The best thing about entrepreneurship is that you can do your own thing. But that is also my biggest pitfall. Because who says that “doing your own thing” is also the best way to tackle it? As a copywriter, I ran into a few walls (and especially myself). So I treated myself to a coach and a great sparring group of fellow copywriters. Including many welcome kicks in the butt, a solid motivational boost and quite a few eureka moments. These were my 6 most important insights.
Looking for a kick in the ass
Always wanting to figure things out for yourself is a syndrome that I can’t seem to shake off my entire life. Even as a headstrong entrepreneur, I had gone down that path a bit too much at the beginning of this year. It was great fun, doing everything myself. But I also knew that an honest opinion and a subtle kick in the ass from an outsider were exactly what I needed . That’s how I ended up with Brinda Felix’s Textpert program . I had to swallow hard because of the investment that went into it, but I am so glad that I allowed myself that investment. Worth every cent!
To be clear: this article is not sponsored. I paid for the journey entirely with my own earned profits . #selfmademan and all that!
For eight weeks, I did weekly assignments, we followed online group sessions, did Zoom role-plays and chatted in the Facebook group. I also followed masterclasses and there was one-on-one coaching. So, everything. I could write a book full of wise lessons that I learned from Brinda and the other copywriters. But since I am more of a blog writer than a book writer (also learned in the course!), I will stick to a blog article for now.
Over the wall I crashed into
About that wall. At the beginning of this year I was faced with a luxury problem. I was still stuck in the idea “What a great honor that someone is knocking on my door!” (a remnant from my employment period!). But in my enthusiasm about a new client I forgot to ask myself whether I was really that happy about the assignment. Whether this was really my kind of client, whether I was happy with those texts and whether there was even a gap in my agenda for that assignment.
The result?
I said ‘yes’ to everything, had a big bale of hay (or two) on my fork, often worked late into the evening and had no idea what made me different from any other copywriter. I was the copywriter who helped others to “find the right words”. But I also realised that I didn’t want to do that for everyone. And not always last-minute for urgent jobs that my agenda didn’t have room for.
So I dove back into the online school benches for a kind of crash course for freelance copywriters. The Textpert trajectory! Read below what insights that trajectory gave me.
1. Always look at your own agenda before you commit to anything
The idea of running for other people has always been in me a little bit. Is someone else in a hurry? Well, then I just put in an extra effort. Does something have to be done on Sunday? Ha, then I’ll just postpone a few things. I probably don’t have to tell you that this attitude often got in my way in my first year as a full-time entrepreneur. If a customer needed something within one day, I jumped up and down and squeezed it in somewhere in my agenda.
Rachel taught me to turn it around. First look at my own agenda and then at the planning that is requested. Do I have time for an emergency? Then I plan the assignment and I am happy to help the customer. If my planning is already full, I will happily indicate that it can only be done in two weeks. In the beginning I found that very exciting (I might lose the customer). Now I always keep in mind that a customer who drops me because I cannot always be ready at the drop of a hat is certainly not the type of customer that I am happy with. And besides: when I call a painter, I do not expect that person to be on my doorstep at 7 am tomorrow.
As Rachel once said: deadlines are also made up by someone. Who says that they can’t be worked around?
2. Don’t just be “a copywriter”
There are probably a few thousand enthusiastic wordsmiths with the job title ‘freelance copywriter’ in the Netherlands, besides me. They have all had a passion for language since primary school, they hate d/t errors and they love to translate a mass of information into a sparkling message. I also used all those kinds of statements as standard when I introduced myself. If someone asked me what I did, I didn’t get much further than “I write catchy and creative texts”. Well, probably ten (or a hundred or a thousand?) others before me.
Rachel made me think about what makes me different from those countless others . How can I make sure that I no longer give that standard answer when someone approaches me at a party (if they ever happen again)? I must honestly admit that I still have a few decisions to make to have my focus even clearer. So “me and I” are going to have another serious discussion about that at the end of this week. But the first steps have been taken, I have removed the worst copywriting clichés from my own texts and I now know very well what I don’t like. The fact that I dare to say ‘no’ to unsuitable clients is already a victory in itself.
3. Flexibility shouldn’t be your distinguishing feature
Flexibility was pretty much my middle name this past year. Always available, sometimes even in the weekend, and I often had my texts on my email in no time. Urgent things in between? Bring it on! I found it a great honor when someone complimented me on how flexible I was. But in the meantime I noticed that it didn’t make me happy at all. On Monday I still had no idea what I was going to do on Tuesday. My weeks often seemed to fill up with assignments that had to be done quickly, quickly .
