Words of Late

Freelancing PLUS

2008-01-08T01:03:00.000-08:00

Here's some interesting news; in addition to my freelance career, I've started a new business. My lifelong friend, Brian, and I are proud owners of a bouncing baby IT company.

Many of you are saying: Mike, you're a writer, not a PC tech. And I would respond: True dat. However, I am handling sales and marketing for the new venture and Brian, a seasoned and certified network engineer, is our technician.

As if I didn't have enough going on in my life. But it was time to get out on my own and try to attain my family's dreams. So I did leave my promotional marketing career, which I had for nearly 9 years. I will miss aspects of the work, especially since I still truly believe in the magic of promotional marketing. But I came to the conclusion that the business of selling promotional products and I don't necessarily see eye to eye.

When I entered the industry, I was taught that we sell stuff - pens, mugs, t-shirts, yada yada. Then I sought out training from business professionals, those gurus who teach that the product end is merely a vehicle. They would explain that promotional MARKETING is on par with any marketing discipline. And it certainly makes sense. After all, with the right item and execution, I could help a customer drive more sales traffic, get the word out, encourage sales people to perform, etc.

They also liked to tell us that, of all the things our potential buyer was concerned with, PRICE was number six on the list according to industry studies. Well, I live in the Midwest and I felt I could argue with that statistic. We're, in a word, cheapskates. Okay, not cheapskates but financially conservative. Where were they polling people, on the coasts? Still, I marched on, believing the gurus. And I think my instinct about the Midwest was right, because I lost sales to price. Problem was, I wasn't willing to bargain most of the time. I was a marketing professional, providing a service that would help your company grow, spending my hours and days in dedicated service to my customers' needs.

And some apparently could have cared less.

So with my convictions intact, I decided I didn't want to be a seller of pens any longer. And that brings us back to the present. Wish Brian and me luck, and perhaps I'll update you folks some time in the future.

Treat Others As...

2007-11-07T12:19:00.000-08:00

What have you been taught all your life? Treat others as you'd like to be treated.

I've learned that's not correct. I won't go into further detail because I don't want to teach something that one organization makes money teaching. That organization is called The Referral Institute.

RI is a national organization. In Wisconsin, the local owner is a good friend of mine, Mr. Mark Hackbarth. Mark and I have a lot in common - and a lot of differences, too. I learned oodles about myself (and Mark, and others) when I attended one of his spectacular programs known as GEMS: From Relationships to Referrals. This seminar reveals the secret personality traits in all of us. It left me feeling as though I'd been given a pair of X-ray specs. Not the kind they sell in the back of comic books, but the kind the government is secretly developing.

All at once, I found myself able to understand a prospect at our first meeting. I could make important judgments based on seemingly insignificant gestures and behaviors. Most importantly, I learned how to better win that person's trust without wasting his or her time on inane questions about the weather. This skill also teaches you about one other important person: yourself. If you didn't notice that you can come off as arrogant to most people, or that you tend to say "yes" way too often, GEMS will open your eyes to that and much more.

GEMS made such an impact on my professional and personal life that I recently attended it a second time to refresh my memory of what I had learned the first time.

I confess, I like to help friends and would love to send hundreds of people to Mark's seminars. But no matter where you live, you owe it to your personal and business success to attend a GEMS seminar. In Wisconsin, go to www.ri-wi.com for more information.

A Brief Moment on Procrastination

2007-10-22T23:05:00.000-07:00

Stop it!

Today is Your Birthday

2007-10-11T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe not yours. But it is my wife's birthday. That's something worth writing about, to me anyway.

Melissa has been my faithful better half for more than 18 years. Many say, "Wow, that's a long time considering the statistics." A little aside, if I may. If you look at most statistics on divorce, they put it at around 4 per 1000 married people. Infrequently, you come across a source that puts the statistic at around 40 or 50 percent. I'm not going to pat myself nor my wife on the back because we beat the odds that were four-tenths of a percent against us.

Anyway, if my marriage can survive one of the actual statistically significant reasons for Splitsville (workaholicism), we should be good for another few decades - until I kill myself as a result of one of the most self-destructive habits known to man (workaholicism).

So happy birthday hon, I'll be up to bed in a jif!

FREE! FREE!

2007-09-23T23:38:00.000-07:00

This will come off as a plug for Best Buy, but since I'm not on their payroll, I invite them to contact me to do some writing for them (dudes, I'm a HUGE customer!).

Anyway, if you ever purchase cartridges for your inkjet printer, you know how damned expensive they are. If you buy refills or cheap substitutes online, you're only wrecking your printer, your ink isn't archival and will fade in time (hope you didn't print any important family pictures with that stuff), and you probably voided your printer's warranty. I only buy brand name ink. It's like buying toilet paper - some things, you just don't skimp on!

