Copywriters' secret... shush! It's all in the blogging
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Wednesday, 16 January 08 - 09:55 AM (GMT +10:00) By Angela Booth in Copywriting Business |
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Fellow copywriter, lean a little closer so I can whisper in your ear.
Here's the secret of getting more copywriting clients than you can handle: Get a blog.
When I started my primary copywriting and marketing blog, The Creativity Factory, it was just for fun. I like to share, and thought some of the marketing tips I wrote would be useful to business people.
Once my blog had been online for a few months, I started getting a stream of new clients, way more than I could handle, so I passed them on to copywriting colleagues.
And yes, it was definitely the blog which was getting all these new prospects. I've got a stable of clients, so promoting my services isn't necessary.
I experimented. I'd post a couple of blog entries and wait, and as sure as night follows day, the copywriting clients knocked at my door.
I was curious - were other blogging copywriters experiencing this? Yes indeed, I contacted eight colleagues who blog, and all of them were swamped - and all attributed this happy state to blogging.
So, if you're looking for clients, get a blog.
You clients are looking for you, and your blog helps them to find you.
Your Blog: Your Vital Writing Sales And Promotions Tool For 2008
Gotta blog? My ebook, Writing Success with Blogs by Angela Booth, helps you to take the first steps into the new world for writers: instant publishing on blogs.
Your writers' blog is your must-have branding tool. It also has a very practical use – it's a writing portfolio. From the ebook: "Before editors will pay you to write, they want to know that you can write. They want clips – copies of material you've published. This seems like a Catch-22: you can only get published if you've been published. Your writing on your blog can be in lieu of clips. Your blog lets editors gauge your abilities and style, before they put down the cash."
The book helps you to create your own writer's blog.
Creative concepts - displaying your creativity to your clients
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Monday, 27 August 07 - 09:22 AM (GMT +10:00) By Angela Booth in Copywriting Business |
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When you're running your copywriting services business, you will often be asked to develop "concepts." Concepts are creative ideas.
Your client has created a brief (a description of what he wants) for a copywriting project. This might be a display ad, a Web sales page, or other material, and now he wants to see some ideas.
Your client sends you the brief, and asks you to develop some concepts.
Concepts are ideas: this means that they're simple. You just write enough so that the client can see what you have in mind. You might write a couple of headlines, and describe in a couple of sentences, how you will approach the brief.
Payments for concepts
Some copywriters are wary of creating concepts for clients with whom they haven't worked previously, and rightly so. Therefore, when asked to create some concepts for a new client, you will usually ask for a good-faith payment.
For your current clients, you will be on retainer, which covers the time that you invest in creating concepts.
Interested in starting a copywriting services business? Read Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success, new 2007 edition, which gets you up to speed on concepts and much more.
Become A Freelance Copywriter: Build Your Portfolio, Get Paid More
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Sunday, 24 June 07 - 10:53 AM (GMT +10:00) By Angela Booth in Copywriting Business |
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Copywriting is the most lucrative arena for a freelance writer. How lucrative it is for you however, depends on the strength of your portfolio. Your copywriting portfolio is your body of work: the direct mail pieces, brochures, advertisements, and Web sales pages you’ve written for clients over time.
When you first start out as a copywriter, your portfolio will be slim: it will consist of writing samples you’ve created. As you get clients, your copywriters’ portfolio will fill with clients’ pieces. One point: always get a clients’ permission before you add the work you wrote for them to your portfolio - most will be happy to give it to you.
Should You Write For Free To Build Your Portfolio?
I’m often asked whether you should write for free, in order to build your copywriting portfolio, and my answer is always a firm “No”. The only exceptions are when you’re writing for a good cause: for your church, or a charity.
Beware of those prospective clients who ask you to write for “exposure”. Writers attract jackals and wolves who’ve worked out that many writers are woefully unbusinesslike. Refuse all these offers. None of them are legitimate. You’re more than capable of writing your own marketing materials - press releases, Web site copy and articles - which will give you all the exposure you need. You don’t need any faux exposure.
Working As An Intern Helps You To Build Your Portfolio
A legitimate way to build your portfolio to get well-paid copywriting gigs is to work as an intern for a local copywriter, or agency. Both copywriters who work alone with just an assistant, and agencies (such advertising, graphic design, and Web marketing agencies etc) often welcome another pair of hands.
You’ll receive just a token payment in most cases, but the experience you gain will be priceless. Be up-front about why you’re looking for an internship, so that your new employer can help you. You’ll make contacts and gain valuable experience, even if you only intern for a month or two.
Another way to build your portfolio is to work with an established copywriter as a sub-contractor. Many copywriters sub-contract out work, acting as project managers. The copywriter who was commissioned by the client is responsible for the work, so you will be asked to do research, and perhaps even an early draft.
Learning how a skilled copywriter puts together a direct mail campaign, or a Web sales letter is priceless experience. You won’t be able to add the resulting copy to your portfolio as your own work, but you will be able to claim that you worked on a particular campaign.
Take every opportunity that you can find to build your portfolio - it’s your gateway to a six-figure copywriting career.
Discover how you can turn your writing skills into a fabulous copywriting career. Angela Booth's ebook "Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success" takes you from novice to pro copywriter in just seven days. This popular ebook has been turning writers into successful copywriters for five years. Packed with information, the ebook also includes exercises which become your copywriter's marketing processes and portfolio. You could be signing up your first clients within two days. Visit the book's blog.
Using email to market your copywriting services business
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Saturday, 26 May 07 - 12:03 PM (GMT +10:00) By Angela Booth in Copywriting Business |
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You can use email to market your copywriting services.
However, there's a big BUT... and I'm sure you've already seen what that "but" is: spam. Sending out spam is a no-no. It doesn't work, unless you send it out in the tens of millions, and if you do that, you're not a copywriter, you're just a spammer.
You need to collect a mailing list of people who want to hear from you
This is easy to do. On every page of your Web site, place a form for people to subscribe. In return for sharing their email address, and agreeing to receive email from you, create a small report, or other valuable information product which they will receive as soon as they sign up.
Over time, your mailing list will grow. You can use this list to market your copywriting services business; it's valuable, because all these people are interested in your services.
... More items are available in my News Archive
