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Are You Still Relevant?

A guest post written by Barbara Plotkin

The year was 1996. The place, a prominent media company that just laid off its entire catalog division. In one day I lost everything—my job, my insurance, my livelihood.

The timing was perfect.

Something was underfoot. Something so big and powerful that it would change the world as we knew it. That something was the Internet.

And I just smiled and went on with my life.

Print was my thing. Direct marketing copy was my specialty. What was once known as below-the-line advertising was now a respected and viable industry unto itself, on its way to generating billions of dollars. And I was a DM expert.

After a few years, the Internet slightly piqued my interest. I branched out a bit with a few websites. My first was for a financial services firm, followed up by a 500-page educational website. This was before anyone even knew what SEO copywriting was.

I did continue to seek new challenges, and through the years I’ve worn many hats: VP/creative director, marketing director, director of customer relations, senior sales consultant. I thought this was pretty powerful stuff for a copywriter to have under her belt.

Then I looked around and what I feared most had come true. I was no longer relevant. Not because of my age. As a friend of mine told me rather emphatically, “you still have another few careers left to go if you want them.”

I was no longer relevant because I hadn’t opened my eyes. A whole new world had taken over and I hadn’t seen it being built.

The irony is, direct marketing is such an integral part of Internet marketing that the transition should have been smooth, even fun. But I didn’t bother to learn along the way. New terms were not only being floated around but were entrenched in every day culture. Saying I could write really great print copy just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

Taking a course on SEO copywriting seemed the logical thing to do. But which one? It seemed there were hundreds, ranging from $49.00 to thousands of dollars. I had no idea where to turn or which one to take. I’m still stuck on this one. Too bad there isn’t a resource that “grades” courses on online writing. If there is one, please let me know.

The good news is, there are incredible people on the Internet from whom you can learn without spending a dime. You’ll need to find them yourself and see who you “click” with.

A good starting point for me included: Brian Clark of Copyblogger, Sharon Hurley Hall of Get Paid to Write Online, Dean Rieck of Pro Copy Tips, Seth Godin for daily inspiration and a kick in the head, Steve Errey the Confidence Guy for a good dose of, well, confidence and Richard MacManus of ReadWriteWeb for the latest in web technology and social media trends. I don’t understand half of what Richard says but when I do I feel very important.

Getting there from here will take some time, but if you’re in the same boat as me, let’s make it happen. Of course, a lot of this journey will be driven by attitude. Okay, all of it will be driven by attitude. If you’re open to learning and doing and succeeding then it’s all there for the taking.

Are you ready to take some?

When Barbara isn’t taking, she’s giving advice to her two teenage children, which isn’t always taken. She also has 25 years of direct marketing experience and is learning to take it all to the next level. She can be reached at baplotkin9 at gmail dot com

You might also enjoy:

• Writing Ads – Ten Laws
• Are You Afraid To Be A Writer?
• Improving Your Writing in 2010

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