Thanks to the trajectory I learned that “always being so easily accessible” is not a quality to be mega-proud of. As an entrepreneur you probably have better qualities than always being able to sacrifice yourself for others. Writing good texts for example, asking exactly the right critical questions, really thinking along. Those kinds of things are worth much more than whether or not you can quickly get behind your computer at impossible times.
By the way, I noticed that the idea of always having to do things quickly was completely between my ears. Often things didn’t have to be done as quickly as I thought, but I was already rushing, flying, running too quickly. For example, I stopped answering phone calls when I’m in the middle of a complex text. Then I first write the text, then I app the person and make an appointment to call. The other person usually doesn’t care whether they speak to me now or in three hours. Conversely, it gives me a lot of peace, which also makes me come across as my cheerful self in the conversation instead of as that rushed copywriter who is actually struggling with deadlines.
4. Make crystal clear agreements
I was of course convinced that I was already doing that. But that could have been a bit better. Thanks to the coaching, I started planning a lot more. Scheduling when I expect feedback from someone and communicating that. Keeping track of how much time I spend on something and sounding the alarm if that no longer matches the quote. And also clearly indicating what I do NOT do (translating texts, making PowerPoints, etc.). I am now much, much clearer about those kinds of things. Prevents a lot of misunderstandings.
A few things I started doing differently:
- I immediately say “I can also pick this up for you, but that will cost X dollars extra” when a customer has an extra task. Saves confusion later!
- I wait with writing and also with preparing things until I am sure that the quote has been accepted.
- I specify very specifically whether I expect feedback by phone or in Word (and in the latter case: how exactly?). Good for the customer to know!
- I always put appointments or important points in the email after I have discussed something by telephone.
- I make a clear planning for assignments and communicate that to the client. Does someone miss a deadline? Then I also indicate how it will proceed afterwards.
I often left all those things up to the other person. Now I clearly indicate what I expect. The client often likes that too , because they usually don’t hire a copywriter every day either. As a client of a painter, I also don’t expect that I have to tell him how to proceed. Conversely, my clients also like it when I already have a clear idea of how we can tackle it effectively.
5. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not
It’s actually quite contradictory that I had to learn this in a course. While I myself am a keen advocate of self-love and self-acceptance . Strangely enough, as a copywriter I had unconsciously pushed myself into a box in which I did not feel I fit at all. For example, I had created a separate Instagram account as a copywriter, on which I posted all kinds of business photos. While I post my Insta posts on penrunners almost without thinking, my business posts required a lot of deliberation before I dared to show them the light of day. That was because I had set an extremely high threshold for myself. It all had to come across as businesslike and serious.
It was only after the course that I realized that I had lost myself. I often attracted quite formal clients. Then I was completely happy with two (I thought) really cool puns that I had woven into the text, and they would filter out all the fun stuff because it had to be neater. It was only after the course that I realized that I wanted to show my informal writing style in order to attract clients who specifically choose me for my style. Including that touch of humor, that bit of creativity and the light-hearted tone. Ultimately, I want to attract clients who like those puns just as much as I do, instead of viciously crossing them out.
Perhaps that is the best thing the process has brought me. Discovering that as a copywriter I don’t have to throw my own personality or style overboard. On the contrary, that holding on to it actually helps to make my work more fun.
6. Do it your way
I am not the type to unwittingly sell something to my clients.
I am not the type to share all kinds of super commercial posts on LinkedIn about “Increase your turnover!”.
I am not the type of copywriter who gets excited about devising complete social media strategies.
I am also not the person who likes to write newsletters (I prefer blogs and web texts).
I do not like working interim at an agency three days a week.
I’ve known all those things since I never started using ‘freelance copywriter’ as my LinkedIn title. Still, I had it in my head that “a copywriter” has to do all those things or like them.
The process made me realize that I became an entrepreneur because I wanted to do my own stubborn thing. And that also means not doing anything that doesn’t make me happy – regardless of whether every other copywriter does that or not. The nice thing is that in a role play for a sales conversation I actually received compliments that I came across as sincere because I approached it modestly and didn’t walk all over the other person. That’s who I am and maybe that’s much more powerful than pretending to be the top salesperson, the enthusiastic newsletter writer or that person who likes to act like the social extrovert at trendy marketing agencies.
You became an entrepreneur to do what you like most. So don’t do things you don’t like at all. Brinda was absolutely right about that. Partly because of that insight, I got rid of the wall again, I started enjoying writing social posts again and I got a shot or ten extra entrepreneurial pleasures. Hurray!
