Someone once said that “the richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work.” This was American businessman and author Robert Kiyosaki, one of the most successful book writers of the millennium. His meaning? That building a successful business (and earning a good income as your own boss) starts with finding opportunities, not just … [Read more...]
The Best Business Card Resources for Copywriters
You'll hear me say again and again how important your digital presence (online portfolio site, LinkedIn profile, etc.) is, but that doesn't mean you can overlook your print one. Here we look at what to include on your business card and resources for getting your business cards created and ready to pass out to friends, contact, and potential clients. You need business … [Read more...]
Copywriting Q&A: How to Find Solopreneur Clients
Solopreneur clients—one-person businesses—can be great copywriting clients. But where do you find solopreneurs? Read on… Today’s question is from Jakob F., who asks, “I read your article about solopreneurs and think they might be a great target for my growing copywriting business. Where do I find them to pitch myself?” As you know, I always recommend that brand new … [Read more...]
How and Why to Collect Copywriting Testimonials
Building a great portfolio is fundamental to landing work—there are no two ways about it. But there’s one other element that can help “sell” you to potential clients and employers before they even meet you: copywriting testimonials. Once you’ve done work with clients, one of the best ways to get additional copywriting work is to re-pitch those same clients. … [Read more...]
7 Signs You Need to Upgrade Your Portfolio Site
You know that having an online portfolio site is essential to building a career as a copywriter. But if you already have one, how can you be sure yours is up to snuff? There's a tendency for all of us to create our portfolio sites and update the samples when necessary, but just generally ignore the overall design. (I say this having updated my own portfolio site after … [Read more...]
Why Freelance Bidding Sites like Upwork and Fiverr Are Bad News
Those freelance bidding sites where you can submit quotes on copywriting projects seem like a great deal. You get to just scan through listings, submit a quick proposal and quote to potential clients, and land tons of work. Great, right? Wrong. Freelance bidding sites are great for clients ... and a waste of a good copywriter’s time. How Freelance Bidding Sites … [Read more...]
How to Optimize Your Copywriting LinkedIn Page
Sure, you know that LinkedIn is important...kind of. You put up a profile, but you haven't touched it in forever. Instead of just sitting there, your profile could be helping you get work—if you make some changes. Which changes are most important for a copywriter LinkedIn profile? First, let's take a quick step back to talk about why a good LinkedIn profile is so important. … [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...]
As a Copywriter, Do You Need Your Own Newsletter?
Every single (successful) company has an email list of people who have opted in to receive information about them. As a one-person company of your own, someone whose job is to both write copy and find people to write it for, this begs the question: Do you need a newsletter of your own? First, you need an online portfolio. Then, you need to make sure your online … [Read more...]
Who You’re Not Following on Social Media (But Should Be)
Undoubtedly, you've got at least a couple of social media profiles—Meta/Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and so on. Hopefully, you've already optimized them to feature your copywriting (and aren't just wasting time looking at what everyone else is doing!). You may even be following or connected to some of the leaders in the industry. But chances are that there are some very … [Read more...]