Comments to the last post…
I’m glad I thought the comments to this post over before responding.
Honestly, my initial reaction was to immediately defend the whole “it’s not a job if I like it” thing.That being said… you guys are right.
Just to clarify, I didn’t necessarily mean I’d take 5 letters every month – there’s months I like to just take off.But no matter how you look at it, it wasn’t the most intelligent of choices, especially considering my usual outlook on pricing and the fact that I’m no longer charging under $97 for anything unless it’s for a trial or to test out a market.
I might’ve spoke out of fear, too… closing all IM letters is going to take away most of my customers, I’ll be traveling a ton and will need more money, etc… but again, that wasn’t that intelligent – I don’t need to do copy (even though I really do love it and want to continue)… I just need to manage my money better. I went out to dinner with a friend who makes $35K a year yesterday (he’s going to college) and he’s in a better financial situation than I am, even though I made 4x that last year! (I hired him as my wealth manager.)
I think I might do that special thing Harris suggested once in a while just to learn about some new niches, fund random adventures, etc… but it’ll be just that – a special.
A few comments on some of your comments…
Harris: First of all, I love you! Thanks for making my day – that was very, very sweet. 
You brought up a lot of great points, especially the fact that people I write for at $997 or $1997 are different types of people than the $5k people. I didn’t think about that.I also kind of dig the “raising my price for IM industries” thing. People that are willing to pay more are actually MAKING more and so I won’t be peddling crap.
And happy birthday to Hudson (freaking awesome name btw)!
Rob: Just to clarify, I didn’t mean billables – just 5 letters to maybe 5 different people – I do agree with you that people wouldn’t really have a need on a monthly basis.
The protege idea is something I’ve been playing with, too. I’m working with an incredibly talented copywriter now… although like I said, I do write because I enjoy it… but just a) to help this awesome writer and b) as an extra stream of revenue… not a bad idea.
Jason: Grrrr, you’re right. Your comment was the one I was going to defend myself the most from, haha, so I’m really glad I slept on it. 
And by the way – I had a dream about you and Kami a few nights ago… I sold you guys your “dream house” in Portland (it was a house I used to own) and I was terrified you wouldn’t like it as much as the one you’re going for now (you just trusted me and bought it blindly), but you were both supernice and loved it.
Micheal: First of all… AWESOME ON OCTOBER 31ST!! I love to hear that. Seriously, good for you!
Thanks for the comment, too… the “you are worth every penny” hits home more than you know. I don’t have hard times charging for products that I have with pen names, or with partners (and they’re always quality)… but I do need to do a better job of asserting my value when I work alone.
Dan: As usual, you’re right. I really really love the special idea. And you’re right – nothing annoys me more than someone who doesn’t appreciate good copy.
Angela: Thank you for your comment! I really appreciate your taking the time to write that out. As far as my personal cause – you bring up some good points. I actually do, once in a while, surprise someone with a sales letter or do a critique just because I know someone will value it.
I guess I don’t do FREE as much any more because…Well, I’ll copy and paste something that I posted to the Warrior Forum when someone said something about how if people really wanted to help, they’d give things away for free:
“I can tell you with stone-cold confidence that free doesn’t work… ESPECIALLY if you want to help people. I was going to give yayFOOD away for free for a long time… and everyone kept warning me against it. They all said that when people pay, even if it’s a small amount, they value it 10x more. I took it at their word, but REALLY discovered that with Internet Marketing. You wouldn’t believe how many stories I get… emails, PMs, etc… from people who say they really want my product but just can’t afford it. Some of the stories absolutely break my heart. I always used to give out free copies of products to people like that… I was estimating the other day that I’ve given out at LEAST $20,000 worth of product to at least 50 people.All I ask when I give stuff away is that people let me know how it worked out for them (not for a testimonial, I just want to make sure I was able to help).
To date, I haven’t received one story back. And I KNOW the stuff I put out is quality.Hell, one time I offered FULL SALES LETTERS – for free – to 2 people that I saw got screwed over in a Warrior thread. They paid $197 or something, and I offered them a $4000 letter… for free, just because I felt bad for them. The one that complained the most in the thread, talking about how much money he lost and how he really needs it… never even got back to me with my questionnaire. I actually decided yesterday that any time anyone asks me for anything again, I’m going to ask them to fill out an application, do certain things (get at least 3 backlinks to yayFOOD, etc.), etc… and then I’ll look into it. It might sound rude, but I believe it’s helping people more than anything else.
You bring up some fantastic points, though. Like I mentioned, I too love the special idea and I definitely think there’s something I can do to help more in that regard, I just need to figure out what it is.Thank you very much for the comment. =)
Taj: You’re absolutely right about people associating value with cost – and the people I want in my life aren’t people that are going to have a problem with the higher priced letters. A special, like many people were saying, will demonstrate the value – but an overall price drop was a dumb idea.
Good point on the subconscious value dropping, too. I have a ridiculous responsibility ethic (to a fault at times), but I think anything’s possible… ESPECIALLY if I started writing for people that didn’t appreciate it.You know, I have a good friend who writes $997 letters (she’s starting out) and she tells me of all the hoops people make her jump through when she writes for them… there’s no way in hell I’d deal with that.
Andrew: Awesome points. As soon as you posted I thought about my whole high priced thing and how I was contradicting myself… and the plumbing thing is a great point, too. =)You’re all right. Thank you all SO MUCH for your time responding to me.
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