Setting Goals That Convert

I am sure you have heard the phrase…

Time is money.

This is even more evident for entrepreneurs and freelancers.  YOUR time is YOUR money. 

Are you throwing your money away?  Are you wasting your time?

Have you ever heard the term opportunity cost?  Opportunity cost is defined as:

A benefit, profit or value of something that must be given up to acquire or achieve something else.

Every action you take, takes time away from some other action.  If you WASTE valuable time on something that doesn’t enhance your business, you are taking time away from something that could benefit your business.

If you are not focused on what matters; you are focused on what doesn’t matter.

As entrepreneurs and freelancers, we are focused on the conversion process.  We are interested in converting traffic to leads, converting those leads to clients or customers, and ultimately, converting those clients or customers to repeat business.

We are also focused on converting our time into money.  We want a return on our time investment.

Are you doing everything within your power to maximize your effectiveness in this process?

I am going to ask you two questions that could dramatically impact the success of your business.

1. Are your daily activities and objectives aligned with your goals?
2. Do you have systems and processes in place to help you remain laser focused on accomplishing the daily objectives?

If you don’t know the answer to these questions you are working inefficiently and leaving money on the table.

Entrepreneurs without focused goals might feel busy.  They might feel like they are working a lot.  They might be performing a lot of tasks.  However, those tasks might not be yielding anything of value.  Essentially, they are busy, but getting nothing accomplished.  

Consider the following story and see if it sounds familiar. 

An entrepreneur wants to start an online or freelance business.  The entrepreneur goes to the source of all things informational…

The Internet.  

The entrepreneur does a bunch of research, and ultimately buys an educational program or class.  The entrepreneur takes the class and begins following the program and establishing their business.  They run into some challenges and think, “I just need to change _____.”  Maybe the entrepreneur finishes the class; maybe s/he doesn’t.  It really doesn’t matter.  Because rather than follow-through on developing their business, they begin searching for more information again.  They register for another class.  The cycle continues in perpetuity.

The entrepreneur never actually gets their business off the ground.  Rather, they become a professional consumer of information, constantly seeking the next best thing.  The entrepreneur is VERY BUSY doing things; however, the things they are doing are fragmented and unfocused.  Even if they are doing some of the tasks exceptionally well, it doesn’t matter, because it is not part of a bigger functioning system or process.

Why do people do this?  It is simple.  People are pain avoiders and pleasure seekers.  Because they don’t like pain, they want to take the path of least resistance.    

They are looking for the secret or shortcut to success.  I am going to give that to you now.

There is no shortcut.

I am sorry to be the harbinger of bad news.  Unfortunately, excellent marketing has led people to believe that there is a quick fix or easy way.  Look no further than the weight loss industry for evidence of this nonsense; “lose 10 pounds in 2 days.”

The good news is that you are here.  

The educational material and support you will receive here will lend itself to your entrepreneurial success.  I assure you of that.  The secret is that you must develop laser focus on developing systems and processes to operationalizing the content.  

Information alone does not yield results.

You need a plan of action; a system that helps you push through the challenges and difficulties that you are GUARANTEED to face.  There is no amount of information alone that will help you negotiate this process.

On a regular basis, I see new entrepreneurs find a new concept and immediately begin implementing it in their business, with no regard for the end goal or objective.   For example, simply building an email list for the sake of building an email list is probably not the best idea.  If you are in the copywriting business, and I GAVE you a list of 10,000 people today who are only interested in puppies and have no interest in copywriting, is that going to help you?  

Puppies are cute, but that isn’t going to help your business.

What if it took you 10,000 hours to build this list?  Is that a good use of your time?

I am not saying having an email list is a bad goal.  To the contrary, having an email list is an excellent idea; it is probably one of the single most important things to an online marketer.  However, I am saying that you need to be very specific in your purpose for having the list.  If your goal is to monetize, or make money off your list, then you need to align your list-building activities with the purpose of the list.  

For example, if you are a web designer and you want a list of potential clients, you should advertise (either with or without money) in places potential clients frequent.  In other words, don’t go to the “I love puppies” group on Facebook to get subscribers for your web development business.

I also see another major error relating to goal setting.  When I read goals like, I want to make $100,000 a month (even though I don’t have a business yet), I want a steady stream of clients (without knowing who my potential clients are), or I want to lose weight.  Why?  Because those aren’t goals; they are wishes or dreams.  They are subjective to the individual.  That means they potentially have different meanings to different people, e.g. your idea of steady stream of clients and my idea of steady stream of clients might be different.  

