3 steps to a successful clientless business

The Writer’ s Life
June 29, 2020

Hi Steve,

Summer 2020 may be an odd one …

BUT, it's still happening!

There's nothing like summer heat and sunshine to make you daydream about having a lazy day all to yourself.

Wildly successful writer Ben Settle is a fan of a VERY short workday. And he says summer is the perfect opportunity to launch a clientless writing business … one that can create a lot of free time in your schedule.

So today, he's agreed to share the three-step process he uses to make money writing — without clients — so you can get started too.

If Ben's name isn't familiar … you should check out his story.

Ben is a successful writer who's never been a fan of authority. He wanted to make a good living writing without answering to anyone else. So despite making great money working for various companies, he went in search of a different way to make great money as a writer.

Now, he 'works' about 10 minutes a day, and spends the rest of his time doing, well, whatever he wants! Yet he's been making over six-figures a year for more than a decade.

Go here to see how he makes his living and check out his proven four-step blueprint for making money with zero clients.

A "no client" copywriting business may be the ultimate writer's life opportunity for you too.

To your success,

Rebecca Matter
President, AWAI

How to Be a Non-Naked Writer Who Doesn't Rely on Clients

Seafoam partially covering bare feet on a sandy beach

"It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who has been swimming naked."

So goes a famous Warren Buffett quote.

He was talking about investors, not writers. But that quote applies as much to writers, copywriters, authors, and anyone else who writes for a living as anyone else.

Take, for example, copywriters at the start of the recent COVID-19 quarantine a few months ago. A lot of them were caught with their proverbial pants down — with client work drying up, money problems that never existed before hoisted upon them, and for the first time perhaps in their lives wondering how they were going to pay the rent or mortgage.

And believe it or not, it was all completely unnecessary.

There is more opportunity now than they ever has been in recent history. Literal millionaires are being created as I write this because of these opportunities. And if you know just a few principles used by clientless copywriters — who don't rely on clients, and sell their own offers to their own lists — who have been thriving during this, you can do the same thing.

In this article, I am going to give you the exact same game plan myself and other clientless copywriters use every day. And after you're done reading this, you should see the reality of what a former client of mine told me during the last "Great Recession" of 2008, when he said:

"Direct-response marketers who know what they are doing love recessions. This is when we make all the money."

You can start using this game plan today (yes, today) if you want. And it has worked for thousands of clientless copywriters over the past several decades, in all kinds of niches and markets and product categories.

Here is the game plan:

1. Go to your clients and offer to work for free.

Specifically, clients in a niche or related niche you want to sell in.

And before you even ask … while yes, you are not making any money from the work you do directly, you are going to make them "pay" you another way. And that way is in mailing their lists for you, encouraging their subscribers to opt-in to your list.

This is the single fastest way to build a list I've ever used.

And if a client likes your work, they'd be insane to say no.

All you need is to have an opt-in page, a reason to opt-in to that page, and an offer to sell those opt-ins (which I will cover next). Then it is simply a matter of making a deal to do some kind of assignment for them (write some emails, a sales page, whatever it is they want) in exchange for them mailing their list about you for an agreed upon number of times.

Just make sure you only do this with clients you trust and who will keep their word.

Otherwise, you will be doing a whole lot of work for nothing.

2. Sell those opt-ins your product.

If you don't have a product, then write a short — but value-packed — e-book. Or have a friend interview you about your subject matter and use that recording as a product. You can also find a product to sell as an affiliate, if you are really in a time crunch.

Don't get too flustered by having to create a whole line of programs.

Just start with the first one and get it up and selling.

3. Send your new customers an offer for something else.

At this point, you are sending two emails per day instead of just one.

And this offer to your buyers can be coaching (or group coaching), consulting, your copywriting services, a high-priced info product, a monthly paid newsletter, a membership site subscription, or anything else they want to buy that you enjoy selling.

Ideally, it would be a subscription type of offer.

You don't have to have an offer like that. But a subscription offer will keep your income a lot more secure even during the bumpiest of economic times, as long as you are serving your customers and giving them value they are using.

If you don't want to sell a subscription offer, then at least make it a high ticket offer.

The real money in direct response is not made on the front end, it's made on the back end. And some extremely big and solid businesses have been built simply selling a low ticket offer on the front end, and then selling those buyers something big ticket on the back end.

Either way, this is how you build a strong "non-naked" business.

And this way, as the tide goes out — as it will continue doing for a long time — you can be fully clothed with money in the bank and complete financial security … while copywriters who only rely on clients start running around (figuratively) naked, wondering how to pay their bills.

If you want to see a proven methodology for creating a business like this from scratch, then you might want to check out my 10-Minute Workday program. However, realize it's not cheap, and it's not for anyone who is not willing to work hard, who doesn't have patience, and who isn't willing to learn new skills. There is a learning curve. But it is a lot shorter than you might think. The goal of it is to show you how to build a clientless copywriting business where you never have to rely on clients ever again.

What questions do you have about launching a clientless copywriting business? Share with us in the comments so we can help.

Editorial Note: Ben shares his step-by-step process right here, but only for a few days, so go here to check out his proven blueprint. If you want a writing business without clients, you should check out the details today.

Earn a Six-Figure Writing Income … from a "5-Word" Plan? (Yup!)

These days, there are so many ways to make money as a writer …

But none so fun, rewarding, and EASY, once you've implemented the "5-Word" Plan every writer should know about. Created by a legendary copywriter, it lets you rack up a six-figure income — writing 30 minutes (or less) a day … about stuff you love … with ZERO clients.

Plus, when the economy goes south, and things like a pandemic and other "black swan" events threaten the status-quo — the income generated by your "5-Word" writing business can be a lifesaver!

Get all the details here!

Test Drive AWAI's Copywriting Program for Only $29

If you've ever been curious about copywriting, now is your chance to test-drive our flagship program, AWAI's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting for just $29.

When you master persuasive writing with our industry-leading training, you'll be in big demand in this 2.3 trillion-dollar industry. You can make a good living, choose your own hours, and work from anywhere in the world.

But hurry, this "test-drive" will be closing soon!

Get all the details here.