Neurodivergent copywriter & Entrepreneurship

Our guest today is Andrew Mcdonald, a neurodivergent copywriter who helps other neurodivergent professionals launch and scale their businesses through marketing campaigns. 

A major part of Andrew's work involves considering the personalities of the people he works with. For his neurodiversity which includes OCD, trauma, and Rejection Sensitivity Disorder, it is more challenging to use cold emailing because of the large number of negative responses that come with it. 

The first requirement in building a mailing list is having a lead magnet using something that can be offered for free which also has value to potential clients but requires them to offer their email addresses. 

Understandably, a lot of neurodivergent professionals struggle with finding the confidence to start a business because of the stigma and negativity often ascribed to their neurodiversity. 

Delegating certain roles in the business to better-suited professionals can accelerate growth because it gives the entrepreneur more time to double down on aspects that are within their strengths. 

Despite the challenges neurodiverse people face, one of the common strengths of neurodivergent professionals is the ability to build communities around their businesses organically. 

The problem of stigma still lingers generally and is persistently at the back of the minds of neurodivergent professionals. This leads to fear of disclosing their neurodiversity. 

Andrew has CPTSD which means Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It continuously affects thought processes in everyday life unlike PTSD which is linked more to triggers in high-anxiety situations where previously experienced danger seems present. 

For neurodiverse professionals who want to build enough confidence to start a business, it is advisable to break big goals into smaller achievable goals.  Growing slowly over time and taking notes of these small achievements helps to build the confidence to face bigger ones. 

One of the negative aspects of Andrew’s neurodiversity is difficulty with cold emailing as a result of low confidence, however, he was able to turn this into a positive by figuring out a solution for other clients, and has also taken up opportunities to be a guest on podcasts as a means to build connections.

●      Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn

Andrew's free book/website to help neurodiverge

Chapters

• 1:22 Meet today's guest, Andrew Mcdonald.
• 3:29 What is the difference in your approach to starting a business for neurodiverse people compared with neurotypical people?
• 8:24 Building a mailing list while dealing with Sensitivity to Rejection.
• 13:43 Having a visibility strategy
• 18:43 Advice for people who lack the confidence to start their business.
• 34:22 Benefits of employing competent services to complement business growth.
• 45:28 Common strengths among neurodivergent professionals.
• 1:00:47 CPTSD as a neurodiversity.
• 1:09:40 Advice for neurodivergent people starting a business.
• 1:13:31 Positives and negatives of neurodiversity.
• 1:15:59 Connect with Andrew
• 1:18:33 Final comments from Andrew