Ride the Wave

“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about.”
– Henry David Thoreau, philosopher and poet

In Issue #177

Main Essay: Ride the Wave by Krista Jones

My father is a talented artist. I grew up surrounded by his paintings and renderings, in awe of his talent and creativity.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any of his artistic talent. I can’t draw, paint, do crafts, or even make my yard look good. So one of the things I like most about my job is being able to create a promotion or web page from a bunch of ideas that are floating around in my head.

It’s always exciting to find something I’ve written waiting for me in my mailbox or inbox. Seeing the finished piece all laid out and in color reminds me of all that it took to create it. And that generates two very different reactions, depending on how I felt when I was creating the piece.

Even though every promotion requires a lot of effort, some are quite stressful to produce, while others are not.

When I’m excited about or identify with the product I’m selling (which thankfully happens more often than not), I enjoy the creative process rather than just wanting to get the darn thing done. I lose myself in the process of creating the promotion and time disappears.

A poignant example of this happened early in my career…

A brand new client asked me to do a project that I really wanted to take on. The problem was, it was a full direct mail package that she needed in two weeks flat, and I was utterly and completely overbooked. If it would have been any other project, I would have told her that I wouldn’t be able to get to it for a month.

So what did I do? I took it on.

Let me tell you, things were pretty darn intense during those two weeks. My family and friends saw how many hours I was working so they thought I was stressed. But I felt like an arrow that was effortlessly moving toward the target. There was no struggle. No strain. Just pure enjoyment every step of the way because I was so enthusiastic about the work.

As you create your own career, remember there’s a big difference between stress and intensity. Yes, building and sculpting your business will require high energy and intensity, but that doesn’t mean it has to feel like hard work. If your “reason why” is strong enough, “working” your way toward your goal can be like riding a wave, screaming “WOO HOO!” all the way.

Resource Referral: What These Two Things Have In Common

As you probably know, Monica and I attended AWAI’s Writer’s Retreat a couple of weeks ago. Plenty of things stood out about the event, but the thing that topped my list was watching so many people’s writing improve dramatically over the course of three days. I’ve never seen anything like it.

I’m confident that, just like AWAI’s annual bootcamp, a bunch of success stories will come out of the retreat. I’ve already had a couple of people tell me they are going to win AWAI’s $10K Challenge. I love that kind of confidence and, based on the copy I reviewed, they have a good shot at doing it.

If you want to gain that kind of confidence and enthusiasm, go ahead and enroll for the 2008 Bootcamp. Just click here to learn more about it. I hope to see you there.

Quick Copy Tip: Let’s Be Perfectly Clear

At the retreat, we talked about a common misperception that I want to share with you…

Many people think copywriting is supposed to create desire for a product that the reader wouldn’t want or notice otherwise. But the truth is, copywriting is about translating the benefits of a particular product to someone who already likes and buys products like the one you’re selling.

I don’t know about you, but understanding that distinction always makes me feel better whenever I sit down to write a promotion. That’s especially true when I’m writing about a product that I’m not personally interested in.