The Write Road: The "Why" I Write

Dad said I had the gift of gab and believed I could make freelance writing work.

In The Write Road issue “About the 495 POC” I penned a little bit about my so-called “origin story” as a freelance writer.

But not the whole story.

In fact, I don’t think I’ve told anyone the whole story about where I came from and how I got here. Only a few people know the full saga of how I arose to become a full-time copywriter.

It’s not easy to share everything. Especially the emotional parts.

One part in particular.

Honestly, it’s just not something I’ve been willing or even ready to share.

But maybe, just maybe…

it’s time I did.

Let’s see… where should I begin.

Definitely not back to my birth… I was barely conscious at the time, LOL.

I already explained about typing class in high school, so I can check that off the list.

And if memory serves, we discussed my first website back in 2001 where I expounded upon computer software and hardware, so that would be redundant.

The 495 POC article delved into my early days in the content mills back circa 2010. But a few years after that first five-buck article is where the real story begins.

So let’s pick it up from there.

How the real journey began

After grinding my gears in the content mills, my fingers banging away on the keyboard while my head was banging away on the desktop, I’d finally had enough.

I wasn’t making any real money to speak of and it was getting… old.

Something had to change. Soon.

So I desperately searched the internet to see if it was really possible to make decent money writing. I found a few gurus who all turned out to be bogus.

But persistence finally paid off and I discovered a few people who were actually making a living with their words.

Brian Clark was one of them and this guy was, in my opinion and that of others, the father of content marketing. Not the useless crap I was writing in the mills.

Real, meaningful content. Stuff that made a difference in people’s lives.

I’ve met him and he’s the real deal.

I joined his Copyblogger community, something unheard of for the times.

Another day I stumbled across this guy named Bob Bly who, according to many reliable sources, was America’s top copywriter. And it was true.

I bought a book or two he wrote and watched some videos he had online.

I met him in person in Florida a few years back, and we still talk from time to time.

So I started studying their stuff, and the copywriting lessons from people they hung out with and recommended, and things began to click.

Still in the content mill tunnel, mind you.

But finally with a light at the end of it.

Taking it to the next level

In 2011, I was introduced to a copywriting training company in Florida, AWAI. The company offered training taught by real professional, working copywriters.

No fluff, no guff… just solid information.

My very first study program was Web Copywriting 2.0 from Nick Usborne. He was one of the first copywriters for the web. He knows web words inside and out.

After completing that, I went on to join their top tier level of training called Circle of Success. Wasn’t inexpensive, but there was still room on my credit card to make revolving payments. And I’m not afraid to pay for something that works.

My jam is writing B2B copy, so I took a course from top copywriter Steve Slaunwhite. Actually several of them. If you’re going to learn, I thought, it’s best to learn from the best! And he’s at the top of the list.

I met Sandra Franks (Sandy) in person at a meeting through AWAI and she’s been a friend and mentor ever since. You won’t find anyone more compassionate toward newbie writers.

In fact, all of these people—Brian, Bob, Steve, Nick, and Sandy—and more have been a great support team and instrumental in my own career, whether they know it or not. And we’ve kept in touch.

That’s one reason I love helping new copywriters get their start, too. Paying it back by paying it forward.

Anyway, I still had some issues and roadblocks to navigate around.

And the missing element was…

My Why.

Huh?

Discovering my Why, my dream of a writer’s life

One thing AWAI was big on was discovering your why. Still is.

In other words, what your deepest burning reason for wanting to be a freelance copywriter is.

Your dream of a writer’s life.

Honestly, at first I thought, “Oh my gawd! What is this wishy washy crap?”

Seemed like a lot of hype to me, more of the “motivational B.S.” I’d seen in an MLM I once joined… and failed at.

But really, you need something to drive you forward when things get tough. And yes, things can easily get tough at times.

You need a powerful dream to pull you through.

So, going through the exercises, I finally found my why, my reason for doing this.

I could do this freelance thing for sure!

My true believers helped

Of course, Mary’s always been in my corner. She’s a gem and my biggest supporter.

She’s put up with me for 47 years next month, so patience is also one of her many virtues.

But she wasn’t the only one.

Dad believed I could make a living writing because, as he put it, I had the “gift of gab”, LOL.

And Mom? Well, I was her son and her son could do anything he set his mind to.

That’s my Mom for you.

Both Mom and Dad knew I could make it happen.

When we’d visit them up in Indiana (we’d moved to Arkansas right after we’d gotten married), they’d set things up especially for me to write for clients.

Dad would clean off a table across the room from his computer so I could work on my laptop. He’d keep an eagle eye on me, LOL.

Mom kept the coffee coming. 😊

And every now and then, I’d get the feeling I was being watched.

Sure enough, it was Mom standing in the doorway behind me, smiling.

So at their insistence, I’d do some writing while we were up staying with them.

Even landed a new client during one of our way-too-few-and-far-between visits.

(I still had a full-time job, so work constrained us from making very many visits north.)

Both of them had retired, Dad from a print shop and Mom from nursing.

But they still cleaned offices and did other odd jobs to make enough money to make ends meet.

So there it was, staring me in the face.

I would make enough money writing to leave my job, visit my folks more often, and help them fully retire, too.

To help them do the things they wanted to do but couldn’t afford to do.

That… was my Why!

Pretty powerful motivation, right?

That’s what I thought too.

A dream is just a dream until you put some teeth behind it

Well, I set to work to accomplish my “Why,” my dream of a writer’s life. I was going to come home so I could finally bring my parents “home” too.

Woohoo! Time to make it happen, son!

I did leave my job to write full-time in 2022.

I was home free at last!

But…

Dad passed away from cancer in January 2019.

Mom joined him one year later… almost to the day.

I was years… too late.

Excuse me for a minute. Something in my eye.

Be right back.

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My friend, I want you to realize something. You need to have a dream, a big dream, a strong “Why” to make freelancing work. It’s not an easy path by any means, no matter what you may have been told.

But understand that some dreams are time sensitive.

If you don’t get off your butt and get things done, some dreams can and will disappear into the mists of time.

Gone forever.

I waited too long to make my first big dream a reality.

Never again.

How about… you?

A new day, a new dream… new Why(s)

It would’ve been easy at that point to throw in the towel and give up.

I’ve heard a lot of aspiring copywriters declare they would “Go Big or Go Home.”

And I guess a bunch of them didn’t get big and went home. I don’t see them anymore.

But I couldn’t.

There are still some dreams left in me that need to come to pass.

And there’s still time to put some teeth behind them… if I continue to act now.

I still have some “Whys” to take care of.

Grandma just picked up three of them from school to visit Granddad.

And Mary is another Why. She’s been through some difficult times with her health.

The ability to be by her side every step of the way, even now that she’s much better, is another fulfillment in my dream of a writer’s life.

There are other Whys and dreams that a freelance lifestyle allows me now.

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My friend, don’t just learn to write… learn to dream.

And determine to act consistently to make those dreams come true.

To put some teeth behind them.

It may not always be easy.

But it will always be… worth it.

Until next time,

Dream big… and work to make it happen.

"Second star to the right, and straight on till morning"

Steve M.