Your ideal copywriter has studied business principles and their craft. What should you expect from this person?
I wrote this originally on LinkedIn as a part of a business-building intensive. While I made the article’s main audience other copywriters, even marketers looking to hire copywriters can gain from this. After all, you want a confident professional, right? Glean the signs of such a writer from what experienced writers have learned.
And now…
You’ve studied business principles and your craft. Now you want to start your own successful writing business. Congratulations!
…Is the “congratulations” too soon? Does it seem like a slow-burning horror show rather than an adventure? Even if you’ve prepared your skills and platform, you might still feel like you’re fumbling in a dark hall.
That’s where the business principles from American Writers and Artists Institute’s 21-Day Challenge with Ilise Benun came into play for me.
Besides daily challenges, it included three live events with Ilise and a guest. She invited home school and ag-tech copywriter Beverly Matoney, travel copywriter Holly Morris, and speaker-copywriter Terri Trespicio.
It just so happens, these conversations endorsed twenty-one business principles—plus or minus two depending on how I chose to lump or split related points.
Ilise’s official business philosophy for her students covered the first three points, which Teri called “the discovery process.” The other tips came uniquely in the discussions.
Here are the twenty-one principles.
The 21 Business Principles for Your Success
Principle 1: “Your business is a laboratory”
Firstly, like laying down the law, Ilise said, “Your business is a laboratory for your professional growth and your personal growth. You can use it to learn and to experiment and to try things and to grow.”
In other words, you are your business. If you grow, your business grows. So you need to give yourself the freedom to experiment and learn to find your way.
You may not have clients, or you may cling to clients that aren’t a good fit. Thus, Ilise contrasts this to show that you are the business, not the clients. Take care of yourself to help your business, and that helps us help clients.
Principle 2: “Listen to the market”
Ilise often said, “Listen to the market. The market will guide you…I want you to look out into the world and say, ‘What does the world need that I can offer.’”
But what does that mean? Ilise referred to “the tingle.” When you check business websites and content, details will stand out. You realize that those details are issues that you can improve upon.
Slow down, sift through copy, and you’ll discover those details.
Ilise said, “It’s magical. When you listen to the market, once you stop looking for something…once you start gearing outward, then [the market] starts to connect with what’s already inside of you.”
Principle 3: “Your business is your marketing”
“Your marketing work is more important than your client work,” Ilise said. “Your marketing is your future, and your clients are your present. And if you don’t have clients that doesn’t mean you don’t have a business.”
After all, if you focus on what you have done and not what you will do and are willing to do, how will you get anything new done?
Beverly applied this to LinkedIn. Keep your About section about now and the future. It’s perfect for when recently transitioned into a new niche or career.
Show what you have to offer. Don’t draw attention to what you can’t offer.
Principle 4: Slow down
Beverly pointed out that running your business isn’t about doing, but about understanding. Once you slow down to understand the hows and whys, then the doing comes together.
Ilise said being in business for yourself is running a marathon, not a sprint. And sometimes what might look like procrastination is a wise choice—a “sagacious delay” she called it.
Principle 5: Writing
As Beverly put it, writing means more than physically writing. Write and read good writing, sure. But also read everything related to your niche to trigger ideas and write ideas.
Writing doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists in the context of your audience and ideas. Remember, writing is a medium to convey ideas to readers. So write and keep an active mind.
Principle 6: Fearless
As a shy person, I appreciated Beverly saying, “I’m the biggest scaredy-cat, introvert that you’ll ever meet. I’m a wallflower.”
But how does someone shy become fearless?
In Beverly’s words, “I take what people teach me and use it. That’s why the 21-Day Challenge was so effective for me. I hung onto every word. I applied every technique. And it worked. The best thing to do is to listen to people who know and follow them.”
You, like everyone else, will make dumb mistakes. You’re human. But as long as you accept that and keep learning, you’ll grow.
Principle 7: “Over…under”
Every project is unique, and you don’t always know how long it’ll take. So take Ilise’s advice: over-estimate, under-promise, over-deliver.
Principle 8: “Be a thinker (not a writer)”
Businesses aren’t paying for a writer, they’re paying for a thinker. You’re an idea machine. You’re an authority because of your ideas and your ability to convey your ideas.
Ilise put this from the prospect’s point of view, “‘This person is more than a writer. This person can be a thinker, too. And maybe we should pay more because they’re using their brain.’”
Principle 9: “Marketing with generosity”
Sharing your ideas isn’t just about showing you can think. Ilise called it “marketing with generosity.”
You show your credibility, and the prospect gets free help. Then that free help predisposes them to hire you to do the work of writing those ideas. That’s a good investment.
