Copywriting – How To Become A Copywriter

Copywriting can be a challenging industry to break into, but once you’re established there is a huge range of opportunities in terms of clients, projects and types of copywriting assignments. If you’re aiming to forge a career in copywriting, this article should provide some useful tips and pointers.
There are many copywriting courses available. If you decide to go for one, study the prospectus carefully to make sure it’s comprehensive and covers every aspect of working as a copywriter – which means much more than just writing.
If you want to work as a freelance copywriter, you’ll need to know about running your copywriting business: generating new business, managing accounts and marketing your copywriting services in addition to copywriting techniques. If you want to work in-house, you’ll need to understand how a design, PR or marketing agency works, at least in principle. Fortunately, there’s a wealth of information about these topics available on the internet, so just dive in.
What impresses clients and employers first and foremost is experience. So while a copywriting course may be a good starting point, you need to build up a portfolio too. Who do you know who needs copy? Perhaps a friend has started up as a freelance or consultant and needs a website, or the guy who does your decorating needs a flyer. Offer your services for free, or in return for a nominal fee or a positive testimonial. Work leads to referrals, and before you know it, you’ll have a good range of copywriting projects under your belt.
Practise your copywriting as much as possible by setting up a blog, or just a diary of your thoughts and impressions. Review websites that you visit and marketing text that you see in your daily life. You can’t walk down the street without seeing hundreds of advertisements and marketing messages, so start thinking about them more actively. How do they work? What words do they use? What tone of voice do they adopt? Be critical – there’s always an alternative way to say things, and rarely a single right answer.
Marketing yourself online is crucial – certainly if you want to freelance, but increasingly if you want to work in-house as well. Your first port of call should be free directories and networking sites, where you can create a profile free of charge. Some sites allow you to enter so much information that a profile could serve as your ‘website’ until you decide to create a standalone online presence. A Twitter profile is a great way to link up with potential clients, while LinkedIn is a good place to create a comprehensive online cv and gather recommendations for your copywriting work.
Offline marketing may be less important, but there are some things worth doing. A clear, well-designed business card is still indispensable in many situations, although some professionals don’t bother with them in the digital age. Taking a printed portfolio of copywriting samples to leave with prospects when you meet them is a good way to show you’re serious about their business. (A4 sheets printed on a home printer in an attractive binder are more than adequate.) However, steer clear of paid advertising space in newspapers, paper directories or catalogues – in the early days at least, it’s unlikely to be as cost-effective as online marketing.
It’s worth considering what your specialisation(s) might be. What skills, experience or interests do you have that would enable you to add more value in certain types of copywriting? If you’ve worked in a particular industry, your background knowledge could be useful to clients in that area. A strong leisure interest could form the basis of a specialisation too. If you’ve got a website to market yourself as a copywriter, you could create a page for each of your specialisations.