How to start out as a copywriter?

Hello there fellow DP-ers,

Recently I've been doing a lot of reading and have become quite fond of the idea of trying out copy writing for myself.
Can any of the senior copywriters here at DP share how they got started at copywriting?
If you could share any insights from "the kitchen" or books you've been reading.

I'm planning on getting the book: Web Copy That Sells- From Maria Veloso. Does someone have this book and could you share your opinion about it if you do.

 

When I started out, I took a small job from the content creation section of this forum, and started building up from there. I then started using other outlets such as Elance and Freelancer.com, and as my writing improved and I increased my rates, I started sending my CV and a cover letter to writing companies. I now pitch directly to the businesses themselves. Although many people probably won't recommend sites like Elance, I do think they're useful in getting you started. You'll get to learn a bit about how the writing process works, what jobs are available, and you'll also receive feedback on how to improve.

I have never read any books related to copywriting, but there are thousands of websites out there that contain tips. I started a new site a few weeks ago that contains tips for new writers. If you want to read it, it's here: http://www.laura-ginn.co.uk/. Hope that helps a bit?

 

The first step should be the one you've already considered: a LOT of reading. You'll need to understand sales techniques, some basics of psychology and have an excellent control of whatever language you want to write in, before you even begin. The Internet is a wonderful source of copywriting tips, as are some of the classic books on the subject (check Google books to see if any are available for free, get a Kindle library subscription for a month and read as many as you can, etc.).

You should also, in my opinion, specialise from the start. Most people don't realise that copywriting is not content writing - it's copywriting. It's one very small, very specific (and very specialised) type of writing. If it's what you want to do, do it and do it well - don't dilute it with other types of work.

Ideally, find a company or a client who doesn't mind that you're new and work with them. Charge them lower rates at the start, take a cut of profits, make a deal or something. Get access to their analytic data and track your results. Learn from them. There's nothing like doing it for real for helping you learn how to do better!

My 2c.

 

I have been a sales/marketing executive for 25+ years in high tech. I write extremely well (used to tutor English to college freshmen, in fact.) Because I often work in and with small start-ups, I usually have to create my own marketing materials until we grow enough to have real marketing budgets to hire professionals (just yesterday, I created a new flyer to invite businesses to a Lunch & Learn we are putting on in a few weeks, e.g.) Despite this significant experience, I would not call myself anything more than a hack copywriter, at best; I have hired professional copywriters over the years and typically am in awe of their skills and capabilities. So my advice is to read about it, take a course, get a job as a junior copywriter at an ad agency, etc. You need to learn the craft of copywriting and that will not be something that can be measured in weeks or months.

 

Hi there,

I am a professional copywriter from past 10 years and one thing I can say for sure - you need to slog to make your mark in this field. Competition is tough. How about creating your website showcasing your skills? I started by joining a company as an instructional designer. My main job was to create eBooks for companies. So for example if a company wanted to launch a software, they would call us to see the demo and give the software to us to play around. After that we had to write step-by-step process on how to use it. Similarly I wrote eLearning courses for several companies who were production business.

There was a lot of running around, and I wasn't making much in my 9-6 job. So I decided to quit and freelance. In order to gain more experience I joined online freelance portals like Elance, oDesk etc. Well, you can't imagine how low I started. However, I worked my way up. All these years on the freelance portals helped in gain a lot of knowledge. I now know what kind of content people want, what is the trend, and how to write it.

I left ghost writing for others a long time back now and started developing content for my own websites. I mean why should I write for others if I can write well for myself and get more money! Recently I have published my first book on Amazon.com titled "30 Vegetarian Recipes for Weight Loss". I don't know how this will go, but my learning curve has gone up!

Hope this helps you

 

Sounds like you are starting in the right place. There are plenty of resources out there on Copy Writing - do some reading, search out the top names, follow them, find out who they are helping to write copy and then follow those people.

