The #1 Thing Copywriters Can Do
When Starting Each Project

1. Gets you more respect from clients, fast.
2. Increases your chances of success on every project.
3. Can even help you close the deal.

I was desperate — and it led to a discovery that made my life as a copywriter so much easier…

A few years back, I was suddenly dealing with much more complex client projects.

When I got started as a copywriter, I’d just write copy for clients.

At the beginning of the project, I’d have a phone call with them…

Ask them a bunch of questions, off the cuff, take a bunch of notes…

And get started on the project.

Then, if I needed any other info, I’d reach out for another phone call, or just ask my question through email.

It was just me and the client — and it was simple.

That was all good, until…

I had an incredible opportunity to work through an agency to provide copy for their A-list clients.  

And just to make it more complicated, I started working with junior copywriters to help me write copy for these projects.

So I went from just me and a client…

To the client…

… PLUS the agency…

… PLUS me…

… PLUS the junior copywriter… 

… All trying to stay in sync on a project.

(All of us remote, none of us in-person.)

And I stuck myself in the middle of it all.

Chaotic?  Yes.

Crazy?  Probably.  

Profitable?  Absolutely.

But managing all this complexity came with new challenges — beyond writing good copy.

And yet — this new challenge also held the seed of opportunity.

…  And the solution I came up with?  A tool that can earn YOU quick respect from clients and prospects, plus make it easier for you to succeed on every project.  

And as I’d later learn…  It can even help you seal the deal and close potential clients.

My challenge…

How do you get ALL the info you need to succeed on a project, and make it readily available to use throughout the project?

Okay, sounds simple enough.

And I ended up with an elegantly-simple solution…

A questionnaire designed for copywriter client onboarding.

And yet…

Don’t let the simplicity fool you.

It’s the net result of well over a decade of learning in marketing and copywriting.

And the questionnaire itself packages up some of the most important, sophisticated, powerful marketing and project success thinking…

(Channeling Robin Williams’s Genie from Aladdin…)

Into an itty bitty living space!

Wait — what is this?!

Let me rewind.

So as I was trying to figure out how to pass information between all 4 key stakeholders in these projects…

And make sure I got all the info we needed to write copy…

And make all that info available to the junior copywriter on the project…

I asked myself…

What info does a copywriter actually need to succeed on a project?

What are the questions I keep asking clients, over and over again?

What kind of information is helpful to have on hand, if I ever need it?

What assets can the clients share with me, to ensure I have everything I need to get started writing copy for the project?

And then, in the spirit of the illustrious Spinal Tap…  

How could I turn my info gathering up to 11…

And totally ROCK these projects?

I brainstormed EVERYTHING I would love to know and have to make my life easier into a single document…

So, for example, there’s always that point in a project where we’re trying to gather testimonials…

And we’re frantically searching the client website, 3rd-party review sites, emailing and not getting fast enough replies, and doing anything we can to scrounge up just the right customer comments…

OR you can just open up this document and they’re there, waiting for you.

Likewise, you’re a few weeks into the project and diving deep into the offer copy when suddenly you aren’t quite sure if the client said they offered a 30-day, 90-day, or 1-year guarantee…

And you can’t find your notes.

So you sheepishly have to go back to the client for clarification…

OR you can just open up this document and the full guarantee policy is there.

But what about the deeper questions?

For example, on your last project, did you know the exact success criteria the client would use to judge your performance?

…  And further, is that success criteria realistic and fair, or is it a pipe dream?

What if you could get that from them at the start?  And have it as a reference to come back to, at any point?

What if you could figure that out before you even decide whether or not you’re going to take them on as a client?

If you use this questionnaire to start gathering info even before you finalize your deal, this is ALL possible.

In fact, it’s on the first page!

I organized all my information gathering into this simple copywriter client intake questionnaire — and was surprised by how well it worked!

My clients and partners on my projects LOVED it.

It was an easy way to gather all the critical information, at the start of the project.

Not only that, having the questionnaire forced our thinking on certain elements of the project.

And that’s not a bad thing.

If there was a decision that still had to be made, it forced us to make the decision and get it down on (virtual) paper.

So that the rest of the project could flow smoothly.

And yes, this absolutely accomplished the goal of getting every stakeholder in my complex projects on the same page, and working from the same information.

But it was instantly clear to me that this was a tool I should’ve had from the beginning.

It would’ve saved me a lot of headaches, hassles, and back-and-forths with my clients.

In fact…

I later heard that my junior copywriters were using this tool for their own projects…

Joshua Lee Henry was one of the copywriters who I’d worked with on a couple of these projects.

He’d benefited from this questionnaire when working with me.

And when he had a client approach him for a project, he actually used this questionnaire as a way to gather info on the project before starting…

Plus get a sense of what it might be like to work with this client…

He told me, “I had him fill out the New Client Questionnaire you gave us…  😀 It totally helped to position me better with him.”

The deal was as good as closed.

In no small part because he had and knew to use this tool that conveyed that he was a professional copywriter and marketer who knew what the heck he was doing.

By using this tool for client onboarding, you’ll immediately come across as a more valuable copywriter…

And here’s the thing…

Yes, you can use it AFTER you’ve gotten the client, just as a way to make information gathering easier.  (How it was originally designed.)

But there’s also huge opportunities in starting to fill it in BEFORE you sign the contract or work agreement…

To increase your credibility and value in the client’s eyes, during the selling and client intake process.

And to truly understand the project and client and if it makes sense for you.

Importantly, when you start to use it and the thinking behind it, I believe you’ll start to realize the triple-decker benefits I’ve seen it provide…

1.  Gets you more respect from clients, fast.
2.  Increases your chances of success on every project.
3.  Can even help you close the deal.

Let me give you this questionnaire PLUS the thinking behind it PLUS the how-to for success…

In this special training, I’ll go line-by-line through the questionnaire, sharing my thinking behind every question and how to use it.

PLUS I’ll share how you can (and SHOULD) customize it for you, your offer, your copy, your client relationships.  (And what you should probably never change about it.)

And I’ll give you specific suggestions for where to use it during client intake and onboarding to help you close more deals — on top of all the benefits that come from using it during the project itself.

Copywriter Client Onboarding is the February 2022 Monthly Insiders Call for BTMSinsiders members.

This exclusive benefit of membership — included as part of the BTMSinsiders All-Access Pass — allows you to participate in the training live, plus gives you access to all past Insiders Calls recordings.

Members: Watch the Call Recording here...

Yours for bigger breakthroughs,

Roy Furr