Want to be a copywriter?
Maybe you’ve watched MadMen and cheered Peggy Olsen’s rise from secretary to Copy Chief at Sterling Cooper & Partners and thought, “I want to do that.”
Or you’ve seen an ad or blog post promising a six figure income for working a few hours a week (maybe even from the beach).
Perhaps you’ve been looking for a side-hustle to add to your income or patch a hole in your budget or possibly pay for your next family vacation.
Whatever your reason, this is your complete guide to starting, working and succeeding as a copywriter.
But first…
Copywriting isn’t for you, if…
Despite what you’ve seen on television or read online, copywriting isn’t an easy career path. There are gurus who promised riches while working from the beach. And the opportunity to travel the world working a few hours a week.
Oh sure, there are a few copywriters who make it look easy.
Don’t be fooled.
It takes a lot of hard work and a variety of skills to succeed. If the following describes you, copywriting may not be a good fit.
You aren’t a proficient writer.
This doesn’t mean you need an English degree or that you write sentences like Jonathan Franzen and Barbara Kingsolver. But you do need to be able to write a coherent sentence. You need to know how to spell (or get very intimate with your spell checker). And your writing needs to be compelling—copywriting isn’t just choosing nice sounding words. It isn’t “creative writing” or word-smithing. It’s sales and relationship building. Your words must capture and hold the attention of your readers.
You aren’t willing to write, edit and re-write.
Then do it all over again. And perhaps again after that. Writing copy is almost never a one-and-done venture. You get a draft on paper. Then revise. And revise again. And again. You’ll almost certainly be sick of what you write before a project is done.
You don’t love research.
Love it enough to marry it. Yes, I’m serious. Curiosity and research about your product and your customers separates the great copywriters from everyone else. You’ll spend far more time conducting and reviewing research than actually writing words. If you don’t enjoy pouring over customer survey responses, reviewing website user data and product specifications, as well as talking to product manufacturers and customers, you may want to consider a different career.
You can’t take direction from others.
Whether you work in an agency, an in-house creative department or as a freelancer, most of your projects will involve a boss or client telling you what to do. Of course, you’ll bring your expertise to the table and help guide your client to a better outcome. But they still call the shots and pay the bills. You need to be able to listen and often do what others ask (even if you disagree).
You don’t want to run a “real” business.
More than anything else, this is the reason that so many freelance copywriters fail or choose to work for someone else—while they are good at writing, they don’t build the skills they need to run an actual business. To be a successful copywriter, you need to find customers, manage your finances, have processes for invoicing and signing legal agreements, onboarding and offboarding clients and more. If running a real business doesn’t appeal to you, you might consider writing for an agency or large company, instead of freelancing.
If that didn’t scare you off, then let’s talk about what you must do before anything else…
The first step to becoming a copywriter is writing.
That’s obvious, right?
But far too many “writers” are happy reading books about copywriting, buying and watching courses about copywriting, joining copywriting groups, and talking about “the craft” on Facebook, Reddit or social media.
Or they spend time hand-copying other writer’s work in order to learn how to write (this may be a good practice technique, but not at the expense of working on your own projects).
Or worse, they build and rework their own website over and over again, adjusting the words until they’re just right. This can take months and does nothing to land your first client. In fact, this may surprise you, but you don’t need a website to land a client.
The ONE THING you should be doing—sitting down and writing content or copy for a real client—well, too many writers just don’t feel ready.
Get over it.
If you want to be a copywriter, you must write copy for clients or your own products. And if you don’t have a client, you need to choose a topic, product or service and write about it. Create your MVP—a minimum viable portfolio of four or five examples that show the kind of work you can do for potential clients.
How to create your first portfolio.
The work you create for your portfolio should be the kind of work you want to do for clients. If you want to write sales pages for clients, you need to have sales pages in your portfolio, not personal essays or blog posts. If you want to write websites, your portfolio should include examples of website copy. Don’t write brochures, if you want to write online ad copy.
Write what you want to be hired to write in the future.
If you have a client, write something for them. Work you do for a client is far better than “spec” work. If you don’t have a client, you can choose a company or client you want to work with and create something new for them. Or find an ad, a sales page or a social media post, study it, figure out how to improve it and rewrite it.
Other places to find these potential first clients: reach out to a friend or family member who owns a business and offer to write something for them. Or write something for your own business that shows off your copy chops.
If your portfolio includes spec work you weren’t hired to produce, make that clear. Integrity matters.
Two additional resources that can help you create solid copy examples are fakeclients.com and The Copywriter’s Workout by Wendy Jones. Both provide you with details about non-existant clients that you can use to create copy samples with lifelike details.
The best portfolio is more than samples.
Most portfolios are simply collections of the final artwork and copy from the projects you complete. That’s okay if you have the opportunity to sit down with the person reviewing your portfolio to explain your work and the thinking behind it.
But that’s usually not the case.
Most of the time clients or agency Creative Directors will review your work when you’re not there, so in addition to work samples, the best portfolios treat each sample as a case study. Include some details about the project with the artwork. What was the problem you were hired to solve? What process did you use to think it through? What potential solutions did you consider? Why did you choose the final solution? And what were the results? Including details like this demonstrates how you think about a challenge and helps a client envision how you might do the same for them.
As for showing off your portfolio… do that on your own blog or with a portfolio site like Clippings.me. Or you can just collect your samples (and case studies) in a google drive folder. Whatever works best for you.
