Do You Suffer from Individualism?
By Roy Furr

It's AWAI Member Roy Furr again, and I'm back with another little lesson in what it takes to live the life you dream of as a freelance copywriter.

Today's lesson is a bit painful for me to discuss.

You see, I've come to realize I'm quite the individualist.

What do I mean? Well, I don't take direction well. I like to rely on my own discoveries instead of getting help from others. I blaze my own trail.

Others – those with better sense than I – may call it stubbornness.

But individualist sounds far more romantic!

Philosophical musings aside, my individualistic tendencies can actually be harmful in certain circumstances. And if you have them too … Which I'm willing to place a rather large wager on as you're reading an email about being a freelance copywriter … They can actually work against your success – unless you know when to ignore them in favor of getting help.

Let me explain …

Here's when individualism is helpful.

If you want to quit your job and start a successful entrepreneurial endeavor – whether it's becoming a freelance copywriter or starting a world-changing software company like Bill Gates – you need to have some individualist tendencies.

You need to laugh in the face of doubters. You need to believe in yourself. And you need to thrive on doing things your own way.

Following the crowd leads to average, everyday results. To mediocrity.

But bucking the trend and doing your own thing is how true breakthroughs are achieved. Breakthroughs in life. In business. In everything you do.

So simply going out on your own – and doing it successfully – requires you to have some level of individualism.

But here's when individualism can hold you back.

If you do your own thing in the wrong places, individualism can get you into trouble.

For example, if you insist on being an individualist when it comes to peer reviews and feedback from your copy chief, you may form a bad reputation as not taking criticism well – and this will ensure they don't bring you back for another project.

If you insist on not applying direct response best practices and basic principles when writing a sales letter – and instead you insist on being "completely original and creative" in your approach – your results may suffer and your clients may never hire you again.

And if you insist on blazing your own trail in starting your business instead of following in the paths of the successful freelance copywriters who've come before you, your success will likely be a much bigger struggle than it needs to be!

And that leads me to an important point about …

The most important time to turn off individualism!

If you're really serious about success, there are a few times when it's critical to be confident as an individualist. For example, that moment when you tell your boss, "I quit!"

But then there are some times when it's incredibly important to be humble and admit that you'll be better served by following in someone else's footsteps.

For example, I've found there is one reason I consistently set aside my individualist leanings and reach out to others in the industry for help, and I've explained it in this article.

Following the advice I share gets you more and better clients, has you writing better copy, and even helps you feel more fulfilled as a person – I know it sounds grandiose, but it all makes sense when you read the article.

Another reason to reach out for help is to stand on the shoulders of giants who come before us.

When we're getting started, we have no experience or knowledge on which to build our success. There are so many things we don't know! And we can spend years figuring them out on our own, or we can shortcut the whole process by learning from others.

For example, if you want to quit your job with confidence to start living the writer’s life, and aren't quite sure how – you'll want to read this letter I wrote. It explains the secrets I discovered to doing it successfully, and how to apply them in your life. This is one opportunity to take advantage of what others have learned in blazing the trail before you.

In fact, by following along with what I tell you in that letter, you can get from wherever you are to the freedom, independence, and financial rewards of the writer’s life faster than you can dream possible.

I challenge you to prove me wrong!

P.S. The letter I've linked you to above about the expanded and updated version of Making the Leap – the program from AWAI that shows you how to start living the writer’s life. Following this program was one of the smartest things I did in terms of reaching out for help in starting my copywriting business – and now it's been updated to be more helpful than ever.

If you've been working on a journal toward your success, I recommend this one big thing for today. Think about where you might be helped by reaching out to others. It could be in making connections with other copywriters. Or it could be in finding the right resources, like Making the Leap, to help you in the process of launching your freelance career. Spend some time thinking about where you might need help and where you could get it – and write this down in your journal.