Being a copywriter means being a marketer.
And part of being a marketer is looking for ways to improve your own marketing. One way to do that is to look for what’s missing.
The world is filled with problems.
If you can find solutions to some of those problems, you may have a marketing opportunity staring you in the face.
If the problem is bad SEO, you solve it. If the problem is not enough content, you solve it. If the problem is not using the right voice to speak to the ideal customer, you solve it.
But before solving the problem, you must first identify it.
You can’t solve anything if you don’t know what the problem is… or even that there is a problem.
Keeping an eye out for problems I might be able to solve led me to stumble upon my latest marketing venture. And I’m going to tell you about it… and even let you steal the idea for yourself, if you want, because there’s a good chance the same problem exists in your own community.
Small-Town Problems
I was talking to someone new to my small town.
He was saying how frustrated he was. He had no idea what to do here for fun and entertainment and to meet new people. He couldn’t find information anywhere.
He wasn’t even sure where to eat. “What restaurants are here?”
He even mentioned the weird small-town hours. Everything is closed on Monday, unless you want Mexican food.
I agreed with him. I’ve lived here most of my life, and I still don’t know what’s going on, either. And I can never remember all the restaurant options (except Mexican food, haha).
There was a need for something in my small town, and no one else had filled it.
Why not me?
And, a New Venture Was Born
If there’s a problem, and you can’t find the solution, become the solution. (Or at least consider it — you could create a new source of income for yourself.)
In my town, there was clearly a problem. No one knew what to do in town. No one knew when there were events, or if a restaurant had something new on their menu.
Small towns get comfortable with word-of-mouth advertising. But as a town grows, so do its needs. And at a certain point, word-of-mouth isn’t as effective anymore.
You can follow your favorite businesses and restaurants on social media. But when you’re following 20 different pages, it’s unlikely you’ll see everything happening on a given day.
How to solve this problem? As a copywriter, it’s your job to figure that out.
So, I put on my thinking hat.
Wouldn’t it be nice to find all this information in one place?
There were a few social media pages titled, “What to do around town.” But none of them was being managed or proactively updated. They were just pages businesses could post information on themselves… if they remembered to do so, or if they even knew it was an option.
And, what do we know about business owners? They’re busy, and often they don’t like to do marketing.
But you do!
Getting Started
I decided to start from scratch. I created new social pages for my town. One on Facebook and one on Instagram.
I created monthly calendars where I could post all the events and restaurant specials for that month.
Next, came the hard part… lining up the clients.
I started by going to the businesses I wanted to work with first.
I brought along some business cards and created a flyer to leave behind, in case the bosses weren’t in.
And, one by one, I went into these businesses, asked for the manager or owner, and told them my vision.
My first few pitches weren’t great.
But, you know how it goes. The more I pitched the idea, the better I got at it.
Businesses began to sign up.
The Key
Selling can be stressful. It can make you uncomfortable.
I was uncomfortable. But I have a hack for you.
Does your service help someone? Is it something that will make their life easier or better?
If so, you aren’t selling, you’re offering to help them.
That’s the key to the kingdom. You’re not a sleazy salesman trying to con someone into something they don’t need. You’re a marketer showing them how you can make their life easier.
Do that, and not only will you feel less stressed about it, but people will want to work with you more.
Fill a Need
Be on the lookout for a need. Watch for opportunities to solve problems.
Steal this idea if you want. You have my permission.
And, if this isn’t the idea for you, no sweat. Keep your eyes open. There are plenty of opportunities out there.
Pay attention to what frustrates you. Chances are, you’re not the only one frustrated.
And you just might have the solution.
Be the solution and get paid to make someone’s life easier.
Speaking of pay…
If you were wondering what I’m charging for something like this, I’ll tell you.
Remember, I live in a small town with small businesses. So, I needed to keep this affordable.
I’m charging businesses that create their own marketing material $50 per month to post to both pages. And businesses that don’t have the time or the desire to create their own marketing materials, I’m charging $100 per month.
For that $100, businesses just give me the information they have about events or new offerings for the month, along with any related pictures they might have. I create their posts on Canva and then share them to the page.
It only takes a handful of clients to earn me several hundreds of dollars extra during the month, and for just a few hours of work.
And most likely, I’ll raise my prices as these pages gain popularity. But, it seemed like a good place to start.
We all figure this kind of stuff out as we go. At least I do.
Keep that in mind as you move forward with your business… and with the solutions and opportunities you discover along the way.
Comment below and let me know what you think about this new venture, or if you’ve tried something different yourself.
Cheers to your success!!!
