Freelance Copywriting Advice #1: Take the Scary Jobs

Written by Nick Usborne


From time to time you will be faced with an opportunity that looks downright scary.

The temptation is to think, "Hey, that's way outside my level of expertise. I'm not ready for that."

My advice to you is this: Do it.

When you are faced with opportunities that are larger, more challenging and ultimately 'scary', that's when you learn fastest, stretch yourselfrepparttar most and build your inner confidence as a copywriter.

Let me give you a couple of related examples.

Within my first two months as a direct marketing copywriter I was presented withrepparttar 136499 opportunity to write a mailing for Franklin Mint.

As some of you may know, Franklin Mint is a very, very sophisticated company when it comes to direct marketing. I seriously wondered whether I might end up looking like an idiot, wasting my time and theirs.

But I took onrepparttar 136500 job. Scary, yes. But it worked out fine. I learned a great deal and continued to do work for them.

Here's another, related example.

In early 1998 a friend of mine was invited to speak to a few hundred people at a conference about marketing online. He got cold feet and asked me to speak in his place. The problem was, I had only a week to prepare my talk.

Such a Tease

Written by Vincent Czaplyski


The "teaser" onrepparttar outside of a direct mail envelope is much likerepparttar 136446 subject line of an email. It's only purpose is to getrepparttar 136447 reader to openrepparttar 136448 envelope, orrepparttar 136449 email.

Here's an example of a teaser I wrote for a lead generating direct mail package targeted at pilots who are inrepparttar 136450 market to buy an airplane. The product in this case is a one fifth share in a light aircraft, an aircraft that normally sells for over a quarter million dollars.

"Attention Pilots! Finally...repparttar 136451 lowest cost, most hassle free and safe form of aircraft ownership available anywhere. (It's brand new and radically less expensive than you think. Details inside...)"

I like this one because it arouses curiosity, it's truthful, and it suggests a number of important benefits. How well will it do? I'll let you know when it mails later this year, but I think it will accomplish its purpose. Someone having even a small interest in buying an airplane would probably want to learn a "radically less expensive" way to do so. The other benefits should prod them to rip openrepparttar 136452 envelope too.

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