How I quit my job (part 2)

Parallel Parable™ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ In part 1 you learned that after UCLA I started my first "real" job at a music publishing company in Hollywood. You also heard that a few weeks before I quit that job I submitted a song I'd co-written called "Make You Wanna Dance" 😂 to my boss. More on what happened with that song in a minute. But first... getting a job in the music industry in 2008 was hard as shit. It's the definition of an insider industry, and oh yeah, the economy had just collapsed. So how did I break in? What follows is basically a Parallel Parable™ about getting started as a copywriter. I am one of the least "cool" people you'll meet. I don't dress myself. My wife picks out all my clothes. And I was a "dad" about 2 decades before I technically became one. My bosses in the music industry would come into the office dressed all cool in their cool clothes. They went to cool parties and had drinks with celebrities and Hollywood execs. ///// Okay, the coolest celeb I met during that time period was Billy Bob Thornton. One of my bosses at Fox Sports Music knew his bandmates so one night I went to a show with her and he was there. I was nervous as hell but chatted him up for a minute. He was cool, of course, and he smelled of Budweiser and cigarettes. Classic Billy. The next day my boss said, "We all went to Billy's house after the show. I wasn't even supposed to go I don't think, so I didn't ask if you could come." Thanks a lot Ellen! So, yeah, I almost partied at Billy Bob Thornton's house. Almost, maybe. ///// Again, I didn't technically (mostly visually, haha) fit into the music industry. But I infiltrated it, fast. Here's how. When I started college at UCLA I knew 2 things. 1. I wanted to work in the music industry. 2. I didn't care about grades because no employer ever looks at that. So, I didn't go to class very often and I worked at internships instead. This was before CopyHour, obviously, but it's interesting. I'd do the reading, take notes by hand, and just show up for tests and do mostly okay. I believe I only got 1 or 2 C's, the rest B's and A's. The rest of the time I was working anywhere from 20 to 40 hours a week as an intern. Which leads me to the first lesson: Lesson #1: Know how the industry works. I doubt it's changed, but the entertainment industry basically worked like this: you either started in the "mailroom" or as an intern. So I knew I needed an internship. A great way to get an internship... was to be a college student. That's where the industry would tap interns. And btw, it didn't have to be a "good" school like UCLA that I was going to. I met other interns from all sorts of colleges and community colleges in the LA area. You just needed to be in college. A big part of "knowing the industry" is also understanding how money is made. Understanding "the business". We'll touch more on this in lesson #3. Once you have a good grasp on how to break into the industry, and how money is made (who makes what, how and when), then you're ready for lesson #2. Lesson #2: Know the people. The next step is getting to know the people. The music industry, for the most part, is based in Los Angeles. If you want to work in it (NOT as a performer) you should probably go there. Note: Remote work opportunities have changed this for a lot of industries but the point still stands. You gotta hang out (even digitally is fine) with the people you want to work with. I needed to be in LA, interning there with them. Beyond just proximity, the way to get to know people was to show up and work hard. The work I was doing was not difficult as an intern. They were menial tasks. But I was focused on making my bosses' lives easier. Give before you get. One specific example: when I worked for Fox Sports Music I would come in on Sundays and watch football games. I'd note down which songs and for how long they were played during broadcasts. I'm still not sure why this wasn't completely handled by computers but I didn't ask questions. Often, the woman who worked above me would be there too taking notes on different games. I'd usually stay late and do her job for her so she could take off. At the end of my internships, I wrote handwritten letters to all my coworkers and other interns thanking them for the opportunity or saying it was great to get to know you. The WORST internship I had was with MySpace Music. There was ZERO focus by the people working there on relationships. As an intern, my desk was nowhere near the music department. They shoved me in the back room next to HR. Then, my boss would just send me to organize the merch room and ship stuff to random managers and promoters. My boss called me over one day to his desk. Which was a cubicle with nowhere to sit nearby. I uncomfortably stood there while he spun in his chair and said, "You know your problem Derek? You work really hard but you never hang out with us?" "Where the shit should I hang out?" I thought. "Just stand here awkwardly behind you while you work? Or should I sit on the floor?" It doesn't surprise me that MySpace mostly crumbled. They were a social networking company with people who didn't care about socially networking within their own company. Anyway, this is getting long. Lesson #3 is going to be: Know yourself & how you fit in the industry. This will be a good lesson because it will relate nicely to copywriting, and specifically email copywriting. And also, I know everyone is freaking out about AI. If you know how money is made and where you want to fit in in copywriting, you will not be afraid of AI. You will see it for what it is: an idea generating tool that will save you time. I will be back again with part 3 tomorrow but in the meantime I have something for you to checkout. Jon Benson is a copywriter you might know (we've looked at his work in CopyHour). Jon has been talking about AI for a long time now. To be honest, I was getting kind of sick of listening to him blabber on about it. "Let's see some AI copy, Jon! All I ever hear you talk about is how powerful it is." I've been resistant to look at AI. It just seems like so much hype. Of course when you try it, it's really cool and interesting. But... I still haven't seen people meaningfully using it in actual written copy. Until now... As you know, Ian Stanley bought CopyHour, so in a way he's kinda my boss for the next several months... although it's more of a partnership, truly. Ian is doing a webinar with Jon on AI copy so I was kinda forced to signup. On the other side of the opt-in registration for the webinar, there's a 2000 word sales letter for a dog training product that Jon says was entirely written by AI. And he only edited 1 word. It's pretty remarkable. I still want to see more real-life examples, but dang, this is super interesting. Jon is an over-the-top character at times, but he generally delivers on promises in my experience. Check out this webinar on AI (just check out the dog sales letter. I'm still not buying what it's selling, but I am super intrigued). [>> Click here to register for the AI copywriting demonstration with Jon Benson & Ian Stanley]( ) I make nothing at all linking this up. Cheers! - Derek P.S. I promise to get to "Make You Wanna Dance". This email series unintentionally has turned into a novel. ---- Sent to: [Unsubscribe]( ) CopyHour.com, 340 S LEMON AVE 5007, WALNUT, CA 91789,