So here's my plug for Best Buy: If you join their Reward Zone club (free), every time you purchase two ink cartridges (on the same receipt), you can take home a free ream of paper up to $9.95 in value. I like to take the HP bright white inkjet paper. It's a heavy 24 pound bond, 97 brightness, and it feels like a million dollars compared to the cheap stuff you're already buying.

If you don't need inkjet paper, you can use the $9.95 toward other paper. I've taken the discount toward the purchase of photo paper, for instance. Hey, not bad considering I was going to buy the cartridges anyway. And as a Reward Zone member, you're racking up points that add up to dollars that can be spent - where else - at Best Buy.

Don't throw tomatoes ... as a writer, I go through a lot of paper and ink, so this was as appropriate an entry as any! And yes, I CAN live with myself.

PS: Best Buy, don't forget who loves ya....

Copywriters and Phonies

2007-09-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

At 42 years old, I may be ready for a new eyeglasses prescription and my tri-annual physical. But age doesn't make me old fashioned. Just a little wiser.

Yet, a recent discovery made me wonder if I'd just hit a senior moment. Because after I discovered it, the words, "Why, in MY day..." crept into mind.

Here's the discovery: some writers out there are competing (fiercely, I might add) to write Internet articles for two bucks a pop. Not just any articles. Original ones, fully researched articles of 450 words (a typed page), SEO articles.

HELLO ... who's buying this stuff? Is this the same mentality that enables people to purchase brand name digital cameras online for $5.00 each? What does the buyer think they're going to get?

And for a moment, just a fleeting moment, I began to panic. Is this what I am up against? Is this the New Competition? Will I be forced to abandon my healthy double-digit hourly rate in order to keep writing for hire?

But then it dawned on me; I don't have to compete with these fakes. They'll compete with each other. Let them scramble and claw and drop their prices ever closer to zero. Some of the buyers won't notice or care how bad the writing is, or where it was stolen from, and others will learn a valuable lesson. Maybe they'll call a professional.

I consider myself fortunate. There's no shortage of customers looking for professional writers. I'm staying busy, and if I ever need more, I just open the faucet.

What does this mean to you? Keep it real! Don't fall prey to price centric buyers. If you sell value, quality and experience, you deserve what you're worth - NOT what others are worth.

What's In It For Yours Truly?

2007-08-26T01:27:00.000-07:00

In advertising, this question is the Holy Grail.

Most consumers view ads while various purchasing scenarios form in their minds, blithely unaware of The Question, or its relevance to their internal buying mechanism. They don't need to think about drawing air into their lungs in order to breathe, nor do they need to ask What's In It For Me in order to need the answer.

If I, the copywriter, don't address What's In It for Me (the consumer) in my writing, the likelihood of a sale is as much about luck as it is about the product's quality or value.

What good is a lesson in Marketing 101? Think of the real world applications:

You want to golf with the guys/gals ... "Honey, why don't you sleep in this Saturday? After I shoot a few holes with the guys, you and I can have a nice lunch at (name a restaurant your significant other has been wanting to try)."

You want your son/daughter to do his/her homework ... "Keep up with your assignments and you'll live to see another day."

I think you get it. I'm always interested in hearing about creative applications, so don't be afraid to share.

Until next time....

On the First Day

2007-08-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

You made it. That's good, I'd hate to be writing to myself at this hour (12:50 a.m. and ticking).

Meet your host, Mike Spanjar, copywriter to the movers, marketers and propaganda makers. That's me, the guy pitched back in front of his 22" widescreen, eyeglasses, wrinkled white pinpoint oxford. And just look at you ... very striking. Intelligent too, I'll bet. We're going to get along fine.

On the first day, Mike (that's me again) created this blog. Writers can't help writing, even though we do it all the time and could use a break. Pumping creative iron feels good, and a blog works a different set of muscles. Ever meet one of those dudes who only works on his upper body and has legs like a pimply 14-year-old computer gamer? Yeah – weird. Copywriters need a diverse exercise regimen, or they risk being one dimensional and – weird.

So now that I've got you glued to the 274 billionth page on the web, I'll go over the rules.

Rule #1: No typos, no awkward grammar, no manual of style. Even at this late hour, I'll keep it professional, just not perfect.

Rule #2: There will be no more rules.

I appreciate the visit, and hope the ramblings of a copywriter can keep you engaged enough to keep coming back for more. If you like what you see and feel the need to hire me, I am available on a freelance basis for marketing, SEO, PR, product manuals, and bar mitzvah speeches.

That's my time.