Why Did I Start Writing?

If you look into the background of some of your favorite published authors or bloggers, you're likely to find plenty of stories of hard work. Perseverance. Working long hours...days...months...years, until finally making it as a career writer. These are awe-inspiring stories that motivate, and underline the fact that the path to your dreams are paved by hard work, and failing until you succeed.

This isn't one of those stories.

Is It Hard to Get a Job Writing?

The short answer to this question is yes. It can be extremely difficult to land a job as a writer. The above-mentioned situation is typical...at least the first part.

Many potential writers work extremely hard for years and years, many putting in long hours making little to nothing at all. When they say writing is a labor of love, "they" are absolutely right.

I'm a firm believer that some of the best things in life happen by accident. I also believe whole-heartedly in the power of attraction. That said, sometimes overworking yourself and obsessing over something isn't the ideal way to accomplish your goals and dreams.

I became a writer on accident. Well, kind of.

Look, I'm not here to tell you that hard work doesn't pay off, because it does. I'm just going to give you the short version of how and why I became a writer...and how sometimes, the things that are meant to be happen to find us.

A Talent for Writing

As a youngster, I always had a natural talent for writing. Not that I was a particularly popular kid, but I always had a way of capturing people's attention. I loved making people laugh...even though I'd consider myself an introvert, somehow I found a way to grab people's attention.

Maybe it's because I'm goofy. Or maybe because I'm a smartass. But I'm getting off topic.

The point I'm making, is somehow this natural talent I had bled over into my writing. I kicked ass in English class and eventually started writing as a hobby. I wrote stories. I wrote little books. Eventually, I started writing songs and music.

Ultimately, as I grew into a young adult, writing would become a huge outlet for me. It got me through a lot of difficult times and gave me a medium to express myself.

But, as a footnote...I NEVER had plans to write for a living. I never once considered it as a realistic scenario.

Now, there would be times where I would sit back and think, "Man, it would be awesome to make a living as a writer." BUT, it was never a goal. I wouldn't even call it a dream. It was the same type of air castle people would see when encountering a ridiculously rich person.

You see yourself in their shoes for a few seconds, have a little laugh...shrug it off, and move forward with your day.

The First Steps to Becoming a Writer

Eventually, adult me would land a career in sales. Turns out my talent for capturing the attention of people would earn me a pretty nice living in the D2D industry. Ultimately, I'd climb the ladder to becoming a sales manager and run a couple of offices.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was laying the critical foundation to what would later become my career as a copywriter. Little did I know it, but I had always been a salesman. It would take years until I connected the psychological dots and realized that everything...the involuntary process I used to make people laugh...my talent for sales...my eventual transition into a copywriter...all of these were woven together with the same behavioral and psychological concepts that I naturally understood.

Somehow, it was etched into my DNA.

Now, there's something you need to understand.

To be a good copywriter, salesman, psychiatrist...or any of that...you have to be good at people. Yes, be good at people.

It's the motivations of those who are good at (or with) people that make all the difference.

The Psychology of Writing

There is an inherent motivation at the core of anybody who is in the people business. Actually, I think a better term for it...is the energy business. Sales, copywriting...and everything of the sort, is a business of energy. Any transaction...is simply a transfer of energy.

Now, some people are good at it because greed drives them. When you're good at reading and leading people toward an action...well, you can potentially make a lot of money. A lot...of money.

Some are in it solely for the money.

Darker people are in it because they enjoy manipulating people.

I gravitated towards it because I just...like people. I'm curious by nature. I love finding out what drives people to take action...I love hearing what they think about. I've just always been fascinated by the human mind. And I finally discovered that's what made people gravitate towards me. It's because I listened. I listened, I made them feel wanted...and I responded based on their actions and needs.

Freelance Writing

After working for the better part of a decade in the sales industry, I stumbled upon content mills. At the time, I had no idea what writers made online for blog articles. I just thought it was something interesting I could do to make a few bucks on the side, enjoy doing something I loved, and learn about new topics and industries.

After awhile, naturally I started researching other platforms. I learned more about blogging, keywords, SEO, and the average rates for writers.

After the pandemic hit...I really dove in...and that's when my professional life would start to change forever.

Writing for SEO

After the pandemic led to lockdowns, it became difficult to host tent sale events and deliver steak and seafood door-to-door. I failed to mention earlier...that was my field in the sales industry.

With the world on pause, it became next to impossible to get permits to host public events, and was even less realistic to expect people to answer their doors.

I had a friend in the industry who was having quite a bit of success selling his products online and shipping them with dry ice. I called him and we talked for a few hours. He schooled me on social media ads, organic social media, copywriting, and organic SEO...all elements of driving traffic to his website.

He taught me about sales funnels, lead magnets, and basically how copywriting was exactly the same thing I was doing in sales...only written, and a lengthier buying process.

The Psychology of Copywriting

Because I was already familiar with the psychology of sales and the buying experience, applying that to copywriting was relatively easy. I ended up launching my own e-commerce site selling frozen food products and shipping them.

My store was a huge success. Ultimately, I closed the store down and focused on freelance writing full time. I continued to research as much as I could about the psychology of copywriting. Although technically I wasn't solely working as a copywriter (I was mostly doing long-form SEO-focused blog posts on Upwork, Fiverr, ended up launching my own agency), I made it my goal to perfect my craft using my writing to sell.

The only difference between selling in-person and selling online is that an online sale takes many more touch points and several additional steps. Instead of interacting with you once or twice and you closing the sale in person, a customer might interact with your brand on multiple channels, during different stages of the buying process.

I fell in love with it. I loved tracking data...trying to nail down buyer intent and behavior...it was right up my alley.

I still didn't consider myself a full-time writer, or copywriter. Honestly, I had no concrete plan. I was enjoying life, enjoying freelancing...but still didn't really have a vision of what I wanted to do next.

Copywriting Full-Time

One day, as I was researching paygrades for writers and what various companies offered for yearly salaries, I decided to apply for a position. I figured I had enough material to put together a decent portfolio...had plenty of knowledge about the psychology of copywriting and sales in general...so I went for it.

I had no intentions of landing the job...this was basically just an experiment. But low and behold...about a week later, I got an email inviting me to an interview. I nailed it, was hired...and as they say...the rest is history.

I considered that my arrival into the actual world of being a copywriter...and since then I've worked with dozen of brands worldwide as an independent business owner and employee of other companies.

It's been an amazing ride, and I look forward to the rest of it. Hard work definitely pays off...but sometimes...you get lucky, and your dreams chase you.

Why and how did I start writing?