One of the most powerful words I have used in my copywriting career has been "Legacy." I have used it for investment newsletter promotions, sales promotions, and in my own marketing materials. The power of this word is incredible.

I wanted to share it with you today as you look at your own copywriting career, no matter if you are at the beginning, middle, or end.

This is an important question, as your goal would be to soak up as much knowledge as you can, use that knowledge to grow your career, and then give back that knowledge—your legacy, if you will—to those that come after you. 

This philosophy has been called, Learn, Earn, and Return.

I've spent over—gulp—over 40 years in the copywriting trenches, soaking up as much knowledge as I could. With great clients, bad ones, bad projects, good ones, as well as learning to negotiate deals that were in my favor (as well as those in which I screwed myself!). Yes, it happens to everyone.

Here in my post, my goal is to share my knowledge—whether it comes to writing headlines, body copy, call to actions—you name it—and then share it with you.

The reason is frankly, somewhat selfish, to leave behind a legacy that anyone can succeed if they follow my simple strategies because they work. I try to share them with you in bite-sized pieces that can easily be swallowed and acted upon.

As I have said, there are no shortcuts—but you can eliminate years of trial and error by going with something that has been proven to work. Many of these morsels of knowledge aren't big—but small. 

Like getting out of your seat to sniff out new opportunities, like the time I went to see the co-op ed department guy at the local junior college whose job it was to get me a job.

Going to see him not only got me in to see the recording engineer for the Doobie Brothers and Santana... but also got me into the Screen Actors Guild, for which he was a member. 

Frankly, that started me on the path to copywriting. Not overnight, but over time.

Which is why I offer these ideas to you as a framework to guide your life's journey. 

So many little lessons like knowing what you are worth, being prepared for each meeting, understanding your client's needs, and, of course, studying great copywriting and going out to find clients who will hire you.

My brother really had a simple philosophy on that note: What is holding you back... and if you don't ask, the answer is always no.

I'd like to add one of my legacy successes that you could use today to get you to the next level in business and life. "You get what you ask for." 

So simple, yet so powerful. If you aren't specific with your "asks," then you won't get what you want.

The biggest ask of all is asking for the MONEY.

I'll never forget the time I was meeting with this lawyer who published a newsletter. We agreed on $800 for writing the sales letter. As we were walking out to his car, he hadn't given me a deposit. Before he was getting in the car, I said something to the effect that he hadn't paid the deposit.

To which he said, "I don't give anybody any money unless they ask for it." I was in my early thirties at the time, but that was an eye-opener. That's when I gave myself the nickname, "Half the money up front, Doug."

As I grew as a copywriter, I was always amazed when I could get people who had never met me (remember there was no internet at the time) to send me a $12,500 deposit via FedEx to start a project—all because I asked for it!

Amazing.

This is one of the nuggets of legacy wisdom I wish to impart to you today.

My hope that you will use it to get what you want in business and life.

All good wishes,

Doug D'Anna

P.S. If today's knowledge drop moved you, you'll love the dozens of morsels of winning ideas you'll find in my e-book, "Subconscious Selling: High-Level Copywriting for Serious Practitioners."

In it, you'll learn the simple secrets of writing winning copy, developed over 40 years, all in bite-sized morsels you can use to elevate your career. Here's the best part: it not only includes my winningest strategies but also 29 of my top-performing swipes (valued at $1350) for FREE.

That's a heck of a deal.

The years it can save you are incredible.

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