đ¨ Fear, Anxiety & Doubt - Getting to Grips with your Inner Demons
Dealing with the monsters that can wreck your copywriting career
Hi, itâs Les, and welcome to the latest edition of the Copy Hero newsletter!
Today I want to help you get to grips with the single biggest roadblock thatâs holding you back from making a good living as a Copywriter.
YOU
More specifically the demons in your head!
Of all the obstacles to copywriting success Iâve encountered over the years fear, anxiety, and doubt come out tops.
And where do those particular demons live?
Right inside your head.
Now hereâs the thing.
Writing ability alone wonât get you there you MUST get your head straight.
Now, Iâm not going to deliver a motivational speech here today, but Iâm going to go into the serious subject of mindset (without all the woo woo) to try and help you.
As a side note, I never used to take this stuff seriously. Yeah yeah, more motivational crap. Iâm literally holding my hands up - I was completely wrong!
In todayâs article âFear, Anxiety, and Doubt - Getting to Grips with your Inner Demonsâ, weâll look at the reality of your personal demons.
Iâll even give you a couple of useful tips I think might help you get to grips with them, so read on...
Plus:
Video - Is a $7,000 sales page even possible.
Lesâs links - genuinely interesting & useful links.
Resource Central - insider resources to improve your copywriting.
A funny - letâs end on a high.
Fear, Anxiety & Doubt - Getting to Grips with your Inner Demons
Letâs be real here for a moment.
Everyone has feelings of fear, anxiety, and doubt (FAD), even the most seasoned Copywriter.
After 10+ years of copywriting for a living, FAD still creeps up on me from time to time. Itâs not a consistent thing anymore, but for me, thereâs one situation that kicks it in big time, and thatâs when I submit my first piece of copy to a new client.
I have no idea if theyâll like it or hate it, and that fear never goes away for me.
I donât think itâs fear of rejection as such and, letâs face it, no piece of copy is ever 100% right on the first pass. I think itâs just fear of the unknown. If the client comes back, says the copyâs good, but suggests edits, Iâm professional enough that I just get on and do them - itâs not an emotional thing anymore.
I guess itâs just uncertainty at that difficult phase of the relationship before you get to know each other.
Kinda echoes relationships in everyday life as well if you think about it.
Donât let FAD paralyze your progress
So, letâs agree that we all feel a bit of FAD now and again, that seems to be normal.
The problem comes when itâs so intense you have zero belief in yourself, you constantly worry over every aspect of your attempts at writing, and youâve convinced yourself you donât have what it takes to make it as a Copywriter.
If thatâs you, the best thing you can do is give up.
Not the advice you were expecting?
Okay, letâs dig a little deeper.
Why do you want to become a Copywriter - really, whatâs your personal why?
Do you hate your job (boss, colleagues, commuting, low pay, lack of recognition, dealing with idiots)? At least you have an income, even if itâs one you have very little control over.
Do you enjoy writing and believe you could make a career of it? Excellent, but have you ever tried working to a deadline, under pressure to get a piece of copy delivered on time even when you donât feel like writing?
Do you need the money (that was partially my why)? Nothing wrong with that. However, if youâre riddled with FAD, being successful aka making the money you need, will be a constant uphill battle and not a pleasant one.
I guess Iâm not painting the rosiest of pictures here, but I think keeping it real is important, donât you?
Okay, so if youâre prepared to knuckle down, grow a pair, and give it your best shot, here are a couple of bits of advice that may help.
Facing your fears head-on
There are some things you can do to hopefully mitigate FAD.
Bearing in mind the negative thoughts only exist in YOUR head, thatâs a good place to start (here are some tips I found online that may help).
Stop the negative âself-talk.â Be conscious of it. When you begin to think negatively, immediately force yourself to stop and reverse it into a positive. If you arenât aware and donât arrest it, you will train yourself to continue.
Practice deliberately. Over-prepare. You will need to speak to clients at some point in your copywriting journey so build confidence by practicing with friends and family. This was a big one for me at the start, Iâve done it so often now, itâs second nature.
BTW, one of the biggest issues I had at the start was knowing what questions to ask potential clients and thatâs a sure route to being insecure. My Copywriting Client Questionnaire template might help you here.
Write down your weaknesses and areas that cause the most anxiety. Make a list of actions that you can take to make these weaknesses strengths. You have to re-program your thinking.
Eliminate the need to be perfect. Perfectionism is a trait that will hold you back from taking new actions or approaches (I suffer from this).
No way am I a psychologist and probably not qualified to give you the advice you need.
My approach has always been to take the bull by the horns and force myself to get the job done.
You need to find what works for you and get to grips with your own demons, at least enough to continually be taking the next steps forward on your copywriting journey.
At least once youâre successful, the demons go away, right?
Well, yes and noâŚ
Imposter Syndrome - the Successful Copywriterâs Demon
So, whatâs imposter syndrome, hereâs a definition that sums it up nicely:
Imposter syndrome is defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. It disproportionately affects high-achieving people, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments. Many question whether they're deserving of accolades. (Credit Harvard Business review)
So, as you can see, itâs likely youâll never be completely free of FAD, no matter how successful you become.
The best advice I can give is to recognize FAD for what it is. Being aware of a problem is the first step on the road to solving it, or at least making it bearable.
Deal with FAD, mitigate it, do what you can to make it manageable.
Thatâs about the best you can hope for.
And, if you can then ignore my advice above about quitting youâll do just fine.
đą Is a $7,000 sales page even possible?
If I were to say to you that you could get paid $7,000 for writing a single sales page what would your reaction be?
Shock, no way, yes way, I need to be convincedâŚwhat?
Check out this video I made for my YouTube channel to discover the reality it also gives you the lowdown on writing some other forms of copy.
Lesâs links
Thereâs so much information available on copywriting - some of it great but much of it rubbish that can delay your progress or even halt it altogether.
In âLesâs linksâ, I link you out to some genuinely useful or interesting content.
This is the kind of material I read, and I think might interest you as well.
Current copywriting trends
Hereâs an interesting article I found on current trends in copywriting - 6 items, short, sweet, and to the point.:
The best Copywriters of all time
You know I donât advise you to get hung up on the old masters of copywriting - too much study can lead to procrastination when you should be âfailing forwardâ. With that said, who are considered the best Copywriters ever - hereâs one opinion
Resource Central
One of the most important things to get right when writing for money is accuracy.
Submitting copy thatâs full of errors is unprofessional and doesnât make for happy clients or repeat business.
Fortunately, there are tools to help you, and if you use Google Chrome, you need to install the free Grammarly extension, hereâs the link:
Funnies
I hope you enjoyed this edition - look out for more good stuff coming to your inbox soon!