For Young Copywriters Who Doubt Their Abilities
Sometimes young copywriters start to doubt their ability. They study and study, but wonder deep down if they can play with the big kids. My suggestion to these folks is to get some wins. Nothing builds confidence like winning. It seems obvious, but winning builds your self image as a winner. It’s not just positive thinking, or faking it until you make it. You want to build a solid self image that you are a winner no matter the outcome.
In the marketing consulting field, many young guns hesitate to pick up the phone and call prospective customers. Once in a while, someone posts that they actually made more than a few calls, and low and behold, they got some (sales) wins on the board. Next thing you know, they are unstoppable. They’ve separated their self worth from the outcome. They expect to win because they’ve won before.
When Tiger Woods was young, his father entered him in many, many tournaments he knew he could win. The idea was that over time he began to think of himself as a winner. It became ingrained in his DNA that “I will win.” Later, when he faced adversity against tougher opponents, and everyone does eventually, he was able to stay patient and hang in there because he did not doubt himself.
I think copywriting is similar. Start small and get some wins. Keep winning. Win over and over again at a level you can handle, then start to stretch. By laying down a foundation of winning, you’ll have a solid self image that you can build on for the rest of your life. So when a campaign goes sideways, and eventually one will, you’ll be able to keep tweaking it until it works.
Just focus on writing effective copy. You’ll be like Luke Skywalker shooting womp rats “back home.” And when you get your shot at the Empire, you’ll deliver.
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General Dodonna: Well, the Empire doesn’t consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they’d have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station. But the approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It’s a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you’ll have to use proton torpedoes.
Wedge Antilles (Red 2): That’s impossible! Even for a computer.
Luke: It’s not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home, they’re not much bigger than two meters.
General Dodonna: Then man your ships. And may the Force be with you.
