Why I Love the Bottom of the Pool

“Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.”
–Hannah More, Evangelical Philanthropist

In This Issue:

Why I Love the Bottom of the Pool
by Krista Jones

It was hard being a dreamer when I worked outside of the home. I often felt like I was wearing a pink lacey dress at a black and white cocktail party—and I don’t even like cocktail parties.

I abhorred being expected to report to work by 8:30 every morning. I’m a responsible adult who gets my work done on time and within budget. Why did I need other adults telling me where and when I was to do the work?

Sometimes I’d do exactly what I wanted to do — get up without an alarm clock, go to the gym, shower, eat breakfast, and show up at work around 9:30. (Okay, so I’d sneak in through the back door and try to make it to my office without getting caught by a gossipy co-worker. But at least I felt like I was in control.)

Try as I might to get excited about the firm winning multi-million dollar contracts, I became obsessed with the dream of copywriting freedom.

Most of the people I worked with fell into one of two categories: naysayers and wannabes.

The wannabes were miserable in their jobs, but were so entrenched in the 9-to-5 grind they wouldn’t think of looking for another way. They would say things like, “I wish I could work from home” or “I wish I could find another line of work.” But they never did anything to make that wish come true.

The naysayers, on the other hand, would shake their heads and question me about my goals.

I felt sad for the people who wanted something different but felt trapped by their circumstances. But the naysayers just plain made me angry. However, that wasn’t what bothered me the most.

The real problem with being around cynics came when I let my guard down, when I let them get inside my head. When that happened it was over; I’d end up all tied up in knots. And then the doubts would come flooding in: Who did I think I was? It was too late to make a change like this. My bills weren’t going to go away just because I was tired of trudging to work and wearing business suits every day.

So tell me, does any of this sound familiar? If so, how do you handle it?

I’ll tell you what I used to do. I would swim around in those negative emotions for hours. Just when I thought my dream was hopeless, do you know what I would do next? I would go to the bottom of the pool.

If you’ve seen the movie The Graduate you might have an idea of what I mean. If not, allow me to summarize the pool scene for you:

Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman) has recently graduated from college, and he is confused about what he wants to do with his future. The only thing he knows for sure is that he wants it to be ‘different.’ Family friends keep hounding him about his plans: some ask him what he’s going to do; others tell him what he should and shouldn’t do.

On his 21st birthday, Ben’s father gives him a scuba diving suit and demands that Ben show it off in the family pool. Ben doesn’t want to do it, but eventually relents. As his parents and their friends cheer him on, he walks out of the house in the suit and into the pool. He goes under water, but instead of coming back up to the surface, he sits on the bottom of the pool where it’s silent.

When I was confused about what I should do next, my version of sitting on the bottom of the pool was going for a long drive, sitting quietly in a park, or meditating. Sometimes I would escape for thirty minutes or so; others I’d disappear for hours or even take a full day for reflection.

Those solitary excursions always did me a world of good. I’d come out on the other side with a clear head—realizing there were no guarantees, but determined to make a go of it. And the interesting thing is, inevitably something would happen soon afterward to show me I was on the right path.

The moment I stopped resisting and got still for a while, the details that were necessary for me to be able to take my next step organized in perfect order. It was like throwing a small stone into a still pond where the resulting ripple of my intention to become a successful copywriter connected with everything else.

I don’t pretend to understand all the nuances of how it works. But I do know that getting away from the chatter and practicing stillness played a big role in my ability to move from Point A to Point B while I was transitioning into copywriting. It still helps me stay on track today.

If you’re tired of conforming or if there are people in your life who tell you you’re crazy for wanting to march to your own drum, join me at the bottom of the pool. It’s a space that is full of potential. A space that helps you restore trust in yourself.

Resource Referral: Be Your Own Client

I’ve talked to dozens of aspiring copywriters who are concerned about being able to find clients. While I believe there’s plenty of work out there for good copywriters (if nothing else because the Internet has transformed our business), another attractive option for newbie copywriters is starting their own online information products business.

While it used to be somewhat of a complicated business for new copywriters, veteran copywriter Bob Bly has made it much easier to do. Bob didn’t just read about information publishing and then write a how-to manual. He actually started his own part-time information products business last year. A business that brought in six figures within six months.

What’s interesting about what Bob has done is that he keeps his information products business simple. In fact, he follows three simple steps to run the entire business.

If you’re interested in running your own information products business, but aren’t sure how to get started, check out Bob Bly’s program called The Internet Marketing Retirement Plan.

For less than $100 you’ll learn his three easy steps to starting and running an Internet business that will bring in enough money within two years that can eliminate the need to ever work for an employer or client again. When you consider the price, the 90-day guarantee, and Bob’s reputation, there’s no reason not to give it a try.

Quick Copy Tip: For Goodness Sakes, Clean Up Your Copy

Last week I got caught in the unenviable position of putting out copy with a typo and a grammatical error in it.

A few astute Copy Protégé readers called me on it—and I’m thankful for it. I hate that it happened because, like you, I can’t stand to see mistakes. Typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors in other people’s writing seem to jump out at me. Unfortunately that’s not so for my own copy.

I’ve discovered that a big part of the problem is I get too close to my copy. If I don’t catch the error right away, the chances that I’ll catch it on the third or fourth revision get lower and lower. Sorry to say, you might find the same is true for you.

You can’t count on Spell Checker to find all of your mistakes. For instance, it doesn’t catch homonym errors like when you use “they’re” instead of “their” or “to” instead of “too.”

So what can you do to keep yourself from being in a similar embarrassing or costly position? I can think of three things:

  1. Read the copy from the bottom up. You’re more likely to catch errors if you read every sentence and every word, starting with the last sentence and working backwards.
  2. Stay alert. It’s easy to get lazy when reviewing your own copy because you’re so comfortable with it. So be mindful of that before you begin the editing and proofing process. Give yourself a little time to walk away from the piece once you finish it. That way you can look at it with fresh eyes when you come back to revise and review it.
  3. Let someone else read it. It’s easier for someone who has never seen the copy to find errors. They aren’t familiar with the piece, so they’re not anticipating the next word or sentence and are more likely to catch errors. So ask a friend to review your copy before you send it off.

I’ll be taking these pointers to heart from now on – and suggest you do the same!