Nick Usborne's Blog, page 11

How I found my true self by spending time as someone else.

In my last post I mentioned that I struggled academically during my earlier years at school.

I was at an English private boarding school from age 8 to 12. Not a fun place to be, particularly if you’re shy and have zero self-confidence.

At that particular school, after the first couple of years, they divided everyone between three academic streams.

At the very top was the scholarship stream, followed by an academically competent stream, and at the bottom was the “don’t even bother to try harder” stream.

I was in that last stream.

I was also miles away from ever being on a school sports team. Nor was I ever going to hold any role of responsibility in the school.

I was one of those quiet, timid, underachieving, invisible kids.

That’s how my teachers saw me. It’s how my parents saw me. It’s how the other kids saw me.

That’s how I saw myself.

That was my story.

Then something happened…

Each year the school put on a Shakespeare play. Not a scene from the play. The full, complete version. So if you had a major role, you had to learn hundreds of lines. Quite the task for a bunch of kids aged 12 and under.

Anyway, when I was 11 or 12 – I can’t remember which – the play for the year was Julius Caesar.

For some reason I kept raising my hand to audition for one of the major roles. I don’t remember what motivated me to do that… because playing a big role in the annual school play was not consistent with my “story”. I was meant to be invisible.

But I’m pretty sure there was a part of me that was rebelling against that version of my story.

And the headmaster, who put on these plays each year, must have sensed something too, because he said he’d give me a try in the role of Cassius.

Shakespeare’s Cassius is a strong, powerful man. The absolute opposite of who I was back then.

And I do remember almost getting dumped from the role during the early rehearsals. I was being me instead of being him. Too timid, too invisible.

Something else I remember is that the big breakthrough came when I changed what I was doing physically; when I stopped stooping, and keeping my hands and arms close to my body.

Everything changed when I stood up tall, held my arms out wide and used my body with confidence. My body became the body of Cassius.

As soon as that happened, all talk of dumping me from the role ended.

Then came the first of three performances.

My parents came to watch on the first night.

They came on the second night too. And on the third.

They were more than a little surprised by the transformation they were seeing. Same with my teachers. Same with all the other pupils in the school.

Same with me.

By stepping into the role of Cassius for a while, I had found a part of him that resonated with an important but hidden part inside of myself.

Playing that role in a play was the trigger that enabled me to ditch the old story of me and create a new one.

And the transformation wasn’t just about how I felt about myself.

Within months I was in the top academic stream at the school, the scholarship stream.

I got a spot on the school’s rugby football team.

I took on roles of responsibility within the school.

The negative power of my old story had held me back.

The positive power of my new story changed everything.

I was still the same person. I hadn’t received an injection of extra brain cells or muscles.

I had simply changed my story. And in my case, I changed my story by stepping into the shoes of a character who was a great deal more powerful and confident than the old me.

That’s not the only way you can change your story for the better, but it certainly worked for me. It utterly changed my life.

Here’s the big takeaway…

Playing the role of Cassius is how I changed my story from one of underachieving to something much better.

How this happens for you will likely be very different.

But the point is, you CAN change your story.

In fact you can deliberately sit down and write out a description of the new story of you.

You can rewrite your future.

It doesn’t matter where you are at in your life right now. It doesn’t matter what age you are.

All you need do is look inside yourself and find a spot where you think, “I can do more than this!”

Take that thought and use it to rewrite the story of your own future as a freelancer.

NOTE: If you’d like some help or guidance in unpacking your past and creating a better story for yourself, check out my one-on-one coaching program for freelancers… “The New Story of You”

 

 

 

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Are you really the author of the story of your own freelance business?

There’s a scary question for you.

Who IS the author of the story of your life and career as a freelancer?

It’s tempting to immediately answer, “It’s me, of course! I’m the author, protagonist and hero of my own story!”

But is that true?

Truly, honestly, I think most of us are secondary characters in other people’s stories.

This is particularly true of employees.

For example, if you work for Facebook, you’re a character in Mark Zuckerberg’s story.

If you work for Apple, you’re a character in Steve Job’s story. He may have passed, but it’s still his story.

If you work for a local plumbing supply company, you’re a character in your boss’s story, whoever he or she may be.

