The bread and butter of any freelance copywriter is clients. Cultivating a good client base is critical to your business success when you first start as a freelance copywriter and throughout your career. One of the best places to find new clients, keep the work coming in, and get referrals is through small businesses. Freelance copywriters who can write persuasive copy are … [Read more...]
How To Perform a SWOT Analysis as a Copywriter
You already know that thinking strategically is an important part of being a copywriter. But how, exactly, can you start going about doing that? And how can you think strategically when it comes to your own business? A SWOT analysis is a great way to start. What Is a SWOT Analysis? A SWOT analysis is a tool for figuring out where you (or your business) is and where … [Read more...]
Avoid Burnout as a Copywriter
Persistence is key to building a great career, but persistence can also lead to overworking and put you on the road to burnout if it’s not appropriately managed. Here’s how to avoid burnout as a copywriter and why rest is essential. This might sound a little crazy coming from me since I’ll be the first one to tell you that being willing to put in the effort is one of … [Read more...]
Why I Won’t Use Google Docs for Copywriting
Technology has provided us with a lot of more efficient ways to collaborate with peers and clients. Screen-sharing is a game-changer for working with designers remotely and Zoom (and other video conferencing tools) mean you can have a face-to-face meeting with anyone in the world. There’s one technology, though, that gets in the way of great copywriting: using Google Documents … [Read more...]
How to Get Copywriting Referrals
Prospecting is an important way to build your business. But there’s another way that, once you get the right plans in motion, is so much simpler. Referral work comes through little to no effort of your own. Sounds nice, eh? Let’s talk about how to build your referral system to get copywriting work. Referrals make up the vast majority of my business now. Don’t get me wrong: I … [Read more...]
Why Do Some Copywriters Work for Content Mills (and for Peanuts)?
Start a Google search for copywriting jobs, and it won’t be long before you uncover copywriters willing to work for bargain basement rates. Many of them are writing for content mills (more on the difference between copy and content here) and some well... just don't know what they're doing. But instead of letting that discourage you, it should encourage you—and help you realize … [Read more...]
Questions You Need to Ask Your Copywriting Clients
Starting a new project with a new client is exciting, but don’t let that excitement get in the way of your strategy. To keep your project from getting mired in confused schedules and dozens of rounds of review, you need to start the project off with concrete answers to some important questions. These are essential questions to ask your copywriting clients. You already know … [Read more...]
The Worst (and Best) Places to Get Copywriting Advice
One of my favorite sayings isn’t appropriate to print here, so I’ll paraphrase: Opinions are like [unpleasant but necessary body part]; everybody’s got one. Advice is similar—everybody’s got some. Unfortunately, though, a lot of people who want to give advice have bad advice to offer. That's especially true if you're becoming a copywriter or even if you've been running … [Read more...]
Does Your Client Really Need a Sales Page?
Selling online used to be about driving visitors to a sales page and throwing as much persuasive copy at them as possible, then hoping they’d click the “buy now” button. Just a few years ago, selling without a sales page would be unthinkable. After all, if you don’t have a page to drive people to the place that has all the details, how do you sell them? Today, though, … [Read more...]
Use Your Copywriting Blog to Attract Potential Clients to Your Portfolio Site
One of the biggest challenges any copywriter will face is finding a steady stream of clients. And while active prospecting can’t be beat, there are also a few other tactics you can use for attracting interest and nurturing potential clients. You already know that having an online portfolio is non-negotiable—if you want to be seen as a professional, you have to have a site … [Read more...]