If you’re the kind of person who has a Donald Trump size ego and absolutely no scintilla (yeah, I know I shouldn’t use fancy words when “a tiny trace or amount” would do!) of self-doubt, then you can skip this post.

If you’re like most of the rest of us, however, then this might contain a useful marketing lesson.

Over at Clayton Makepeace’s blog, copywriter Daniel Levis posted an article the other day called…

…“The Magic Of Self Appointment”…

…in which he talks about something that comes up quite often and in different guises.

Basically, it’s “What qualifies you to give advice or be considered the expert?”

Now, that’s a fair question and it’s “Copywriting 101″ to answer that question when writing a sales letter.

In many cases the reasons are clear although as a copywriter I often find that people often hold back from talking about some of their credentials.

One person I know, for example, has a PhD in his field and is one of only about 20 people in Australia who have ever achieved this!  He didn’t think it was worth mentioning!

So don’t hold back from presenting your achievements and credentials in the best possible light.  Most people are far better and more accomplished than they give themselves credit for.

We’re not talking about bragging here, or making things up, of course.

But there’s another level to consider.

For copywriters (or even consultants) it’s the self doubt and the question “When do I know I’m good enough?”…

…with the unspoken comment “…to charge big bucks for what I do?”

Daniel’s article talks about the issue that for many of us we’ve been conditioned throughout our lives to need external approval before we feel “qualified” to do something.

We have to have the certificate, or passed the course or whatever before being able to do something.

Now, of course, you need to have the competence to practice in your field and be able to deliver on your promises.

And yes, there are indeed a whole heap of people (copywriters included) out there who make big promises, charge big fees and then fail to deliver.

That’s a whole different issue and a post all of it’s own.

But there are probably a lot more highly capable people who are holding themselves back simply because they’ve never given themselves the approval to go ahead.

Let me share another story with you.

Mike Litman is a highly successful speaker and trainer in the personal development arena.  He’s not to everyone’s liking, but I find a lot of his material useful.

His first really successful product was the book “Conversations With Millionaires” which is a collection of interviews from the radio show he used to host.

The “Mike Litman Show” was billed as the “World’s #1 Personal Development Radio Show”.

Do you know how many listeners Mike had at the time?

About 5…according to Mike!

At the time he was having to buy the airtime on his local radio station and virtually nobody knew about his show, let alone listened to it!

But that didn’t stop Mike, because as far as he was concerned, his show lived up to the billing.

And by being congruent and making sure he fulfilled on that promise he did become successful.

Now, you may disapprove of what Mike did.  Personally, I have no problem with it.

The important point, to me, is that he didn’t wait for someone else’s approval or “appointment” to take action on his vision.

And neither did most of the greats of copywriting and direct response marketing.

Who appointed Claude Hopkins, for example, the guru?

Nobody.  He just went out there and did it.

So, whatever your field, don’t hold yourself back waiting for other people’s approval.

And if you have to buy your own airtime (hey, today with podcasts and YouTube you can be a broadcaster basically for FREE) then go ahead.