Goals should be very specific, with a clear linkage between the goal and the required action to complete the goal.  This can only be accomplished if you are crystal clear with your goal.  For example, if you say you want to lose weight, do you really want to lose weight, or do you want to lose fat? Let me illustrate further; these two people WEIGH the same.

How is this possible? Muscle actually weighs more than fat.  But, I digress.  The point here is to ask, what is the goal?  Do you see the ambiguity in the “goal” to lose weight?  Do they want to lose weight, develop “six-pack” abs, or some other fitness metric?   The goal is so poorly defined that you can’t possibly know if you are accomplishing it or even making progress toward it.

If you want to “test” your goal, ask yourself, if someone else read my goal, would they understand what I am trying to achieve?  Setting goals is not a complicated process.  When you set goals, they simply must be SMART.  What does that mean?

There is a very clear framework in which to craft your goals.  You should always write your goals in a SMART format, which means:

Specific – The goal should be clear and well-defined.

Measurable – Progress and completion of your goal must be measurable.  This ensures that you are able to track your progress on your goal.  In addition, this provides an avenue for improvement.  Never forget; if it can be measured, it can be improved.

Attainable – It is essential that it is within the realm of possible to achieve your goal.  Your goal can be difficult; but not impossible.  For example, setting a goal to walk on the sun is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE.  In fact, you want to set goals that are extremely challenging.      

Relevant – Your goal must be relevant and important to YOU.

Time-bound – Goals must have a deadline.  

Which statement is SMART?

1. I want to be rich!
2. I want to make $20,000 a month in my freelance business in the next 24 months by increasing the number of clients I serve by 10 and increasing my rates by 30%.

Having a SMART goal is the first step.  However, having a goal alone is not going to make things happen.  Then, you must take action toward completing your goal.  This is best accomplished by beginning with the end in mind.  What do I mean?

Start from your goal and begin working backward, breaking your goal into primary objectives.  The primary objectives should support the goal.  Then, work backward from those objectives and create nesting or secondary objectives.  The nesting or secondary objectives should support the primary objectives.  Finally, break the secondary or nesting objectives down into tasks.  All of the objectives, primary, secondary, and tasks, should only be focused on one thing.  In other words, you shouldn't have an objective that reads, “Increase Facebook advertising by 50% AND increase LinkedIn advertising by 30%.”  Those should be separated into 2 separate objectives.  

In the end, this process creates a link between every task and the goal, with distinct steps in between.  It ensures every activity has a purpose.  It will be illustrated in a process map that will look like this:

When you follow this incredibly simple, yet powerful process, there is literally no goal you won’t be able to accomplish.

Let’s go back to the original questions:

1. Are your daily activities and objectives aligned with your goals?
2. Do you have systems and processes in place to help you remain laser focused on accomplishing the daily objectives?

If you follow this system, your goals will be SMART; in essence, this ensures the goals do what you want them to do.  The goal is focused specifically what you want to achieve.  Will the daily activities and objectives be aligned with your goals?  You will have created direct links between the goal, objectives, nesting objectives, and tasks.  Will this create systems and processes in place to help you remain laser focused on accomplishing the daily objectives?  Absolutely!

If you have created the direct links, by simply completing the tasks you are completing the goal.  You will not be working on things that are not instrumental or necessary for the completion of your goal.

Your actions as an entrepreneur can be linked to the bottom line.  This system ensures that your actions will make you the most efficient and effective business person you can be.

Ultimately, you will be converting your time from unproductive to productive and profitable.

Isn't that the goal?

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Ari Zelmanow is an expert freelance copywriter who believes in using the science of psychology to influence consumers. Known as the "Professor of Persuasion," he's developed a reputation for being one of the most action-driven copywriters the field has to offer. Feel free to learn more about Ari and his services here.

The Best Thing I Ever Did as a Creative Writer Was ‘Sell Out’

There’s this idea out there that “money is the root of all evil.” I’m not saying that isn’t true, but when I was an up-and-coming writer, I sure as heck didn’t want to live out the remainder of my many days (fingers crossed) having to cut coupons from the Sunday morning paper every weekend.

So, what did I do? Well, in the eyes of those artsy-fartsy professional writers, I did the unthinkable: I sold out. Yup, I put aside my dream of becoming a sportswriter and focused wholeheartedly on copywriting. 

