Most of the editors No Do you want to see me at a party?

These are just some of the questions I would ask you:

What medium do you specialize in? Direct mail, brochures, websites, infomercials? What fields? Billed by the hour, by the job, or a percentage of direct response sales? Do you license your copy or sell it as a work for hire? Are you looking for clients or do they come to you? Do you want to make a living in copywriting or just supplement your income? How much do you want to earn? When? You are progressing? How do you know? Is what you want to achieve possible?

Why am I interrogating you with all these questions? Let me explain with an example.

Let’s say your goal is to get a new customer. Okay, so walk into any restaurant and offer to rewrite your entire copy for $1. On a bad day, you may have to try half a dozen restaurants before someone says yes.

Goal accomplished, right? Technically yes. But that’s not really what you meant by getting a new client, is it?

Before you can hope to achieve your writing goals, you need to know in detail what are those goals in the first place.

SMART goals for writers

The SMART goal setting technique is popular because of its simplicity and power. Clarify your objectives according to the following criteria:

Sspecific

METERmeasurable

INremovable

R.results oriented

youLimited time

Let’s try it with the goal of “getting a new customer”.

Specific: What type of client? What kind of business? What size company: corporation or mom and pop? What kind of job? How much work? At what rate?

Measurable: How will you track your progress? Number of potential customers you call? Number of proposals submitted?

Available: How big is this challenge for you? Have you ever done something like this before? Does anyone else have? Yes, there is always someone who is first, and you can be that person, but make sure you know that this is the kind of goal you are setting for yourself before you begin.

Results Oriented: What results do you want? A one-time job or an ongoing relationship? Want a glowing testimonial from this new client? References?

Limited in time: On what date do you want to sign the contract? What date do you want to finish the job? On what date do you want to be paid?

Wave goal: Get a new client.

SMART target: Call at least 10 dentists every morning to schedule free consultations to review your advertising copy. Submit at least 5 proposals each week. Sign a contract with at least 1 new client and receive 50% of my estimate as a down payment within 1 month from today.

It’s important to note that with any goal, the details will change as you progress. Goal setting is not about stubbornness. It’s about clarity. The more clarity you have early on, the more you can invite new opportunities into the process. Those opportunities can be compared to the original plan and explored (or not) as a conscious choice. And more choice leads to a feeling of empowerment.

Copywriters who learn to use the SMART goal setting strategy will get more clients and write better quality copy faster than their competition.

Copyright 2006 Curtis G. Schmitt