Q. For a long time now, I have been “stalling and not calling” and I know it is from fear. Not fear from cold calling – Back for Seconds took care of that nicely, thank you. What I’m really afraid of is that I won’t know enough. I haven’t done any regular writing since college, and I want to be current enough to provide professional service. My main question is, how on earth do you keep on top of all the copywriting industry information out there?
I know that you can make excuses to put off just about anything, and I don’t want to do that. I want to get going. But this issue is a real concern for me. I’m going to start doing pro bono work next week, but I’m not sure how much I need to know before I can start prospecting for paying business. Can you give me any advice, please?
A. I think you’re WAY over-thinking this. If you understand the basics in the WFW books, I’d also read Bob Bly’s “Copywriter’s Handbook,” which gives a lot of how-to for actually writing the different projects.
As for “All the copywriting industry information out there”? What exactly are you referring to? All the so-called gurus hawking their must-have-or-you’ll-fail programs? I truly am not sure what you’re referring to.
Bottom line, I don’t see that there IS a lot to keep up with, except reading some books on marketing from time to time so you’re aware of the thinking out there. Anything by Bob Bly is good. Ditto Steve Slaunwhite. And white papers – I don’t know much about white papers either. I may have venture into at some point, and there IS good money in that arena of writing, so if you like the idea of writing what are, in essence, “articles on steroid,” it might be an arena worth looking into. Mike Stelzner, the WP guru (www.whitepapersource.com) is a good friend of mine, and offers a lot of resources for those interested in that particular project type.
All that said, don’t feel you have to become some expert on ANY project a client might conceivably ask you to do. This is where you should develop alliances with fellow writers, to whom you can refer projects that you don’t want to do. Certainly, if some type of project appeals to you can research it and see what it entails, but don’t worry. Did I know how to do all these projects when I started or even know ABOUT them? Absolutely not.