A Copywriter’s Idea: I’m Going to Be Happy, Despite What Befalls Me!
I think the only thing that’s certain in life is this: Change.
Good times come, good times go. Bad times come and they also go.
As a wise one once said to me, “And it came to pass.” Different from, ‘this, too, shall pass.’
What he meant by that had a much more profound meaning than simply saying, ‘this, too, shall pass.”
He meant that it came, in order to pass … or, so it could pass. The experience came, it was here, it was good or bad — and then it was gone.
I think his message was most profound! And it jives with many other mystical or Eastern philosophies.
Perhaps a good metaphor could be a hub and a wheel. As the wheel goes round and round, the hub stays constant. Life’s circumstances and experiences change, going round and round, but the constant within me never changes.
So, the question I must ask is:
Do I choose to identify with lifes ups & downs, good and bad times … or do I choose to identify with the constant, never-changing Self?
A case in point — in the space of 2 weeks, I secured and lost about $13,000.00. Now, I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s a LOT of money! 
When it looked as though the money was a definite, I was very happy. But when each project fell out, one-by-one, and for totally different reasons … I wasn’t very happy at all.
Truth be told, I was downright depressed.
Then, I reflected on what a wise teacher from long ago used to say … “and it came to pass,” so I asked myself what was the lesson here for me to get, gall dern it!
OK, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and asked for the answer. The answer came …
Be the hub.
Be happy and content, despite what befalls me. Good, bad, acceptance, rejection … it’s all just part of the wheel of life, going round and round, collecting some debris (bad); then washing it off in the next rain (good).
Hard to do? Oh yeah.
In case you’re interested … part of the money I lost was due to a marketing guru-type, who just flaked on me. I spent an inordinate amount of time with him, jumping through his hoops.
I justified it, because it would likely lead to a lot more work and even a revenue share. Never again.
The next one, the client had a falling out with their investor and was put on hold. OK.
The third one was due to my fee being too high. Oy vey …
Now mind you, I qualified him on the 45 minute phone-con. I even asked if he had a budget for the project, because I didn’t want to write a thoughtful proposal, if he didn’t have enough money to spend.
“No,” came the answer. No budget. He wanted me to send a proposal, elaborating on what I would do, and we’d go from there.
I complied, and he was floored! Why not just tell me what he thought the project was worth to him in the first place? Amazing.
I think I learned something from this: Always, always get a client to tell me what they *think* a project is worth.
If it’s waaay off … I’ll just walk. Or, if I tell them what I would charge and they agree to it, then I’ll write it up.
I was happy. Then I was sad. Then I decided to be happy, despite what happens on the wheel of life.
These last 3 episodes were just too close together to be coincidence. Aahh yes, but I don’t believe in that anyway. “Coincidence is where God chooses to remain anonymous,” I read somewhere.
So, if nothing happens by accident, an awake person looks for what’s really going on here, methinks. For me, for now, at least one of my lessons is:
Don’t let my happiness depend on what I label good or bad. Because, as sure as shootin’ … it WILL change.
So, I choose happiness, despite what befalls me.
To help ensure your happiness with your marketing efforts, devote a proper budget, keep your word and have rock-solid funding before calling in a marketing strategist and copywriter.
That way, we’ll all be happier, and you’ll get kickass marketing, with a high ROI!
Carolyn
http://www.kickasscopywriter.com
May 9th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Hey Carolyn,
I really think God is with me, or I would have never gotten this far. Your post reminds me of how my mentor taught me to always, and I mean always(!) ask: “What is your marketing budget?”
If they don’t know, I give them a quick (not detailed) quote of what I think a campaign will cost them that includes copy and/or whatever else they’ll need.
For example, if they have no means of driving traffic to their site, I’m not going to tell them that copy will cure their problem. I’ll recommend different ways to get traffic that I can help them with. But I’m not going to sell a partial solution that won’t help them. That would be a disservice.
So, to end this rant, I’ll get their budget up front and see if I can help them. And I’m not shy about telling them what they will need to make their campaign work. If the client and I can’t work together to achieve what the client needs, I won’t take the job, and I’ll let them know that up-front.
May 10th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Hi Kevin,
Thanks so much for your post!
It is amazing, isn’t it, that some clients still think
all they need is great copy to make sales?
I recently had another client, who insisted that’s
all she needed.
I told her, truthfully, there were so many things wrong
with her site, her strategy, etc … no amount of fabulous
headlines and copy would people buy.
She disagreed, and we parted company.
Kudos to you for your ethics! It’s the only way
to go, eh?
I checked out your site. I bet your very good!
Maybe we can ‘confer’ sometimes??
I do just about everything and am doing more financial
writing, so perhaps our paths will cross again.
Thanks Kevin!
Carolyn