11 Steps to Start Copywriting!
1. Start at the beginning
Build a portfolio
Launch a website
Lots of writing and reading
Immerse yourself in your future customers
Choose a specialty
In that article, I'll give you the real basics, which you should study before you even consider chasing customers.
Remember that as a starting copywriter or copywriter you have a lot of competition. Before you start selling products and services for your customers with your work, you better think about how you are going to sell yourself.
What makes you unique as a copywriter? Is it knowledge of a specific industry, such as medical copywriting or ICT copywriting? Is it your extensive experience within certain companies? Your inimitable style?
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2. Put a website online
I know: as a starting copywriter you don't have much to put on that website. Still, there are a few good reasons to launch your website as soon as possible.
You put your first jobs on it
You convince customers by displaying your experience and knowledge. For that you need jobs that you show. No problem to initially put jobs on it that you have done for free or as a volunteer.
Your current or former employer may also allow you to list a number of projects on it. You have to start somewhere right? As you gain experience, replace those very first jobs with portfolio work that you are prouder of.
You start blogging right away
A website offers the opportunity to keep a blog. With this you sharpen yourself, you teach yourself discipline (a blog online every week) and you provide relevant content that makes you easier to find and with which you showcase your expertise.
You can be found
With a website you always have something to refer to if people want to know more. And your potential customers will always want to know more before they possibly do business with you.
A website also makes you findable in Google, even though you will initially have to compete against a lot of competition. Show a picture of yourself, write about what excites you and, if possible, let others have their say about your abilities.
Don't have the knowledge or the possibilities to set up a website early in your career? In any case, make sure that you can refer people to a LinkedIn page, a company page on Facebook or another type of portfolio page. This will definitely help you find your first customers.
3. Work on your elevator pitch
If you thought carefully before you started as a copywriter, you already have an elevator pitch . Maybe not really written out, but at least in your head.
To write the texts for your website or your LinkedIn profile, it is useful if you have a clear pitch. The more you practice with it, the faster it comes out and the more chances you have of nice customers who suit you well.
The key question with every elevator pitch is: what problem am I solving for my customers? And no, that you write flawlessly, keep agreements and deliver good work is not good enough!
4. Freelance Websites
Such sites can form an excellent stepping stone to more interesting and better-paid assignments. Especially if you can include the work you find here in your (online) portfolio, you should take a look.
5. Self-promotion
To increase your value and attract interesting customers yourself, I advise you to continuously engage in self-promotion. Many novice as well as experienced copywriters make the mistake of stopping their marketing when they are busy. And only pick them up again when they have nothing left to do.
That's the biggest mistake you can make . Because that way you make just enough marketing efforts to live from job to job. And the risk of that is that you take on jobs that don't really suit you and also pay poorly. Because otherwise you have nothing at all at that moment.
If you want to avoid this, make sure you double your marketing efforts. And you don't have to worry that you will be saddled with so much work that you can no longer handle it. No, instead you will be twice as likely to find interesting work. So that you can be much more choosy in the work you take on.
An additional advantage is that you have to keep new customers waiting for their turn because you are busy with other jobs first. And you know what? Clients prefer busy copywriters. The busier you are, the more they are clamoring to be helped by you. Really!
6. Networking
Yes, networking is also important for copywriters and copywriters. And no, networking doesn't have to mean joining awkward get-togethers where everyone is waving their business cards.
The best way to network is the way you like. In general, it comes down to stepping out and making contact with colleagues, like-minded people or potential customers.
Start very simply with family and friends. These are the people who already trust you and need to know that you are available as a copywriter. If not all your friends, acquaintances and family know that you aspire to a new job, you haven't done your network work well enough yet!
Networking outside your bubble can be as simple as joining a Facebook group. But I certainly also recommend that you occasionally drink a cup of coffee or have lunch with a former colleague or an experienced hand in the trade. Ask them if they have any tips for you and how they went about it.
It's good to be aware that you won't get any further by just sitting at home behind your laptop. The more active you are, the better it is for your networks.
Perhaps unnecessarily: networking has nothing to do with constantly putting yourself in the spotlight. Do add value and help others.
7. Social Media
And yes, that also applies to social media. This is not a plea to create as many accounts as possible on all possible social media. But with being really active and social on the channels that suit you best.
For example, you can join numerous groups for copywriters and copywriters on Facebook . But if Facebook is not your thing, LinkedIn is also a good option. And if you'd rather talk than write a blog, you should check out SoundCloud, home to many podcasts. If you prefer to make videos, you go to YouTube. And so on.
Everywhere you can connect with other people who are behind that social media.
8. Work for agencies
Although the freelance life suits me very well, I would not have wanted to embark on this adventure without first gaining extensive experience at agencies. In my working life I have worked for three different advertising agencies, where I met good people who could help me further in the profession.
By becoming a salaried copywriter at an advertising or communication agency as a starting copywriter, you can watch along with more experienced colleagues. And also gain direct experience with customers that you would not immediately work for as a single-person. It is also often possible to follow additional courses through an agency.
This way you first check the trick for a while before you get started to find your own customers. You also naturally build up a network that will certainly provide you with customers when the time has come for you to start your own business. And maybe you like working within an agency so much that you don't want to start for yourself anymore.
9. Reviews and Recommendations
A heartfelt tip: start collecting reviews and recommendations right at the start of your copywriting career. You can do that simply by asking your customers what they thought of your work. But it can also be done via an online tool such as Trust pilot. And also just in Google, on your company page.
Tip: immediately when you start for yourself, create a page in Google My Business, to which you can also add your website, telephone number and even portfolio work.
Reviews are extremely important to new clients as they always have a certain fear of choosing 'the wrong copywriter'. It is therefore smart to put those recommendations on the important pages of your website. In addition, you can also bundle them all on one page, so that you can easily refer to them.
10. Word-of-mouth
Word of mouth has traditionally been the strongest form of advertising. Satisfied customers lead to new customers. That's why it's important that you do every assignment you do with enthusiasm or don't start it in advance. Satisfied customers speak to others who also need a copywriter. Never underestimate the power of the tam-tam.
11. Hold On!
Starting as a freelance copywriter is not the easiest thing to do. You have to persevere and put a lot of time and energy into it. Everyone who has become successful in the business has had to deal with this. So don't be put off by a few setbacks, if you really want to become a copywriter . Once the ball starts rolling, you will see that you become easier and that those customers will come to you!
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