⚠ Why being a good copywriter can sabotage your success

Being good isn't the only thing you need to get your head around!

Jul 22, 2022

Hi, it’s Les.

At first glance, today’s newsletter headline might not seem to make sense, but it’s 100% on the money, and I’ll explain why.

Talking of money, I'm assuming that, in addition to all the other benefits you get as a successful copywriter (lifestyle, job security, self-respect) that making money comes pretty high up your list of priorities. It does? Good, it should.

Here are 3 types of copywriters, which one are you?

When it comes to measuring the money part of your success as a copywriter, I see writers who fall into 3 distinct camps:

Copywriters who struggle away for years writing for pennies and never truly attaining the level of income they need to sustain the lifestyle they truly deserve.
Copywriters who struggle to land clients despite being excellent writers, and therefore they don’t make a good income.
Copywriters who “get it” are deliberate about achieving success and set out their stall accordingly.

Yes, but what makes the 3 types of copywriters so different, I hear you say?

Glad you asked.

Let’s put a name to the faces and call them Copywriter John, Bill, and Tony.

John’s approach gets work, but…

John has never really invested in himself. He learned his copywriting in a Reddit forum where everything was free, and he got an idea of how to land clients and what to charge.

He can see from the posts in the forum that copywriters are struggling, so he’s happy to take what he can get.

Obviously, there’s no way he can put his prices up from 2 cents a word; he just wouldn’t get the work anymore, there’s too much competition. But at least he can spend a couple of hours a day in the forum with like-minded (albeit lowly paid) copywriters.

Bill’s view of the copywriting world

Bill has worked hard. He’s done several courses, and by now, he sees himself as a pretty shit hot copywriter.

He can string together a sales page or blog post that ticks all the boxes, his headlines are amazing, and he can nail a convincing call to action.

Not only that, he has also spent hundreds on a fancy website and put up some amazing samples that show off his prowess. Not actually written for clients, but he knows that’s fine at the start, as long as you wrote it, it’s your work.

It’s been 6 months now since he started out to become a copywriter, he’s invested $1,000’s in himself, but there’s a problem, he hasn’t written for a single paying client yet…

Zero ROI (return on investment).

Tony on the other hand

Your first impression of Tony is that he’s a bit slapdash. He’s far from being a perfectionist, but he gets things done.

He’s done one solid copywriting course, and within the first month of starting, he wrote a couple of low-paid pieces for pretty crappy clients.

He’s a decent copywriter, though not on Bill’s level, but he hasn’t let that hold him back.

Over the months, he’s pushed up his rates, and 6 months in, he’s making a good living.

He still feels guilty about having his samples in Google Docs, but he’ll get around to that website one day…

Mindset & approach

Okay, 3 very different copywriters in 3 very different spaces, but what’s really going on here.

Interestingly, each of our 3 copywriters has issues, but for different reasons.

John has probably the worst mindset you could have for any business, not just copywriting!

He’s a cheapskate.

He belongs to the “it’s all available for free on the interwebs, so why should I pay for anything” school of thought.

He’s listening to people, but all the wrong people.

He’ll never elevate his business to the level of making a decent income, or at least not without working himself to a standstill aka burnout - BIG PROBLEM!

Bill is prepared to invest in himself. He recognizes that he can learn copywriting from the expert copywriters that have gone before him, and he’s prepared to pay to learn a proven method of writing outstanding copy.

At school, he would be considered the classroom “swot” or the guy who gets all his homework done and in on time.

But Bill hates marketing himself. He has an almost “build it and they will come” attitude.

But so far, his approach has brought him, well…crickets (sound effect).

Tony gets on with it and, although he knows he needs a certain amount of knowledge to succeed, he presses on. One course was enough to get him started.

He gets impatient if he doesn’t see results, and he tends not to overthink things. He’s more than prepared to take a risk.

He’s curious to see how far he can push up his prices before hitting his ceiling.

Tony’s problem is that he doesn’t like admin because it slows him down. What if he misses a deadline or two, it happens?

Which copywriter are you?

So, looking at John, Bill, and Tony - where do you fit on the spectrum?

None of them is perfect.

John is writing for peanuts, Bill isn’t getting himself out there, and Tony is seeing success but heading for trouble.

My take?

Don’t be a John, he’s doing nothing smart, and he’s going nowhere until he turns his mindset and approach around 180 degrees. He needs to invest in himself and follow in the footsteps of someone who has made a good living from copywriting, NOT waste his time in a group designed to massage and validate a failure mindset.
Bill has a lot going for him. He’s prepared to put in the work and just needs to get himself out there. So much of success in copywriting is about letting clients know you exist! If they don’t know you can help them, how can they hire you?
Tony gets himself out there and gets the job done. This is good. Unfortunately, over time, it’s likely he won’t hold it together as running the admin side of his copywriting business and his lack of attention to detail will be his downfall. He'll get overwhelmed, build a bad reputation for himself, and, ultimately, quit.

So, my formula for copywriting success…