Okay, let’s get one thing straight: There are a LOT of scams out there. And a lot of things that sound too good to be true ARE too good to be true.
But let’s get another thing straight while we’re at it. Copywriting—the actual career of writing copy—is not one of those. It’s a real career and plenty of people are enjoying doing that work every day, whether at ad agencies, as part of internal creative teams or, yes, entirely as freelancers.
The problem is that it’s not very clear for people which “opportunities” are real and which ones are scams. For example, there’s an ad I’ve seen a lot that promises high-paying writing jobs, even for people with no experience. Well, it turns out that it’s not an ad for jobs—it’s an ad for a course.
And let’s not forget those work-from-home jobs that promise that if you can write blog posts you can make lots of money. But, of course, they’re “churn and burn” content factories that pay 5¢ per word and that means you have to write constantly even to come close to a livable wage. (And writing constantly means you burn out fast.)
(Both writing blog posts and charging by the word ARE not marks of copywriting by the way, but I wanted to include them as examples because they’re so common.)
But in spite of all this—AND in spite of the naysayers who’ve been burned by these scams and now will tell you that EVERYTHING related to making a living as a writer is a scam—you absolutely can still make an excellent living working from home as a writer.
(If you haven’t seen it yet, check out this interview with one of my students. She’s an American living on a tiny island in the Mediterranean and making six figures entirely remotely as a copywriter.)
Why You Won’t Find Opportunities on Job-Bidding Sites
The simple fact of the matter is that most well-paying copywriting opportunities will never make it to job posting sites. (And they’re DEFINITELY not on those job-bidding sites like Upwork or Freelancer.)
Why? Well, when a small-to-medium-sized copywriting project comes up, it just doesn’t make sense to post it to job sites. Job sites weren’t made for those—they were made for full-time, on-staff work. One-off projects, even projects that might turn into something regular, don’t fit well within the constraints of those sites.
Where the Work Really Comes From
Instead, when projects like that come up, hiring managers/creative directors reach out to people in their networks, recruiters, OR people who’ve offered up those services to them.
Think about it. If a creative director needs a copywriter and you pop up in their email offering your service via a well-crafted pitch email, they’re going to pay attention, right?
And even if they don’t need you at that moment, they’re likely to keep your information for when they do.
(We’ve talked about it before so I won’t get into it, but this is exactly why clients WANT you to pitch them.)
The “wow, this sounds really easy!” work-from-home opportunities are the scams. If it sounds too good to be true, 99.99999% of the time, it is. So, don’t waste your time there!
There are plenty of real and true opportunities to make a very good income working from home as a copywriter. What you need to do (and what we teach our students) is learn how to find them; make yourself the perfect, irresistible candidate; and land them.
Your Turn
What too-good-to-be-true work from home writing “opportunities” have you seen? Let me know in the comments below!
Last Updated on January 8, 2024
This is such a refreshing and honest take! I’ve definitely come across those “get-rich-quick” writing ads and almost fell for a few. Grateful for resources like this that shed light on real opportunities and what actually works.
Big Yes, absolutely!
Of course, there are always going to be clients that try to find the easy button.
But there is no easy button. That is why we share what we actually know and, based on professional experience, what actually works. And we hope this article helps people to set them apart in a competitive landscape, and thrive.
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