Georgia Writers Association

Is There No Difference Between Us and Annoying Telemarketers?

I was in the middle of delivering one of my commercial writing seminars (I forget the city, not to sound like a rock star or anything…) and we’d just gotten to the section on cold calling. In the commercial writing field, when your market is corporations, ad agencies, graphic design firms, non-profits and many others, a solid way (thought not the ONLY way) to land the business, in my humble opinion (AND based on many years of experience), is to pick up the phone and make the calls.

Needless to say, this strategy scares the bejeesus out of most creative types, who just want to, well, ”create,” and leave that “icky marketing selling thingy” to the car salesmen and telemarketers of the world.

Anyway, someone raised their hand and said, very earnestly, "I just hate the idea of cold calling because I don't appreciate getting telemarketing calls and I think most people are pretty much the same." Wow, I thought. If a bunch of people out there have equated prospecting to cheesy telemarketing, no wonder they’re dreading the process.

I gathered my thoughts, crossed my arms, looked at her and asked, “Is that who you think you are? Just an obnoxious telemarketer – no different from the people who cluelessly interrupt you during dinner peddling aluminum siding, long distance service, carpet cleaning, the fraternal order of police, debt consolidation, and a zillion other things you have no interest in?” (Incidentally, those police/fireman telemarketers are hired by those fine organizations and only about 10% of what they collect goes to the cause. Just so you know.)

As writers, regardless of the genre, but especially in the commercial arena, we need to develop more pride in what we're doing. I think writers have been conditioned to not value what they do, but in the corporate world, it's a very different story. Just the fact that someone is willing to pay you $60-100+ an hour should tell you that they view you differently.

And as I'm very fond of reminding at every opportunity, these people are expecting your call. Maybe not at that precise moment that you phone, but on some fundamental level they expect to hear from copywriters. If you're new to this field, remember that you're stepping into a game that's already in progress – with its established arrangements, structures, processes and players. And one key component of that arena is freelance copywriting. So, make your calls proudly. You’re an important part of the process and you have every right to be there. Got that?

Of course, that still doesn’t make the process completely easy or anxiety-free but maybe I can help a bit with that by dissecting the process. Why IS it harder in the beginning?
©2007 Peter Bowerman