How to Become a Professional Copywriter

[azgold]

I know we have a few struggling and aspiring copywriters on AffiliateFix. If you fall into that category, you may find this article by Han-Gwon Lung on NewsTimes interesting and helpful.

In his 7 Steps to Becoming a Professional Copywriter article, Lung lists the seven things he believes you need to do in order to become successful in the field of copywriting:

1. Research your market - learn everything there is to know, including pay scales for various sectors to see where you fit in and whether or not you can make an adequate income

2. Have a strong belief in yourself - this is self-explanatory

3. Practice and test yourself - if you're just getting your feet wet, take some existing copy then make it better; learn and take to heart applicable copywriting rules; work cheap at first

4. Learn to take rejection in stride - keep working and sending out proposals, rejections do not define you or your work

5. Try lots of different types of writing before specializing - how do you know your best fit until you try and until you fully understand the intricacies of a specific industry?

6. Become your own brand ambassador - learn how to sell yourself!

7. Decide on your goal - are you happy writing on the side, or do you want to go full-time and professional?

In the end, according to Lung, you have to be more afraid of not trying then trying.

You can read the full article by clicking the link at the top of this post.

Are you already using any of these steps? Do you think they can help you?

 

[waruna]

Thank you for sharing

 

[Steve Tyeler]

Thanks, thats helpful

 

[Eesha]

Your Tips are very good for understanding. But your 2nd tip "Have a strong belief in yourself " Is a Most strongest thing

 

[annarushmore]

Thanks. the list is great. But I think that the most significant is the practice. Firstly, when I got my first task I could not even write H1 and meta title.

 

[azgold]

Thanks. the list is great. But I think that the most significant is the practice. Firstly, when I got my first task I could not even write H1 and meta title.

You're correct about practicing, the more the better. I think that if you check your writing now against something from when you first started writing, you'd see a big improvement.

 

[elvirazone]

Nice

 

[MaxAffiliate77]

Great article! Thank you! In any case you need hard work and striving for new heights!

 

[Lina2310]

Everything is clear and clear. I understood everything. I think this information will be useful to me.

 

[azgold]

Everything is clear and clear. I understood everything. I think this information will be useful to me.

Great! Are you just starting to write, or trying to improve what you're already doing?

 

[Alangile]

Good information. Thank you!

 

[sudheer]

nice info

 

[Easy Reader]

Interesting tips, although a bit generic. Does anyone know of a good site for picking up freelancing writing projects? Looking to earn a few extra bucks.

 

[Easy Reader]

Thanks, Fokhrul. That's a great list, but I'm specifically hoping someone could offer some guidance on where specifically to find freelance projects and which websites are reliable. I did some googling and found freelancewriting.com, for example... and others like it. Any particular places you guys recommend for someone starting out. I have lots of writing samples I can provide. That's not the issue. I'm also not in doubt about myself or my skills, so it's not about confidence. Just hoping to pick your brains on this... would love to hear about your experiences! Pitfalls to avoid, etc.

 

[ultronaurum]

Nice info, thx

 

[overthetop]

Everything clear, amazing guide !

 

[azgold]

Thanks, Fokhrul. That's a great list, but I'm specifically hoping someone could offer some guidance on where specifically to find freelance projects and which websites are reliable. I did some googling and found freelancewriting.com, for example... and others like it. Any particular places you guys recommend for someone starting out. I have lots of writing samples I can provide. That's not the issue. I'm also not in doubt about myself or my skills, so it's not about confidence. Just hoping to pick your brains on this... would love to hear about your experiences! Pitfalls to avoid, etc.

I used to get clients from marketing forums. Trouble is, a lot of marketers don't want to pay a lot.

What kind of writing do you do, who is your ideal client? Are you looking for marketers and site owners, or some other kind of client? Can't guarantee I can offer an answer but I'll try once I know the market you're after.

Meanwhile, have you tried:

online-writing-jobs.com
freelancewritinggigs.com
writersweekly.com/find-paying-markets

Just to name a few, there are tons! I intentionally didn't bother mentioning any sites that restructured to survive the demise of the content mills. I think you're going for quality.

 

[Zak Bard]

Train, I constantly wrote about something.

 

[AdCumulus]

Great article; I can recommend all these tips from my own experience, too.

I would also add one more thing and it's to constantly educate yourself. The cheapest and most accessible option are books. There are some seriously amazing books out there that all (future) copywriters should read (for example, Ca$hvertising is definitely the classic and a great start).

Although copywriting was never my primary source of income, I've become very good at it and I think it's mostly because I read A LOT.

 

[azgold]

Great article; I can recommend all these tips from my own experience, too.

I would also add one more thing and it's to constantly educate yourself. The cheapest and most accessible option are books. There are some seriously amazing books out there that all (future) copywriters should read (for example, Ca$hvertising is definitely the classic and a great start).

Although copywriting was never my primary source of income, I've become very good at it and I think it's mostly because I read A LOT.

I absolutely agree with you about needing to keep yourself current and with reading a lot. The more, the better. You can't be a writer if you're not a reader.

Ca$hvertising is definitely one to read!