While this might be seen as sad for some, looking back on the decision, it was the right move and, most importantly, I couldn’t be happier. How can this be, you ask? Keep reading …

Cold Hard Cash

As previously mentioned, money is important—at least I think it is. Listen, I’m not the kind of guy who craves shiny new toys all the time, but I do want to live comfortably. Is that such a crime? 

While there are a handful of sportswriters and novelists who live rather lavishly off of their editorial production, I’m not smart enough, handsome enough or skilled enough with the ol’ laptop to make this happen.

Yes, I chose the safer route and went with copywriting, but I have zero debt and have never lived paycheck to paycheck. Not too bad, eh?

Complete and Total Professional Happiness

In college, my buddies were always freaking out about what they were going to do with their lives. You’d always hear things like, “It’s just that I’m not passionate about anything.” Or maybe something more along the lines of, “There aren’t any majors out there that really catch my attention.” 

For starters, choosing a field of study should’t be treated as if you’re battling over whether or not it’s time to pull the plug on grandma—it’s just school.

Secondly, if you’re willing to modify ever so slightly what you wanted to do as a naive college student, the core of your passions can very much be present in the professional sphere. 

This is what happened with me and writing, anyway. I love to write. I love sports. As a copywriter, depending on the project, I’ve actually been able to focus on both passions at the same time.

I’ve Learned to Love Utilitarian Writing

I’ve always loved writing, and now I spend basically every hour of every day doing just that. While it’s true that the production of sales letters, email marketing campaigns and generic web copy might not be the sexiest projects on the planet, I’ve learned to enjoy doing all of them. 

The best part of it all is that this newfound passion of mine shows in my work. Clients can see this and, as luck would have it, they come back time and time again for repeat services.

Peace of Mind

There’s a certain tranquility that comes from knowing you’re spending a ridiculous amount of time doing exactly what you want to do. Sure, I’m not interviewing Kevin Durant after a game-winning triple, but I’ve got a pretty sweet gig. Honestly, I wouldn’t trade this peace of mind for anything.

Alright, what about you? Has your writing career turned out like you thought it would? If it has, congratulations! If it hasn’t, how have you adapted to maintain professional satisfaction? As always, head on down to the comments section to share your thoughts on the matter.

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Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier PR publications.

Grunt Work: How to Write 10,000 Words In a Day

As of 2013, there were 7.13 billion people on earth. Flip on the news and you’ll see many of them doing completely idiotic things. Even worse, much of this is voluntarily done. 

Seriously, next time ESPN is hosting either the Winter or Summer X Games, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. 

Sure, motocross racers, skateboarders and BMX bikers lead extreme lives, but my guess is that few of them have ever done what us bloggers would toss into our very own “extreme” category: write 10,000 words in one day. 

I did this once myself—emphasis on the word once. It took a great deal out of me.

I mean, as far as normal writing is concerned, I did the math a couple of months ago and, as a copywriter by trade, I average anywhere between 4,000 and 5,000 words a day. 

Honestly, as a freakishly hyperactive human, it doesn’t seem like all that much. That said, when it’s time to close up shop, I’m dead tired and ready for some real rest and relaxation.

So, when I busted out 10,000 words, I wasn’t all that surprised by how much the activity took out of me. Anyone can do it, but it’s substantially harder than what you’re thinking.

Whatever the case, if this sounds like something you’re interested in, I’d be happy to share with you the very tidbits that helped push me until I’d successfully finished “The 10,000-Word Challenge.” 

That’s not an official title or anything, but it sure sounds impressive, huh? Anyway, here’s what you should do if you feel like downing this editorial giant:

Work With a Schedule

If you plan to belt out a disgusting number of words in one 24-hour period, don’t think it’ll be one of those things you do after your evening shower and before sliding into bed. 

No, it’s going to take more time than that.

This isn’t a one or two hour ordeal; moreover, it’s something that you’re going to need to plan out and—here’s the hard part—execute.

If you’re a full-time copywriter, blogger or journalist, this isn’t all that hard to do. You write for a living. If this is your situation, by simply upping your level of production, you can make this happen. 

On the flip side of things, however, if you’re a part-time writer or simply do this sort of thing for fun, it’s going to to take a “sick day” or weekend to make this happen. 

Basically, as long as there’s plenty of time and a plan in place, you’ve won half the battle.

The Tortoise Still Wins the Race

Writing 10,000 words isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. Yes, the whole “Tortoise and Hair” narrative is painfully overused, but it works here. 