“But Nick, I’m a freelancer. By definition this is MY story.”

Hmm… are you sure about that?

As a freelancer you’ll always be the central character of the story. For the most part, you’ll be the hero too.

But are you the author?

I’ve been coaching and training freelance writers and copywriters for many years now. As a coach I have had the opportunity to hear many freelancers tell me their stories.

And here’s the thing… a lot of those freelancers were struggling to play roles in storylines that other people had created.

Here are three ways in which freelancers find themselves following someone else’s storyline:

1. When you’re carrying “story baggage” from your youth or childhood.

When I was in primary school I didn’t perform well academically, at all. So my teachers began to put together a narrative around my life and my future. It was a storyline that described the future of someone who appeared to be singularly lacking in gifts.

In my early twenties a career advisor told me to lower my expectations. (I wanted a job in advertising, but had no qualifications.)

On the plus side, I received encouragement and positive feedback from other teachers and authority figures while at school.

Mixed messages… lots of possible storylines.

Coaching clients have told me their own stories from their childhoods.

Some positive and some negative.

The thing is, we clearly remember a lot of these narratives about ourselves from our past, and they can have a huge impact on the scope of our dreams and ambitions today.

We need to unpack that story “baggage” and let go everything that might be holding us back.

2. When someone persuades you to follow their story, instead of yours.

Maybe you have a favorite guru you like to follow.

They tell you their story. Maybe it’s a rags to riches story. It’s a compelling story, because it shows someone rising up in the face of adversity and then achieving success.

You can relate to that story, because you’ve faced adversity too.

You feel that guru understands you, and can help you.

So when he offers a product, or service that allows you to follow the same path that led him to success, you reach out for it.

OK… time to hit the pause button.

Are you sure you want to follow his story? It may have got him to where he is today, but there’s no guarantee it will do the same for you.

You’d do better to develop your own story, the story of YOU.

In other words, don’t mistake other people’s stories for your own. Don’t try leading their lives, because you can’t.

3. When you mistake money for meaning.

I wrote about this in an earlier post.

It’s tempting to create a story for yourself that revolves around money. You create a narrative you hope will bring you tons of cash, a huge house, nice cars and maybe a boat as well.

Stories like that generally don’t do very well. Because those stories are rarely true to how you actually feel.

Most of us are looking for deeper meaning in our lives. We hunger for a higher purpose. Money may be a side-benefit of our pursuit of purpose… but it’s rarely the main driver in our lives.

So when you are working on the “new story of you” for the years ahead, don’t make it about money. Make it about the pursuit of a deeper and more meaningful purpose.

Take the first step in ensuring you become of the author of the story of your own life.

It’s actually pretty hard to become the true and sole author of your own story.

There’s all that story baggage unpacking that needs to be done.

Then we have to look at all the teachers and gurus we admire and make sure that while we can still learn from them, we’re not making the mistake of trying to live their stories instead of our own.

And then there’s the challenge of finding a meaningful purpose to underpin our own story.

Not easy. But worth it. So we can become the authors of the stories of our own lives.

NOTE: If you’d like some help or guidance in unpacking your past and creating a better story for yourself, check out my one-on-one coaching program for freelancers… “The New Story of You”

 

 

 

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The New Story of You should have a purpose beyond just money.

We all have to make money to pay the bills.

But when you work just for the money, and no other reason, your life can become a little thin and unsatisfying.

To illustrate this point, let me share a story from my own life.

About 20 years ago I was a decade into my career as a copywriter and doing very well. But I wasn’t that happy about my work.

One evening I was having a few beers with a friend of mine, Mike. He was a friend first and foremost, but he was also a client. He was a small business owner and I had done a copywriting job for him a few month before.

After a few beers I told him I was feeling kind of crappy about my work.

More or less, here’s what I said…

“Mike, sometimes it feels like I’m just a BS artist. As a copywriter it feels like I’m just spouting nonsense to make people buy stuff they don’t really want. When I get to my deathbed and look back at my life, it’s going to be, like, “Yah, I spent my life as a champion BS writer!””

Yes, I was staring into my beer, feeling sorry for myself and being one of those people who get more and more miserable after each new drink.

