One of the biggest obstacles to making a significant change in your life is finding the time to do it. Today, we’re going to break down exactly how to learn copywriting and build your copywriting career.
Today’s question comes from May G., who asks, “I really want to learn copywriting. I think it could be a great career for me. But I work full-time, I’m raising two kids, and I still need to sleep! How can I make the time to learn copywriting? Or am I just a lost cause?”
Finding the time to do anything is, first, a matter of priorities. (And, please understand, this is coming from someone who definitely does not always master her priorities.)
If you want to make something happen, you have to make it a priority, plain and simple. You have to choose it above other things. When it’s between spending time watching NCIS and studying copywriting, you have to prioritize copywriting—at least once in a while.
I realize that’s easier said than done, and that sometimes prioritizing when you’re weighing a few important things is challenging…but this next point should help with that.
You don’t need to be spending an hour or two studying every night. In fact, I’d encourage you to break down your learning into small chunks; say 15 or 20 minutes. This will help you learn the concepts and give you a bit of time to practice.
The great thing about aiming for 15 minutes of studying, too, is that it’s both easier to fit in and much less daunting to get started with. I don’t know about you, but when I know I need to spend an hour on something, I put it off for as long as I can. Fifteen minutes? Eh, I can dig in and do that.
Remember, too, that learning about copywriting isn’t just studying; it also involves reading and evaluating the copy you see around you every day. When you’re reading an article on the internet, flipping through a magazine at the doctor’s office, or even going through your mail, you should be reading copy and thinking about it. Is it good? Is it bad? What makes it good/bad/effective/ineffective?
Make no mistake: Evaluating the copy around you is a big part of your learning.
The big takeaway from all of this is that if you truly want to become a copywriter, you’ll work hard to find a few extra minutes each day to study, learn, and practice. If you can do an hour? Great. But if 10 minutes is all you’ve got, you can still use that time to build your career.
Your turn! Do you have any tips for finding time to learn? Let us know in the comments below!
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