So you Want to be a Freelance Copywriter

 Guide to Becoming a Copywriter Hacker

There has never been a greater demand for high quality copy and high quality content. Learning how to write, and learning how to create good video content, may be some of the most important skills you will ever learn. Fully 80% of copy I read is average to poor in quality, that leaves 20% that is average to good. A lot of marketing people can't write to save their jobs. Which is why marketing and advertizing agencies have copywriters or even hire them on a freelance basis.

Increasingly in the digital world, we'll be pressed to our limit and finally realize, we may have to 'create our own jobs' to truly be happy and find the maximum meaning in what we do. Do you have a history in digital marketing? Do you like to write?

In an age of content marketing, there is one skill that has never perhaps been more in demand. It is the freelance copywriter, the writer who knows their worth and refuses to be exploited under a salary. In this scenario, they head off as consultants, and are hired out by marketing agencies and companies to write. They cater their skills and specialize in a niche and gain a reputation as an expert. 

To hack content marketing, you have to realize that you are better off as an indie copywriter, than simply being part of a system that uses your skills and probably ask you to do a lot of other duties that may not inspire or help you advance your career at all. This may very well takes years of prep. 

What is Copywriting

To be a copywriter is to be able to move words around to sell better. This might be blogging, but it could be anything from Email marketing to landing pages, to white papers, to RFA proposals, to scripts for video content. A good copywriter knows how to optimize text to a target audience. They know mixed media, can manipulate, cite and design, but mostly, they are masters of text in any context. 

Why do People Hire Copywriters

• Blog articles
• Social media
• Brochures
• B2B specialized content
• Webinar or Demo scripts
• Ads on TV, the internet, Radio
• Product guides, technical docs
• How-to guides
• Social adds (Google, Facebook)
• Website or landing page content
• content optimization (auditing)
• Sales scripts
• Customer support scripts
• Press releases
• Online Course material
• Ghostwrite for others
• Write social news articles
• Magazines and online magazines
• Write articles for various online media
• Write text for new websites

If you've been a corporate copywriter and an agency copywriter, you may be ready to be a Freelance copywriter (the holy grail of digital writers).

Hacking Copywrite Freelance Tips

So without further adieu, here are some tips:

• Be an entrepreneur, have some ambition, and take a risk
• Have a knack for self-branding and marketable personality 
• Have a passion for writing
• Don't' do it for the $ (there may be times when its tight, dry spells, etc.)
• Get copywriter mentors
• Be able to work under pressure and tolerate uncertainty

• Consider different kinds of writing and identify which type you like the most and which are most lucrative
• Do enjoy working remotely and from home
• Have a degree in communications, journalism, creative writing or perhaps something related (optional)
• Have a few years as a copywriter in a variety of different organizations, situations, types of companies

• Prove you've done this work before
• Choose a niche
• Talk about everything you do, blog, write a book, write poetry, learn to think as a writer.
• Learn to pitch yourself to an ideal client
• Develop a niche resume for the niche you are best able and most interested in writing about

• Acquire high level references that highlight your copywriting skill
• Get quantity and quality of proof, have a good portfolio
• Prove persuasively that you have done similar work before
• Create an online portfolio that is visually appealing and easy to navigate
• Milk every experience of copywriting you've had, write it all down (with links where possible).

• Keep a variety of blogs
• Create social media accounts related to you as copywriter and your niche
• Bargain for your first gigs, even if it means doing the work for half the usual asking price
• Create a value proposition guide for prospective clients and what you can do for them

• Craft an offer to a client that develops and leverages the best incentive
• Quantify what they can expect as a result of the work, the ROI, the leads, the potential # of customers or clients
• For successful client stories, use them to boost your own personal brand
• Keep updating your portfolio
• Become a power influencer on social media channels (like LinkedIn)
• Do guest posts on different blogs (but only on topics that interest you and add value to your niche)
• Adopt a variety of social media & engage in social community online (Reddit, Quora, medium, etc.)

• Don't undervalue your own work, but ask for a fair price of the value that can result from your work (for a business this is peanuts anyway)
• Leverage your existing network (word of mouth, client references, whatever it takes)
• Charge also for think time and meetings, every minute you think about a project, charge for it, time it.
• Don't you use autoresponders (e.g. twitter followers), have impeccable PR skills and an agreeable sales approach to dealing with people (have impeccable class)

• Build an Email list, have a Newsletter
• List yourself in quality directories
• Follow people you wan to be like (observe, emulate, connect)
• Take marketing yourself seriously

This is meant to inspire a future generation of writers, please share it with your network if you think it could. #HowILead