When it comes to your career, it's a pretty big decision to go "all in" on one niche or another—especially if you can't be sure that it will be a successful strategy. So, should you specialize? I get questions from students all the time that are something along the lines of, "It seems like there are a lot of financial copywriting jobs available in my city. Should I try to … [Read more...]
Why Staying in Touch With Former Colleagues Is Crucial
In the creative industry, people are always moving from job to job and project to project. And that means, of course, that you meet a lot of different interesting people. But just because they're gone doesn't mean they should be forgotten. In fact, ex-coworkers can be incredibly valuable to building your copywriting business. Whether you're working on staff or as a … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Deal With Friends and Family Copywriting Rates
You love your friends and family. And they love and support you. They also think you're quite the talented writer. So they ask you for writing help. A lot. Now that you're getting into copywriting, they're asking for even more help (or maybe you didn't want to tell them for this reason!). Resumes, cover letters, emails, landing pages... You don't want to be a jerk, but you … [Read more...]
The Right Way to Barter Your Copywriting Services
Bartering, or trading, your copywriting services can be a great way to acquire things you need (design, website development) without having to lay out any cash. But just as with anything else, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Ready for the right way? First of all, whether or not it's okay to barter your copywriting services is completely up to you. No one … [Read more...]
4 Tools to Stay On Top of Your To-Do List
If you love making lists (perhaps you add already-done tasks just to cross them off? I'm in your head!), then this post is for you. There's nothing our remote team loves more than maximizing our productivity and using the best productivity tools possible to get our jobs done from home (we even did an entire YouTube episode on improving productivity; check it out!). That's … [Read more...]
Copywriting Interview Questions: 9 Questions You Need to Prepare to Answer
When you get called in for an interview, you need to make sure your online and print portfolios are up to date, you need to make sure that your resume and references are current, and you need to be prepared to answer all kinds of copywriting-specific questions. In addition to the standard-issue job interview questions like "What's your biggest strength?," "What's your … [Read more...]
How to Deal With Rejection from Copywriting Clients
At some point or another, every single person is going to be passed over for a job they want. It's just the way the world works. But what separates the successful copywriters from the less-than-successful copywriters is what they do after the rejection. Here are three steps you can take to move pass that feeling of rejection and move toward your next win! 1. Remember: … [Read more...]
How to Price Copywriting Services: By the Minute? The Hour? The Word?
Discussing rates or salaries is uncomfortable for most people. Of course, how to price copywriting services has another layer of discomfort because you can charge for copy projects in a couple of ways. Do you charge by the word? By the minute? Something else? (Spoiler: It's something else. Copywriters charge by the project.) In fact, charging by the word will mark you as a … [Read more...]
How to Negotiate Your Copywriting Rate
"Negotiation" is a big, intimidating topic. Entire business school classes are dedicated to it. Many people get deeply uncomfortable when it comes time to discuss their salary with their potential employer. Then, add in the stressful factor of your own (and maybe your family's) livelihood and no wonder most people cringe at the idea of negotiating their salaries. But it's … [Read more...]
Interview Tactics to Get an Copywriting Ad Agency Job
A lot of new copywriters have dreams of working in an advertising agency. But when they get that agency interview, they have no idea what to say. But here's the secret. There are specific ways you can impress each ad agency you interview with. And you'll find these right on their own websites. Before we get into interview prep, the very first thing you should do when you get … [Read more...]