Mike saw things a little differently. Largely because the job I had done for him a few months earlier had made a huge difference to his fledgling business.

Here, more or less, is how he replied.

“Nick, don’t be ridiculous. And stop whining into your beer. That copywriting work you did for me? It turned my business around. You know that. And I had to hire three more people to meet the demand. So at the very least you created three new jobs for people who wanted and needed them.”

Interesting, right?

Two totally different interpretations of the same thing.

I thought I was just making money by writing BS.

Mike pointed out that I was actually supporting small business and creating new jobs.

That was a huge moment for me. By reframing the impact of my work, Mike provided me with the fuel to jump back into my career with a renewed sense of purpose.

This is what I mean when I talk about “The New Story of You”.

It’s about finding and letting go the negative stories – like me feeling I was a BS writer.

It’s about finding a new and more positive narrative – like me becoming a supporter of young companies and the creator of new jobs.

When you can rewrite your story like that, it changes everything. It gives renewed purpose to your work. It makes you feel good about what you do.

And yes, the money follows. Because when you’re driven by a meaningful purpose, you end up doing better work for which companies will pay you higher fees.

The amazing thing is, anyone can do the same.

Sometimes you can achieve this own your own, with a little deep introspection.

More often, you need the help of an outsider, like I got from my friend.

Or you can work with a coach to find this new story of yourself and your future.

One way or another, give this some serious thought. It could make a huge difference to your life.

NOTE: If you’d like some help or guidance in writing a better story for yourself, check out my new one-on-one coaching program for freelancers… “The New Story of You”

 

 

 

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If you don’t like the story of your freelance life so far, rewrite it.

Stories are a ridiculously powerful force in our lives.

For example… when you were young, which kind of kid were you?

The clever one? The slow one? The sporty one? The geeky one? The troublemaker?

Other people told those stories about what kind of person you were.

And those early stories about “who you were” maybe stuck with you for decades.

Perhaps they still have an influence over how you feel about yourself today.

These stories can be particularly strong and “sticky” when first told by someone we look up to. Someone in a position of authority. Like a parent, older sibling, teacher or coach.

If a teacher tells us we’ll never amount to much, that’s a story we are unlikely to forget. The same is true if she tells us we’re destined for greatness.

The stories other people tell about us… and the stories we tell about ourselves… have a huge influence on our lives.

And here’s a funny thing… although it’s not really funny at all…

As a default, we tend to believe every story we hear.

Humans are uniquely vulnerable to the power of a good story.

When we hear gossip about someone around the water cooler, we tend to believe it. Even when it’s malicious.

When politicians tell us stories about how “those other people” are the source of all our problems, we believe them.

When marketers tell us stories about how we can lose weight in just 10 weeks, we believe them.

The point being, when information is packaged in the form of a story it has enormous power over us.

In life, very few things are facts. Mostly things are just stories.

Gravity causes apples to fall from trees. That’s a fact.

But most things aren’t facts at all. They’re just stories.

As a freelancer, here are a few of the storylines you may have heard.

“Companies aren’t going to hire you if you don’t have a portfolio of work to show them.”

“You have to start working with small companies first, before you can even think about pitching yourself to a large company.”

“With so much competition out there, you have no choice but to reduce your fees.”

“If you want to be successful as a freelancer, you have to model yourself on what other successful freelancers are doing.”

There are no facts there, just stories. And you don’t have to believe a single one of them.

If stories are that influential, why not just rewrite your story?

“What’s that, Nick? You really think you can change your life just by telling a different story about yourself?”

Absolutely I do.

In fact, I’ve driven some very dramatic changes in my own life simply by changing my story.

Sometimes I’ve had to rewrite stories that were told about me by other people.

Other times I have had to dig deeper and change stories I was telling about myself, to myself.

The point being, you CAN write a new story for yourself… and develop a better, stronger narrative for your freelancer business.

Like I said, we are uniquely vulnerable to the power of stories.

But we are also able to change and rewrite those stories.

And that’s a true superpower.

So yes, if you don’t like the story of your freelance life so far, you can rewrite it.

