COPYWRITING 101
How to get started as a copywriter.
As a freelance copywriter in San Diego, I get a ton of emails from students and people who want to get into copywriting. I went on about 30 interviews before I got my first full-time copywriting job. Grit pays off. And being nice to people. And more grit.
Do I need a portfolio?
Yes. Your portfolio is your business card.
Wordpress – Templates galore. You do have to host it.
Weebly – Another template site.
Wix – Another template site.
Squarespace - My personal favorite. Looks good, they take care of hosting—it’s never down. The templates are gorgeous. They make SEO easy.
Behance – Another place to get found. Post some work here and then work on building your own website.
Cargo – Another portfolio site.
The quick fix – Make a pdf of work and upload it to Google docs. At least you have something to send clients to while you are getting your site up. You can also upload a pdf to Linkedin.
What if I don’t have any experience?
It’s time to start writing. Set up a site and start blogging about business. This will give people a taste of your writing if you lack a lot of professional samples. (This isn’t the place to blog about your kids or your trip.)
Volunteer for a non-profit.
Do you have any friends with businesses you could write for? Do some work in exchange for a testimonial.
Create your own spec work. Create a homepage or email campaign. Yes, you can put these in your portfolio, you just have to say it is spec work.
Businesses want to know that you can write for business. Creative short stories, and writing from your English class scream student. However, some creative directors like to see everything you’re capable of. (Isn’t this contradictory advice helpful. You’ll have one person suggest to take a project out of a portfolio and then another love it.)
Do I have to specialize in an industry?
Some copywriters specialize in industry: healthcare, wellness, beauty, automotive. They become known as experts in an industry.
Others become known for ghosting blogging, email campaigns, or landing pages.
Others become generalists.
How do I meet people? I’m too shy, too old, too young, too ______.
Join a co-working space. This will help you meet people, you can host workshops, and even blog using their platform.
Join professional organizations. There are professional organizations for builders, healthcare, lawyers, marketing folk, hotel, restaurants, whatever industry appeals to you. Volunteer for their board and offer to do their copywriting. You will meet a ton of folk.
Get involved with your local startup community, business accelerator, or other meetup. These are the people building businesses. They are clamoring for your services.
Is social media worth the time?
I think so. It reinforces the connections you make in real life. It also expands your market beyond your own city or town.
LInkedIn – Post and share other people’s content frequently. Write some of your own pieces and share on LinkedIn.
Facebook page – Even if you don’t share frequently, create a Facebook business page and link it to your porfolio. Facebook has really good SEO so even if you don’t share on your Facebook pages a lot, it will show up in search results.
Instagram – Create a business account and post about writing, your clients, creating a business.
Video – Even better than blogging.
Do I need to go back to school to get a degree in copywriting?
No. There are online programs you can take and a lot of free resources you can learn from. You should know the value of marketing and how to frame products and services as benefits to the customer.
What are good resources to become a copywriter?
Resources When You’re Starting Your Freelance Copy Biz
Copywriting resources I’ve written.
What Luke Skywalker Taught Me About the Big Idea
What are some tools I can use?
Grammerly – I swear by the pro version.
Wordy – Instant proofing.
RelatedWords.org – An amazing thesaurus.
WordHippo.com – Another thesaurus-like site.
Rev – I record conversations and then have them transcribed.
FreshBooks – Send professional invoices.
Should I freelance or work for an agency?
You will freelance when you start out. And most agencies will hand you a freelance assignment before considering hiring full-time. I suggest getting a job in-house or at an agency to learn the ropes, build a portfolio, and get to know people. With an agency, clients will have larger budgets. There will be designers and web developers so your work will look better. You’ll have the chance to learn about strategy, presenting, and looking at things from the client’s perspective.
Never stop networking.
So even if you get an agency job, never stop looking ahead. It’s easy to get bogged down in your agency or company deadlines and never get involved with the greater community. Then when you get laid off (we all will get laid off several times in our careers), you don’t know anyone outside of your company. So go to ad club/business/entrepreneur events at night. Get involved in your local startup scene. Volunteer for a conference. The key is to network both online and offline. Networking online is easier but networking offline in real life is richer. Online is a good way to keep up with your in-person contacts. Online is also a way to expand your market beyond your geographical boundaries.
My email newsletter is a pretty good resource too!
Copy students, if you want to email with questions be sure to tell me if you have a pet or not in your email. (Just checking to see if you read this first.)