Back when I was but a wee copywriting lad I remember getting John Thomas envy (so to speak) over world class copywriter’s ads. I’d see a Gary Halbert ad… or a John Carlton ad… or a Gene Schwartz ad… or a Gary Bencivenga ad… or any world class ad… and I’d think to myself, “how the hell am I ever going to be this good? What is the point? This is ridiculous, I might as well go back to the 9-5 world…”
I struggled a lot in the early days.
Just couldn’t get things the way I wanted them.
Then, one day, I saw a video from a Yanni concert.
Normally, I don’t listen to Yanni’s music.
But, in this case I did. And, it was of his orchestra doing their own version of Vivaldi’s “The Storm.” (I have always been a huge Vivaldi fan — always considered his work the highest level you could achieve.) Anyway, Yanni had his two top violinists do Vivaldi’s The Storm in his own style.
And, I must say, I think it is 10x’s better than the original.
Yes, I know some music purists will disagree.
But, that’s not the point.
The point is, I finally realized even the best copywriters CAN be beat.
They CAN bleed.
And, you CAN beat them.
They are not immortal.
They are just as flawed and screwed up and plagued with insecurities over their work as the rest of us — even if they make it look easy.
The point?
Ever since then I have never had A-list copywriter penii envy.
And, after reading this, neither should you.
I don’t care if you are a brand spanking new newbie fresh off the turnip truck… or if you are a seasoned pro trying to break into the ranks of the upper echelons of copywriting. If you have the talent you’re going to break through the wall.
Like Red Skelton told Johnny Carson:
(paraphrased)
If you have talent even a brick wall won’t stop you from coming through.
And if you think you don’t have talent then study up on Gary Bencivenga’s story. He is widely considered one of the (if not “the”) greatest living copywriter today. He was in the freelance business for 40 years and saw a billion (literally) dollars worth of testing.
But you know what?
He struggled like hell in the beginning.
I remember hearing him say he was just one angry boss’s bad day away from being fired on any given day in the beginning. And, even 10 years in, he considered himself a very mediocre copywriter.
All right, enough Ramen Noodles for the soul.
Here’s another tip:
The fastest way I know to make your sales letters pull better (and even exponentially better) is by sending your list daily emails to that sales letter in a way people *like* reading and look forward to buying from.
It’s what I teach in “Email Players” each month.
And you can learn it, too — right here:
Ben Settle