Additionally, if this is the route you plan to take, make sure you start writing. Every day. You only get better through practice. Regularly go back to old pieces to adjust them and see how you can make them better. Look at other copy that is out there and see how you can improve it. (If you find particularly horrible pieces of copy try to get in contact with the own and offer a snidbit of how you can improve it and then offer up some rates.

Best of luck

 

I just started writing even though I have been in sales and marketing for the last 20 years. The key is reading a lot of good copy, Gary Halbert, Eugene Schwartz, David Garfinkel, etc, then model and swiping it. The most important thing is to write every day. I have been studying the topic over the past year and trying to learn as much as possible as well. It's not easy to break in to, and it's not easy to be good, but if you can do it you can write your own ticket. If you have any other questions PM me.

 

First of all you need to create a portfolio of your works

 

First of all one needs to understand as to what is the basic difference between content writing and copy writing. Differentiating between the two forms of creative writing, one is a larger branch and the other one is a sub category which involves writing copies just for promotion and advertising. It will surely impact the entire writing style once you understand the difference that exists between these two variants of writing.

 

I don't know if I am doing it right, but I got a lot of copywriting stuff from Gary Halbert and people like him. I'm now going through all of this information while I am doing a lot of writing.

Not all for the portfolio, it's just so I can exercise my writing. I delete a lot of the stuff I write.

 

Hi there,

There have been a lot of good suggestions. and I'll add a couple:

First, go to:
www.thegaryhalbertletter.com

and read them all. Priceless - and free.

Second, the advice to write every day is the best. Doing a thing like copywriting is the only way to get better at it.

Also, I'd suggest this:

Create an info product of your own. Set up a 1 page website / landing page to sell it and use article marketing and ppc to drive traffic and tweak your copy to improve your conversion rates. There's nothing like doing it for real.

if you really want to become a great copywriter - get a part time job as a salesman. Yep. Sell cars, real estate, boats or whatever.

Just a couple of crazy points.

 

Here's a good exercise:

Grab those sales letters from any of the greats like Gary Halbert, John Carlton and the like.

Next, re-write those sales letters by hand 20 times.

By the time you're done, you'll notice that you're writing differently than before and you are now focused on the copy rather than yhe content.

Next, once you have your skills in check...

Find people in forums looking for a copywriter and offer your service for free. For someone who doesn't have an experience, this will give you that second look to your offer.

the catch?

Tell them that you're willing to do it for free in exchange for a testimonial that you can post on your site as proof and a small percentage of the sale.

So it's like a guarantee that if you suck at writing copy, they literally have nothing to lose.

 

I agree a lot can be learned but the true gems in copywriting have a way of words and wordplay that is just second to none.
That said, there are a few ways to improve your skills.

1. Read a LOT especially ( black ) comedy books as they are full of twists to a way you can phrase something and stand out.
2. Look at billboards and posters and recognize what makes the wordplay catch on.
3. Play word games to enrich your vocabulary.
4. Read the top blogs that have a conversational tone.
5. Read and learn witty phrases and expressions, this can also be done from any book that contains a lot of said phrases.
6. If there is a debate class or club near you, join it. You will learn to see things from many other perspectives and find new ways to see and open up stories.
7. Off course all the other things mentioned above, just keep practicing with actual writing and take on higher up jobs as soon as you can. yes you will fail a lot at first but that's part of the game.

 

There are no shortcuts in copy writing. If you want to become a copywriter you need to work. With being said my best advice to you is to find a mentor. A mentor will help you keep focus and send you in the right directions.

Copy writing is all about testing and learning from what works and what doesn't. A mentor will help you avoid all the mistakes a newbie might make. If you don't have the money to hire a mentor then you can go the self taught route. This is the route I took.

If you want to go the self taught route I suggest you do the following steps.
1. Actively, read the following books: My Life in Advertising/Scientific Advertising, The Robert Collier Letter Book, How To Write a Good Advertisement, Tested Advertising Methods, Making Ads Pay, Adweek Copy writing Handbook, and Breakthrough Advertising. Read them in that order. Write questions at the end of each chapter and answer them at the end of the book.

