Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

“The first duty is to sacrifice to the gods and pray them to grant you the thoughts, words, and deeds likely to render your command most pleasing to the gods and to bring yourself, your friends, and your city the fullest measure of affection and glory and advantage.”
–Xenophon, author and pupil of Socrates

In This Issue:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
by Krista Jones

In the 90s I would come home from work, collect the mail, pet the dogs, and then go upstairs as quickly as possible to change out of my 9 to 5 clothes.

Once changed, I’d immediately select an outfit for the next day, iron it if need be, and lay out everything I needed for the next day.

Next I’d head downstairs, grab the dogs’ leashes and we’d go for a 45-minute romp through the open fields that bordered my townhouse. Once the dogs were spent, I’d head to the gym for my own workout.

This routine might sound mundane, but I followed it faithfully month after month, year after year.

When I started working from home, I assumed I’d be routine-free for the rest of my days. Going to bed when I want, getting up whenever I felt like it, and never again having to lay out the next day’s outfit.

But then I read an article about writers who use a pre-writing ritual every day to prime their creative pump. Well, maybe one ritual wouldn’t be so bad. After all, I had already figured out that it’s impossible to go straight from eating a bowl of Wheaties to pumping out attention-grabbing headlines so I was all for anything that would help me get past the blank page.

Unfortunately, coming up with a ritual wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. It took a few weeks of trial and error before I finally found the ONE that works for me.

HERE’S WHAT I DO

After my morning walk, I kick off my sneakers and slip into my house shoes. I pour a warm glass of water and squeeze in the juice from one-eighth of a lemon. I head up to my office, flip on my water fountain, and open the blinds. I check and answer email before I get started.

Next, I clear my desk of everything but my computer, the materials I need for the project I’m about to work on, and a couple of pens and pencils. I read—with feeling—a few affirmations that are taped near my desk, rub my lucky “inspiration” rocks, sit quietly for a minute or two, and take a few deep breaths.

Then I plunge in.

This ritual usually works like magic, but there are days when I need a little extra help in getting my mind “right.” When that happens I add in a few tried and true inspiration boosters such as listening to music and jumping around doing fist pumps and other outrageous movements.

I used to think my routine was a bit over the top. After all, I’m not writing the great American Novel. But I’ve since learned that other copywriters–even grand masters—can’t spit out winning copy on cue. They warm up too. Ted Nicholas, one of the top copywriters in the world, repeats statements like, “I’m a great writer” over and over to himself before he starts striking the keys.

BE 100% PRESENT, POSITIVE, AND PUMPED UP

No matter how much experience you have, to give your best you should take the time to get into the copywriting mindset before you start to write.

I think we have to go through this warm-up process because whether we’re a novelist or copywriter, powerful writing doesn’t come from us; it comes through us. And that happens best when we get out of our own way.

So feel yourself getting excited about the work you’ll be doing each day. Scream if you need to. Vividly visualize your success. Feel yourself literally vibrating with energy. And then get to work.

While we’re on the subject of routines, I should admit that I have a post-project routine as well.

At the end of every big project, I file or toss everything that’s laying on and around my office, put all the books back on my shelves, and dust my desk and file cabinets. Then I sit in the clean space I’ve created, and delight in the fact that the project is complete and I can let it go. Content that I’m ready to take on my next big project (likely starting the next morning), I turn off my desk light and head outside for a walk or a hike.

I’ll be invoking that ritual tomorrow afternoon for a project I’ve been working on for the past three weeks. Right now my office is a total mess, but I’ve got the Pledge and dust rag on standby. And now that spring is here, I think I’ll skip the walk, jump on my bike and head for the trails. Boy, am I looking forward to it!

Resource Referral: How Much Should You Charge?

Last week, a couple of readers asked me how they could figure how much they should charge for their services. That’s something I also struggled with for the first few years of my career. Then I got a copy of Chris Marlow’s 2005 Freelance Copywriter Fee and Compensation Survey and those worries flew by the wayside.

Bob Bly said Chris’s survey is “the most useful analysis of freelance copywriting fees and compensation I have seen in my 25 years in the business.” Well, I haven’t been in the industry nearly that long, but I know it has certainly helped me more times than I can count.

And now Chris has added a second volume to the survey. Volume II includes fees for an additional 40 or so copywriting sectors that weren’t covered in Volume I.

If you’d like to get a glimpse of what copywriters around the country are charging for just about any type of project you’ll ever come across, I highly recommend Chris’s reports. This is a resource you’ll definitely use over and over again!

Check it out: http://www.marketerschoice.com/app/?Clk=1880062

Quick Copy Tip: Get That Body Moving!

Do you pay attention to your posture when you’re writing? Do you slump your shoulders? Slouch in the chair?

If so, do what I do when I find myself in those positions: Move!

Matter of fact, you should make it a habit to change postures often. Not only does movement help keep your writing energetic, but it is the best tonic for aching backs, arms, and hands.

I also get up out of my chair as much as possible. I pace when I’m trying to come up with good ideas. When I’m not taking notes, I walk around when I’m talking on the phone. I even keep many of the books I refer to often—including Chris Marlow’s Copywriting Survey—on the other side of the room so I have to get up to reach them.

Movement helps. Try it.