Here’s a question I got this morning (paraphrased): “I’m in my late teens and I don’t get taken seriously as a copywriter. What can I do?

“Sound familiar? It will to every oldie in the room. Young people think old people suck. Old people think young people have nothing to offer.That’s the (general) belief.

Obviously, there are many people who think the opposite (good on you all), but that’s not the point. This is reality for so many.

(it all changes once we get to know and trust that person – but that’s not what we’re talking about today)

It’s a belief system. We not only judge a book by its cover, but we adopt second-hand judging by others (mob rule is not going away anytime soon – “people like us stick together and make judgments on anyone not in our group”).

Belief systems are created for many reasons, some deliberately, some unconsciously by experience.When they’re wrong (and damaging), the only options are to ignore them or change them (there’s a 3rd option, use propaganda to spin a different story – but that never lasts very long).

So change them we must (if we want to get what we want ethically). That’s what copywriters do.The acid test of any offer is to test how low you need to go (in price) to get a sale (without changing the copy).

If you’ve been struggling, you’ll almost certainly discover that even zero (or paying the customer instead of them paying you) won’t cut it either.

They simply don’t see the value (or they’re not even interested).

You’ve got no option but to play the detective. Find out what they want. Find out how much they’re willing to pay. Then match it with an offer.

How do you do that? There’s hundreds of ways.

Here’s an example. Find a problem people have. Email them with an offer to fix it.Repeat. Send follow up emails showing them another reason they might want to get it fixed.

And if you’re still stuck. Apply the whole thing to yourself. If you’re in your late teens, what would it take to believe (and buy from) someone in their early teens?

Or if you’re an oldie, what would it take to be convinced by someone in their teens? (this will uncover a whole bunch of biases and beliefs).

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