You’ve heard it before – “It’s all about the mindset.” While that’s an overused cliche, it turns out there’s an extremely subtle but powerful mindset shift that can easily double your income as a copywriter, if not increase it even more. The vast majority of copywriters struggle with income plateaus, inconsistent work, and lack of confidence. But an elite few crack the code and rapidly build wildly successful, high-income copywriting businesses.
Their secret? They apply a CEO mindset to their copywriting work.
Instead of treating copywriting like a disposable side-gig or hobby, the highest paid copywriters operate with the same commitment, determination, and professionalism as Fortune 500 CEOs. From relentless education to intelligent systems to measurement of key metrics, they run their businesses with the precise strategy and execution you’d expect from a seasoned executive.
In this guide, I’ll reveal exactly how to adopt this lucrative CEO mindset yourself. You’ll learn how to obliterate fears, crush limiting beliefs, and systematically build a thriving copywriting business that maximises your income potential. It all starts with a simple shift: Stop treating your copywriting work like a hobby, and start treating your copywriting business like a business.
Stop Treating Copywriting Like a Hobby
One of the biggest mistakes most copywriters make is failing to treat their work as a real, professional business. Instead, they approach copywriting with a casual, hobbyist mindset that severely limits their income and success. Here are some of the damaging symptoms of the “hobby mindset”:
Not Taking It Seriously
– Letting yourself off the hook when you don’t feel motivated or inspired
– Settling for “good enough” instead of striving for excellence and mastery
– Using work as an excuse to be lazy or unproductive
Lack of Professionalism
– Allowing self-doubt, insecurity, and negativity to prevent you from taking necessary actions
– Not dedicating consistent focused time and effort
– Lacking clear, ambitious goals and an action plan to achieve them
No Accountability
– Shrugging off mistakes, shortcomings and areas for improvement
– Not measuring key metrics or results
– Making impulsive decisions based on feelings instead of strategy
Can you imagine a CEO behaving this way and still leading a successful, high-growth business? Of course not. The true CEOs and executives of the world operate at a level of discipline, determination, and professionalism that average people can scarcely comprehend.
If you want to earn at the level of the world’s highest-paid copywriters, you must approach your business with the same unwavering commitment, day after day, year after year. Get rid of the hobby mindset once and for all – your thriving copywriting business is counting on you to be its CEO.
Become the CEO of Your Copywriting Career
To reach the upper echelons of copywriting income, you must fully embody the role of CEO for your business. As the chief executive, you are the visionary leader and decision maker. You provide the unwavering focus, discipline and work ethic to propel your business towards maximum growth and profitability.
This “CEO mindset” involves pushing through fears, discomfort and negativity in order to take the necessary actions for success – no excuses. Procrastination, self-doubt, and luxury beliefs simply aren’t an option. As CEO, you make the tough choices and put out fires with steadfast determination.
At the same time, you must separate your own personal feelings from objective business decisions. As an individual, you may feel nervous about an important pitch or self-conscious about your skills. But as the CEO, you recognise those feelings as temporary and irrelevant. You decide based on metrics, strategy and the long-term vision, not fleeting emotions.
Here’s an example of the CEO mindset in action: Let’s say you’re feeling unmotivated and insecure about your copywriting abilities. The “hobbyist” mind might say “I don’t feel like working on that project today” and indulge the lack of motivation.
But the CEO’s mind would respond: “My feelings are irrelevant. This project needs to be completed according to deadline in order to satisfy the client, maintain cash flow, and uphold my brand reputation.” The CEO then makes an executive decision to power through and complete the work regardless of feelings.
Adopting this CEO mentality is extremely challenging. It requires intense self-awareness, emotional discipline, and personal growth to operate at such a high level consistently. But it’s a necessity if you want to become one of the elite, wealthy copywriters.
Set Ambitious Goals and a Strategic Plan
As the CEO, one of your most important roles is to set the ambitious vision and strategic direction for your copywriting business. After all, a rudderless ship will just drift aimlessly making no real progress.
Start by getting clear on your invigorating “dream” goals for your income over the next 1-3 years. Don’t think small here – dream wildly big. What would an income level that could truly change your life and financial freedom look like? Double your current income? Triple it? Reach $500,000 per year? Let that motivating target sink in.
For example, your goals could be:
- Year 1: Reach $150,000 revenue
- Year 2: Hit $300,000 revenue, hire first VA
- Year 3: $500,000+ revenue, bring on copywriting team
With your huge, motivating goals set, work backwards to map out a comprehensive strategic plan to incrementally reach those targets through scientific marketing, sales, and execution. Your strategic plan may contain key modules like:
- World-class copywriting education & skills development
- Profitable niche and service offering selection
- Lead generation & marketing system
- Productized service offerings and sales process
- Operations, systems, outsourcing
Flush out each module in depth, such as what certifications to pursue, your niche market research process, plans for your website and content marketing, how to develop your sales scripts and proposals, etc.
Finally, hold yourself relentlessly accountable to executing this strategic plan through meticulous tracking of all key metrics and milestones. Establish a CEO weekly review to ensure all deliverables are completed on schedule. Celebrate wins, but avoid self-congratulation – quickly re-focus efforts on the next ambitious targets.
Relentlessly Educate Yourself and Master Copywriting
As the CEO of your copywriting business, your most precious asset and competitive advantage is your copywriting skills and knowledge. The best CEOs in any industry are highly educated and always striving to learn more. You must adopt this same voracious commitment to mastering the craft of persuasive writing.
Start by investing heavily in world-class copywriting training programs, courses, books, and resources. Don’t cheap out here – you’re investing in your most valuable asset. Seek out the most respected, results-proven mentors and training in the industry and immerse yourself fully.
But consumption of information alone is not enough – you must combine it with deliberate, intensive practice to lock in the skills. Follow advice from elite copywriters.
