Today I received a message asking for the biggest "mistakes" to avoid when looking for your first copywriting client.
It's a question I've received many times and one that isn't actually going to help if I answered it.
Instead, it shows me an underlying problem:
The person is coming into business with a scarcity mindset.
They're more focused on avoiding mistakes than they are learning from them.
And here's the thing...
You're likely programmed the same.
And it's not your fault.
This mindset all stems back to your education system.
In school when you get something "wrong" you're ridiculed for it.
You're given detention for failing a test.
You're laughed at for giving a wrong answer.
You're forced to retake a year if you don't pass exams.
The whole concept of "failure" and "making mistakes" is given negative connotations.
But in business you need to completely reframe failure.
If you try to avoid every problem that comes your way 2 things will happen.
1) Your business will fail
Or
2) You'll quit
Instead, treat every "failure" as an opportunity.
Let's use the example of outreach.
You have a list of 1,000 potential prospects to email.
You send a template to the first 200 and don't get a single reply.
Have you failed? No.
You've learned that the template didn't work.
For the next 200 you send a personalised first line.
You get 2 replies, both of which ask you to stop emailing them.
Have you failed? No.
You've learned that prospects might not be interested in your offer.
You go back to the drawing board and create a new offer for the next 200 businesses on your lead list.
This time you send a personalised message with a new offer and get 3 replies.
1 no and 2 asking you for more information.
You get on a call with the two but fail to close.
Have you failed? No.
You've discovered that you need to improve your sales skills.
You buy a book, spend a week practising and send out your offer to 200 more businesses.
Again, you book 2 calls.
This time you land one on a monthly trial.
During this trial you make a few mistakes and ultimately they don't sign up as a retainer.
At this point most people would have quit.
From the traditional perspective of "failing" you haven't achieved anything.
However, from a top-down perspective you've:
> Learned a new outreach method
> Refined your offer
> Stacked a new skill
> Discovered how to better deliver your service
Now it's time to put everything together.
You message the last 200 businesses, get 3 on a call, land 2 on tests and 1 becomes a retainer.
All of the skills you've stacked have come together and now you can rinse and repeat.
This is the harsh reality of business.
You'll often take 3 steps back before you finally take a step forward.
And the sooner you understand this the better.
Everyone can celebrate and smile when things go their way.
If you can smile through the losses you're going to keep winning no matter what.
Have a great week,
Copy "embrace failure" Maverick
