There’s no doubt, copywriting (and marketing — more on that in a later post) has been a great business for me.
One reason is the freedom and control of my schedule. Another lies with the income potential.
But there is one thing I didn’t learn until my 3rd year or so as a copywriter…and it almost cost me my whole copywriting career.
What is this one thing?
A reason why.
If you don’t have a “reason why” you’re in business as a copywriter, you are shooting yourself in the foot.
Here’s why…
It’s easy to say “I want to be a copywriter because _____”. Some people make the mistake of calling this their reason why, and it isn’t strong enough. Some people never even get this far.
So when an obstacle comes up, when things get tough in the business of copywriting (and they will, for sure)…if your reason why isn’t strong enough… you lose faith in your business and fold up shop.
A typical example of a failed “reason why” is money.
“I want to be a copywriter because I can make good money”, or a variation of that example.
First of all, money is dependent on your ability to market and sell yourself, and your reason why has to be stronger than that. Couple this with the fact that there will be times (especially in the beginning) when things can be a bit “slow” businesswise (even for superstars).
Wanting to “make money” won’t be strong enough to guide you through this obstacle.
You have to have a bigger driving purpose for wanting to be a copywriter as a chosen profession.
So what is your real driving purpose for being a copywriter?
Why is it really that you’ve chosen to become a copywriter?
If all you can come up with are superficial reasons why…perhaps you’ve chosen the wrong profession.
Here is my own reason why so you can see what has driven me through the tough times over 10 years in the business of copywriting and marketing:
“I know that business owners need me. They need me because
they get so wrapped up ‘in’ their business, they can’t objectively work ‘on’ their business in a way that can produce a dramatic breakthrough for them.
So I need to make sure I can reach every business owner I can that generates between $500k – $10MM in revenue…so in working together I’ve done my part to help elevate the success of this community of business owners as a whole.
There will be bumps in the road for sure, but they need my help.”
There you have it, my driving purpose for becoming a copywriter (and marketer).
Notice that making money is a byproduct of how well I execute my driving purpose?
So get to work people…it’s time to discover the real reason why you’re in this business.
Until the next time we look in the mirror together,
Joseph Ratliff
