For the past several weeks, I was quietly enjoying the steady stream of visitors sent to me by Wikipedia on their copywriting page. I had listed The Copywriting Maven as a resource of direct marketing copywriting tips and techniques and linked to my DM tips index page. All good info, no blatant "Hire Me" ads everywhere. (I knew Wikipedia was no longer a source of link "juice" but thought plain old traffic was fine by me.)

I expected that a zealous Wikipedia editor would boot my tush pronto, but no. I hung on. For weeks. A lot of weeks. Life was good and my RSS feed and email subscriber numbers rose.

It was like Xmas.

Soon, other copywriters were adding their own links. Most to their commercial/corporate pages. I knew that was going to be the kiss of death in short order. Finally, it happened. In one fell swoop last week all of us working copy pluggers were history save for one UK writers association.

I tried listing myself again, but was shut down again fast. This time with a note directed to me about policy, articles with commercial content or advertising, yada yada. (Tho they’re begging for donations I notice.) No wonder colleges are increasing banning Wikipedia from list of acceptable resource citations. These people have no sense of humor :=)

But here’s my ultimate point … and yes, I have one. "I assumed the answer was YES until someone told me no."

This sentence, a personal mantra, if you’ll allow, is a pillar to my particular philosophical construct. By presuming the positive response, I’ll take a chance … put myself out there … and do so with the sheer confidence of a three-year old who knows he’s the strongest boy in the universe.

If I’m discovered and shut down? Well, it was a helluva ride. No regrets. There’s always an exciting new idea to test, a new door to be opened — and I’ll presume the answer, once again, is Yes unless told otherwise.

And so should you.

Maven’s Maxim
In your work, especially if you’re just building your business and portfolio — go ahead and dare. Poke your nose in and see what happens. Assume the answer is almost always YES. You just never know how things will turn out. Usually for the better, too.