NOTE: If you’d like some help or guidance in writing a better story for yourself, check out my new one-on-one coaching program for freelancers… “The New Story of You”

 

 

 

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No, that demanding client of yours is NOT your boss.

If you’ve watched the opening video on my coaching page, you’ll already be familiar with the backstory of why we so often defer to a boss… even when we don’t have one.

Basically, it’s build-in, hard-wired.

Right from the start, from the day we were born, there has ALWAYS been a boss in our life.

Our first bosses were our parents.

Then our teachers and coaches at school.

And then our managers and bosses at work.

We have barely gone through a day in our lives when we haven’t been paying attention to the directions of a boss.

So when we launch ourselves as freelancers, there is this huge, gaping void in our experience of the world.

Suddenly there’s no boss. Nobody is sitting in the chair at the head of the table.

It’s kind of freaky. Definitely uncomfortable.

So when we talk with a client or a prospective client, it feels totally natural to put him or her in that chair. To designate that person as the boss in the room.

Big mistake.

As soon as you do that… as soon as you put them in that chair… you lose control. You submit to their authority. You acknowledge and accept their power over you.

Don’t do that.

If you want to be a massively successful freelancer — to achieve your true potential — there is only one person who belongs in that chair at the head of the table, and that person is YOU.

As a freelancer YOU are the boss of your own business.

You only cease to be the boss if you voluntarily give up that position and authority to someone else.

Allow that to happen, and you’ll suddenly find yourself saying yes to project fees that are lower than you wanted. You’ll say yes to working longer hours than you planned on. You’ll say yes to every pushy little demand a client makes.

And all because you gave up control and let them be the boss.

Yes, I get it. There’s something natural and “comfortable” about designating your prospect or client as the boss in the room.

It feels familiar. It feels safe to have a boss.

But it’s a mistake. And it’s a mistake you don’t need to make.

You just need to make a clean break with the way things were before you became a freelancer.

Make a clean break with the idea that you need a boss in your life.

Taking that step will make a huge difference to your business.

Suddenly you’ll find yourself able to command much higher fees.

You’ll have complete control over the hours you work.

You’ll feel comfortable saying NO when that’s what you want to say.

In short, when you get comfortable with becoming the true boss of your freelance business… everything gets a whole lot better.

NOTE: If you need help with making that break with the old ways, and getting comfortable with being the true and only boss of your freelance business, check out my one-on-one coaching service… “Help!! I Can’t Find My Boss!!”

 

 

 

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3 Things you have to get right when selling with stories.

Recently I’ve been seeing a surge in the number of companies jumping on the “story” bandwagon.

A few days ago I was traveling back from the UK. At the airport I saw three references to story. One on a poster, one in a duty-free flier that was thrust into my hand just after I got through security, and the one you see in the photo above, on the pages of an in-flight magazine.

All mention story, but not one of them actually told a story.

It’s as if the writers believed that just using the word “story” would make some kind of difference.

It doesn’t.

If you want to tap into the true power of storytelling in your marketing, you have to actually tell and share a real story.

And to give your story power, it has to get three things right…

First, something has to happen.

Whether it’s in a novel, a movie or just shared in a conversation among friends over coffee, a story describes something that happens.

Every story has one or more characters, whether those characters are people, animals, robots… or some other invention from the imagination of the author.

And within the story there is a passing of time… a beginning, a middle and an end.

And over the course of that period of time, things happen to the story’s characters. There’s tension, there’s a denouement.

Stuff happens.

If nothing happens, there’s no story.

Second, the reader has to CARE about what happens.

This is about empathy.

If the reader, listener or viewer doesn’t care about what happens to the central characters, you’ve written a bad story.

I see this happen all the time with business stories.

The story unfolds, but doesn’t trigger empathy. And that means the story has no power. It fails to engage the reader in a meaningful way.

Let me give you an example.

As you may know, I’m fairly well plugged into the coffee industry. I’m interested in coffee, and I’m also interested in how companies market their coffee.

One of the favorite stories told by small coffee retailers and coffee roasters goes something like this…

“We source only single-origin coffees from small coffee farms or cooperatives. We believe in supporting coffee-growing families and paying them fairly for their hard work.”

