November 26th, 2008 by Kelly

What is going to make the difference between creating success and not creating success? Fully expressing your power.

I believe this is true no matter what your desires; to become a successful and profitable copywriter, to become a millionaire, to create passive income streams so you can travel the world, to be a great parent and raise joyful children.  

Your thoughts tend to be the thing that hold most people back, and are also the one thing that can shoot you forward to phenomenal success in record time. Your thoughts can also bury you alive. You need to be aware of them and control them.

Unleashing your power

Many aspiring copywriters feel stuck somewhere between their current existence and their dream of freedom and success as a freelance copywriter. These copywriters know that they are capable of achieving so much more, but are stuck where they’re at, either unsure where to go next or unclear how to move forward, paralyzed with fear and indecision.

When you dream, you see yourself becoming and being the phenomenal success you know you are capable of. With a clear vision, focused purpose, and deep gratitude you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Controlling your mind is the key.  

Your thoughts allow you to fully express your own power. You can do this by:

1.    Examining your thoughts and beliefs. Think about where these beliefs manifested. Where do they come from – your parents? The media? Interpretations of past experiences?
2.    Taking charge of your thoughts and mind through meditation. Use discipline and eliminate noise and unsupportive beliefs and stories, and learn and integrate new behaviors and beliefs into your daily routine.
3.    Creating balance and clearing clutter in your life.

Visionary and psychologist William James said, “Believe and your belief will create fact.” Remember this as your unconscious mind relives old stories and repeatedly undermines your dreams with negative thoughts.

Take control of your thoughts and change your behaviors so that your true power can express itself. Expressing YOUR unique self is how your will achieve your dreams and create the life you envision.

November 19th, 2008 by Kelly

Don’t you love it when everything in your life flows smoothly? Days when everything clicks together without effort…you arrive at your appointments on time without rushing, projects are running on schedule, you get the first parking spot in the lot, you are NOT out of milk for breakfast…days like this are what I dream of. 

As entrepreneurs, we strive to create systems and routines so that we and our businesses run smoothly and we don’t spend our days putting out fires. Creating systems and implementing checklists improves customer service and reduces errors, thereby giving us more time to create positive experiences and a flow to our day.   

Just like your life and your business should flow, your copy should read smoothly and flow too. When you’ve worked on a project for several days and rewritten pages countless times, it’s easy to overlook something as intangible as the smoothness of the copy. It’s common for copywriters to run out of time and not give their copy a "smoothness check" when complete. 

One of the ways we ensure seamlessness in our life and business is to put systems or routines in place. The repetitive nature of checklists and systems helps reduce errors and ensure consistency. Here are a few things you can do to ensure seamlessness so that your copy flows in a natural manner each and every time:

• Read your copy out loud when you are done. This is the number one way I’ve found to check for flow. Print out your copy and read it out loud. Notice this is two steps: Print and Vocalize. Reading the content off your computer screen in your head does not have the same effect.
• Have someone else read your copy out loud to you. Listen carefully to what they read. If there are areas where the reader unnaturally pauses or gets stuck and backs up to reread a section, you need to go back to work on it.
• Create a post-writing checklist. This ensures nothing gets missed and elevates the quality of your copy.
• If there are areas that don’t flow smoothly, ask yourself if you have effectively used transitions between thoughts and paragraphs throughout the piece.
• Put the finished copy down for a day or two and then do one final read through before turning in the final copy. If you can get away from your work and do something restful and enjoyable before doing the final read-through, it will help you be more objective.

Your copy should flow like a river downstream…seamlessly and without any dams jamming things up. Lack of transitions, running behind and rushing to submit copy without thoroughly proofing, and not having another person read it out loud are some of the most common reasons copy doesn’t flow. 

It is your job to create automatic systems to ensure your copy is easy to read and understand.

Happy Copywriting!

Kelly Robbins
www.TheCopywritingInstitute.com

November 12th, 2008 by Kelly

YOU have all of the control over your self-esteem. By controlling your thoughts and the discussion that goes on inside your head, you have the ability to improve not only your outlook on life, but your confidence in yourself and your ability to handle what life throws your way. 

Today we continue to look at ways for YOU to improve your self-esteem - here’s Tip #5:

As negative things do appear in your life – and they will, it happens to all of us – don’t let them linger.

Look at the negative experience, learn from it, and then let it go. Don’t store it in the storage room of your mind so that it keeps coming back – you don’t have room for it. I recently read some techniques different people use to let go of negative thoughts and feelings.

Chuck Norris, the famous actor, physically writes down the negative event or experience and then folds up the paper and burns it. The act of writing it down and then physically watching it burn is his way of making something intangible (his thoughts and feelings) more tangible. This is then easier to throw away.

Low self-esteem can be especially common with writers. Writing can be very subjective and personal. It’s easy to take feedback negatively and personally. Don’t let negative thoughts control you and your future. You are meant for greatness – go get it!

Happy Copywriting!

Kelly Robbins
www.TheCopywritingInstitute.com

November 5th, 2008 by Kelly

YOU have all of the control over your self-esteem. By controlling your thoughts and the discussion that goes on inside your head, you have the ability to improve not only your outlook on life, but your confidence in yourself and your ability to handle what life throws your way. 

Today we continue to look at ways for YOU to improve your self-esteem - here’s Tip #4:

Before you get out of bed in the morning consciously start thinking of positive things for the day.

List things you are grateful for. Start with awareness of what your thoughts are when you first wake up (mine are often negative and I have to consciously switch them over to positive) then start switching. You may start with your five positive thoughts from the night before. Don’t get out of bed until you are feeling grateful to have today to look forward to.

Stay tuned for our last tip next week!

Happy Copywriting!

Kelly Robbins
www.TheCopywritingInstitute.com