Hi all. After years of wasting my time with writing movies, i'm hoping to see a more lucrative path with copywriting. As a newbie, can anyone offer me some simple advice as i begin this journey?
Number one rule... Don't become a 1 cent a word writer, set decent rates for yourself and don't budge
I wasn't going anywhere with screenwriting. Its not a very promising field. You can write for years on end without making any money. I suppose that would be ok if a person's average life span was 500 years.
Copywriting can be profitable.... IF you know what you're doing. Screen writing and copy writing are vastly different areas of expertise. You can't expect to just leap from one to the other and make a lot of money. First of all, determine how good you are as a copywriter (if you haven't done so already). Next, study some of the sales pages you think are well-written and appeal to you. Third, take a few copy writing courses. If you look at it, copy writing has more to do with psychology than mastery of language. The number one mistake people commit when writing sales pitches is to write stuff like "Do you want to ELECTRIFY your sex life RIGHT NOW??!!" or "Does your dog pee on your face every morning? Get Instadogtrainer and seal his bottom right now!!! No more waking up with a salty taste in your mouth!!!" This type of sales messages are played out... stay innovative and keep experimenting with new styles and approaches. Always remember that you're actually reaching out to a real person. Whenever I write to a sales pitch, I ask myself ONE question: "If I were knocking on someone's door and presenting this product to them, how would I talk them into buying it?" This really can't fail (unless you suck at basic communication ). You could also try this; keep a blank piece of paper before you and ask yourself... if you were the target audience, what exact verbiage would stick into your pocket and pull out your credit card right now? Imagine being tempted into buying the product and the concepts should flow into your mind. Remember to jot them down immediately and not worry about editing. Cheers
As Techman said, screenplay writing and copywriting are two vastly different fields. Having been in this business for more than 20 years, I would suggest a two-step process: Step one - sign up for a business writing course at your local junior college. This will help to "untrain" your mind from the way you've become accustomed to writing. Sales copy is written in a more formal manner which these classes will help you to learn. Try to schedule your class for evenings, as it will leave your days open for step two... Step Two - get a day job. I don't mean just any job, no; but a job in which you will be able to sell a product to customers face to face. John E. Kennedy said that "Advertising is salesmanship in print..." To be an effective copywriter, you must first be an effective salesman. Once you've worked in sales (cars, retail, etc) for a time, you should then be able to take the sales skills you acquire, combine them with your writing skills, and create effective copy. It will obviously take practice to hone the art of selling on paper; but if you lay the proper foundation from the beginning, you'll have a much shorter learning curve! Hope that helps, and I wish you all the best!