image of hay stacks in field

How to get attention when there is none part 4

In parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series on desire, we’ve looked at it from the prospect’s point of view. What is it about desire that makes people want to buy things?

https://internationalcopywritersassociation.com/how-to-get-attention-when-there-is-none/

We ended up with passion – an extreme form of desire, and that if we move people into a passionate state of emotion, then we have a better chance of achieving success.

But what about us – the copywriters? How do we get into that state so we too can achieve our dreams?

I’ve looked at this before, but let’s touch on it again, what is your passion? Any idea? If you answer yes, “it’s writing” (or copywriting or something similar), great, you’re good to go, but if not, then you’re in the vast majority – most of us have no idea what our passion is.

If we’re going to associate passion with success, then we’re going to need some to get what we want (note – it’s always been this way, it’s just hard for most of us to realise it).

My own journey in this industry has been tediously slow. My original desire was the same as most people – a desire not to work for someone else. The more jobs I had (and quit), the stronger the desire – it took me 7 years (from 16 to 23) to make the break and quit my last job (that break lasted 43 years).

Back then I had no idea what a copywriter was (let alone did), all I knew was, unless I got the message out about my brand new courier business, there would be no business. So I started writing flyers.

There was no theory other than pure logic – why would they want my service? How would they contact me? What were my rates?

What I didn’t realise back then was that I was asking the right questions. I was already ‘customer centric’. Perhaps that was why it took off (after a year of slog).

Anyway, 4 years later I sold the business and started a whole stream of others. None of them had anything to do with copywriting, but they all NEEDED copywriting.

It wasn’t until the early 2000s I had any idea that copywriting was not just an aspect of marketing I needed to know more about, but that it was the ONLY aspect of marketing I needed to know more about.

From that realisation, everything else (slowly) came together until my desire to be a copywriter became so overwhelming, something had to happen.

Everything you’re reading in this group is a part of it. My tiny little desire to become independent grew into a passion for writing, and in particular copywriting, and from there, it grew into the Science of Copywriting and discovery about our human nature (good and bad).

How does any of this help you if you’ve been struggling? Through hope. If I can do this, so can you. I’m not a genius. I left school at 16 with practically nothing (English and Maths was it – but that was because at that time, my mum and dad were teachers and used to force feed spelling and maths tests on the way to school).

I had no ideas about originality (in fact I used to worry a lot about why other people seemed able to think up amazing ideas and I couldn’t).

And I had very little idea about business. But it didn’t matter. The taste of freedom I got was more powerful than any drug.

In fact, the vision that came from the passion to be free drove a bulldozer through all obstacles that came my way, and once the engine had fired up within me, it continued (and continues) to run despite every setback (and there have been many including the death of an employee on my watch).

Every business needs a copywriter, but not every business knows it. The louder we shout our message to the world, the more business we get. If you’re new, stick with it, if you’ve been doing this for years and are struggling, get passionate again and ramp up your efforts.

PS. When you’re starting out, always focus on the people most likely to buy. Focusing on anyone else will wear you out.


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *