Free giveaways will always be a popular marketing tactic—and they can be a great tactic for your copywriting business, too. Offering free copy evaluations can be a great way to drum up business. But before you jump in with both feet, you need to keep a couple of things in mind to make sure you’re not giving everything away without getting anything (business) back. The … [Read more...]
How to Draw Copywriting Work Opportunities to You
Everyone knows someone for whom things just “work out.” Things go along swimmingly for them, and the things they want just seem to magically drop into their laps. Opportunities seem to appear out of nowhere. The truth is that you, too, can make opportunities appear. People who seem to have opportunities just fall into their laps aren’t magical—they just know how to be … [Read more...]
Building Your Portfolio Copywriting by Working With Small Businesses
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...]