Principle 10: Consult
Holly said she can say yes to jobs requiring unfamiliar writing skills. Why? Because all she needs to do is consult the AWAI Resource library. Premier members have access to this.
Therefore, Holly can tell her clients, “I have a great resource.” To me, that sounds like a fictional Mafia character saying, “I know a guy.”
Additionally, modern writers have the online means to figure out how to do most writing assignments they’re given. You just need to be willing, resourceful, and say yes.
Principle 11: People are normal
Holly said, “People are generally normal. Just meet and learn. Business follows.”
To me, that means, “People are normal. People are people.” It’s obvious, yet new experiences can cast the mind from normal thinking. Clients are people. So just have a normal conversation.
Principle 12: “Friendly, prompt, and reliable”
Your ideas set you as an authority. Your writing produces the products you get paid for. However, none of that matters if you’re a pain to work with.
That’s why Holly said, “I put on my LinkedIn ‘friendly, prompt, and reliable.’ They care about that more than anything.”
We all know people with flaky streaks, and we prefer to not be around them during those streaks. Let your prospects know you aren’t that person if you genuinely aren’t.
Principle 13: Planning
Terri contrasted Ilise’s first three business principles to planning.
Terri said, “We love the discovery process more than we love the planning. For us, what we discover in the moment of doing the work, doing the research, listening to people is so much more valuable than anything we planned six weeks ago.”
Plan as much as you need, but leave the rest so you have room to adapt to the culture of your surroundings.
Principle 14: Be yourself
Some people need to plan down to every detail.
Terri, however, said she finds that blocks her from what she calls valuable discoveries.
The lesson? Know yourself. Planners may not get as much out of Terri’s approach as their own, just like how Terri needs to do things her way.
Principle 15: Ride
Much like the business principles “listening to the market” and “slowing down”, writers need to ride their experiences.
Terri said, “You have to slow down to listen to the market, find value, THEN speed up in that experience. Not ‘Hurry up! Everyone’s ahead!’”
Sagacious delay, then hop onto the market.
Principle 16: Elevator pitches
We’ve all been told to create an elevator pitch.
But Terri had something else to say about them. She said, “It doesn’t have to be perfect because conversations aren’t.”
An over-rehearsed pitch, no matter how perfect, will feel awkward. It’s like pulling a punch mid-conversation. Instead of scripting word for word, keep the language loose enough to invite a proper conversation.
Principle 17: Writer’s purpose
Terri took a shot at defining the writer’s purpose. She said it is to “help people gain clarity and share what they do” because “most people don’t want to do it.” Our little secret. Hush, hush.
Regardless of the medium, you’re writing so ideas become tangible. In marketing talk, your written word is a feature, but you as a writer provide the benefit of clarity and motivation. The writer is critical in any area.
Principle 18: Content management
Terri gave surprising advice on the overwhelming world of content management. After all, how can we provide content for clients AND ourselves?
Hence, she said, “I think about what I want to write to my community. I turn it into a blog post. I copy it over to LinkedIn. I’m 1000 characters too long. I cut way down. Now, I have a tiny version. And then I link to wherever I’m going or what I’m doing. It amplifies what you’re trying to say…I like to continue to have stuff up there for people to respond to.”
Principle 19: “Who cares?”
You can’t afford to worry about details like if a reader notices the same content from you on different platforms.
Terri said, “Someone on your list might see it on LinkedIn, but probably not. And who cares. No one remembers anything. So, I like to continue to have stuff up there for people to respond to.”
So relax. It’s a big world, most people keep rolling along, and your job is to keep putting out quality content.
Principle 20: Client communication
How do you talk to clients? AWAI always brings up, “What is your pain point? What is your headache? What keeps you awake at 2 am.”
Instead, in Terri’s words, which I think would flow better in a conversation, “What, copy-wise, you wish you could hand off and it would get done? What can I take off your hands.”
Principle 21: Craft
Writers are about their craft. Subsequently, they can show their approach in their marketing.
Terri role-played this, saying, “I’ve done [copywriting] for all different companies. But the same thing I’ve found in all of it is every one of them is trying to educate a customer and help them make a better decision. The writing I do is geared toward just that: helping a prospect make a smart, informed decision. And all good writing should do that.”
This quote shows prospects how you think. They’ll trust what you can do because you’re showing wisdom from experience and careful thought.
Are these spot on?
In sum, those are the twenty-one business principles I took from AWAI’s 21-Day Challenge with Ilise Benun. These points drew just from the three live discussions with guests Beverly Matoney, Holly Morris, and Terri Trespicio.
And so, if you feel like starting your business has left you fumbling in a dark hall, these principles should cast good light. That and a great network like I’ve experienced with AWAI and its programs, that hall should become easy to navigate.