When the Samantha Brick women-hate-me-because-I’m-beautiful story broke, I didn’t even know who this woman was. So I Googled her and read her original story on the Daily Mail Web site, along with several other contributions she has made to that online publication.

Although Samantha Brick is a very good writer, every article she crafts is filled with vapid, arrogant and delusional opinions of herself and the world around her.

Never once did she connect with me, her reader, on a heartfelt or personal level. Because of this, even when she was describing a situation where she was about to step off a metaphorical cliff, I didn’t want to give her a hand to hold onto – I wanted to give her a little shove in the back to speed her demise!

Therein lies the lesson for copywriters everywhere.

Copywriting is about Connecting

Copywriting is about connecting. Every product datasheet, case study, article, white paper, press release or advertisement is designed to connect a prospect to a product or service by evoking an emotional response that prompts action.

If you write marketing materials like Samantha Brick writes personal essays, instead of engaging the potential client, you’re more likely to piss them off. While Samantha Brick has proven that pissing people off is a very effective way to generate negative publicity, it’s not a very effective method for helping your clients make sales.

That being said, stirring up a bit of controversy isn’t necessarily a bad thing if your goal is to start a conversation. Unless you’re Samantha Brick and the only conversation you’re interested in is the one about you.

Copywriter Confession: Samantha Brick, we don’t hate you because you’re beautiful. We dislike you because you are a shallow narcissist. And from one writer to another, I want to say that your personal essay writing would be so much stronger if you stepped off your high horse once in a while.

 

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Once upon a time, I was a naive newbie freelancer with more spare time than paying projects and a willingness to offer a bit of free consulting to land a new client. So, when a prospect asked me to give him some marketing recommendations for a new business that he wanted to start, I eagerly scheduled a conference call so he could get me up-to-speed on his ideas through something he called a “brain dump.”

Although I didn’t know it at the time, “brain dump” is code for: “I have a bunch of incomplete, unconnected and poorly-developed thoughts swirling around in my brain and I want you to listen without interrupting while I dump them in your lap. If you ask me questions, I don’t be able to answer them. And if you make any suggestions, I’ll find excuses why they won’t work.”

Two hours later, the prospect decided that, even though I had some good ideas, they weren’t what he was looking for. When I asked him what, exactly, he WAS looking for, he couldn’t tell me. “Let me think this through a bit more,” he said, “and I’ll get back to you.” Much to my relief, he never did.

But my “brain dump” lesson was only half over.

A Brain Dump is a Brain Dump

Flash forward two years. Business had picked up, but I still offered the occasional free consult to referrals from existing clients. This time, the prospect had an established business but needed to fine tune his messaging and expand the content on his Web site. When he uttered “conference call” and “brain dump” in the same breath, I got gooseflesh.

This was an experienced businessman referred by a valued client. Surely his idea of a brain dump was different than the previous prospect. Right?

Wrong. [Cue ominous music.]

I invested another two hours of time listening to a guy who was never going to hire me as a copywriter. While he liked my ideas, he was pretty sure they weren’t right for his business. He decided he should think things through a bit more and get back to me. Which, of course, he never did.

No Pain. No Gain. No More Free Brain Dumps.

For a long time after my second brain dump lesson, I lived in fear of the phrase. I did away with the free consult concept and started charging for telephone calls. Potential clients had to pay up front if they wanted to discuss their marketing needs. This worked out well and weeded out the people who were looking for free advice – or a free sounding board.

But I couldn’t help wonder if I was missing out on an opportunity to help budding businesses while adding a new revenue stream to my freelancing services. Thus, the Brain Dump Brainstorming package was borne.

Now, instead of fearing the term “brain dump,” I welcome it. Because I have a premium consulting package designed to turn a prospect into a client and convert their ramblings into useful feedback with recommended action items.

Painful experiences are part of the human experience, whether you’re growing up or growing a freelance writing business. Learn from those experiences and use them to your advantage.

Copywriter Confession: I’ve never actually sold a Brain Dump Brainstorming service package and I’m okay with that. The key take-away here is that the next time a potential brain dumper comes my way, I’m prepared to capitalize on the opportunity!

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Photo credit goes to my good friend Bill Hinsee. This is a picture of Seattle's Space Needle on January 1, 2012. Check out Bill's photogblog at www.billhinsee.com

Happy New Year! As I wrap up loose ends from 2011 and reflect on the year I’ve had, I thought it might be helpful to share some of the copywriting business lessons I’ve learned over the last 12 months.

