A couple weeks ago, I got on a call with a long-time reader, who works as an in-house copywriter.
This is part of an illuminating practice I’ve taken up, of actually interacting with people who read my emails and buy my courses.
Anyways, this reader, who has been working as a copywriter at the same company for four years, said the following:
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The main problem is, each month, the offers don’t really change so I’m writing the same stuff repeatedly.
The only difference is when they have a product launch, I get to write different stuff and set up more flows.
Other than that, it’s quite routine. There’s not much growth for my skill set.
To be honest, I don’t write a lot of copy there, because the copy I write there is quite formulaic and it’s also, not much variation. I don’t get to experiment much with ideas.
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About that:
Gary Bencivenga, widely called the world’s best living copywriter before he retired, liked to quote Al Davis, the coach from 1963-1965 for the infamously tough, mean, aggressive 1965 Oakland Raiders team.
One time, during a press conference before a game, a reporter asked Davis, “So I guess you’ll just have to take what the defense gives you?”
Davis glared. “We don’t take what the defense gives us. We take what we want.”
Gary Bencivenga, who seems to be as sweet and nice of a man as you can put a hat on, recommended Davis’s tough-guy attitude for copywriters also.
Gary didn’t just take the offer the client gave him to promote. Instead, he took what he wanted — he switched the offer altogether, or reworked it, or added to it — until it was as close to his ideal as he could get it, and many miles ahead of where it had started.
So that’s point 1.
Point 2 is that you’re not Gary Bencivenga. You don’t have his authority, and you don’t command the same deference and respect from clients. That’s normal. Gary, again, was the world’s best, and he had a reputation to match.
The situation is even trickier if you’re an in-house copywriter, working with one company full-time. In this case, the power dynamic shifts even more to your client/employer.
And maybe, when you try to “take what you want” — to rework an offer, or to experiment with copywriting ideas, or to simply do something that will stretch and increase your skills — your client/employer gives you a look and just says, “No.”
What then?
It’s up to you. But one thing you can do is say, “Fine. I’ll do my own thing.”
I’m not saying to quit your job. You can “take what you want” on your own time, with nobody controlling what you do or how you do it. It can give you new skills, experience, extra authority.
And who knows?
If you come to your client/employer next time, and cite a personal success story, instead of just pulling a good idea out of the air, maybe you’ll get a better hearing.
If not, you will still feel more fulfilled, skilled, and stimulated. And you’ll have options, because you’re building your own thing on the side, and taking what you want there.
On the call I had with the in-house copywriter I mentioned above, I heard that this is exactly what he’s doing. He’s hunting and working with freelance clients as well. Plus, he’s started his own email list, and he’s writing to it daily.
Who’s got time for all that?
I don’t know. You almost certainly don’t. Or maybe you do. And maybe, if you want some help with the last part, starting and sticking to writing a daily email, you will like my Daily Email Habit service.
Every day, Daily Email Habit prompts you to write something different.
At the end of 7 days, you already have a bunch of little experiments you wouldn’t have had before. And at the end of 30 days, you can experience a transformation.
If you’d like to experience that transformation as soon as possible, it makes sense to get started today: