When Nicole first joined the Comprehensive Copywriting Academy in late 2019, she was house sitting and planned to build her freelance copywriting business. Then 2020 happened. Nicole took a full-time job teaching at a college and didn’t know if she would ever go back to copywriting. Of course in another 2020 twist, her course load was reduced. Copywriting became her security net.
Talking with Nicki and Kate at the end of 2021, Nicole shares how she’s incorporated copywriting into a mix of work she does. Her part-time copywriting work is one piece of what she calls her “patchwork” career, which also including teaching a course and running her Etsy shop. She shares how she got to this balance, why it works for her, and her advice for others looking to pursue copywriting.
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A Sneak Peek at the Episode
Note: Nicole mentions Pitch-a-palooza in the interview. This is a free month-long annual event for CCA students that gets everyone focused on sending their first pitches or refining their pitching process with weekly challenges and giveaways.
[2:12] Nicole shares her story about transitioning from house sitting and traveling across the country to becoming a freelance copywriter and everything in between.
[3:13] Nicole explains how she started pitching at the first Pitch-A-Palooza and, with the 1:1 coaching with Kate, how she landed her first client and that alone paid off the CCA. She explains how freelance copywriting doesn’t need to be a full-time switch for it to be worthwhile: her one client was well worth investing in the CCA.
[4:22] Nicole dives deeper into her background working at a marketing agency as an account manager before the CCA. She was there for 3 years and quickly got burnt out from being on call at all hours, due to the various time zones. After that, she traveled and moved to South America and reflected on where she wanted to go with her career. An advertisement for the CCA got her back into copywriting.
[5:57] Although she got back into copywriting, the pandemic changed her career trajectory again after losing her big copywriting client. She then started teaching as an adjunct professor at a college and now teaches one course in conjunction with her 20-30 hours as a freelance copywriter. She is really happy with where she ended up and found the perfect combination of her skills and career goals.
[8:17] Nicki and Nicole discuss how the CCA helps to breakdown all the overwhelming pieces of becoming a freelance copywriter but how once you have your portfolio, pitching experience etc. completed, you can jump back into freelancing at any point. The CCA helps to build a toolkit to supplement your income. Nicole explains how copywriting is a security net for her and she loves the flexibility that comes with being a freelance copywriter since she can dial up or down depending on her financial needs.
[10:39] Nicole provides insight to why being contracted with an agency can be very beneficial for networking and connections. Nicki and Kate join in with their personal experience with agency settings and why it’s a great opportunity. Nicole provides tips on how to get contracted with an agency and why the consistency provides reassurance.
[21:13] You should continuously be reflecting on where you want to be in your career and Nicole provides insight into how she does this even though she enjoys where she is at right now. She expresses how she wants to move away from doing social media related work and how she learned how to decipher what a job description is really looking for.
[26:03] Kate asks Nicole to expand more on her experience working on a big campaign in Boston. Nicole is very happy with the final version but explains how that was not her first draft. Multiple stakeholders means more feedback but Nicole explains how the feedback she received was very helpful and made her much happier with the end result. Nicole shares how she learned to receive feedback and not take it to heart.
[31:01] With her account manager experience, Nicole has a unique perspective because she used to be the person that clients complained to and then she would tactfully relay the information to the creatives. With this, she was able to learn how to separate the emotions from feedback when she became a freelancer. Nicki, Kate, and Nicole conclude this podcast with a few tips on how not to be so hard on yourself and why you budget for revisions.
[37:09] Nicole provides one last tip for those listening who might think they already know what they’re doing and don’t need the CCA. She explained that although she had experience in an agency setting, the CCA taught her things that copywriters in the agency setting don’t even know. Even with her background in marketing and advertising, she needed the CCA to become a successful freelance copywriter.
Mentioned in the Episode
- Nicole’s Portfolio: NicoleCopy.com
Related Links
- Your Goal Should Be to Love Your Career. Period.
- Define Your Own Copywriting Success
- Copywriter Job Satisfaction
- The Right Way to Barter Your Copywriting Services
- Copywriting vs Content Writing: What’s the Difference?
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About the Build Your Business Podcast
Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?
Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.
Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.
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Ep. 62: Defining Copywriting Success for Yourself
Last Updated on December 13, 2023
