There are so many paths for pursuing a career as a copywriter. It’s easy to gravitate toward the idea of being a digital nomad copywriter, working from anywhere in the world, or even from your kitchen table as a full-time freelance copywriter. Working in an office as a copywriter may seem like the last thing you want to do! That’s a particularly easy dream to have if you’ve … [Read more...]
Learning to Effectively Communicate as a Copywriter
We talk all the time, but how often do we evaluate how effective we are at communicating? (And how often do we say we write copy, we don't speak it?) In It's the Way You Say It - Second Edition: Becoming Articulate, Well-Spoken, and Clear, Carol A. Fleming shares how you can not only become aware of how you communicate, but how you can more effectively communicate with those … [Read more...]
Why You Should Connect With Past Copywriting Clients
As you start putting together your copywriting business/career plans and goals for next year, this is also a great time of year for looking backward just a bit. You need to reach out to past copywriting clients. While, yes, it’s important to find and land new clients (and you’ll do plenty of that in the new year), it’s even easier to get more work from previous … [Read more...]
How to Write Copy for International Clients
I probably don’t need to say it, but there’s more opportunity than ever to work with remote clients. (I guess that’s one small bright side to a pandemic, though the trend was definitely on the upswing before 2020.) And that means that not only can you write for clients on the other side of your country from you, you can also write for clients on the other side of the world. … [Read more...]
The Huge Benefits of Writing for Clients that Don’t “Wow” You
We all have dream clients: Companies that are so cool or so interesting or so inspiring that it would rock our worlds to write with them. And maybe you can even expand that to a whole group or list of clients that seem interesting or exciting. They certainly don’t need to fall into the same niche (and probably shouldn’t—learn when to break the copywriting niche rule), … [Read more...]
Why Companies Requiring Experience for Copywriting Jobs is a Good Thing
Every once in a while, I’ll hear a lament from one of our students who is interested in landing an in-house or agency job. They’ll say, “I really want to apply for these, but they all require at least two years of experience! I haven’t got that yet!” And I get it: For someone who’s been studying and working diligently to practice and hone the craft, as well as build a great … [Read more...]
You Don’t Have to Work with Clients You Hate
First of all, let me reassure you: There is absolutely NO shortage of copywriting clients out there. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite: There’s a shortage of skilled copywriters. Lots of people who need great copy and too few great copywriters to write it. (Pretty great for us, huh?) I want to be sure to mention this because I think that some people let the idea of who … [Read more...]
Copywriting Contracts: Do You Need to Send Them to Clients?
Everybody needs a copywriting contract, right??? After all, we need to be safe—to protect ourselves!!! But…to protect ourselves from what, exactly? Like the topic of whether or not to bill upfront, the question of contracts comes from the same impulse to “protect ourselves” from nefarious clients. People believe that having clients sign contracts means that they won’t … [Read more...]
The Most Expensive Copywriting Mistake I’ve Ever Made
I’ve been a professional copywriter for more than 20 years, and I’ve had a lot of successes and worked with a lot of fantastic clients in that time. But part of what’s fueled that success has been learning from mistakes … and making sure I never make them again. Lucky for you, you don’t have to make all of them in the first place; you can learn from my mistakes, instead! And … [Read more...]
Your Copywriting Clients NEED Your Guidance
As our students can attest, when you land your first few clients you feel elation followed very quickly by panic. (Which, by the way, does subside and occurs much less often as you land more and more clients.) The reason for this panic is that it’s now time to walk the walk as well as you talk the talk—to actually do the work you’ve been practicing and preparing for. And … [Read more...]