When you’ve been in any job for a long enough time, it’s easy to start thinking you know everything there is to know. 

You’ve read the guides. You’ve watched the tutorials. You’ve done it every day for weeks, months, years.

I know this because I’ve felt this way before. So imagine my reaction when, a little while back, I found myself struggling to get to grips with a project so much that it made me question everything I’d achieved up to that point. It was a punch to the gut.

This one project took the wind out of my sails – but led to an important epiphany:

Every day is another opportunity to learn and improve

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m a great copywriter. I’m fast and thorough with my research. I immerse myself in a client’s offering and understand their audience. I write to inform, educate, inspire, entertain and persuade. I’m a pro at prose. 

But I’m far from perfect. I’ve never been precious about my work (you learn very quickly in this profession that’s a recipe for disaster), but I have always loathed mistakes. I’m sure I’m not alone in that, but I’ve grown to realise that this is the wrong attitude to take.

This project, which was writing an email campaign for a key client, was a key tipping point for me. My initial attempts were way off the mark. The tone was all wrong. It had too much waffle. It underwent tons of rewrites, revisions and feedback before we eventually achieved something to be proud of.

Did this mean I had become a terrible copywriter overnight? Had all my previous work and training been for nothing? No – it meant that I still have a lot to learn. I still have room to grow. I still have areas to develop. And that’s exciting!

Learning to embrace mistakes

This was an important lesson on my journey to appreciating my mistakes and using them as fuel for growth. Ensuring that complacency can’t creep in. Becoming better by recognising and addressing my limitations.

When I received the less-than-positive feedback from the project, how did I respond?

I listened to my colleagues’ feedback and took their advice on board.

I read up on email writing and marketing psychology to make my writing more concise and to-the-point.

I persevered and explored new techniques and approaches to make sure my next attempt was better than the last.

And because of this, I know I’ll continue to improve. I’ve worked with other copywriters who wouldn’t take this feedback with the same degree of humility (not to blow my own trumpet too loud). They would look for excuses, or claim the problems were unfounded. 

While it is good to have confidence in your ability, too much will blinker you from opportunities to evolve. You’ll either ignore mistakes when they’re made – or those mistakes will cause you to crumble.

Copywriting is not a static profession. New mediums are founded. People’s attitudes change. How we read and consume content is always evolving. Yes, there are a lot of stable fundamentals – good grammar and spelling is still a must – but we have to keep up with an ever-changing world.

And it’s not just about staying up-to-date with new developments – revisit old materials to refresh yourself on the core components of great copywriting. When you find a handy article or read a book you really liked the tone of, save it somewhere and go back to it periodically. Every time you see it will imprint it deeper in your mind.

So, in a way I’m proud of this mistake – it’s restored my focus and reinvigorated my desire to grow. And I’m fortunate to be in an environment where I will be constantly pushed to fulfil my potential and pick up new strings to my bow. 

But above all else, it has helped me appreciate mistakes and what they mean to us. Now it will take time to fully embrace, but I’m certain the epiphany I experienced off the back of this project will lead to me becoming more informed and more assured in how I work.

Anyway, I hope this acts as a bit of encouragement to any copywriters out there (or any other professional for that matter) who might be struggling with self-doubt – take each misstep in your stride and use them to grow. Trust me, you won’t be so worried about making them anymore!

P.S. Had another project shortly after this and it went a hell of a lot better!