A couple months ago, I got back on Facebook in a BIG way. What I mean by that is that I started spending a few minutes there every couple days or so.
I was lurking, and trying to see what offers I would get pitched by the Facebook ad algorithm. (I was and am planning on launching my own cold traffic funnel, and wiser heads than mine say that you gotta do your research ahead of time.)
That’s how I came across a pretty, pretty brilliant offer.
It’s a dude who is running an ad… telling you he will write an ad to beat your best performing ad… and if he doesn’t succeed in beating it, he’ll give you all your money back.
(The offer started at $97 and has been going up each time he sells out the slots he’s got for the month. It currently sells for $247.)
From what I can tell, the dude has been running this since last November.
He has had 67 people take him up on it so far.
Out of those, he’s been able to beat their best ad 61 times, while refunding people 6 times.
In true Gary Bencivenga fashion, his landing page is FULL of social proof resulting from this challenge, including the refund requests from the 6 refunders, all of whom were complementary to his skill and business model.
Do you think that, out of any of the remaining 61 people whose best ads he beat, he got any long-term clients who are now paying him thousands of dollars a month?
My guess is yes.
I’m telling you this because right now, I’m promoting a cohort iI will run, starting next Monday, May 1st. The cohort will involve writing advertorials and getting clients who will happily pay for those advertorials.
So far, a few dozen people have expressed interest in this. I’ve been talking to them, or rather, emailing with them. I asked them for more information about where they’re currently at.
A few people have told me that they are either sick of looking for copywriting clients on Upwork or via cold outreach… or that they don’t have time or interest in looking for clients at all, and would rather outsource that to me.
I’m sorry to say, in that case, this cohort is not for you.
For one thing, I’m offering to help and advise with getting clients, not do it in your stead.
For another, the client-getting methods we will be using are the ones outlined inside the 1-Person Advertorial Agency course, which are (gulp) Upwork and cold outreach.
(The good news is, Upwork is where I got my biggest advertorial clients, and the way of cold outreach that 1PAA teaches is likely to be more effective and efficient than your usual kind.)
Still, if you hate the idea of Upwork and cold outreach for getting advertorial clients, then I just gave you a working alternative above. Spelled out, it goes like this:
1. Create a landing page with a headline that says something like, “FREE advertorial for your ecom brand”
2. On that landing page, explain your deal, which is basically that you will write them a free advertorial if they will pay you a commission in case of success
3. Explain who it’s for and not for (eg. must have a working cold traffic funnel, must be making at least X sales per day, must not be currently under investigation by the FTC, etc.)
4. Get people to fill out some kind of a form with whatever details you want from them in order to decide if you want to work with them, or to invite them on a screening call
5. Run super basic ads on Facebook for $20 a day to advertise this landing page
6. Update your landing page with proof as you get it
I’ve kick-started my own advertorial agency by reaching out to my list and network. Maybe that will be enough to get me all the advertorial clients I will ever want. Or maybe i will eventually tap out that demand, in which case I will do exactly what I wrote above, with that Facebook advertising strategy.
But if you like, you can beat me to it, and get your name out there in the world, and get clients who pay you for advertorials in the process, by doing what I just told you I would do.
In any case, the countdown to my advertorial cohort continues. Here are the high-level details:
I’ve made an agreement to write an advertorial for a client.
I’m inviting copywriters to join me and work alongside me as I do this.
You get my help with writing an advertorial following the 1-Person Advertorial Agency system.
You get my help tracking down, vetting, and closing a client (or partner business) using the two client-getting methods in 1-Person Advertorial Agency.
Plus, I’m promising to keep working with you and giving you my support and input until you get to $10k from advertorial work.
We start next week. In case you’re interested, reply now.