your marriage therapist. What I am is a talented direct response copywriter that puts your bottom line first and to which you come when you’re interested in a key thing – earning money.
Are you interested in money? Then let’s talk. I’m giving you a one time, 30 minute complimentary needs analysis call. I sell my time at a rate of $100/hour so this means you’re getting $50 for free. I’m doing this because while I’m against giving anything for free, I must find more about you and how I can help you. Let’s have this call and let’s see how we can work together. Use the link below to reserve a spot for when my next opening is available.
Click Here To Book Your Complimentary 30 Minute Call
Best regards,
Razvan Rogoz
The Self Improvement Copywriter
PS: What I’m writing is for some people offensive and temperamental. That’s perfect. I’m not the right person for those people. I want to work with hungry, aggressive, let’s change the world and make tons of money in the process type of entrepreneurs. My job is to make happy the people I’m working with.