As you know, I make music. And as you can imagine, because I throw myself at it with the same passion and fervor as I’ve used to grow my marketing career, I’m always reading and learning a ton about it.
There’s a site I was recently turned on to called The Recording Revolution. And on that site the other day, there was a post about blissful ignorance.
And I think the lesson taught there applies equally to copywriting.
In fact, if you follow it through to its logical conclusion, simply reading MY emails may be doing you harm! (Uh oh!)
See if this sounds familiar.
“I want to get started as a copywriter, but… I want to go after those bigger clients, but… I want to write that sales letter that will completely change my life, but… I want to [insert whatever really important next step you want here], but…
“I don’t feel like I’m ready to do that yet.”
And so you read more. Study more. Learn more. And as you learn you come to a startling realization…
The more you know, the more you start to know how much you don’t know.
In fact, the more you learn, the more you can turn around and look at your recent work and see just how bad it is.
I know this has happened to me, many times. I look back at my writing from weeks or months ago — especially when I’ve recently had a big breakthrough — and realize just how bad it was.
When I look at some of my early work as a copywriter — or, egads, my writing from before I learned copy — I’m a bit embarrassed!
And here’s the dangerous part — this realization can be completely paralyzing!
And here’s a dirty little secret about the “learn copywriting” field…
There are a ton of folks who will never get to this point — where they’re able to be embarrassed about their past work…
Because they’re so scared of failure (or success) that they’re stuck in inaction.
And the more they learn about how to write copy, the more they realize how inadequate they are…
So they get stuck in perpetual “student” mode…
Never doing…
Until finally they give up.
I don’t want this for you… Whether we’re talking about simply getting started, or doing the hard thing you gotta do to hit your next big breakthrough…
And so I’d like to offer you a prescription for the same recommendation as that blog post I mentioned earlier…
Blissful ignorance.
If you want to succeed, you have to start. And if you want to start, you have to recognize that there are things you don’t know — and be okay with that.
There is always more to learn, more to know, more skills to develop.
In copywriting, marketing, or anything else.
And it’s good to always be learning and developing. But you can’t let that stop you from doing.
If you can get inside the head of your reader and prospect, you do NOT have to be a pro to get amazing results.
In Denny Hatch’s book Method Marketing, he tells the stories of a couple copywriters who weren’t — who created some amazing successes.
The book is about getting inside the head of the prospect. If you have any experience in acting or drama (or have studied it at all), you may be familiar with the book’s namesake — Method Acting.
A couple quick stories of folks who were so inside the head of their readers and prospects, that no formal “copywriting” skill was required.
First the story of Carol Farkas, a volunteer at the nonprofit Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York.
She sat down and in essence copied out a chain letter. But rather than sending all the money to the people who’ve sent the letter around, she asked 10 recipients to send a $10 check to the hospital (no matter their means), and to send a copy of the letter on their letterhead to 10 of their friends and contacts.
Over 14,000 checks and $251,000 in donations later, the hospital was reeling, distancing itself from Farkas. They didn’t want anything to do with the “chain letter” — it was unbecoming, they thought.
That aside, what happened was clear. Farkas — NOT a copywriter — had generated 14,000 responses and $251,000 in donations as a result of sending 10 letters. What a response rate!
One more quick story. Robert Shnayerson, former editor for Harper’s magazine, had resigned after a management change left his work in shambles. He decided to start his own magazine, called QUEST/77.
After hiring a bunch of so-called “Pro” copywriters to help him launch his publication, he was left with a pile of sales letters he felt didn’t capture the essence of this new publication. Letters he felt missed the mark, not only to what the magazine was, but to what its potential readers would want.
Again, Shnayerson was NOT a copywriter. But he decided to give it a go. And knowing the product and the audience, he sat down to write a six-page letter, saying what he thought needed to be said.
The consultants around him snickered that an editor was trying to do a job that should be left to the real professional copywriters.
His letter broke every official copywriting rule in the book.
And then when they tested it, it pulled 6%. It was unbeatable for four years, and pulled in over 600,000 subscribers.
Why? Not because he was a “great” copywriter or knew all he needed to know to get started.
Rather, because he approached the task with blissful ignorance of what “should” be done, and did what he needed to do. The same with Farkas, who hadn’t even gotten permission to send her letter.
You don’t need to get good to get started… But you do need to get started to get good.
Here’s a little secret, and part of why I always say the most important thing a new copywriter can do is to get their first client…
You don’t get good by preparing. You get good by doing. Reading another book, going through another program, or attending another seminar won’t get you any closer to starting. Yes, they’ll be beneficial if you’re already going for it. But they won’t get you any more ready to start.
You simply have to start.
If you are committed to starting — or taking real action toward that next big step — you might want to consider having unlimited coaching access to me for the next 12 months. And this week only (until Friday 9/5 at midnight or until I shut it down early), you also get FREE admission to my Advanced Direct Response Copywriting Workshop in Lincoln, NE in November with your coaching spot. The details are at the very bottom of the letter describing the workshop. Click here and scroll to the bottom for full details.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