The marketers then try to bring the story to life with photos of those coffee-growing families.

But… what do you feel? Do you truly empathize with that family? What are our points of shared experience? How can we feel a connection with their experience of life?

If you fail to create that connection – and most coffee companies do fail – then you have told a weak story that will do you very little good.

I’m not saying for a moment that a good writer couldn’t make you feel empathy when hearing about coffee farmers in far-off lands.

It’s entirely possible.

Have you seen the WALL E movie? Its creators managed to make us get all emotional over the struggles of a small metal robot.

If you can create empathy for a cartoon robot, you can certainly do it for a family that grows coffee.

The trouble is, most coffee companies are just really bad story tellers.

They fail to make us care.

Third, the story has to contain a message or a learning moment.

When you read a good novel or go to a movie, it’s enough simply to feel entertained.

But within a business context, a story is wasted if it doesn’t make a point.

The reader needs to be engaged by the story, feel one or more emotions, and then “get” the message and take an action.

Going back to the coffee story…

If you tell me a really good story about a family growing coffee, and engage me emotionally, I’ll get the message that by purchasing your company’s coffee I’ll be impacting that family’s life in a positive way.

Now I’m going to buy my coffee from you, and not from one of your competitors.

In other words, there has to be a business reason for sharing a story, and the message I get from your story has to result in me taking the action you want.

This sounds obvious, but I’m constantly coming a cross business stories that seem to have been written simply to entertain and not to make an important point, or drive a sale.

Wrapping it up…

Stories are a powerful way to sell online, principally because they provide a way to connect with an audience at an emotional level.

But when you’re selling with stories you have to create a true narrative – by making something happen.

You have to make your reader care, by creating empathy.

And you have to give your story a purpose… so your readers will feel compelled to do something after reading the story.

NOTE: If you’d like to use the power of storytelling to increase your skills as a web content writer, online copywriter or social media writer, learn more about my course… Selling With Stories…

 

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What is your thinking process when writing headlines?

This question is from Charlotte, who took my course on How to Write Better Headlines.

She asks, “What is your thinking process as you brainstorm, formulate, play with, and analyze your headline creations?”

After writing headlines for 35 years, it’s quite the challenge to deconstruct the process I go through.

But here’s a broad outline of what I do…

A practical note… I work with a pen and pad of paper first. Don’t ask me why, but I do. Just for the headline.

OK… the process and sequence…

First, I get clear about the PURPOSE of the page.

What am I trying to achieve?

Is this about maximizing shareability through social media?
Is this page part of a sales funnel? Am I pre-selling?
Am I optimizing for the search engines?
Am I trying to create a sense of value and permanence for an evergreen page of content?
And so on…

Without being clear about the purpose, you’re never going to get it right.

Second, I give myself plenty of time, with long breaks between bursts of work.

Third, with my early best effort in place, I then start on the body copy.

Fourth, once I get into the body copy, I’ll ALWAYS find ways to improve on the headline. Sometimes I’ll totally change it.

Truth be told, however good I think the headline is early on, that first effort never survives.

Ultimately, it’s always just a placeholder.

For me, it’s the process of writing the full page that finally reveals the best headline.

That doesn’t mean that first hand-written version isn’t important.

It is.

It establishes the purpose of the page, and provides the starting point from which everything else follows.

But by the end of the process, it’s always replaced with something better.

OK Charlotte… I hope that helps a little.

NOTE: I have a whole course on mastering the craft of writing great headlines, called How to Write Better Headlines – For Content, Email and Social Media

 

 

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Can I add some of my own copywriting hacks to the list?

This question is from Malcolm, who took my 21 Copywriting Hacks course.

He asks, “I’ve taken your course and am using the final checklist you provided. My question is: Can I add some hacks of my own to the list? Things I have found work well for me?”

Absolutely you can.

First – for anyone who isn’t familiar with this course – the 21 Copywriting Hacks course was created to help you improve your own sales copy… at that point just before you submit it to your client.

– The first group of hacks helps you make the headline as powerful as possible.

– The second group helps you ensure your body copy is super-persuasive.

– And the third group of hacks helps you optimize the call to action.