Lesson #1: Don’t let distractions be your downfall.

I had a lot of personal and family stress in 2011, which ended up being a constant distraction that affected my work productivity. As a freelance writer working alone, it can be hard to detach from the day-to-day drama of life. If you’re not careful, the days can easily get filled with other people’s problems rather than your client’s projects.

Focus on one aspect of your life at a time: work or home. Freelance writing takes an enormous amount of self discipline. When your non-writing life becomes overwhelming, find a way to carve out a set number of hours each day to focus exclusively on work – and refuse to let your mind wander to non-work thoughts. When those hours are over, give yourself permission to put your work aside and focus on your home or personal life. In the long run, you’ll be a more productive freelance writer and a more attentive spouse/partner/parent/friend.

Lesson #2: Prioritize your projects and plan your day.

As your business grows, you’ll likely find that there aren’t enough hours in your day to complete everything on your to-do list, even if you limit distractions. That’s why it’s important to develop a system for prioritizing your work tasks and planning your day.

Although there aren’t any hard and fast rules for prioritizing your work tasks, you’ll generally want to focus on billable writing projects during your peak hours of productivity. For me, that’s usually 8am until noon. Using this four-hour time window as an example, I might schedule 1.5 hours for a longer project and break the remaining hours into shorter segments assigned to various writing assignments. I often use the use the early morning to answer email or finish up something quick and easy and later afternoon hours to tackle busy work, such as paying bills or invoicing clients. When possible, save personal tasks, like laundry and errands, for evenings or weekends.

In the middle of my crazy 2011 year, I bought a large white board and hung it in my office. I made a project list for every client and wrote the list on my white board, using a color-coded system to prioritize tasks and milestones by due date so I have an at-a-glance visual of my current workload. I also have a column for “Today’s To-Do” list and update it each morning. Currently, my white board has nearly 30 ongoing and one-off projects-in-progress spread across nearly a dozen clients. (In case you’re wondering, that’s a heavy work backlog, even for me!) Without my white board, I’m pretty sure that some of those projects would slip through the cracks.

Lesson #3: Pay attention to procrastination.

Procrastination was a regular visitor to my copywriting business in 2011. But the more it knocked on my door, the more I tried to hide from it. Until the threat of deadlines drove me to invite procrastination in for a heart-to-heart talk.

What I discovered is that, for every project I put off, there was an underlying reason why. To move beyond procrastination, I needed to identify why I was stuck. Some examples:

Inexperience – In 2011, I had several writing assignments that were completely new to me. Frankly, since I had never written these types of documents before, I didn’t know how or where to begin. Asking my clients for additional guidance was a tremendous help. Once I better understood their objectives, it was easier to begin these unique projects.

Repetition – When you’ve been in business for several years, it sometimes seems like you’ve written everything you can on a given topic. Trying to find a fresh way to present a repeating message isn’t always easy. To overcome this challenge, I took a step back from my client’s messaging and put myself in their prospect’s shoes. If I were looking to buy XYZ, I wouldn’t care if the message was fresh as long as it resonated with my needs.

Fatigue – Chronic stress and sleep deprivation wreck havoc on creativity. In a misguided attempt to get my work done despite feeling exhausted – emotionally and physically – I pushed myself to stay in my office even when I wasn’t getting much done. But getting up earlier and spending longer hours at my desk proved to be ineffective methods for overcoming procrastination. When I recognized this, and gave myself permission to catch up on some much-needed rest and take extra time off during the holidays, I was able to start the new year with a fresh perspective – and genuine enthusiasm for my work.

Did 2011 teach you any lessons about managing your copywriting business? If so, feel free to share them by adding your comment below.

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Sometimes, I have things to say that are just too secret for blog posts. That’s why I’ve created the Copywriters Club, an exclusive communication system that lets me share top secret tips with a select group of writers.

Joining the Copywriters Club is easy – and free. Just click here to subscribe to my list. (Don’t forget to confirm your subscription.)

Right away, I’ll send you my special report: 10 Top Secret Tips for Growing Your Freelance Copywriting Business.

Then, I’ll email you periodic Copywriters Club bulletins filled with tips, tricks and insider secrets for earning a living as a freelance copywriter.