You’re going to be writing 10,000 words and—more than likely—much of what you produce won’t be your best work, but it doesn’t have to be your worst either, right? 

Think about it—there’s an ever-present dichotomy in the world of copywriting. If you write too quickly, you’re not focusing enough on quality. 

Conversely, if you focus too much on quality, you’re missing out on thousands of dollars each month due to your lack of pace. 

The real solution? Write both quickly and beautifully. You can have both. Nobody’s saying you can’t.

Needless to say, the “slow and steady” method not only helps you create awesome content in a calm and collected manner en route to 10,000 words, it prevents you from linking your name to complete and total garbage.

Eliminate Distractions While Writing

Think you’re immune to the ever-present pull of distractions? I’ve written entire pieces on this before, but it’s especially huge when tackling 10,000 words. 

You might be good, but come 6,000 or 7,000 words, you will most assuredly feel the urgent need to respond to that Facebook message you’d forgotten about from a second cousin of yours over three weeks ago. 

I’ve been there. It’s rough. 

This goes back to the whole scheduling thing. When it’s time to write, it’s time to write. When it’s time for a break, it’s time for a break. Save the email, smartphone, snacking and even trips to the restroom for those built-in moments for clearing your thoughts. 

Otherwise, you need to be at your computer working on the next project.

Commit Mentally

You’re not a professional cyclist or marathon runner, so don’t start acting like one. 

Yet, one of an anaerobic athlete’s greatest weapons comes not only from the strength of his or her physical muscles, but from raw mental tenacity. 

As the day wears on, you’ll need to call upon the powers of your brain to keep your fingers flying. 

I’m no motivational speaker, so I’m not entirely certain as to what needs to be done to keep you churning in these moments of difficulty, all I can say is that you need to be prepared to face them and overcome them on your own. 

The upside of this, however, is that when you have finally typed your last word, you’ll officially be able to say that you’ve joined the 10,000 word club.

Before signing off, let’s focus on you for a minute—have you ever managed to dominate 10,000 typed words in a single day? If not, what’s your max? Also, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your average? 

So as to better give Echelon’s readers a better idea of what can be done in a single day, please post your answers in the comments section below.

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Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier PR publications.

3 Rock Solid Tips for Writing Faster

It makes sense, right? 

As a copywriter, the faster you write, the more money you’ll be able to make. 

While I’ve always been an advocate for getting beyond copywriting and actually showing that you’re a real person outside of the office, this is a truth that can’t be avoided—the wealthiest of copywriters not only love to work, they love to work quickly. 

That said, let’s say you’re a slow writer. There’s nothing innately wrong with that, but it does mean you’ll be at an immediate disadvantage when it comes to making money. 

So, can you learn to write faster, or is it one of those things you’re born with? Trust me, you can learn to write at an alarming rate. 

Though I’m by no means the fastest writer on the face of the earth, here are three methods that have yet to have failed me when looking to produce as much copy as humanly possible:

1) Move On Before Having Finished Anything

Almost seems like this would be worse for efficiency, doesn’t it? That might be the case for some, but I’ve seen completely different results. 

Writers aren’t perfect people. We’re not geniuses. Heck, most of us probably weren’t smart enough to get into med school or made the mistake of majoring in English—so, here we are. 

Whatever the case, our brains tend to bog down sometimes. Instead of getting distracted and doing a bit of “research” on Facebook to get the ol’ mental wheels turning again, simply move onto another project. 

A few weeks back, I read a piece by Robert Bly (I’m a disciple of his) who said that he’s always working on at least half a dozen projects at one time. When he encounters some writer’s block with one, he simply minimizes the project on his desktop and moves onto another one. 

If you’re fingers are moving, you’re making money. When they’re not, you’re just an unemployed person with a really sweet computer.

Needless to say, keep typing.

2) Don’t Allow Yourself to Fixate On Wording

I used to be awful with this and still, from time to time, find my real inner OCD coming out. 

As of January 1, 2014, the Global Language Monitor estimated that there are upwards of 1,025,109.8 words in the English language. How that decimal got in there, I’ll never know, but that’s the result my Google search yielded and I’m sticking to it.

Anyway, the point is this—there are thousands of ways to express one singular idea. Odds are high that, regardless of how experienced you are, you’re not going to pinpoint the perfect method. 

Keep writing. 

Doesn’t feel right? Doesn’t sound quite the way you’d wanted it to in your head? Keep on keepin’ on and see where you’re writing takes you. 

