Transitioning out of teaching can be a challenge for a number of reasons. Emotionally, it’s hard to let go of something that’s felt like more of a “calling” than a “career.” And it’s one thing to understand that callings don’t have to last a lifetime, but it can take some time to accept it.
Not only is there a career that melds perfectly with teachers’ skillsets, but it also doesn’t require a new degree and pays exceptionally well. If that sounds too good to be true, read on to discover how so many teachers are making the transition to copywriting and thriving.
What is Copywriting and What Makes it So In-Demand?
Copywriting is marketing and advertising writing. It’s about creating a connection between people who have a want or a need and the best solution for that want or need—and doing that by crafting writing that resonates with people. Copywriting is all around you: Copywriters write websites, emails, banner ads, social media ads, direct mail, billboards, packaging, brochures, donation request letters, videos—all kinds of things. If it’s designed to sell or to persuade, it’s copy.
Since messaging is the most important element of a business, copywriting is crucial. After all, a company can have the best product or service in the world, but if they can’t communicate why it’s so great and who it’s for…it will fail.
And, since companies and organizations can attribute improvements directly to copy, they pay copywriters well. (More on that below.) Content writing—writing that’s designed to educate, entertain, or inspire—is different from copywriting. Content writing is things like blog posts, listicles, some social media post. Because these are far less essential to companies than great copy, content writing pays far less.
With millions of companies and organizations in the world, there is far more demand for great copy than there are skilled copywriters to meet it. And, as businesses become even more savvy to the requirements for business success, they value great messaging and copywriting more than ever before.
Why So Many Teachers Thrive as Copywriters: The Skills That Matter Most
As teachers know, “teaching” isn’t just one skill: It’s a combination of dozens! Among those skills, these are what make teachers especially effective and successful at writing.
Writing Skills
It might seem obvious that a career in copywriting requires writing skills, but what’s probably not obvious is that the talent and skill you have for writing isn’t shared by everyone! Not only is it a relatively rare skill, it’s also very in-demand.
Empathy
Teachers learn to open their hearts to their students to understand who they are and where they’re coming from. This same trait is essential for copywriters, who have to understand their projects’ audiences to craft messaging that resonates with them.
Persuasion
What teacher hasn’t mastered the art of persuasion? Helping students see how doing something can benefit them (and then getting them to do it!) translates perfectly into copywriting, where you’re regularly encouraging people to take action.
Connection
Teachers find all kinds of ways to connect with their students, students’ parents, and their coworkers. This knack for connection makes them especially adept at creating that connection between an audience that wants or needs something, and the company or organization with the best solution for that want or need.
Creativity
Creative solutions are an essential in any teacher’s toolkit, and creativity is a huge part of what makes copy effective and copywriting fun. Crafting dynamic ideas that meet goals and offer new perspectives is a hallmark of great copywriting.
Strategy
Teachers are constantly solving problems and puzzles and copywriting is the perfect professional arena for this skill. Using the tools at hand (information about a project and the words at your disposal) to strategize how to successfully craft a piece of copy can often feel more like word problems than work!
Copywriting Career Benefits for Former Teachers
Copywriters can work on-staff (on the creative team at a company or non-profit or for an ad or marketing agency) or they can work freelance, whether part-time or full-time.
If someone would prefer an on-staff role, they can expect creative, fulfilling work that pays well. They’ll also have the opportunity to work with dynamic, interesting people on all kinds of different projects. Since the pandemic especially, many companies are open to remote or hybrid-remote work, so being “on-staff” doesn’t necessarily have to mean being in an office—though many people enjoy the camaraderie of working with people in person.
For those looking to create a freelance copywriting career, they’ll experience freedom and control over their careers like never before. Freelancers can make their own hours and have complete control over who they work with and what projects they work on. They also have complete control over their income, dialing it up (or down) as desired by adjusting their outreach efforts. (High-paid copywriters do not use sites like Upwork or Fiverr, recognizing that those sites limit their income capabilities and often just waste their time.)
The Earning Potential for Copywriters
In spite of so many of us hearing that “writers don’t make any money,” copywriting is the (significant!) exception to that rule. While the “average” salary online is reported at $76-85k per year, those averages often (mistakenly) include content/blog writers, which artificially lowers the average.
A brand new (trained) freelance copywriter can charge $50-60 per hour, meaning that they have the potential to make $100,000+ per year right out of the gate. On-staff roles tend to pay slightly less, only because companies off-set decreased salary with benefits like health care and paid vacation.
How Former Teachers Can Get Into Copywriting
Copywriting is, of course, a real career, which means that it requires training. But the good news is that training doesn’t have to come from a trip back to college! There are top-quality online programs that provide all of the training, support, and feedback you need to learn, plus guide you through exactly how to build your experience and land clients/a job. (One of them boasts 12,000 happy students and provides a complete career training in one.)
Any training must include not just learning how to write copy, but also exactly how to market your services, how to price those services, how to find and land high-paying clients, and how to work with those clients. Once you go through that training, though, you’re immediately ready to start landing work, with no additional training or apprenticing needed. Some new copywriters begin landing work within a few weeks of getting started, while others prefer the slow and steady approach and take a few months.
Curious about what going from teaching to copywriting looks like? See stories from teachers who’ve become copywriters→
Last Updated on March 17, 2025