Are You Good Enough?

“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more self-confident and more successful.”
–Mark Victor Hansen, keynote speaker, author, and marketer

In This Issue:

Are You Good Enough?
by Krista Jones

One of the questions we often hear from readers is: How do I know when I’m good enough to start pursuing clients?

Unfortunately, there’s no magic formula Monica or I can give you to answer that question. It would be great if we could say you’ll be ready when you complete AWAI’s basic copywriting course. Or you’ll be a shoo-in after you’ve put in 250 hours of study.

Of course, I can’t say either of those things. Knowing when you’re ready is a subjective decision that only you can make. And just know that no matter when you start marketing your services, you’re going to have bouts of self-doubt.

I realize that is not what you want to hear, but the truth is it’s going to be scary whether you start marketing soon after you start learning the craft or you wait until your skills are polished.

The good news is, like all things, the fear and doubt that you feel now will pass. What’s more, your copy doesn’t have to be top-notch right off the bat…

As a client explained to me when I was starting out, no one expects your first effort to be a homerun. Even the most successful copywriters don’t write blockbuster promotions every time—they just consistently write solid performers that make money for their clients. He said, “Shoot for one out of three promotions becoming a control—a promotion the client will be able to use over and over, and you’ll do well.”

That means you shouldn’t panic if your first assignment doesn’t do so well. You’ll still be able to work in the industry…and your career can still be a tremendous success. But you should, after licking your wounds, learn absolutely everything you can from the experience before trying again. With each assignment, you’ll get better and better, and more and more confident.

If you’re at the point where you’re questioning if you’re ready to start pursuing clients, my guess is it’s time to get your feet wet. Why? Because it likely means you’ve been studying and writing for a while, and you’ve received positive feedback.

As you get started, here are five tips that will help you squelch the self-doubt and mind games that go along with the pursuit:

  1. Continue to work hard at the craft. Be a total student of direct response.
  2. Be modest in your promises to the client. Don’t tell him you will beat his control. Tell him you will write the strongest package you can that you feel has the best chance of beating the control.
  3. Start with what you know or what you love. Concentrate your initial marketing efforts in areas where you have a strong interest or some prior experience. As I’ve said before if you have a strong interest, you will be more enthusiastic, and when enthusiasm shows in your writing, the client will spot it and appreciate it.
  4. Start small. Don’t go for the big direct response companies right away. Look for smaller businesses that just want a writer and don’t care so much about samples, credentials, or track record. These clients most likely just want decent, clean copy. Of course, they will have smaller budgets than bigger direct response companies, but it’s a good place to start.
  5. Get a mentor or at a minimum a “copy buddy.” I was very nervous about starting out, but wanted to start landing clients as quickly as possible so I could leave my job. So I hired a coach, and it made it a tremendous difference in my confidence. If you don’t want to or can’t hire a mentor, find a copy buddy who will give you a second opinion on your copy before you send it to the client. This will give you greater confidence in the copy you submit.

Ready to get started? Check out today’s quick tip for a few suggestions on how you can approach your first clients. Happy prospecting!

P.S. We have launched the first groups in the Copy Protégé Mentoring Program. We have a waiting list, and are accepting people into the program as space becomes available. If you’re interested in having Monica or me as a mentor, please send a sample (headline and lead—no more than two pages) and your goals over the next three to six months – and we’ll put you on the waiting list and notify you as spaces become available.

Resource Referral: Develop a Mindset for Success

Lack of confidence is one of the biggest factors that can keep you from getting your copywriting business off the ground. But if you build your self-confidence, you can virtually eliminate all the mind games and false starts.

The wonderful thing about self-confidence is it’s an attitude you can learn. Here are three audio programs that helped me build self-confidence as I built my copywriting career:

  1. Hypno-Peripheral Processing (HPP)—The Quest for Excellence: HPP is a dynamic technology that combines relaxing music and two separate stories into a pattern of suggestions that gently overloads your conscious mind and accesses a state where your mind is most open to suggestion. As the stories progress, words combine from each story into hidden suggestions that are perceived by your subconscious mind, resulting in spontaneous changes in thinking, feeling, and behavior.
  2. NLP: The New Technology of Achievement: Basically, Neuro-linguistic Programming is a personal development system that provides a completely new way of thinking. The result? It’s a lot easier to achieve even your biggest goals.
  3. The Science of Self-Confidence: According to Brian Tracy, this may be the most important program he has ever produced. The principles he teaches in this program help you develop an unshakable level of self-confidence.

Any one of these programs can do wonders for helping you start marketing yourself effectively. Click on the links above to see which one is best suited for you.

Quick Tip: Five Ways to Approach Clients When You Are Starting Out

If you’re ready to start pursuing clients, but you’re nervous about getting started, it will help if you find a marketing technique you feel comfortable with.

There are plenty of different approaches you can take. To give you some ideas, here are five techniques other copywriters have used to land their first clients: