On Becoming a Copywriters Agent

I don’t remember what year it was when I met John Finn but I’m pretty sure it was in 1998 or 1999. I had just moved to the Palm Springs, California area from Lake Oswego, Oregon.

I remember that a fellow copywriter told me that there was this guy named John Finn who represented copywriters as an agent. I immediately thought I should get in touch with him. As lofty as John was (and still is, working with the world’s top copywriters) — I was able to connect with him directly, on the phone.

A quick conversation revealed that John was solidly into business-to-consumer (B2C) direct marketing. And just as quickly, I replied, “Oh, well then, we’re not really very well matched because I focus mostly on B2B (business to business).” End of conversation. And as I would soon discover, a stupid mistake.

For the first time in a long time, my work began to dry up. And I found myself thinking about John Finn. Business was poor and I decided I would call John back. (This was during the tech meltdown, where I’d built a specialty in software.)

With more than a small dose of humility, I called John and told him that guess what,  I had a lot more B2C work than I’d thought, including quite a few successful magalogs for FC&A Publishing out of Peachtree Georgia. He was gracious.

He said he was coming to the desert to meet with one of his copywriters. Would I meet him for breakfast in Palm Springs? I brought my best B2C samples and ordered oatmeal. I wanted to appear “perfect.”

John immediately accepted me into his business family, and thus started a decade of frequent trips to Redondo Beach (two hours away from me) to work for John and meet with his teams on various projects.

However, John was never my agent. Upon my warm reception into the Finn’s work family, I met Kevin Finn, John’s son. By virtue of birth, Kevin had been given entre into the world of high stakes direct marketing agenting. And when I met him, Kevin was no protégé. Just like his dad, Kevin was working with the world’s top marketers, and it was Kevin who became my agent. We worked together for a while in both the B2B and B2C arenas.

Many times over the years I sat in Kevin’s salty Redondo Beach office, on his well-worn but comfy couch, and in awe of his thousands of direct response books, mail packages and magalogs stuffed into bookcases, stacked on tables, and just generally laying around.

As we talked about this and that, I could never imagine that ironically, these many years later, I could become Kevin’s “agent” as I bring his story, his power, and his gifts to my copywriter friends through John Forde and other leaders in the marketing community.

I decide to model Kevin

Ready to try something new, I told Kevin I thought his job looked like fun. He encouraged me to try it and even set me up with a client, Tony B., an ex-Madison Avenue ad man who was among his elite stable of copywriters. I quickly went to work and gained the interest of a magazine publisher in Torrance. I drove to meet those people over and over, continually trying to push them to sign a contract.

They wanted Tony. They wanted him really bad. But they also didn’t want to pay his fee. So I worked with Tony to adjust the deliverables so we could bring the price down. And back I went. This went on several more times before I became embarrassed at my lack of progress. I finally decided that this publisher was not going to sign, and that they were perhaps stringing us along just to see what they could learn for free.

That was the end of my career as a copywriter’s agent. Fortunately Tony is a good soul and we remain friends to this day. He even shows up at my teleseminars just to stay in touch.

And because of my failed foray into the agenting world, to this day Kevin remains the only copywriter’s agent in the world who is accessible to copywriters. (John still works but only with his tight-knit group of old-timers.)

Kevin is absolutely, positively unique. I’ve seen others try their hand at agenting. One group tried to match new copywriters with small business. I knew it wouldn’t work because there’s no money in very small business (at least not the kind of money seasoned copywriters want to earn). Another well-known entity in the copywriting world tried it also, and they told me they quit because “it wasn’t very profitable.”

Not so with Kevin. He works with the big boys and gals. We’re talking mailings in the millions… and yes, those legendary royalties are commonly enjoyed by Kevin’s writers. Kevin’s fee is 20 percent and technically it comes out of the copywriter’s pay, but you also have to take into consideration that Kevin is a master negotiator, so the fee you’re paid for your work is often higher.

Although Kevin usually finds the right copywriter for a client, it sometimes works the other way. If Kevin has a copywriter he uses often, then he might look around to see what client opportunities he can bring the writer. But because the client is the one with the money, Kevin is usually on the hunt for the right writer.

For that 20 percent, Kevin not only brokers a copywriting job, but he handles the contract, collects and disburses payment, gathers the start kit materials from the client and passes in on to the copywriter, and deals with any negatives.

I remember one client who didn’t want to pay my contracted kill fee, even though the job was killed due to their own bad decision-making. Kevin handled that negotiation deftly, which allowed me to maintain the relationship, which is one I still profit from today.

In addition, Kevin gathers ROI data and samples after the fact, so the copywriter can continue to build out her portfolio and reputation. From where Kevin sits, his number one objective is to find the right copywriter for the client. And even though Kevin has lots of copywriters in his database, it’s not always easy.

Sometimes the copywriter wants more than what the client is willing to pay. Or perhaps there’s no room in her schedule for months. Or maybe Kevin doesn’t have anyone in his database who has a track record in a particular category of marketing.

One thing is certain though… and that is if you’re a copywriting newbie, you won’t get an audience with Kevin. He works only with copywriters who have controls, or who have a strong record of success.

And the recession has made that rule all the stronger. “Clients aren’t taking chances any more,” Kevin said. “Before the recession clients would take a chance on a new writer. Not any more. They can’t afford a failure so they’re sticking with the copywriters they know.”

That said, Kevin himself is open to connecting with promising new copywriters. In fact, that’s the real reason he let me interview him. There’s always a need for new superstars! And this recession won’t last forever. If you do pass Kevin’s litmus test for new copywriters, you’ll be in the same database as Clayton Makepeace, Jay Abraham, Gary Bencivenga and the other copywriting legends who’ve been represented by Kevin.

And you don't have to wonder what that litmus test is. Kevin gave me his intake form so I can offer it to you. In fact, he gave me all of his core business documents. And I’ve made them instantly available, along with a probing interview designed to give you all the facts about working with Kevin.

If you’re a highly accomplished copywriter with a solid track record in the health, finance or bizzop niches, you might get onto Kevin’s radar right away. Or if you’ve got a ways to go, you can now access insider documents that will show you exactly what you need to do to get an audience with Kevin down the line. Even though royalties are common in Kevin’s world, he also does a fair share of flat rate negotiating.

To learn more about Kevin and the opportunities he might afford you, simply go here:

http://copywritersagentkevinfinn.com

If you do connect with Kevin and it brings you good things, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I like to publish success stories in my Get Great Clients newsletter so my copywriting friends can stay informed and enthusiastic about the possibilities in this wonderful business. Simply email me at chris@getgreatclients.com, or connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.