At the end of a piece, you’ll just go back and fix things anyway. Don’t sweat the small stuff. I get that this is easier said than done, but loosen up a little, will ya? 

If you can manage to do that, you’ll see your editorial pace increase in no time at all.

3) Treat Your Copy as If It Were Intended for a Friend

Have you ever sent a lengthy email or—heck, I can’t believe I’m going to say this—text message to a close friend or relative? That was me channelling my inner 12-year-old girl, by the way.

My guess is that it took you all of 5 seconds to figure out what you were going to say, even if you were talking about something that was difficult to put into words. 

You didn’t think, you just spoke.

Well, seeing as how I make my living as the Master of the “Write Like You Talk” methodology, there should’t really be much of a difference between the ease with which you speak and the way you write. 

I mean, they’re kind of one and the same, if you think about it. After all, it’s coming from your brain. 

Furthermore, I understand that this method might not work for each and every industry you’re covering, but regardless of tone or level of professionalism, this can still produce great results. 

In fact, it was the Ninja Turtle wannabe Leonardo Da Vinci who once famously said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” 

Come the start of your next copywriting project, make the conscious effort to write simply, yet persuasively. If done correctly, your production level will most assuredly increase.

Now it’s your turn—how are you writing at lightning speed? What’s worked for you in the past and continues to work for you today? As always, share you best copywriting secrets in the comments section below.

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Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier PR publications.

3 Simple Ways to Remain Laser-Focused as a Professional Copywriter

Distraction is a forced to be reckoned with. From Sunday school and college classes to workplace meetings and Tyler Perry movies, becoming distracted is one of those things you’ve got to work hard to avoid. 

Even worse, at least as far as copywriters are concerned, they not only spend the majority of the day at a desk in one of those super comfortable swivel chairs, but they’re doing what most would consider one of the most mind-numbing activities known to man: writing.

Yup, though the activity is one of the most mentally taxing, after you’ve been doing it for long enough, projects start to run together. 

Because of this, the big money grab comes from producing as much as possible, as quickly as possible—all this while ensuring that jaw-dropping copy for clients is all that comes from your fingertips. 

Needless to say, distraction is probably the biggest obstacle for many copywriters to overcome. Rest assured, if this is something you’ve had to deal with during your career, there are means through which this challenge can be defeated.

Seriously, run a simple Google search and you’ll see articles touting that they’ve found 150 of ‘em. Yeah, those might work for some people, but I think I’ve found the three most effective. 

Here’s what I’m working with:

1) Begin Working Earlier In the Morning

If it’s good enough for Bob Bly, it should be good enough for both you and me, don’t you think? I’ve always been a bit of a morning person, but even if you’re not, the early morning hours are easily the most effective for getting some real work done.

Think about it—if you’re working at five o’clock in the morning, what is the rest of America doing? Sleeping. 

So, not only have you eliminated much of your copywriting competition (you’re such a hard worker), but you’ve liberated yourself from a mountain of distractions. Only, these distractions can’t ever be entirely done away with unless you’re super messed up—other people. 

Be they clients, family members or friends, as the sun starts to come up and the day wears on, a host of people—many of which you’ll need to drop everything you’re doing to speak with—will undoubtedly reach out and unknowingly prevent you from making money. 

Simply put, the earlier you get up, the more likely you are to work as you please. There’s nothing sweeter than this.

2) Put Aside Your Smartphone and Gmail Account

Floyd Mayweather could literally be doing battle a second time round with Manny Pacquiao right next to my desk and it wouldn’t keep me form working as smoothly as having my smartphone and Gmail account near me. 

Man, those things—though a massive blessing—are often such a hindrance. I get that it can be hard to turn them off completely. 

Believe me, I totally get it. 

But, if you can manage to work two or three hours a day with your smartphone turned completely off—silent mode doesn’t count, by the way—and your Gmail account closed and out of site, you give yourself that much more time to make money producing awesome web or traditional copy. 

Once your daily distraction fast is complete, turn your smartphone back on and open up Gmail to respond to the hundreds of emails that are now waiting for you.

3) Set Mini Motivational Goals Throughout the Day

This is huge for me. Listen, I love both copywriting and making money. That said, what I don’t like is this mentality that if you’re not writing, you’re sinning. 

Copywriters are people too, ya know! 

They have skills and hobbies that have little or nothing to do with writing. Some of these things can even be done during the work day. 

