A few months ago, my phone stopped accepting Wi-Fi—it just basically refused to accept that Wi-Fi existed. And, while I have a data plan, I burned through that quickly. I didn’t love shelling out $1,000 for a new iPhone (spread out over several monthly payments, thank you) but I had to. I mean, how could I exist without a cell phone? It’s practically an investment, … [Read more...]
6 Must-Pack Items to Write Copy Overseas
If you’re interested in copywriting because you want to live the life of an international jet-setter, it's absolutely possible. It's one of those concepts that feels wildly improbable. How can I get paid to write while I'm working overseas? But, as someone writing this from Portugal right now, it only feels impossible because you haven't done it yet. But before you up and … [Read more...]
Do You Need to Incorporate?
First, a caveat: I am neither an attorney nor an accountant and none of my advice should be taken lieu of talking with a professional. Never let a blog post make your legal decisions for you. Also, all this information is based on U.S. law and law as of the date of publication. (Consult a professional!) That said, this blog post is based on a few facts, my experience, and my … [Read more...]
3 Types of Clients and Why You Need to Identify Them
It should go without saying, but not every client is the same. But often, we hope every client will react in exactly the same way to our pitches: with a resounding YES! In reality, clients tend to fall into three groups—and if we approach these clients in the right way according to their groups, we’re much more likely to get that “yes.” The Three Types of … [Read more...]
How to Sell a Sales Page Project
We’ve talked about why sales pages are such a great project for copywriters and how to write them so that they’re exceptionally effective. Here we dive into tactics for helping to you sell sales page projects to clients or, more specifically, how to sell yourself as the ideal writer for a client’s sales page project. The thing about sales pages is that, unlike most other … [Read more...]
How to Write a Sales Page That’ll Make Your Client Ecstatic
As we’ve established, sales pages are great projects for copywriters. Sales pages generally require plenty of copy, and, since they directly help your clients make money, they’re very valuable to those clients. Once your client hires you for a sales page project, it's time to deliver a page with wildly effective copy that helps convert customers. Now, it should go without … [Read more...]
The Copywriting Project That Sells Itself to Your Customers
I know I don’t have to tell you that better copy makes a website more effective. If the copy is better, visitors to that site will be more likely to interact, more likely to do what the website’s owner wants them to do. But not all copywriting projects are created equal. Some copywriting projects are ones that are a higher priority than others for clients. And there's one … [Read more...]
Do You Have the Natural Aptitude to Write Copy?
Likely, you're here because you like writing—you’re a good writer and you’ve been thinking that maybe you’d like to make a living with it. But, as one writer to another, I know that knowing you’re good at something and having confidence that you can DO something are two different things. I want to address something really quickly that may be coming up for … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Getting Down to Your Copywriting Work
I have bad news and good news. The bad news is that once you start taking copywriting clients, it’s not going to somehow get magically easier for you to focus and work. Sure, sometimes you’ll get right in the flow and feel like you’re plugged into a divine download. And, it’s true that you don’t have to deal with a blank page, and that makes everything easier. But…the urge … [Read more...]
Who Are the Clients for Copywriters?
I’m going to assume you’re already clear on what copy is—persuasive writing, designed to either literally sell something or to persuade someone to take an action or think a certain way—and that you’re also clear on the difference between content and copy. (If not, you can check it out here.) But I think there’s still some confusion out there about where you find copywriting … [Read more...]