As a Copywriters Club member, you’ll also get:

• Members-only special offers
• Discounts on products and services
• Automatic entry into contests and give-aways

Click here to join the Copywriters Club now.Similar Posts:

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Before I launched my freelance copywriting business, I spent three full months planning my escape from corporate America. (Four months if you count the month I spent over-thinking whether I should quit my day job . . . or not.) 

I read Peter Bowerman’s The Well-Fed Writer cover-to-cover. Twice. I built my web-based writing portfolio. I converted our rarely-used formal living room into an office. And I planned my business implementation strategy. 

My early efforts paid off. Within 90 days of starting my business, I had replaced my full time income. 

Whether you want to start a B2B copywriting business or another type of freelance writing business, there are several questions to ask yourself before quitting your day job. 

Here are my top seven: 

1.  Do you have the writing skills and talent to produce marketable content in your field?  

Reality Check: I wrote a lot of marketing copy for my day job. And it was good stuff. I was confident that other companies would agree. Can you say the same for your writing?

If not, spend time acquiring the right experience before quitting your day job. Take some writing classes. Offer your writing services for free to a non-profit organization or a friend with a small business. Hire a writing mentor. Do whatever it takes to gain the writing skills and talent to compete in your market. 

2.  Do you have the cash reserves to replace your day job income for at least four to six months? 

Reality Check: If you and your family rely on your day job paycheck to pay the bills, you MUST have at least four to six months of income stashed in a savings account. It takes time to build a clientele and project backlog so you will need to supplement your freelance income for the first several months – maybe longer. 

I ended up cashing out a small 401K account to create my cash reserves, although I wouldn’t recommend doing that if you have another savings source. But for me, this was the only choice. (Sidenote: since the recent stock market crash would have killed my account value anyway, I don’t have any regrets for putting that money toward building a business.) 

3.  Do you have the full support of your immediate family? 

Reality Check: Starting a freelance writing business is risky. There’s the real possibility that you’ll burn up your savings without getting your business off the ground. (There’s also the real possibility that you’ll be wildly successful and much, much happier as a self-employed business owner.) It is important that your immediate family, meaning your spouse or significant other who also provides an income to support your family, understands this and supports you anyway. 

I honestly believe that having the support of my family is one of the major reasons for my success. When things didn’t go quite the way I wanted, I had an entire team cheering me on. Without that support, it would have been easy to give up. 

4.  Are you prepared to burn your current employment bridge? 

Reality Check: When I quit my day job, I naively expected my current employer to be my first and best client. After all, I knew their business inside and out and they knew I produced quality content. They gave me one project before realizing that I was also seeking work from their competitors. And that was the end of the relationship. 

My market niche is very focused and very competitive. I work with several companies that sell similar software to the same group of prospects. My current clients accept that; my old employer didn’t. Whether you will be working as a freelance writer in your company’s niche or a different market, it’s important to understand that, when you quit your day job, you may be severing that tie forever. If this does happen, will you be okay with that?

5.  Have you planned your business marketing strategy? 

Reality Check: By the last day of your current job, you should have a complete marketing plan in place for quickly getting your business off the ground. As I mentioned earlier, you should have your office set up, your web site built and your online writing portfolio in place. You should also have a list of prospects to contact and your sales pitch ready. In addition, you might want to get your business bank account established and research any business license requirements in your area. Having all of these things in place before you actually launch your business will save valuable time (and money) once you become an official business owner. 

6.  Do you have the self-discipline to be self-employed? 

Reality Check: Working for yourself from home isn’t always easy. Many potential distractions will tempt you to work less and play more, or spend your most productive time doing laundry or running errands. If you want to succeed as a full time freelance writer, you need to commit a set number of hours each day to your work. And the more hours you commit to your start-up business, the greater your chances of success. 

Friends, family and even acquaintances often mistake my work-from-home lifestyle for a stay-at-home mom existence, so it’s a constant battle to set boundaries around day time commitments. Even my own kids expect me to do things for them during my designated workday. Do you have the self-discipline to make your work a priority when a million other things are vying for your time?  

7.  Can you handle the stress of self-employment?

Reality Check: Self-employment is stressful. Some months I’m buried in work and other months I run short. Deadlines constantly nip at my heels and threaten to crush my creativity. If I’m too sick to work, I don’t get paid. Same thing when I take a vacation. The constant stress associated with full time freelance writing isn’t for everyone. But if you’re like me, and overwhelmingly prefer this stress to a “real” job, start planning your escape today!Similar Posts:

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