It’s hard to find a successful copywriter who never faced a faith-shaking challenge before rising to greatness.
Take Gary Bencivenga, for example.
His early struggles included getting fired from his first copywriting job. He faced rejection and deep self-doubt. But instead of quitting, he kept learning and improving. He studied successful copywriters, practiced relentlessly, and eventually landed major clients and became a massive success.
Today, he is widely regarded as one of the most successful copywriters of all time — often called “the world’s greatest living copywriter.” His writing has sold billions of dollars’ worth of products and services, and his client roster includes major players like Boardroom and Rodale Press.
Some of his notable achievements include:
- Record-breaking sales: His ad for the Sampler Book generated over $50 million in sales, making it one of the most successful direct-response promotions ever written.
- An unbeaten winning streak: He never lost a split-run test at Rodale Press, beating legendary copywriters like Gene Schwartz.
- Unimaginably high earnings: He earned millions in royalties, with one client paying him $750,000 per year.
Now imagine if he had surrendered to his early obstacles…
As a copywriter, you have the choice.
You can let an obstacle end your relationship with a specific client or even derail your entire professional journey, if you allow it. Or, you can approach the obstacle as an opportunity to grow and achieve things you never thought possible.
It all depends on how you handle them.
Think about an obstacle you’re facing right now.
Sit down, grab a pen and paper, and answer these questions:
- What can I learn from this challenge?
- What aspects of myself do I need to develop to handle this?
- What are the benefits of overcoming this challenge?
- What do I lose by backing down?
Answering these questions helps you identify which obstacles in your writing career deserve your attention — and which ones you can safely ignore.
More often than not, you’ll begin to recognize the hidden gold inside each challenge you face…
1. Challenges Help You Expand Your Skills
Facing a challenge forces you to get creative… to look at things from new angles to find possible solutions.
When you’re able to solve the challenge, that’s fulfilling in its own right — but the real prize lies in whom you become during the process.
For example, imagine you meet a new client you’d love to work with. He has a product to sell, but several past campaigns have failed.
You excel at content writing, but have less experience with sales letters, landing pages, or ads.
The client wants to hire you to write a sales letter for $5,000, along with several ads and emails for another $2,000.
You’re faced with a dilemma. You can either walk away from the project because of your lack of experience… or you can rise to the challenge and expand your skills to deliver what the client needs.
To help him overcome this sales problem:
- You must learn how to write effective sales letters, landing pages, and ads — broadening your skills.
- You must investigate why previous campaigns failed — giving you insight into what works (and doesn’t) in that market.
As a result, you gain experience, a more solid reputation, and a broader perspective on copywriting. And your client gets what he needs to make the sales he desires.
The ultimate reward isn’t just the $7,000 payment — it’s the upgraded version of you that emerges from the challenge. And that upgraded version of you can command higher fees and approach future projects with more confidence.
2. Obstacles Help You Grow Professionally
Whenever you face an obstacle, you can walk away from it or find a path through.
When you choose to go forward, to face the challenge, and see if you can’t succeed despite the difficulties, you’ll often be called on to enhance more than your writing skills. You’ll also be forced to grow as a business professional.
For example, if you find that you’re having a hard time landing clients who are a good fit for your business, you could decide writing isn’t for you… or you could think more deeply about the clients you want to work with and what you can do differently to attract those clients.
As a result, you might learn important professional skills like:
- How to set boundaries with clients to improve your working relationship
- How to package your services into higher value offerings
- How to be patient and consistent with your marketing efforts, giving them time to pay off
These are the types of professional skills that require self-discipline, which will pay off in many ways within your business.
3. You Prove to Yourself That You Can Handle Tough Situations
Every obstacle you overcome reveals what you’re capable of.
One morning, you might wake up feeling low. Maybe you lost something valuable, your pet is sick, or life simply happened.
You still have copy to write — but doubt begins creeping in.
But you know you can do hard things.
Looking back at the challenges you’ve already conquered becomes proof that you can handle what’s in front of you now. Strength returns. Faith rises.
Instead of giving in to the desire to give up, you’re able to sit down and do good work… even on a bad day.
Turn Obstacles Into Valuable Opportunities
Obstacles in your copywriting journey can set you back or derail you completely… or they can become opportunities to upgrade your skills and achieve extraordinary results.
Handled well, obstacles:
- Strengthen your problem-solving muscle
- Help you grow professionally
- Prove to you that you can handle tough situations
In the end, obstacles don’t define you.
How you respond to them does.