hey there,
This post may stir up a little controversy, so I’m going to come
right out and say it…
Maybe, just maybe you’re not cut out to be a freelance
copywriter.
Sorry, I know that’s not what you want to hear… but in many
cases – probably the majority, even – it’s true.
The life of a successful freelancer is amazing. You can earn a
great living, you can work from anywhere in the world… and the work
itself is a lot of fun…
… and that’s completely forgetting all the cool people you meet,
and all the other intangible stuff.
Yes, it’s great. I love my job.
And recently, I’ve had a few experiences with other writers that
made me realize that not everybody gets to do it – not everybody
manages to make a living at this…
… and fewer still will achieve the honest-to-goodness-riches
that make you feel like a lottery winner who writes copy for
fun.
Now I’m going to talk you through why that is…
Imagine the scene – you’ve spent months, years honing the craft.
Analyzing winning ads, writing them out by hand, seeing why they
worked…
… you’ve started writing ads of your own for mundane household
objects (believe me if you’ve never done this, NOTHING sharpens
your benefit-finding chops more than writing a salesletter about
your kitchen knives, or shower curtain or whatever)…
Maybe you’ve even hung out your own shingle, and you’re
currently deeply mired in what John Carlton calls the “shameless
whore” phase.
(You do know what that is right?)
And heck, maybe you’re getting good… really good. World class
even.
Excellent… those are all nice things.
But… (and this is a big but, so listen up)
… even if you’ve got all that in place, and you’ve worked like
crazy, you could still fail.
Know why?
Writing skill alone won’t get it done. Chops are a great thing
to have… but they’re not enough.
You also need a big juicy dollop of something else.
Know what it is?
Desire.
That raw, ugly kernel of emotion sitting in the middle of your
soul, directing you to do all kinds of crazy shit that you’d never
otherwise consider.
To become successful as a freelancer, you need to want to push
yourself… you have to KNOW that you’re going to get somewhere in
this business, or die trying.
Without that desire – without the NEED to advance yourself, to
always move forward, your career will eventually sputter and die.
You may enjoy it for a little bit, may even make some money… but
sooner or later the piper must be paid.
The funny thing is, I wasn’t even aware of that desire until
recently when I was on the phone with freelance copywriting
superstar Kevin Rogers.
Kevin’s a good friend, and we were talking about how weird it is
that some guys never seem to get off the ground in this biz, but
others take off like they’re strapped to a rocket.
At first we were stumped… I mean, why are some guys just so much
more successful than others?
But we worked out the answer by retracing our own (very similar)
paths to becoming successful writers.
It turns out that thousands of miles away from each other, and a
few years from becoming friends, both of us stumbled onto the world
of copywriting at about the same time.
And we both had the same reptile-level gut reaction:
“I’m going to learn how to do that. I don’t care what it
costs, how hard it is, or how long it takes. I’m not quitting until
I’ve got it.”
Ever feel that? The naked, unflinching need to know something…
to immerse yourself in it… to butt your head against it until
somehow, you actually begin to learn?
And begin to learn we did, with years of practice, sharpening
the blade, breaking down successful letters, and mentoring under
the best guys around.
Since that conversation a few days ago though, I’ve had the
chance to mull it over. Let my subconscious go to work
deconstructing it, and putting it back together in a way that suits
my Fisher-Price level mind.
And I’ve come to a further conclusion.
There’s another skill that’s intrinsic in almost every single
successful freelance copywriter I know. This, coupled with that
cell-level desire is what separates these people from the poor $500
a job guys languishing on Elance and places like that.
The second essential skill is Opportunism.
Great freelancers can see the big chances coming. They jump on
them with both feet, while the rest of the world snooze.
Let’s look at Kevin Rogers again.
Recently he was behind the biggest hit salesletter in Clickbank
history – Mobile Monopoly.
It was HUGE, reaching heights that most product owners don’t
even dare hope for… even becoming one of the top ten most visited
websites in the whole world for a brief period…
… but realistically, Kevin had no idea it was going to be so
big. He’s not psychic. He didn’t know the client wasn’t going to
flub the launch, or any number of other disastrous things wouldn’t
happen.
He just did the same superb job on the launch and the copy that
he always does, shook the client’s hand, and moved on to the next
one.
But when launch time came, and the world starting taking notice
of the product, and the Clickbank gravity figure began its meteoric
rise, Kevin made some very astute judgement calls. In fact, what he
really did was start jumping on opportunities.
He immediately put together and launched a new copywriting site
– LaunchCopyGurus.com…
Then he went to work letting the world know that he was the guy
responsible for one of the biggest salesletters/launches of all
time…
The coup de grace?
Kevin also put together a screen capture video, breaking down
EXACTLY what made this letter and this launch so special… and that
video very quickly started making the rounds on the various
marketing forums.
Smart moves indeed, and moves that have no doubt helped him book
an extra few spaces in his calendar, and probably already put money
in his pocket – money that wouldn’t have been there if he hadn’t
acted on this.
And that’s the real secret ingredient – the ability to spot and
act on a great opportunity. It’s also something shared by savvy
business people the world over.
In fact, to become a successful freelancer, you need to be a
smart business person too. Somebody needs to steer the boat, and if
you’re a one-man shop, by default that somebody is you.
So let me ask you a question…
Would you have done the same in Kevin’s shoes?
Do you recognize a fat-with-cash opportunity when it taps your
shoulder?
Most people can’t. They’re too busy getting through the day to
day. They’re stuck in the engine room, stoking the furnace to make
the ship move. They don’t have time to steer the damned thing
too.
If you CAN see opportunity coming though, my advice is to act on
it every single time. The rewards will far outweigh the failures…
and the failures will provide lessons that are every bit as
valuable.
So there you are – the two vital, yet intangible qualities that
are exhibited by every copywriter worth his or her salt.
Tell me – when was the last time you jumped on an opportunity?
And if you didn’t jump on it, why not?
I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.
To the blank page,
-David
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