NOT THE NORMAL TIPS FOR BEING A FREELANCE COPYWRITER

Maybe it’s the economy but there’s

been a lot more interest in the idea of

making money as a freelance

copywriter over the last year or so.

While being a successful freelancer

isn’t something you can learn

completely from a €5 ebook, there’s

plenty of advice out there giving key

directions and concepts that are

important.

Here we give some less common tips for being a freelance copywriter you probably won’t read in

those places. And unless you understand and try to stick to them as much as possible, the odds of

you making any money as a successful freelancer are probably pretty slim. Sad face.

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1. LEARN TO TYPE WELL (AND THAT MEANS FAST)

You probably have never heard that one

before but, face it, time is money, right?

That’s certainly the case with most

freelance writing jobs because you’re

almost always going to get paid on a

‘per word’ basis.

So, it should be obvious that you need to be able have your fingers following your thoughts as fluidly as

possible. Don’t worry about how to learn to do it because there are free websites where you can learn

touch- or speed-typing.

2. EXPAND YOUR VOCABULARY

This isn’t important because you’re trying to ‘show off’ but

because words mean things. If you want to get your point

across you’ve got to be able to do so as clearly and

precisely as possible. And the only way to improve your

word power is to read, read, read. It doesn’t really matter

what you read but if you have clients in particular fields

they’ll probably have specialist vocabulary that you’ll need

to master before you can write about it convincingly.

And it should go without saying that you’ve got to spell

things right. No excuses here. Spell check your work

every time but remember: spell checks are fallible so

don’t rely on them completely. Always read your stuff

through for yourself before clicking ‘send’.

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3. WORK ON BUILDING UP YOUR CONFIDENCE

One of your biggest long-term

challenges is shooting for higher income

targets. The ‘content mills’ (places

like Fivver where you can get jobs

writing articles for $5) are OK to start

because you get some practice and

build up your confidence.

Although you’ll not find high paying,

long-term, really professional freelance

writing ‘gigs’ there it’s worth keeping any

testimonials you get from those clients

because you can use them later when

pitching for work either face to face or on

your own website.

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4. LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT TYPES OF WRITING GIGSOne of the best things about being a copywriter is the

variety of stuff you get to do. Different kinds of jobs

require different skill sets and some pay better than

others so you may want to think about specializing in

those higher paying ones. Here’s a few examples but the

list could go on for pages.

• White papers

• Case studies

• Landing pages

• Technical writing

• SEO copywriting

• Brochure writing

• Ghost blogging

• Press advertising

5. LEARN HOW TO RESEARCH EFFECTIVELY

When you start a

copywriting job there are

two things you’ve got to

know: everything about

your client’s product and

everything about the

competitors’ products.

You’re going to need to

• Writing for radio or TV

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be able to scan information – both printed and online –

quickly and pick out the most important things

relevant to your job. Crucially, what can your product do

that the competitors can’t? Work that out and you’re

nearly home and dry.

6. BE PRO-ACTIVE

The internet has significantly expanded job

opportunities for writers. Now that it’s so

easy for businesses to be ‘on’ the internet

there’s an even greater demand for

somebody to provide the words that go on

those pages. Remember that in 99.99% of

the cases, these prospects have their own

businesses already and they don’t know a

thing about writing. If you can just contact

them and say, “Hey…I noticed that you’ve

got a nice website. Do you ever need any

help with writing for it?”

That’s exactly what you should say. Leave it really open-ended like that. It’s just a simple question but if they

need help, they’ll tell you. You can be absolutely guaranteed that you’ll eventually find somebody who wants help.

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7. BUILD UP A WRITING PORTFOLIOAt the start of your illustrious copywriting career it makes NO

difference what you put in your portfolio (as long as you’re proud of

it, of course). This initial portfolio will change later after you’ve

established a niche for yourself. Start with your hobbies and

interests and show them to friends and acquaintances who may be

able to put you in contact with someone willing to pay for what you

write. (This is also a good way of getting used to presenting your

work to others. And to taking criticism!) Start with articles, opinion

pieces, even poems, until you break into paid work.

8. SET UP SOME KIND OF WEBSITE

Most people who say they want to be freelance copywriters will do

absolutely nothing. They’ll just sit around and hope that the copy fairy

will change them into one. So just by getting a simple Word Press or

Blogger site you’ll be beating 99% of them. It doesn’t have to be

fancy but you’ve got to be out there.

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THESE TIPS FOR BEING A FREELANCE COPYWRITER ARE

JUST A START

So, that should give you some food for thought,

right? If you develop a skill, somebody will want

it. From there it’s just a matter of (1) plan (2) do

(3) review… over and over and over again,

getting better every week, every month, every

year. Get started and don’t stop.

Good luck. And just remember… the author of

this article hated English in high school but now

makes a good living from writing. It really is

possible.

Please let us know what you think of this topic by leaving a short (or long!) comment below. And sign up now for our

regular newsletter at the bottom of the page.

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THANK YOU

www.beacopywriter.org