Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Ezine theme: creating a copywriting career

In next week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, our theme is creating a copywriting career.

Copywriting is writing to sell, and many excellent writers are scared of this.

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial.

If you're scared to sell…

Many writers tell me they can't write copy, because they're scared to sell. This makes me smile, because whatever you're writing, you're selling anyway. :-)

For example, if you're writing magazine or Web articles, you're selling when you send a query to a magazine or Web site, or when you promote yourself online.

When you're writing, there's no way to get out of selling, so since you need copywriting skills, it's best to get over the fear, and learn how to write copy.

That's not to say that getting over the fear is easy. You may find as I did that I could write copy for others, while finding it amazingly hard to write it for my own services and products.

If you get nervous promoting yourself too, realize that you will get over it – because you must.

Here's a tip if you're nervous of selling : the more you do it, the easier it gets, because you realize that copywriting always presents a challenge, and the challenge is exciting.

Eventually, as you keep getting new copywriting projects and new clients the excitement will outweigh the fear, and you'll wonder what you were scared of. At that point, you'll forget your self-consciousness, and will be totally focused on getting results for your clients.

If the challenge of copywriting (and the money paid to top copywriters) intrigue you, you'll enjoy the issue. It's packed with writing tips, and is out on Tuesday.

Make Money Writing and Build a Great Career

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Freelance Copywriting Course: Finding the Best Program for You

Would you like to become a freelance copywriter? The best way to success is by taking a freelance copywriting course. Discover how to find a course which is right for you.

Offline copywriting courses are very expensive. However online you can find courses which are very reasonably priced, considering the amount of instruction which they offer, and the huge opportunities they give you.

Firstly before you start looking for a freelance copywriting course, think about your own skills. Make a list of all the writing you have done, to get an overview of your own abilities.

If you've worked in marketing for example, or have written marketing collateral at some stage in your working life, you can use this experience as the basis of a well-paid copywriting career.

At this stage you sure you should also consider your goals. What are your financial goals for your new endeavor? Do you want to earn a six-figure income? Many copywriters earn well beyond this figure, and you should expect that even as a new copywriter you will earn at least $50,000 to $60,000 in your first year.

Is a Freelance Copywriting Course Right for You? How to Decide

When considering whether a freelance writing courses is right for you, consider both the theoretical copywriting instruction the course offers, and the practical experience too. The best courses offer both.

Ideally, you will be working with clients as you work through the course, and will have started to generate an income from your new copywriting career by the time you finish your course.

Here are some questions you should ask your instructor:

How long will this course take? How many hours each week should I devote to it?

Will you be working with me to help me to get clients?

Would you be available for further advice after I complete the course?

Freelance copywriting is a very lucrative career. Most professional copywriters are booked up  months ahead. A freelance copywriting course is the best way to begin your new career. You'll be your own boss, and you can work the hours you choose.

Copywriting is a great home business

Developing a copywriting services business makes sense if you want to write from home.

How does $250 an hour sound to you? Copywriters are in high demand.

There's no limitations on who can write copy. Neither age nor education is a bar: your clients don't care.

So whether you're a stay-at-home mom or a retiree, or just want to moonlight at your current job, copywriting is the most lucrative (and the most fun, if you love to write) occupation you can try.

My Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success, new 2007 edition gets you started.

Create the perfect write from home business - it's easy.

Writing for Money: Get Started Copywriting

Want to make money copywriting?

Copywriters make high incomes, and if you can write, chances are you can write copy. (Some writers make the switch to copywriting because they're not making enough money in other forms of writing.)

Firstly, be aware of what copywriting actually is: it's sales writing. You write advertisements, press releases, newsletters and many other forms of commercial material.

Here are four tips to help you to get started.

1. Start Small, Start Local -- Get Your First Client

Some writers study copywriting for years, without taking the plunge and accepting copywriting jobs. So this first tip gets that stumbling block out of the way.

Get it out of the way fast -- yes, you're nervous. However, only experience will cure those nerves permanently, and you can only get experience when you work with real live clients.

Start local. It's easier to get a copywriting job from a business in your city than it is to get a client from the other side of the globe. There's less competition locally, so make that your first focus: get a client!

2. Copywriters Write Copy: Your Client Hires a Designer

Copywriters write words. Graphics and design of the finished product, whether a brochure, a Web page, or a direct response package, is handled by designers.

Many new copywriters worry about fonts and design: please don't. It's an accomplishment to be able to write words which sell. Great design is a huge field all its own. Stick to learning how to work with words.

3. Get out There -- the More You Communicate the More Clients You Get

All promotion is a numbers game. I tell my copywriting students that if they contact 200 prospects, I KNOW that they will get at least five copywriting jobs out of the exercise.

This is the absolute minimum -- I've had students who contacted 20 businesses and got ten jobs. The point I'm making is this: communicate, please.

When you're just starting out, no one knows you. The more you communicate, the more people know you exist, and what you can do. All your promotion is cumulative: you'll find some clients contacting you on the basis of a phone call you made three years ago.

4. Each Copywriting Job Is Different; Each Job Gives You Experience

It's always amazed me that no two copywriting jobs are the same. Yes, you may write thousands of brochures, but like snowflakes, each one will be different.

The more copywriting jobs you do, the more experienced you become, and the more confident you'll be that you can handle any job which is offered to you.

These four tips will help you to get started on a great copywriting career.

Become a Copywriting Master Fast

Copywriting is writing for business: promotional writing. Copywriters write material like advertisements and compared to most writers, they're VERY highly paid.

The explosion of the influence of the Web means that copywriters are flooded with offers of work. Even new copywriters find it easy to get copywriting gigs and to build their copywriting services business.

If copywriting intrigues you, join me in my Copywriting Master Class. I'll take you from copywriting novice to pro.

“Copywriting Master Class - Ten Weeks to Copywriting Genius” gives you a comprehensive copywriting course, as it helps you to set up your copywriting services business.

Your Copywriting Business - Start Fast and Succeed

Want to start your copywriting services business fast? You can. Just follow the steps in this article.

If you enjoy writing and have some marketing savvy, you can quickly turn your writing skills to profit, by writing copy - that is, promotional material. Copywriters write everything from short six line ads to complete Web sites. In essence, copywriting is selling.

But how do you get started? Let's look at a simple process you can follow. I got my own start this way, by writing ads for a business I was running - I had no awareness that I was laying the groundwork for a highly successful business of my own.

Read the article.

Copywriting Tips - Know the Product, Make Sales

Copywriting is sales, so to write copy which sells, you must know your product. Discover four tips which make writing copy easy in this article in Seven Days Copywriting.

Boost your copywriting income

Want to make great money as a copywriter? Get into the newsletter writing business. Custom newsletter copywriting demands both writing skill, and public relations flair.

Although many companies hire public relations firms to produce their own  newsletters, there's plenty of room for freelance copywriters on long term contracts.

Read the rest of the article on Fab Freelance Writing Blog.

Make Money Copywriting: Three Tips for Beginning Copywriters

Copywriting is a highly lucrative career; essentially, it involves writing promotional and general marketing materials for businesses. In this article, we'll discuss three tips which will help you to begin copywriting.

There's no formal training for copywriters. Learning copywriting is very much a matter of experience and practice.

I started my copywriting career by accident several decades ago when I discovered that newspaper display advertising was expensive, and that press releases were not only free, but resulted in great publicity. A little creativity and ingenuity not only won free advertising, but also led to a surge of customers for the business.

The initial editorial attention - newspaper stories - brought the business credibility and even more publicity from other media.

So I learned the benefits and power of copywriting in helping a business to grow. Other businesses asked me to write copy for them, and I began a self-education process in copywriting which continues. A copywriter is always learning new skills and tricks of the trade.

Here are three tips which will help you to begin copywriting.

1. Get a copywriting mentor

The best way to learn copywriting is with the help of a mentor. A mentor can help you not only to learn the basics of writing copy, but will also help you to learn to get clients, work with them, and keep them happy.

The usual way of finding a mentor is to get hired by an advertising agency, and to learn copywriting from the ground up, so to speak. By seeing how copywriters write, you'll develop your own skills.

With the growth of the online world, you can find copywriting mentors online. There are many courses you can take, and some professional copywriters offer mentoring programs. Although these programs may seem expensive, when you consider that they lead to a lucrative career, they're a great investment in yourself and your future.

2. Write samples until you get hired

All writing is both a craft, and a skill. As with any craft, you learn by doing. Initially, the copy you write will be exercises you've devised for yourself, or which someone has given you.

Doing exercises is vital. Not only do the exercises help you to build your skills, but your best exercises will form part of your copywriting portfolio, until you have copy which you've written for others.

Humble though they may be, your copywriting exercises have a powerful effect on your future.

