Chances are you do…

In fact, the better you are at copywriting – the worse it could be.

And believe me, left untreated it will worm its way into your brain and leave your copy crippled.

You’ll come to write a new promotion and BOOM… it’s gone. You can’t write good copy anymore. Everything you try is a failure.

You hand in to your client or your boss whatever the hell you can piece together and hope they don’t notice. But they do. You’ve written a dead pack… an ex-pack… a pack that has simply ceased to be.

You’re fired. Your name becomes muck. You end up out on the street scrounging for food. But even the cardboard sign you hold up to people is badly written. It can’t even convince the kindness of passersby.

And all this because you didn’t treat a simple case of ‘over copyfidence’.

Identify it. Treat it. Prevent it.

OK. So what is ‘over copyfidence’, how do you know if you’re suffering from it and what do you do if you are?

Well, first off. There is a cure. It’s free. It’s painless. And it’s pretty obvious. So, calm yourself down, dear reader.

What I call ‘over copyfidence’ is that sense all copywriters will inevitably get at some point in their careers…

It’s when you think you’re finished learning. You’ve done your time in Copy School. You’ve made enough tea for the copywriting master who trained you and by rights he or she should be making you one… and come to think of it, they should be fanning you with your latest control promotion by now.

Yeah, you’re a superstar. So why on earth would you need to read at least one new sales promotion everyday?

Hang on, hang on, HANG ON!

“What do you mean read a new promotion everyday?” you ask. “I don’t do that.”

Exactly.

And that means you are suffering from ‘over copyfidence’. I just hope it’s not been going on for too long.

Seriously though, you’ve got to. I’m not talking about just opening up an endorsement, clicking through on link and glancing at the headline and lead. No, no, no… that’s NOT enough.

You need to read the whole thing – in full. Headline, lead, the offer, the PS and all the bits inbetween.

You simply can not stop learning as a copywriter. There will always be new developments, new techniques and new challenges in the field and it is ONLY by reading new packs – at least one everyday – that you’ll be able to advance to and stay on top of your game.

Even if the promotion you choose to read on a given day is a pile of pants – you should STILL read it. Analyse why it is so bad, take it apart and then make sure that you’re not using any of the negative techniques you’ve just identified.

The fact is: you can ALWAYS take something useful from a promotion, be that promotion good, bad or downright ugly.

So, venture forth dear reader and make a promise to yourself to read at least one new sales promotion everyday from now on…

Do so and you’ll never need worry about ‘over copyfidence’ again.

Phew. What a relief!

You know it,

Glenn