You have to put in your 10,000 hours of practice before you can call yourself an expert.
John Carlton
Create a practice routine where you consistently write copy every single day, even if just for 30-60 minutes. Get feedback from experienced experts. Join a copywriting mastermind group. Read dozens of sales letters in your niche to analyse style and structure.
Reading and ongoing education should become habitual too. Subscribe to marketing and business books on audio to consume while commuting or exercising. Read top copywriting blogs daily. Never stop actively learning and improving your skills.
The most successful CEOs view learning as an absolute necessity and life-long pursuit, not an option. Take this mindset and apply it voraciously to mastering the art of copywriting.
Build Your Copywriting Business Strategically
Smart CEOs don’t just wing it or go with their gut feel. They make strategic decisions rooted in deep market research, intelligent planning, and proven systems for scalable growth. You must apply this same level of strategy when building and operating your copywriting business.
Start by clearly defining your niche market focus and service offerings based on your skills, interests, and profit potential research. What industries have clients with big budgets and need for direct response copywriting? Who is your ideal client persona that you can deliver exceptional value to? Nail down your positioning and packages.
From there, develop an entire ecosystem and system for attracting a constant flow of your ideal prospective clients:
– In-depth marketing plan covering content, SEO, social media, advertising, etc.
– A high-converting lead generation website
– Sales funnels and automated lead nurturing sequences
– Scripts for discovery calls and pricing/proposal Templates
Systemise and document every aspect of your operation, from your writing process to invoicing to client communications. Establish project management and productivity protocols. Invest in tools and technology for peak efficiency.
Then strategically identify which components of your business can be outsourced or brought on as vendors, suppliers, or eventual employees. Build relationships and create procedures for delegation.
Running a successful copywriting business requires the same level of intelligent planning and system-building as a Silicon Valley tech startup. Don’t just frantically take on random gigs – become a true CEO laser-focused on strategic growth.
Take Massive Action and Consistent Execution
The final key to unlocking exponential income growth as an entrepreneurial copywriter? Relentless, massive action and flawless execution of your strategic plan day after day, week after gruelling week.
The most brilliant strategies and well-researched goals amount to nothing without the hustle to back them up. As the CEO leading your business, it’s your responsibility to hold yourself and your team (if you have one) accountable to consistently completing all tasks and hitting every milestone, no excuses.
Start by breaking down your big annual goals into quarterly rocks, monthly objectives, weekly priorities, and daily tasks. Use a project management system like Trello or ClickUp to map this all out. Schedule appointments with yourself on your calendar to ensure completion.
Identify the key leading and lagging metrics that determine your business’s success, such as new leads per month, proposals sent, clients acquired, sales revenue, profit margins, etc. Develop a CEO weekly review habit to diligently track these numbers and make necessary strategic pivots.
Most importantly, cultivate a mindset of positive obsession around execution. Approach each day with intense focus and energy directed towards checking off those critical tasks, no matter what doubts, discomforts, or problems arise.
Become a heat-seeking missile locking onto your targets, powered by disciplined routines and habits that emotional turmoil or fatigue. When you feel like procrastinating or quitting, ask yourself “What would a proven CEO do in this situation?” Then handle it accordingly.
Successful CEOs don’t make excuses or indulge in emotions. They take massive, perpetual action to ensure their vision becomes reality through sheer force of unbridled execution. Apply this same unstoppable drive as the chief executive of your copywriting empire.
Conquering Fears, Doubts and Limiting Beliefs
Of course, having the CEO mindset is much easier said than done. As you elevate your copywriting business and income goals to a higher level, you’ll inevitably face many deep-rooted fears, doubts, and limiting beliefs attempting to keep you stuck at a hobby level.
Some of the most common fears copywriters face include:
- Imposter syndrome and feeling like a fraud
- Fear of failure, criticism, or rejection
- Disbelief that you can truly achieve big goals
- Self-doubt about your skills and capabilities
The antidote? You must purposefully identify and dismantle these limiting beliefs through mindset work. Use affirmations, vision boards, and reprogramming exercises to replace the negativity with an empowering, abundant mentality.
Borrow confidence from the mindsets of successful copywriters who have walked this path before you.
There are no limits. There are only limiting beliefs.
Tony Robbins
Reprogram your mind to cultivate an unwavering belief that you’re capable of incredible copywriting success. See your goals as complete facts of the future, not hopeful ifs. Visualise yourself operating at that elite CEO level.
With the mindset work complete, you’ll tap into a profound sense of certainty about your abilities and business. Doubts and fears will no longer hold you back – only exciting opportunities and challenges await you as the CEO of a thriving, high-growth copywriting enterprise.
Final Thoughts
The path to doubling or exponentially multiplying your copywriting income is simpler than you may think – adopt the supreme mindset of a CEO. Ditch the hobbyist, amateur attitudes that keep most writers stuck earning pennies.
Become the visionary leader and chief strategist for your million-dollar writing business. Set audacious income goals that ignite your drive. Devise a strategic plan with flawless execution. Invest relentlessly into your education and copywriting mastery. Build intelligent systems and leverage. Most importantly, hold yourself to an uncompromising level of discipline, commitment and sheer productive hustle.
This entrepreneurial copywriter mentality isn’t easy – it requires facing deep fears, doubts, and ingrained limiting beliefs. You’ll be pushed far outside your comfort zones. But as the CEO, you don’t indulge in fears and excuses. You make tough choices and power through resistance.
Your copywriting income, business growth, and legacy of success is fully within your control. All you need is the mindset to seize it as the fearless chief executive of your professional writing career.
The opportunities are limitless for copywriters willing to embrace this level of personal ownership and psychological mastery. How big will you dream and build? It’s time to step up as the CEO you were born to be.
