I confess.
There are times when I feel like a complete idiot. Times when I wonder if I really know what I’m doing.
They don’t last, of course (otherwise it would be highly unlikely that I’d be writing this post today!).
But for most copywriters (and entrepreneurs, as well) it’s something that comes with the territory.
After all, as I’ve mentioned before, in Direct Response Copywriting, you are dealing with what I call “Objective Reality”. You either make the sale or you don’t. It doesn’t matter how great you think the copy is or how hard you worked on it. Results are what matters.
Campaigns and promotions don’t always produce the results you hope for. That’s just how it is. You’ll get the occasional blockbuster, most will do OK and a handful will be complete and utter flops.
And that’s assuming that you actually do know what you’re doing and prepare the promotion properly. Some have absolutely no chance of ever being successful. In those cases, as a copywriter and marketing consultant, the best service you can provide a client is to advise them against going ahead (and do NOT get involved yourself…that’s a topic for another post).
So, how to develop the self-confidence and mental resilience to handle the setbacks and disappointments that almost inevitably come your way?
Firstly, of course, you must be competent. You must know your craft as a copywriter and direct response marketer. And that takes time and effort to acquire those skills and keep them sharp.
Secondly, you have to know yourself that you’re competent! And the only real way to do that is by testing your work in the real world. There is nothing like seeing sales come in to confirm that you know what you’re doing.
Ah, but what if that first effort “fails”? That’s when you do need an inner self-belief and confidence. In such a situation, the first thing to keep in mind is that you’re following a trail that someone else has already blazed ahead of you. If you’re learning from someone who is already a successful copywriter, then you’re “modelling” (in NLP terms) their strategy.
And if you do that effectively, you will get similar results.
Having said that, you still need that core confidence or self belief.
You know, I envy in many ways those people who seem to have absolutely no doubts about their talents and capabilities. They are utterly convinced of their own genius and infallibility.
Unfortunately, many of these people are delusional. It was my misfortune in my banking career to come across many people like this. People whose idea of their own abilities was vastly inflated.
So we’re not talking about this kind of confidence, Rather, what I would call justified confidence.
Some resources I have found helpful in developing such confidence.
I’ve mentioned that I’m currently reading Clayton Makepeace’s “Two Hours To More Profitable Sales Copy”. The first chapter is titled “The Heart Of A Champion” and Clayton touches on some of the issues I’ve discussed in this post.
Also recommended is “177 Mental Toughness Secrets Of The World Class” by Steve Siebold.
“Unstoppable Confidence” by Kent Sayre is also well worth a read.
There are many other useful resources out there (the work of Tony Robbins, for example). The key thing is to find something that works for you, so you can develop that self-belief and the ability to bounce back from “failure”.