3. Develop a copywriting Web site

My final tip is for you to develop your own Web site, from which you can sell your copywriting services.

A Web site saves you a lot of time and money. Years ago, clients' initial enquiries came to me via the phone. I'd talk to the prospective client, assess his needs, and would then send him my portfolio, which formed a large paper package. I spent a lot of time on the phone, and a lot of money sending clients packages.

A Web site cuts down on the time you spend on the phone. Clients can visit your site, view your portfolio, and can self-select themselves as potential clients. By the time they contact you, nowadays via email, they already know a lot about you and what you can do for them.

So there you have it: three tips which will help you to begin your copywriting career. Welcome to the world of copywriting! :-)

Resources

My copywriting ebook course, Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success, has been helping new copywriters to launch great careers for five years.

Over that time, I've often been asked to turn the ebook into a full coaching class, so now I have., with the launch of “Copywriting Master Class - Ten Weeks to Copywriting Genius”. This class takes you from beginner to copywriting pro.

Which solution is for you? That depends on how comfortable you are working independently. If you want ongoing motivation, instruction and inspiration; take the class. I look forward to writing with you. :-)

Technorati Tags: copywriting

Copywriting Success - offer several different services

If you've decided to start a copywriting services business, you'll be wondering what kinds of services you can offer your clients.

The services you can offer include writing many different forms of copy, depending on your clients' needs. Because your copy will directly impact your clients' cash flow, you can charge highly for your services.

Although there are many different kinds of copywriting services you can offer, let's look at four kinds:

1. Promotional copy - advertising

Promotional copywriting includes all forms of advertising, as well as other marketing collateral for companies large and small.

So what kinds of advertising could you write? You can write everything from tiny classified ads to 100-page product manuals. If you have a flair for performance writing, consider offering radio and televisions scripts.

2. Lucrative direct response: you're a sales person in words

Direct response means exactly what it says: your words - in a sales letter, whether online or offline - will sell a product or service. Your words must sell. This is specialized copywriting, and highly lucrative, so many copywriters specialize in direct response.

You can practice your direct response copywriting skills writing for small local firms. As your skills grow, you will be hired by larger companies.

3. Writing copy for the Web world - endless opportunities

Web copywriting involves many different forms of copywriting, from simple text ads, to entire Web sites. As a Web copywriter, you'll be tasked with writing material like blogs and ezines, and well as all forms of product advertising.

4. Public Relations copywriting: you're a spin doctor

Public relations copywriters write material like company backgrounders, bios of company principals, and of course press campaigns. A public relations campaign for a company's new offering can take months, so many PR copywriters are on retainer.

Many PR copywriters are specializing in Web promotion, writing press releases and other promotional material for companies. Again, these PR copywriters are usually on retainer, under a yearly contracts.

There are many different forms of copywriting services you can offer. As you progress in your copywriting career, you'll specialize in different forms of copywriting at different times. Copywriting is an easy way to add to your writing income.

Love To Write? You Can Get Started Making A Six-Figure Income As A Copywriter Within ONE Week With This Copywriting Course

Whether you're new to copywriting, or are an experienced pro, you'll LOVE Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success because it's so easy. It's a complete copywriting course that builds a copywriting services business for you.

Just follow step by step to launch your own successful freelance copywriting business in SEVEN days. Others have done it, and are doing it right now.

Technorati Tags: copywriting

From beginning copywriter to pro: Copywriting Master Class

Enjoy writing? Now you can start your own copywriting services business.

My new class - “Copywriting Master Class - Ten Weeks to Copywriting Genius” takes you by the hand and turns you into a copywriting professional.

Every week, for ten weeks, you receive a new lesson and assignment, and as the weeks go on, just like magic, you'll find yourself the proud owner of a copywriting business.

The class covers copywriting for print, and for the Web, everything from advertisements to press campaigns and Web sales pages.

I created the class for everyone, not just for writers. My copywriting course, Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success, is essentially for writers. Copywriting Master Class is for everyone, even if you've never written a word for money.

Join me for ten weeks, and start a new life. It's never been a better time to be a copywriter. Every copywriter I know is booked up for months ahead, so clients are easy to come by.

Getting started as a copywriter: building a new career

I receive questions about copywriting every week, so I'm publishing a tips series for new copywriters - it's the simplest way to answer your queries.

Not only do you receive a free report, but you get a new copywriting tip each week, especially for a novice copywriters. Enjoy. :-)

Technorati Tags: copywriting