4 Crucial Steps for Copywriting Success
Will Newman here, Managing Editor of Copywriting Insider. As we move into 2009, I have a special, two-part New Year’s gift for you.
The first part is my very sincere, heartfelt wish for your success this year. I want 2009 to be the year you get your career bustling and bringing you as much professional work as you can handle.
The second part of my New Year’s gift is my four crucial steps for success. They’ve had a tremendous impact on my life. And I promise you, if you take these four steps, 2009 will be your most successful year yet!
STEP #1: Model successful people.
If you could follow a few people around the entire day, doing what they do, learning from their actions, modeling on their success, whom would you choose?
In your personal life, you’d model yourself after friends, relatives, or public figures you admire – maybe a grandparent or great grandparent who overcame extraordinary odds. For example, I try to model my personal life after my father-in-law, a gentle World War II vet who fought in Africa and Italy … and the first Mexican American in the printers union in San Francisco.
Professionally, you’d definitely want to model your work habits and every professional thing you do after the super-successful copywriters you know and admire.
Many times, however, the people we end up modeling are not the ones we should. We listen to friends and family who want the best for us. But they also want to talk to us on the phone when we should be writing. Or they want us to go shopping with them to help them pick out a fly rod.
You love your family and friends, but they’re not necessarily the ones you should be modeling. So once again, your first step this year is to resolve to model only successful people.
STEP #2: Finally get control of your time.
How can he do it? How can Michael Masterson find the time to be a master copywriter? And the author of 10 best-selling books on entrepreneurial success? And a published fiction writer? And a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu?
The answer is this: Michael has mastered the secrets to controlling his time … and not letting time control him.
For example, if you’ve been to Bootcamp or read Michael’s articles about time management and productivity, you know he’s very careful how often he checks his email. He knows how much of a time-sucker email is. So, he takes control of it … and doesn’t let it control him.
Taking control of your time is possibly the hardest of all the four steps. But only because so few people really understand what Michael knows about time management.
So – in keeping with step #1 – resolve to control your time so success comes to you more quickly … the way Michael Masterson does.
STEP #3: Decide on what niche is best for you.
Unfortunately, when I’ve asked copywriters who’re just starting out what niche they’ve chosen, all too often I hear this: “I want to write for financial, because it’s the most lucrative. And health. And I think I’ll try B2B, too. And fundraising seems good. I don’t want to narrow my choices.”
But there’s a huge difference between narrowing your choices and targeting your focus.
Look at all the most successful copywriters you know of. They’re all specialists. They’ve chosen one or two niches that vibrate for them. Ones they’re passionate about. Ones they understand. Ones they become experts in.
This is a basic secret of copywriting success. If you were at this year’s Bootcamp, you heard Mike Palmer say this. You’ve heard Jen Stevens and Chris Marlow say this.
And you’ve heard Michael Masterson say this.
So, for step #3, resolve that you will learn how to target your focus on the very best niches for you … niches that ensure you will be successful, faster.
STEP #4: Master the easiest, most effective self-promotion strategies.
All the high-quality AWAI programs, all the Bootcamp presentations, all the good intentions will get you nowhere if you don’t go out and promote yourself.
This one step is probably the easiest of them all. But it’s also the one few beginning copywriters take. They think it’s too hard. And so, they stay beginning copywriters for a very long time.
Self-promotion is almost effortless … when you know a few core secrets like how to build a one-time project into a long-term consultancy. Or how best to position yourself as “the expert in your field.”
And when you learn the secrets of effective self-promotion, you won’t get stuck earning the lowest fees. You’ll be able to command what you’re worth … and turn down clients who can’t afford to give it to you.
Resolve to take this fourth step to success. Learn the core secrets of easy, effective self-promotion.
So, there it is … my New Year’s gift to you. These are the four crucial steps for success you must take this year. They’ve taken me far further than I ever imagined possible. And I know they’ll super-accelerate your career.
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Good day to all of you very powerful and gifted writers. I have been doing a lot of different kinds of research into the direction to take as a new professional copywriter. I think after going through the AWAI's website & reading how exciting this career really is & the many benefits that it can bring to me as well as my family! I'm here in Columbus, Ohio looking to break into this business & to fulfill all of my aspirations. I would also like to network with other up & coming copywriters.
Eric – December 7, 2010 at 12:03 pm