Finally, at the end of the course, you get to download a one-page Checklist to print out and hold against every piece of copy you write.

Using these hacks – and the checklist – helps make sure you always submit your best work.

So Malcolm… here is what I’d suggest…

There are two kinds of hacks you can add to the list.

First, hacks related to your known strengths. To make sure you apply them every time.

Second, hacks to support areas of known weakness.

For example, I’m pretty strong when it comes to headlines and body copy… but have to watch myself when it comes to the close and the call to action.

So I could add one or two hacks to the third group, to make sure my call to action is strong.

But… one big caveat.

Don’t let the list grow too long.

I’d say keep it to 25 hacks max.

That means removing hacks for each new one you want to add over 25.

Why? I did a separate video on this.

The point being, the longer the list grows, the less likely it is that you’ll actually use it.

So yes Malcolm, by all means add to and customize the list so it works well for you.

Just don’t let it grow too long.

Learn more about my course – 21 Copywriting Hacks That Deliver Quick & Easy Wins.

 

 

 

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Can I use your 21 Copywriting Hacks to improve EXISTING pages?

This question is from Denis, who took my 21 Copywriting Hacks course.

He asks, “I love your 21 Copywriting Hacks. Super-helpful. My question is… could I use these as a ‘system’ to improve on a company’s EXISTING sales pages?”

Great question. And yes.

First – for anyone who isn’t familiar with this course – the 21 Copywriting Hacks course was created to help you improve your own sales copy… at that point just before you submit it to your client.

– The first group of hacks helps you make the headline as powerful as possible.

– The second group helps you ensure your body copy is super-persuasive.

– And the third group of hacks helps you optimize the call to action.

The hacks are a way to make sure you always submit your best work.

So this is already a ‘system’.

What Denis is suggesting is that the system be used in a different way… not just to improve your own copywriting work, but also to improve a client’s existing pages.

This is a great idea.

So Denis… you have the course, and the final checklist.

Now you can steal the whole idea – wrap it up in a compelling promotional package – and offer it as a system to improve existing pages, whoever wrote them first.

This is a powerful idea, because companies love “systems”, particularly those aimed at improving their business performance.

Thanks for the idea Denis. And yes, go for it!

Learn more about my course – 21 Copywriting Hacks That Deliver Quick & Easy Wins.

 

 

 

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Writing For The Web #1 — 7 Challenges every Writer and Copywriter faces when writing for the Web.

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Can I use these 21 Copywriting Hacks BEFORE I start writing?

This question is from Elizabeth, who took my 21 Copywriting Hacks course.

She asks, “I understand your reasons for applying a checklist of copy hacks to your copy before sending it to the client. But why not just apply the hacks right at the beginning, when you first write the copy?”

And the good question keep on coming…

First – for anyone who isn’t familiar with this course – the 21 Copywriting Hacks course was created to help you improve your own sales copy… at that point just before you submit it to your client.

– The first 5 hacks helps you make the headline as powerful as possible.

– The next 10 help you ensure your body copy is super-persuasive.

– And the 6 final hacks helps you optimize the call to action.

The hacks are a way to make sure you always submit your best work.

So… as Elizabeth suggests… why not just apply the hacks at the outset, when you start writing?

You can. Absolutely.

But I suggest applying them towards the end, shortly before submitting your copy to your client, for a very specific reason.

That reason being… we seem to have a blind spot right before we send off our copy.

We miss typos. We are blind to weak spots. And we’ll even argue with ourselves internally to persuade ourselves it’s OK to let the copy go. It’s like we just want to get rid of it. Get it done and gone.

We don’t have that same set of weaknesses at the beginning. When we start writing we are fully alert and our critical thinking is at its peak.

That’s why I suggest applying the hacks at the end of the process.

It forces us into making improvements at the time are most likely to close our eyes, and deliver work that is nowhere near our best.

It stops us sending off copy that isn’t yet good enough.

Learn more about my course – 21 Copywriting Hacks That Deliver Quick & Easy Wins.

 

 

 

If you found this post helpful, sign up for my e-newsletter and get a free copy of my 35-page guide…

Writing For The Web #1 — 7 Challenges every Writer and Copywriter faces when writing for the Web.

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