Today being December 25, let me tell you a story that happened on today’s date, supposedly.
The year was some time long ago, or thereabouts.
The place was London, though whether at St. Paul’s or not the French book doesn’t say.
Merlin had told the Archbishop of Canterbury to summon all the barons to London, for a sign would appear, showing who should become king and bring the realm out of lawless jeopardy.
And sure enow, during morning mass, right around the time that I’m writing this, specifically 11:02am, a great stone appeared in the churchyard, and an anvil atop that stone, with a sword, naked to the point, stuck inside the anvil. On the sword was an inscription in gold letters, which read:
“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England.”
Maybe you know this story.
Lots of great knights tried to pull out the stone. They all failed.
Then on New Year’s day, a young boy named Arthur pulled out the sword, kind of by accident, and the sign was shown and the prophecy was fulfilled:
HERE WAS KING ARTHUR, NEW RULER OF THE REALM, KING OF ALL ENGLAND.
Good story, right? Right???
I don’t know whether this legend taps into something fundamental in the human psyche, or if it’s just that we’ve all been told it a million times over, in various forms.
One way or another, it’s snuck into our subconscious, where it does its damage. Because it’s not how reality works.
A few weeks ago, a member of my Daily Email House community, DTC copywriter and brand strategist Chavy Helfgott, posted a question in the group:
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I recently put a new page on my website called “Client Love”, which features screenshots of feedback I’ve gotten from clients.
And I noticed that there was a lot of really, really enthusiastic feedback there. Like multiple “wows”, “I’m amazed,” and “blown away.”
Here’s my problem: despite this great feedback, there’s this niggling little worm in my brain constantly whispering, “You’re not really good enough.”
This is problematic because it’s difficult to sell myself as THE answer to my ideal client’s problem… if I myself doubt that it is true.
I guess my question is – anyone have any ideas how to get past this hump? Why is feedback from my own clients not convincing me? How do I convince myself that my work is valuable, so I can more successfully convince others of this, so that they hire me?
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Lotsa House members chimed in with great suggestions and ideas.
The one I want to highlight today came from speechwriter and trainer Alexander Westenberg. Alexander wrote:
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I agree with pretty much everything already said, but here’s an additional two cents: You say it’s difficult to sell yourself as THE answer, but to me I don’t see why you have to?
The way I like to look at it for myself (and pretty much everything else in life) is that you don’t have to be THE answer, just AN answer.
So for me, I’m a speechwriter and trainer. I have my way of doing things, and I honestly believe in it and in the value I bring. But a) there are other speechwriters out there, and b) some people prefer AI.
I provide AN answer to the problem of how to be a powerful and persuasive speaker. I’m even happy saying I’m one of the better answers — but I’m also happy saying that people can answer that problem in other ways.
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Arthur legend notwithstanding, you don’t need to be THE ONE.
You can be ONE OF and still live a heroic life — a life where you take on great challenges that excite you, and get rewarded handsomely for your effort.
There are lots of ways you can be announce to the world you are ONE OF the better answers to whatever problem you are solving.
I think that having an online personal brand is one of the better ways to do that, though there certainly are other options.
I also think that, for having an online personal brand, an email newsletter is particularly attractive, and much easier to succeed with, though other platforms and formats can certainly work.
And if you do write an email newsletter, then I think a daily, personal-sounding email like what you are reading right now is a great way to go about it, though dailyish or weekly or occasional emails can work, and are certainly better than nothing.
And if you do choose to write daily emails, then one of the better ways to stick with it and be effective is to use daily prompts or topic categories for yourself, which keep your emails fresh and your mind focused, though of course using no structure and relying on inspiration each day is also an option.
You see where I’m going with this?
It’s an old story, one that I’ve told hundreds of times in these emails. But maybe you still don’t know how it ends? For that, take a look here, and see if you are willing to start on the journey that you are being invited upon: