Think and Grow Poor: How to Become a Starving (Yet “Brilliant”) Copywriter
In school, I sat up front and answered all the questions –even when no one asked. I slept through classes and still scored A’s.
Yes, I was the Hermione Granger-type… annoyingly smart.
For the last seven years, however, I’ve been working earnestly to erase everything I learned. Here’s why…
In the real world, my big, fat brain just got me in trouble all the time. And as a freelance copywriter in business for myself, it would be the death of me.
Academic-types suck at business and die penniless for many reasons, but these are the worse…
- They can’t help but correct people when they blurt out wrong information.
- Their patience thins easily around people “dumber” than them. (Instead of helping them and getting paid well for it).
- They get lost in theory and research, and never actually DO anything.
- They always manage to come up with great excuses for #3.
I’m not completely “fixed” yet. Those “smart people traps” still hurt me every once in a while… but at least I’ve denounced them.
So what does this mean for your copywriting career?
Good question.
Since getting a real job in the corporate world and working with thousands of people, I realized something…
You don’t have to be smart to get sucked into these “smart people traps.” In fact, many people suffer from them!
You can lose patience with your prospective copywriting clients when they don’t “get” direct response copywriting.
You can drown in research for your sales letter and never sit down to write it. (There’s always that one elusive sales copy nugget out there…)
You can make up Mission Impossible scenarios on why you’re not promoting your copywriting skills enough or asking for the fees you deserve.
Do whatever you can to break out of these “smart people traps” immediately. Your wallet will thank you for it.
Rewiring my brain since 2001,
Colin Y.J. Chung | REALITYcopywriting.com
P.S. Are you plagued by any of these “smart people traps”? Tell us about it. Please leave it in the comment box…
P.P.S. Stay tuned! Tomorrow, we’ll launch REALITYcopywriting TV. John and his 20-month old son, Jonah, are producing a six-minute video on how to make exclamation marks conversational in you copy.
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4 Responses to “Think and Grow Poor: How to Become a Starving (Yet “Brilliant”) Copywriter”
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October 23rd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Hi Colin,
Boy, your post sure was a whack on the side of the head for this ‘ole “overachiever!”
I call item 3 “analysis paralysis.”
And I’ve I’m so smart, why haven’t I noticed myself doing number 4? I don’t do that, do I?
- Rachel
October 23rd, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Yes indeed, I am forever trapped in #3! Funny how staying busy doesn’t really mean I’m putting any money in the bank! And, I’m one of those guys that has a “coming soon” message on my website. Promo letter? Brochure? Elevator pitch? Are you kidding!? I’m too busy “thinking about” getting started. We call that research!
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Eh hm… well, who’d have thought I could blame my #1 on being “smart” …
And to think I came within inches of chucking in the whole copywriting business when a client told me that I DIDN’T GET how to write the BIG IDEA… (I won’t mention that they were a direct mail firm writing to a very niche market.)
To a degree I don’t blame a customer for being picky about price - they expect proof of ROI… and I am not “proven” in a way that I can say; “Yes, I created this many sales increases, my copy brought this many results for this client…bla bla…”
Thanks for making me feel normal… maybe now I can stop criticising myself.
Cheers,
Terri
October 27th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Your post certainly hits home. I work on a university campus for my day job and deal with academia every day. One of my close friends has a masters degree in writing and is constantly cutting apart my copy. He saw what I was doing online and decided to become a freelance copywriter when he graduated. He failed miserably at it as he kept speaking down to his clients and writing his copy as if he was writing an ad for a thesis. I don’t think any of his clients ever made any money from his copy nor visitors from the content he wrote. Luckily, he now has a job working for the university here. It’s the only kind of writing I think is suited for him.
Good post
Jim