The Critical Question You Need to Ask Yourself as a Wannabe Copywriter Before Going All in
The epiphany came from test driving one of AWAI’s Copywriting Programs for $1
I’m a 9–5 employee who is learning copywriting (on the side) to help me earn more money.
My goal is to use my writing skills to supplement my current income. Note that I don’t hate my job, but I love to write — so much that I entertain the idea of doing it full-time. That’s why I’ve always been on the lookout for the easiest ways to make good money doing it.
That’s what prompted me to sign up for AWAI’s free newsletter.
They provide juicy insights and tips to help you get started on your copywriting career. But what they’re really good at is making you feel you have a shot at becoming a well-paid copywriter. Their newsletter emphasizes how there’s a high demand for copywriters, however, not a lot of copywriters are skilled enough to fill in those demands. That’s where they come in to help you become a skilled copywriter.
And just like most online learning platforms, that obviously comes at a price. Whether it is cheap or not is subjective simply because the value they provide is relative to how much you can earn from it. I’ve already purchased online programs before with the same promise; however, I failed to make them work for me (even though the courses are good).
The fault is not with the courses, it’s with me.
You’ll never know exactly what it is until you try
Then one day, a deal came up where you can test drive their Digital Copywriter course for $1!
This gives me 30 days to see for myself if digital copywriting is right for me. If the offer came from another guru copywriter who’s looking into a quick buck for his courses, I would’ve let that deal slide. But because AWAI has credibility in the copywriting space, I have no doubt that what they offer is 100x more valuable than its price tag.
I don’t know about you, but I’d feel stupid if I don’t jump in on that.
After a day or two, I already consumed enough info that is probably worth about a hundred dollars!
Every webinar I’ve seen provided me with a-ha moments. A series of them made me realize how much I don’t know about copywriting. But there was so much of it that I (a newbie in the industry) was unable to fully process.
In other words, I was overwhelmed with the information I’m getting, and I felt directionless.
AWAI is well aware of this newbie problem.
The first thing they provide is a “writing path” to help you choose which direction you want to take in your copywriting career. They have a buffet of programs (for every skill level) to support you along the way. But, even after all that, I don’t know which path I want to be on…
Analysis paralysis almost always surfaces when you’re learning something new (and you don’t wanna “waste” time).
Lack of clarity can make you go in circles
Now, I know that the answer is to just get started and figure out my path along the way.
But something else happened — I became bored with watching the webinars (despite the value they give). The more webinars I watch, the more action steps get added to my list. The longer my list goes, the more and more I realize I cannot make a quick buck from it.
Yup! I had the wrong mindset, to begin with.
That’s when I asked myself, “Am I really serious about becoming a copywriter?”
This became more obvious when I got to the webinar on “How to Never Worry About Finding a Client Ever Again”. As I was adding more items to my “action list”, I realized how a lot of the tasks I listed were tasks I don’t wanna do. That’s when the critical question clicked:
Do I wanna do client work?
The answer was a big NO.
If my goal is to make money but at the expense of building a relationship with a client (which takes about 6-months), then I rather stay employed.
I can then use the 6-months to fully immerse myself in the world of copywriting without worrying about how to get paid. Meanwhile, I can use my current job as a platform to hone my copywriting skills. I’ll learn how to write e-mails that get straight to the point; create work procedures with clear instructions; or design presentation decks that keep your audience’s attention.
Until I become ok with the idea of freelancing, I won’t be able to make good money from copywriting as described by AWAI.