2. Get a bunch of swipe files of successful ads and as you read those books try to see how the information was applied with the ad. even. e.g. In My life in Advertising Claude Hopkins talks about traced results. Look to see if there is any way the publisher of the ad is tracing there results.

3. Copy several successful ads by hand. This helps build muscle memory. I would suggest you copy John Carlton or Gary Halbert 's ads.

4. After you read a book try applying what you learn in real life. Take a click bank product and write the sales letter using the information you've learned from the books. You should rewrite after each book you've read.

If you do this you will be well on your way to becoming a direct response letters. Your last and final step is to start applying your new skills to actual jobs. Try to find a few on spec jobs so you can built a small portfolio of work before you start landing your first $5,000 - $15,000 writing assignment.

If you need any help or just want someone to make sure you stay on task you can send me a pm with your email. I am not on here often so my time is limited.

P.S. Sorry about my bad grammar. I am on vacation and I am using an iPhone to type this.

 

I personally started getting clients by going around the city and introducing myself to local businesses and asked them if their biggest problem was getting customers, and most said yes. I then proceeded to offer my services for free to show them results, then I asked if I could get them new customers would they be interested in hiring me... they said sure. Once I got some clients new customers, they were more than happy to hire me because I had shown them results and that opened doors for me. It eliminated their risks, and helped me build my credibility. Hope this helps.

 

I contacted all the local businesses in my area that were looking for copywriters, and if anyone was interested in hearing more - would offer to meet up with them personally to introduce myself. At the start, most of my time was spent finding quality clients. Once you're past that stage, you'll have a lot more balance between marketing yourself and writing copy (and a lot more income too).

 

I have few notes which could be written by proper writer and then we publish them. Not that perfect English to be Copywriter, the topic covered is not usual people check out the books in stores.

 

Hey there,

It sounds crazy but I actually got my first writing job from Fiverr. It was more of a content writing job, but I ended up making $30K-$40K over the next 18 months from this one client.

Then, I started to build my reputation and credibility on Elance.com (not Upwork.com). This isn't the most ideal spot for a copywriter to get started, but let me tell you why, if you have a little gumption, Elance/Upwork can be the best place to get rolling:

1. You can get your feet wet with small copywriting projects

2. You build up 5-star reviews which creates social proof and credibility

3. You start creating your portfolio piece by piece (and get paid for it)

Here's what I recommend doing if you decide to join Upwork and launch your copywriting career:

- Find a few stellar profiles of the pro copywriters on Upwork and create yours with similar qualities

- Scan through copywriting jobs and locate a few that interest you

- Say you find a job you'd like to bid on and say it's writing 3-4 emails in the health niche. First, Google "email copywriting best practices health industry." Then, take those best practices and create one great email that you can use as a sample

- Submit that one sample along with your bid. You're immediately going to stand out from the pack because your sample is specialized (most freelances send general samples)

- Now, you've learned something (email copywriting from the health niche); you've gained experience; you might have gotten your first copywriting job; AND you've created a new piece for your copy portfolio

This really is one of the best ways to get started and get paid for beginning work. While you're working through this process, also begin reading books, blogs, and taking copywriting courses. Network on LinkedIn and create your own blog to promote. You'll be on your way in no time.

I've recently written an article over on my site (CopyNinjas) on headline writing that might help you get started: Ninja Copywriter's Guide to Writing Sexy Headlines

Best of luck on your copywriting career!

Cheers,

Wes
Head Copy Ninja @ www.CopyNinjas.com

 

Hello, I think it is very good idea for you! I think your are very interesting guy) I am not a big expert in copywriting, but I have some advices for you)
Try to visiting a lot of professional copywriting sites and forums with a lot of good tips and advices! Thanks for this you will have a good chance to develop some of your writing skills)
And try to start your copywriting business, I think that everything will be great!)