So, it's come to this...
I'd like to begin by expressing enormous gratitude to everyone who contributes to this forum. Your collective knowledge and experience has been invaluable to me and many others on their journeys to success in copywriting! Thank you!
I'm hoping you guys could offer me up some help?
Here's my story...
My life was a mess, I had Aspergers as a kid, before such a diagnosis existed. My parents didn't know how to handle me and I got thrown out of home at 16. From there my life stalled for about a decade. I was a drifter, unsure I even had a place in the world.
Thanks to an extraordinary friend, I got into the rat race, got a job, a home and eventually found a woman who loved me and had a family. Awesome!
But I've never really been able to get past minimum wage. I've worked my butt off for others and have nothing really to show for it. After losing 2 jobs by the summer of this year I decided I want more for me and my family. So I looked into how to improve myself and after much research, copywriting looked to be a natural fit.
Since June, I have immersed myself in the art, saturating my brain with information daily!
Having worked in telemarketing and sales for years, a lot of the concepts are the same and so I feel I have progressed well, although I realise I still have much to learn.
Then, the wheels came off. The old laptop I was using with all my research and stuff I'd written has died and, like the rookie I am, I didn't back anything up. Hours of work, gone. Gutted.
On top of this, I can't seem to get a job, minimum wage or not.
Christmas is coming, I have 2 kids, 1 on the way, no local job opportunities and an increasingly anxious wife.
I've never been more motivated in my life to succeed at anything. I believe, with some experience
I could be really quite successful.
I would like to mention at this point that I can't work for the content mills. They represent the exact opposite of why I want to get involved in copywriting.
And almost all my studies thus far have been about crafting good copy and persuasion in print. But not the business side. I have no idea where to start?
I've rinsed the forum here and have discovered some excellent ideas, but my problem is a lack of confidence in myself. I will spend the next few months learning about the business side of the job simply to get the confidence in how to do what you guys all do. But with Christmas coming, I would really like to try monetising my new knowledge.
Which brings me here!
I'm not accustomed to asking for help. I had years of relying on others and those years were tough. I learned to take responsibility for my own life and things turned around.
For the first time in my life I have ambition and a dream of where I want to be in the future. That ambition is what has forced me to swallow my pride and ask for help.
If I could afford it I'd have picked a mentor by now and would be off in the right direction. But as my dad would say, I don't have a penny to scratch my, uh hum, bottom with.
So if you're reading this and are feeling altruistic, any and all help would be massively appreciated!
Thank you in advance for any and all advice or offers of assistance.
P.S
I've also read enough of these posts to know that I've spoken mostly about myself and not about you, which is a copywriting faux pas. I just wanted to be honest with you guys about my situation and my motivations for posting this. I'm not trying to sell anyone on the idea of helping me, just giving you an honest appraisal of my position.
Much love to you all!
Aspiring copywriters: if you need 1:1 advice from an experienced copy chief, head over to my Phone a Friend page.