How often do you do something BECAUSE it’s the uncomfortable thing?
I’ve been diving deep into Stoicism recently. The school of practical philosophy out of ancient Greece and Rome that continues to influence highly-successful people over 2,200 years after it was first discussed on a porch in Athens…
And one of the brutal human truths the Stoics came back to, over and over again, was the necessity of getting comfortable doing uncomfortable things, to live a good life.
That is, if you run away any time life gets hard, you WILL NOT lead a good life. You’ll lead a life of fear. You’ll lead a life where your success and happiness — or lack thereof — is constantly dictated by how you avoid obstacles.
The title of Ryan Holiday’s book, The Obstacle is The Way, speaks to the opposite perspective from Stoicism.
You must be willing to take on challenges and obstacles, and do the uncomfortable thing, if you have any wish of moving forward. Not that everything you want to accomplish must necessarily be hard, or fraught with obstacles. But that if you are unwilling to overcome obstacles, you’ll never accomplish what you wish.
I still remember my first big investment in my copywriting career…
Note: this is after spending years reading books and doing home study programs. Plus, I’d managed to land and succeed in a marketing job, and had developed a solid four years’ worth of experience in marketing. I’d even taken on a few freelance clients.
But I was coming to a critical jumping-off point.
My wife was completing her Ph.D. program in Oregon. We had a cross-country move coming up, within the next 9 months or so.
As comfortable as I’d grown in my entrepreneurial marketing and sales job working for an IT publisher… I knew that when we moved, I was ready.
I was ready to become a full-time freelance copywriter.
I was ready to be an entrepreneur.
And although I’d officially incorporated my business two years prior, I was ready to finally turn my own business into my primary employer.
But I had a problem.
I’d developed a trickling demand for my copywriting services. I’d garnered some reputation as an up-and-comer, among a very small group.
But I really needed an extra boost to make sure I’d be successful out of the gate.
After all, just a few months before, we’d had our first son. My wife had a sweet gig in her Ph.D. program — no tuition bill, plus a small stipend. But it wasn’t enough for our small family to get by. And after the move, she’d have a 12-month internship that only offered a modest pay raise.
I had the proverbial “gun to my head.”
If I was going to launch my copywriting career, I needed to go to where the opportunity was.
So I committed to investing thousands in my future…
It was uncomfortable — to the extreme. I even had to write my wife “a sales letter” to convince her to let me invest the money in my future.
But I made a decision.
The ONLY place I knew where I could go and meet with the kind of marketers who’d hire me for direct response projects was the AWAI Bootcamp.
I wasn’t even going for the presentations — as valuable as I knew they would be. I was going to connect with a base of potential clients, who I could try to get projects with when I quit my full-time job.
It was a big risk.
It wasn’t guaranteed.
In fact, it was even likely I’d get turned down and NOT hired by most of the marketers.
But I had to give it a shot. I had to invest in myself. Because I sensed something that I know today to be 100% true — once I’ve invested in myself, I will work my butt off to make it pay off.
Investing in yourself is an OBSTACLE — and making a big investment in yourself is UNCOMFORTABLE.
What does that tell you?
Well, some of that is a healthy discomfort.
You should be careful with your investments. You should carefully reason through your decision.
But ultimately, YOU DO NOT KNOW THE FUTURE.
You will never know if any investment will pay off until you DO IT.
So use your discomfort as motivation to do a reasonable level of due diligence.
Then, pull the freaking trigger.
Once you see the opportunity that lies beyond the obstacle, dive in.
Depending on where you’re at, this might mean you need to invest in your first AWAI Bootcamp, like I did in 2009 (leading to my official “launch” into freelancing three months and three days later).
If you’re an up-and-coming financial/investment copywriter, it may also mean you need to plunk down a significant investment to join me in Lincoln, NE at the end of September…
If you’re a financial copywriter, this uncomfortable decision could be a huge leap forward for you…
If you’re in the position where you need to make this investment, it will likely be uncomfortable for you to do so. However, for the right writers, it will fall under the category of “The obstacle is the way.”
There’s no official sales page for this.
It requires an application and a discussion with me, one-on-one, to determine if you are a fit. Plus I’ll have to see copy you’ve written, to ensure that you’re qualified.
There will be no cameras. No recordings will be made.
I’ll be doing a private training session for up to six up-and-coming financial copywriters. You’ll hear the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the financial markets since 2008 — and how to write CONTROLS for financial publishers that will fill your schedule with as much work as you can handle.
If you’re currently earning anywhere from $2,000-$10,000 per promotion, this could quickly double your per-project fee. (I’ve been at $20,000 per project for a while now, and turn down work.)
Plus I’ll make sure you understand the ins and outs of contracts and deal negotiations — as part of broader revelations on how the industry works — so you can negotiate the best deal on royalties as well.
You’ll learn what works in investment copywriting — including how market cycles impact investor psychology, and how that dictates the narratives that sell today.
You’ll learn my “greater than the sum of the parts” secrets to marketing strategy — based on what the very best investment publishers are doing — and how that can make your services as a copywriter even more valuable (increasing your fees and demand).
And you’ll get a full picture of the opportunities for financial copywriters — as they exist today.
Plus, I’ll be recruiting…
I’m in serious need of junior copywriters to complete projects for investment publishers.
They need copy. I can’t do it all myself. I’ll give you the idea. The outline. The research it’s based on. I’ll answer questions. I just need you to write a solid first draft for me.
I’ll be generous with the deal structure, and the credit. You’ll lean on my reputation to build yours. Plus you’ll get in with clients who may not otherwise give you the time of day, on your own.
And, you’ll be getting a hands-on education in effective direct response copy for what is probably the most lucrative market there is (short of using your copywriting skills to launch your own business).
Here’s where most wannabes will squirm…
This will require an investment of about $2,000 to attend the event itself. This covers my costs as well as my time and effort put into developing the content that, again, I’m not going to turn around and release via recordings the week after the event.
(Not recording will allow me to go “unfiltered” and share a few things in confidence that ARE NOT taught at any copywriting seminar, anywhere.)
If you’re a mere wannabe and this just is too much, I understand. I spent years when I wasn’t really ready to step up and have a full-time freelance career, where I would’ve flipped out over this kind of investment.
But when it was time, I made the investment. And, I actually tracked my ROI. I quickly turned my first few thousand spent on going to an event into tens of thousands of dollars I may not have had otherwise.
For the right copywriter, I expect your investment to be made back quickly. And if you’re a good fit, it will be made back in your first project with me, for my clients.
Is this the kind of uncomfortable decision that’s you should make today?
Click here to schedule a call with me to discuss the event and the opportunity…
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
