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Filthy Rich Writer

Tips, tools, & training for new and aspiring copywriters.

Tips, Tools and Training for New and Aspiring Copywriters

  • What does “Filthy Rich” mean? It means having a job you love, being good at what you do…and making great money doing it!

Can Copywriting Be a Side Hustle?

By Nicki Krawczyk 6 Comments

Woman with blonde hair and white shirt sits at a cafe desk typing on her white laptop with greenery sprawling behind her.

Here’s the short answer: It is possible to have a copywriting side hustle … but not the way most people treat side hustles. Read on …

What is a Side Hustle?

What is a side hustle? Well, it’s basically a small business that you run in your free time to help you bring in extra cash.

People may start a side hustle to supplement their income indefinitely or they may start them with the goal of eventually moving over to doing the side hustle work full-time.

Side hustles are started by all kinds of people: People with full-time jobs, students, homemakers, and people with part-time jobs. There are also people who take on multiple side hustles to create a full-time income.

You Need to Treat Your Side Hustle Like a Business

One major trap that side hustlers of all kinds fall into is treating their side hustle like a “bonus.” Sure, you may not work on your side hustle from 9 to 5 like you may do with your full-time job. Or you may not even work consistently, instead opting to amp up work to pay for a vacation or around the holidays.

But that doesn’t mean you can treat your side hustle like a hobby.

When you’re working on your side hustle business, you need to treat it like the business that it is.

Doing this not only ensures you deliver the best work to your clients, but it’s also a subtle mindset shift that can have a major impact on your your income.

How to Start a Copywriting Side Hustle

Copywriting can be an ideal side hustle. You can pick up clients anywhere and work with them from anywhere, on your own schedule. It’s flexible, it’s creative and it’s fun.

But it also isn’t a side hustle…the way that some people try to do side hustles.

Some people opt to start side businesses in things that they’re interested in, but they’re not necessarily “pros” at. And that’s perfectly fine when it comes to dog walking, kids’ party planning, or house cleaning—people can provide a relatively high level of service at each of those without being full-on professionals.

But other types of side hustles require more skill and experience and copywriting falls into that category.

For example, if someone is going to offer tax preparation services as a side hustle, they’d better know what they’re doing, right? Same thing with bookkeeping services, legal help, graphic design, copywriting, and other careers in which people have to amass and hone a set of skills.

But instead of discouraging you, this should definitely encourage you. After all, the skills and experience you build allow you to use your copywriting skills whenever and wherever you want to. It also quickly differentiates you from “competition” that’s just pretending to know what they’re doing.

Remember, too, that the training you get isn’t a purchase—it’s an investment that will pay for itself many times over. In fact, it’s very likely it could pay for itself within a month or less.

It’ll take just a little bit of time to get it up and going, but a copywriting side hustle can be a great option for someone with a love for words.

Hear One Copywriter’s Side Hustle Story

Comprehensive Copywriting Academy student Alicia Castro has built a six-figure part-time copywriting business alongside her full-time job. She joined the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast to share her top tips for those trying to balance their copywriting career with life outside of it. Listen in!

Your turn! What would you with an extra $1,000 or $2,000 per month? Let us know in the comments below!

Last Updated on December 8, 2022

Filed Under: Business Development, Terms to Know Tagged With: copywriting courses, copywriting ideas

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About Nicki Krawczyk

Nicki is a copywriter, copy coach and the founder of Filthy Rich Writer. She's been writing copy for more than 20 years.

Comments

  1. Aaron Hardy says

    October 15, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    Great post! I’d use that extra money to speed up paying off the debt we’ve been whittling at for far too long. Then reinvest some into more training to improve my skills with an eye on taking copywriting full time.

    Reply
    • Nicki Krawczyk says

      December 5, 2018 at 12:51 pm

      Hi Aaron,

      Those both sound like great uses for the extra cash. Believe me, it’ll be *such* a freeing feeling to finally pay off that debt!

      Thanks for commenting!
      Nicki

      Reply
  2. Avion Anderson says

    July 29, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    Totally on-point. I am a Freelance Natural Beauty Blogger and Copywriter offering blog writing and brand story copywriting services to the natural beauty brand and artisans, on a part-time bases (side venture), which I love.

    Reply
    • Nicki Krawczyk says

      July 30, 2019 at 10:33 am

      Hi Avion,

      Isn’t it nice to have such a fun job *and* be able to do it for as little or as much time as you’d like? How lucky are we?? 🙂

      Thanks for commenting!
      Nicki

      Reply
  3. Bernadette Perez says

    March 28, 2020 at 12:31 pm

    I’d like to work as a copywriter but I don’t know where to start. Can you please give me an advice?

    Reply
    • Nicki Krawczyk says

      March 28, 2020 at 4:36 pm

      Hi Bernadette,

      Thanks for reaching out! We’ve actually put together a video to give people a good place to start and to answer a lot of the questions we know they have – you can find it at http://filthyrichwriter.com/free-video-training/.

      Thanks for commenting!
      Nicki

      Reply

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