The case for rudely ignoring clients

I once posted this on social media: “Freelance copywriters who care more about what their ‘client’ thinks than what their market wants would be happier begging for a corporate job where they can sell their souls for a paycheck.” The context: It was inspired by a friend who was dealing with such a client who ignored the market and just projected their own biases onto it. And it’s a mindset I learned early on in my copywriting career after listening to the Gene Schwartz seminar I’ve been yapping about all week, where Gene said while writing an ad: “You have no client but the market. You really don’t care about anything but the market or the process.” That there advice has served me well. Not just when I did client work, but especially for selling my own products. My “client” was always the market. Not the guy paying my fee. Not his silly little committee. And, certainly not his spouse, Facebook friends, or bum socialist nephew with the Liberal Arts degree. If any of the above people had solid info I needed (market intel, experiences, test results, etc), great! But if they just wanted to impose any uninformed opinions, self projections, or preferences that didn't line up with the market on my ad, I ignored them and did what the market dictated. They may have been paying my fee. But, the market payed them and, thus, both of us. True story: When I first wrote about this, a project manager for some marketing company wrote me telling me how wrong I was about this. She - a mere employee, not a business owner - simply had someone (me) who is an actual business owner finally tell her she has no real power over her copywriters (the good ones, at least) and she probably panicked. When clients realize the fact they need good copywriters far more than good copywriters need them (since we can always find another client or sell our own stuff, after all) they tend to go into denial like that. So I can understand her angst, I suppose. But good clients, smart clients… clients worthy of your talents… put the market first, and put their feels, emotional projections, hangups, egos, and caring what others (who aren't the market) think out to pasture. Any other kind of client was always ignored, and sometimes even fired. Rude? Probably. But nobody accused me of being diplomatic about it… Whatever the case, the $20 Gene Schwartz seminar that ends today (Friday 9/6 at midnight EDT) shows you several advanced ways for writing ads, headlines, ad layouts, etc. Plus, if you get it via my affiliate link below before the deadline, you also get: 1. elBenbo’s 1-Click Upsell Swipe File eBook — which contains over 20 1-click upsell pages either I or clients profited enormously from, for study (not copy & paste) and framework. 2. A 527 classic ad swipe file (all neatly typed up in Word format) — which includes ads from Gary Halbert, Joe Karbo, Ben Suarez, Claude Hopkins, Eugene Schwartz, David Ogilvy, Maxwell Sackhiem, and hundreds more. Here’s the link: [( Ben Settle P.S. If you have any customer service questions, direct them to Michael Senoff, not me. You can find his contact info (email and text support) via his site. This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2024 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA