The 1-Sentence Clientless Copywriter Business Plan
Ben Settle
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A Business Plan Can Be Four Simple Questions
The one-sentence clientless copywriting business plan is not new. There is nothing fancy or revolutionary about it. In fact, most seven-, eight-, and nine-figure direct response businesses have probably used some version of it, whether they had a name for it or not.
Most people make business harder than it has to be. They bounce from one idea to another. They chase gurus. They copy whatever looks hot this month. Then they wonder why they never get traction.
A business plan keeps you on track. It gives you something to return to when you get tempted by every new tactic, platform, or offer idea. And the whole thing can start with four questions:
- What market do you want to serve?
- What product or service do you want to sell that market?
- What are you going to sell the people who buy that product or service?
- How are you going to reach that market?
That is the plan. Answer those questions clearly, and you have the foundation of a real business.
Start With the Market You Actually Want to Serve
The first question is the most important one: what market do you want to serve?
This is where everything starts. Not with the product. Not with the platform. Not with some guru telling you where the money is. It starts with the people you have a real desire to help.
The worst way to choose a market is to have the “business opportunity” mindset where you say, “I’m just going to go where the money is.” That is why people do not stick with anything. They have no real attachment to the market. They do not care about the people. They are not emotionally connected to the problem. So the moment it gets hard, boring, or inconvenient, they quit and chase something else.
Look around at the world and ask yourself who you actually want to help. What problem gets you in the gut? What wrong do you want to right? What frustration do you want to help remove from the world?
For me, one example would be home security. I am not telling you to go into that market. I am using it to show what I mean.
Years ago, my place was broken into while I was gone. Some people came in, took money, valuables, firearms, and a bunch of other things. I was angry at them, but I was also angry at myself for not taking home security more seriously.
Ever since then, I have been a little obsessed with it. When I moved into my current place and had an alarm guy come over, his job was to find holes in my defenses and sell me on the best alarm system. But I ended up educating him on things he had not even brought up. I was asking him about this weakness and that weakness. I could tell it threw him off.
That is the kind of market connection I am talking about. If I had to start over and get a job, I could see myself going into people’s houses, finding security holes, and helping them protect their families. I would enjoy that because the problem matters to me.
That is what you want to find for yourself. A market you can obsess over. A group of people you actually want to serve.
Of course, it still has to be a real market. There have to be buyers. This is business, not charity. But you should not start with “where is the money?” You should start with, “Who do I want to help?”
Choose a Flagship Offer That Solves a Real Problem
The second question is: what product or service do you want to sell that market?
Again, there is nothing earth-shattering about this. Once you know who you want to serve, you need to know what you are going to sell them.
You do not need a whole suite of offers figured out right away. Start with one main thing. What is the flagship product or service? What is your “Mickey Mouse”?
I use that example because Mickey Mouse was the flagship character for Disney. It was not the whole business, but it was the thing everything could start from. Your first offer should play that role.
If I were using the home security example, maybe the first offer would be an alarm system. Maybe it would be an ebook about preventing burglaries. Maybe it would be something related to self-defense, firearms, cameras, doors, locks, or emergency planning.
The exact format does not matter as much as the problem it solves. It could be a product, a service, software, a supplement, a food, coaching, consulting, or something else entirely. What matters is that the market is already buying something like it, and you can either create or find an offer that is better than what is already out there.
People sometimes act like the product does not matter. That is wrong. The product matters a lot.
If you have a burning desire to help a market, what would you want to put in their hands first? What would improve their lives? What would solve the problem or give them the desire they are already looking for?
That is your flagship offer.
The First Sale Is Only the Beginning of the Relationship
The third question is: what are you going to sell the people who buy that first product or service?
This is direct marketing 101. When someone buys from you, that is not the end of the relationship. That is the beginning.
A lot of people think they are going to sell one offer and then live the lazy internet lifestyle. That is mostly nonsense. Very few people in direct marketing history have pulled that off. The first sale is usually just how you acquire the customer.
If you are using cold traffic and paying for ads, the first offer often exists to buy the first customer. You may make money on it, and that is great. But the real wealth is built after the first sale.
So once someone buys the flagship offer, what comes next?
This is where you build a real business instead of being someone who just says, “I have an ebook.” Fine. You have an ebook. Then what?
Think of every offer as a character in a cast. Disney did not stop at Steamboat Willie. Mickey Mouse was the beginning, not the end. Then came more characters, more worlds, more stories, more depth.
That is how I think about offers. I call it world building. Each offer has a role. Each one gives the customer another way to go deeper into the world you are creating.
You do not have to know every backend offer on day one. But you do need to know that there is a backend. You need some sense of what buyers will want after they buy the first thing. Otherwise, you are not building much of a business.
Reach the Market in a Way That Fits Them and Fits You
The fourth question is: how are you going to reach that market?
There are many ways to do this. You can use Google ads, Facebook ads, Twitter ads, YouTube ads, direct mail, direct response space ads, joint ventures, affiliates, referrals, content marketing, email, forums, groups, or word of mouth.
Referral-based marketing is one of the best kinds of lead generation there is. Most of my traffic comes through referrals. But it does not usually start that way. When you are starting out, you may have to do a lot of grunt work.
The question is not, “What does some guru say I must do?” The question is, “What is the best way for me to reach this market?”
That depends on the market and on your strengths. If your market spends time in Facebook groups, maybe that is where you need to be. If they read financial newsletters, maybe you rent lists from other publishers. If they search for solutions, maybe Google ads make sense. If they trust experts in their niche, maybe joint ventures are the right path.
I do not recommend starting with something you hate and are terrible at. Eventually, you will have to learn skills you do not want to learn. That is part of business. But when you are getting started, choose a path that gives you a real chance of sticking with it.
Be careful when someone tells you there is only one way to reach customers. Most of the time, they have an agenda. They are probably selling the very thing they claim you have to do.
You have to discern your own way. I cannot tell you what your way is, just like I cannot tell you what market you should serve.
A Simple Sentence Can Reveal the Whole Business
Once you answer the four questions, you can turn the plan into one sentence.
The structure is simple:
I want to sell [market] a
, then offer those buyers [backend offer], and reach them through [traffic or distribution method].
That one sentence forces clarity. It tells you who you serve, what you sell first, what you sell next, and how you will reach them.
For example, you might say:
I want to sell men who have prostate problems an ebook about solving those problems, then offer those buyers supplements on the backend, and reach them using Facebook and Google ads.
That is a simple model. Is it the whole business? No. There would be many things to figure out after that. But it gives you a place to start.
Or you might say:
I want to sell freelance copywriters a low-ticket membership site that helps them close more clients, then offer those buyers high-ticket consulting and workshops on the backend, and reach them by networking in Facebook groups.
That sentence gives you a market, a front-end offer, a backend offer, and a way to reach people.
Another version might be:
I want to sell single mothers a video teaching them where to find expensive brand-name clothing cheap and resell it at a profit, then offer one-on-one coaching on the backend, and reach them through paid ads on Reddit, Facebook groups, and forums where they already spend time.
You could apply the same structure to dating, skin care, fitness, investing, golf, pain management, home security, or almost any real market where people already spend money.
For example, you could sell divorced men a book about getting dates, then offer testosterone supplements, style advice, and high-ticket coaching on the backend, and reach them through offline space ads, Google ads, and joint ventures.
You could sell women with acne, eczema, or other skin conditions a line of natural beauty products through an ecommerce store, then offer high-ticket coaching with trained estheticians on the backend, and reach them with Facebook ads, Google ads, referrals, and content marketing.
You could sell women a monthly membership to a live-streamed virtual spin class, then offer supplements and branded health products on the backend, and reach them through Instagram, Facebook, and content marketing.
You could sell investment advice newsletters to business executives earning at least $500,000 per year, then offer informational products about investing on the backend, and reach them by renting customer lists from other financial newsletter publishers.
You could sell 60-year-old golfers a video about how to keep playing into their nineties without debilitating pain, then offer pain-management health products on the backend, and reach them through pay-per-click ads, banner ads, and joint ventures.
None of these examples are complicated. They are not rocket science. They are not new. They are just the fundamentals.
Do Not Start With the Product
Most people start in the wrong place. They say, “I want to sell this product.” Then they go looking for someone to buy it.
That is backwards.
Start with the market. Start with the people you want to help. Start with the problem you care about. Then find or create an offer they are already inclined to buy. Sell it to them. Then sell them the next thing they need. Then figure out the best way to reach them.
That is the plan:
- Who do you want to serve?
- What do you want to sell them first?
- What will you sell buyers after that?
- How will you reach them?
If you are a novice copywriter, this can save you years of frustration. If you are a seasoned copywriter who wants out of client work, it can give you a path toward building something of your own.
You do not need a complicated business plan to get started. You need a clear market, a strong first offer, a backend path, and a way to reach the people who need what you sell.
Answer those four questions, compress them into one sentence, and you will already be ahead of most people who are still bouncing from tactic to tactic with no plan at all.