For example, I love to run. I’m no olympic runner or anything, but for me, it’s relaxing and a great way to get me out of the office and outdoors. Plus, it keeps me feeling great. By so doing, when it’s time to get back to writing, I’m relaxed and substantially less restless.

Now, what does running have to do with avoiding distraction? 

At the beginning of the day, if the weather is nice and I feel like a run, I’ll tell myself that there can be no run until I’ve written at least 5,000 words. 

This method requires a great deal of self-discipline, but can be extremely useful if you’re true to it. Maybe it’s watching a sitcom, playing with your kids or heading out for a quick lunch with your wife—whatever the case, make it a point to set small tasks that must be taken care of before getting to what you really want to do. 

This is gold.

Hey, this is a small list—I get it. Surely, something else has helped keep you working as efficiently as possible, while minimizing interruptions. Don’t keep these tricks of the trade a secret! Please, if you’ve got the time, jot down of few of them in the comments section below.

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Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier PR publications.

Put the Pen Down: a Copywriter’s 4 Biggest Beginner Mistakes

It doesn’t matter if it’s sewing, croquet, Chinese checkers or lacrosse—when it comes time to learning a new skill, mistakes are going to be made.

Random examples aside, the same applies to the art of copywriting. Believe it or not, you’re human, and when you’re producing copy, you’re going to make mistakes. 

It just so happens that when you’re new to a specific content type or even to the industry as a whole, the mistakes you make are going to occur at a higher frequency. 

The best way to overcome them? Identification. 

If you’re new to copywriting, the following are four of the most common mistakes you’re probably going to make. 

1) Atrocious Headlines

This is so basic, but so hard to do. That said, it’s a skill that needs to be learned because it’s one of a copywriters most important tools. 

In fact, said David Ogilvy, The Father of Advertising, “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” 

Learn to write headlines that give people a reason to read the first sentence of the first paragraph. If you can do that on a regular basis, you’ll already be ahead of many experienced copywriters.

2) Bypassing On a Call-to-Action

What good is copy if it doesn’t bring about some sort of sales action? Now, that said, I’m not insisting that a CTA be overly aggressive or sales-driven, but it should at least be present within a piece. 

Providing more information on the value of a CTA is Paul Cheney of Marketing Experiments, saying, “It’s not about the action itself, it’s about the value they’re going to get as a result of taking that action. Getting that right in your CTA can give you dramatic lifts with very little effort.”

Sound a bit tricky? 

No need to worry. Understanding will come in time. For now, just know that it’s your job to always include some sort of CTA—no matter how big or small.

3) Saying Too Much or Too Little

Copywriters are either long-winded or too succinct. The goal is to find that ever-elusive balance. 

As far as I’m concerned, I tend to say more than I should. That said, when I try and fix things, I often take it to the opposing extreme. Though I already have a couple of years of copywriting experience under my belt, I continue to struggle with this.

While you might be an outlier, chances are high that you’ll need some experience to understand where a reader is in the buying process. 

Yes, piece type and industry play a part in this, but that’s where experience comes into play. When you’re just starting your copywriting career, you wont’ have much of it. 

Hang in there. It’ll come.

4) Unfitting Tone

Depending on the setting, this can actually pretty funny, even if your client struggles to find humor in the situation.

Think about it—you wouldn’t speak to a full-grown adult like an infant, would you? Well, when a new copywriter is faced with writing for a client whose industry he or she knows very little about, oftentimes the subtle nuances of an audience’s preferred editorial tone are overlooked.

The result? Awkward reading.

To avoid this, take an extra half-hour or so to read up on other industry-specific publications. This will prevent you from sounding naive or ignorant.

Try as you might, at one point or another, you’re going to fall flat on your face. Copywriting isn’t for the faint of heart. 

Because of this, when you make a mistake, it’s key that you dust yourself off and get back to work. Soon enough, you’ll have a firm grip on things.

Now, let’s see what you have to say about the life of a new copywriter. You seasoned copywriters, how were you able to deal with each of the aforementioned obstacles? What other challenges weren’t mentioned here that should’ve been? 

For those who are currently just getting started, what have you noticed about the experience? Take to Twitter and tweet your thoughts and feelings at @EchelonCopy. In no time at all, you’ll get a response.

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Lucas Miller is the Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, editing or running, he's working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the "World's Greatest Pompadour." Additionally, for what it's worth, his editorial works have been featured on Social Media Today, Business2Community, Ragan's PR Daily, Spin Sucks and many other top-tier PR publications.