Once you have your portfolio, you’re ready for…
The 3 Ways to Work as a Copywriter
When it comes to working as a copywriter, you have three basic options: freelancing for clients, working in house for a single client (a second version of this is working freelance for a single client), or working for an agency that may have several different clients.
There are advantages and disadvantages to each.
Freelancing for your own clients offers the most flexibility, but also the greatest risk of failure. You get to choose the clients you work with, the kind of work you do, what you charge, and how long you work. But the downside is you also are completely responsible for finding those clients, booking projects, estimating and invoicing, delivery of the work and more.
When you run your own copywriting business, you are more than a writer. You are a business owner. And that takes an additional set of skills to ensure your success. Most copywriters don’t start out with those skills and have to learn them along the way. And many businesses fail before things get figured out.
Note: The Copywriter Accelerator is our program that helps you create a successful freelance business and includes the strategies, ideas and even templates to help you get started (or to dial in your business if you’ve already launched). You can learn more about this business-changing program right here.
Working in-house for a single client removes much of the risk of your own business failure, but also most of the freedom you have when you own your own business. First the advantages: you get a regular paycheck and hopefully benefits and vacation time. In many cases, you’ll also be mentored by a boss or creative director who can help you improve your copywriting skills. You may even get a learning and development benefit to pay for helpful copywriting learning resources like this.
But in exchange for those benefits, you’ll trade away your freedom. You don’t get to pick your clients, you have to do the work that’s assigned to you (and often it’s the kind of grunt work most writers would rather not do). You will also likely have to work something close to 8-5, Monday through Friday in an office. Finally, no job is safe from layoffs if your employer’s business takes a downturn. What feels safe, may not be as safe as you think.
Working at an ad agency or design firm. Like working in-house, you trade away much of your freedome to choose clients and pick the hours you work in exchange for regular employment with an agency. But this can be a great place to grow your copywriting skills. You’ll be surrounded by other creative writers and designers who can offer mentoring and help. And the assignments that come your way will be more varied than most assignments you might get working in-house.
But your employment is even shakier in an agency. Most agencies staff up for clients and if a client leaves, the employees working on the client’s account are often shown the door. Agency pay has historically been lower than what is paid to in-house copywriters or freelancers.
Want to write for an advertising agency? Here’s how to land your first job.
Working as a copywriter in an ad or design agency can be incredibly rewarding and fun. But landing your first job can be a challenge. You need to catch the attention of the hiring manager or creative director. And you do that with a great portfolio that shows you can solve real client problems in new and creative ways.
Note: We’ve talked about this a few times on The Copywriter Club Podcast. This episode featuring advertising legend Luke Sullivan (Author of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This) talks about the process. And this episode featuring Creative Director Jason Pickar talks about how to show off your creative thinking so you get noticed.
Building a portfolio that stands out isn’t easy.
Agency Creative Directors have seen all the basic ideas. One agency CD joked about having a closet full of shoes sent to him by copywriters trying to get a “foot in the door”. Another had several light bulbs in a drawer from copywriters willing to sell him “a few ideas”.
To break though, you’ll need more than cliches.
There are several schools that help beginning copywriters to create a portfolio that stands out. Some are at Universities. The University of Texas at Austin is one of these and has a great portfolio program. The University of Southern California is another.
And then there are the stand alone Portfolio Schools like VCU Brand Center and Miami Ad School. Attending an ad school helps focus and channel your creative thinking to create the kind of portfolio that appeals to creative directors.
Attending an ad school is a lot like working in the advertising industry. You’ll be paired with other copywriters and designers, work on real (or almost real) projects, and get tutored by experienced advertising professionals—all in an effort to build a killer portfolio.
You’ll learn how to spot a great creative idea and nurture it. You’ll learn how to pitch ideas and take criticism from clients and instructors. And some schools provide you with an internship with a large agency that can turn into bigger opportunities once you graduate.
Perhaps most importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to make connections and build a network with alumni, agency staff, and other creative professionals who may be able to recommend you to their colleagues in the industry.
It’s a major investment with the potential to connect you to some pretty fantastic copywriting jobs.
Want to write for an in-house? Here’s how to make an impression.
Landing an in-house copywriting job is a lot like landing any job at a company. Unless you have a contact on the inside, you will have to apply for an open position and go through the hiring process. In addition to your resume and a cover letter, you’ll be asked to share your portfolio with the creative director and other members of the creative team.
They will likely ask you about the work, your process, the ideas you considered as you come up with the solution and the results of your work. Be prepared to share as much of that as possible.
How to start your own copywriting business.
The short answer is: just do it. Tell everyone you know that you’re a copywriter and ask them for work.
Of course, it’s never as easy as that.
You’ll need to find your first client. You’ll need to be able to solve a business problem that they’re willing to pay money to solve. And you’ll need to deliver that solution. Then you’ll have to do it all over again. And again.
Ultimately, there’s a lot that goes into repeating this process successfully.
You can figure it out, but we’ve created a few tools to make the whole process easier.
The P7 Client Attraction System will help you find your first client in 30 days or less, guaranteed. The Copywriter Accelerator will help you set up the business systems you need to succeed. It’s also designed to help you figure out your X-Factor (the thing that makes you different and better than everyone else). It will help you create a signature service and price that service so clients are ready to buy. And a lot more. You can learn more about it here.If you want to succeed long-term, it helps to surround yourself with other copywriters who are working on their businesses too. That’s what The Copywriter Underground is all about.
Finally, if you need to build your copywriting skills, Copy Mastery, our course about researching, writing and persuading with copy can probably help.
