How to become a copywriter?

When I started freelancing, I was scared to the very core. And I had every reason to be! It started with content writing, machine learning, and others. Gradually-with many bumps and failures along the journey, I slowly started to understand the world of freelancing.

My key learning: You can become a successful freelancer with the right strategy in place. Period.

There are massive opportunities for engineers, coders, and writers because businesses are growing at an impressive rate.

Sure, when it comes to writing, everyone can call themselves a writer, but there still aren’t enough skilled content writers in the market. The demand for competent and skilled writers exceeds the supply.

Despite this demand, you should not consider this as a magic pill to get rich. Content can be of different types- blog writing, article writing, and copywriting, to name a few. In this article, I will discuss tips and tricks of becoming a copywriter. Being a freelance copywriter requires a fair understanding of marketing and business skills. It may take you several years of sleepless nights to become successful, but it all makes sense to take the first step now.

So, without further ado, let’s see how to get started with freelancing copywriting jobs online.

What is copywriting?

Every business needs to create numerous pieces of content to build the brand. It could be writing website content, blog posts, articles, case studies, emails, ad scripts, witty one-liners, newsletters, social media content, and the list goes on. All these content forms are written to drive an action and are called ‘copy.’

Somebody has to write these copies, and that somebody is called a copywriter.
Copywriting is essentially writing that can drive actions like ad clicks, email signups, sales, and others. It is connected to marketing, promoting, or selling a product, service, or brand.

Hence, a copywriter is more than just a writer! He is a marketer with a keen understanding of human psychology and purchase behavior.

Sounds like your personality? Read on to know the complete guide on how to be a freelance copywriter.

Who can be a freelance copywriter?

Have you always been fascinated by Apple’s tagline ‘Think Different’ or Nestle’s ‘Have a break’ and been inspired to work on something similar?

Then copywriting is for YOU. Copywriting is for anyone who is passionate about writing and wants to create unique content for brands. While there are numerous courses on copywriting, there is no official course to learn copywriting.

However, if you are looking to get some professional freelance copywriting jobs, you need to have the following skills:

Excellent writing ability

English language skills are definitely required to write effective and engaging content for your audience. If you want to land good copywriting jobs, you need to demonstrate proven writing ability and ensure that your spellings and grammar are in place.

Business skills

As I had told you earlier, freelance copywriting is more than writing. First, as a freelancer, you are just like a business owner and need to manage different work and clients together. Second, it requires a lot of study and research to create a compelling copy. Hence, you need to have a business strategy to keep your clients happy with your work.

Varied knowledge and interest

Copywriters need to have a varied interest across different sectors because ideas can pop up from anywhere. You will always have an edge over others with a diverse interest because you tend to know a lot more than them.

Stay optimistic

As freelance copywriters, you are sure to receive many instructions and feedback from clients. You need to be on your toes and deliver the requirements constantly. There might be times that you lose your patience or feel disinterested, but you need to stay optimistic and focus on your work.

How to become a freelance copywriter?

This is one of the most common questions I get. People often ask me how to quickly become a copywriter?

Well, my friend, as I had said in the beginning, there is no magic pill to success. Establishing yourself as a successful freelance copywriter requires some consistent efforts from your side. You need to start from scratch and gradually build yourself.

However, there are certain hacks and tips that can help you climb the ladder easily.

Learn the main elements and skills

Copywriting is like an umbrella with various types of content requirements. From websites to headlines to emails, copywriting is just not confined to a particular style of writing. Here are the four types of copywriting that you must learn.

Headline

This is an absolutely essential skill for every aspiring freelance copywriter.

Think about it this way. What’s the first thing you notice when reading an article or any content? It’s the headline!

That explains the importance of writing effective headlines—the more persuasive your headline, the better your chances of influencing the audience.

Website

The website is usually the most seen element of a business. Hence, it is important to make the website relevant to the audience with all the details about the brand.

Of course, that can only be done with effective copywriting. The success of the website usually revolves around its copy, and only a copywriter can do that.

(Let me tell you a secret- Since a website set-up is a one-time job, businesses are often willing to pay a competitive rate, and you stand a chance to earn more)

Email

Email copywriting forms an essential part of persuading users to click and interact with the content. An email content needs to be short, crisp, and convey the business message in an easy-to-read manner. Hence, copywriters should work on their email writing skills.

Advertisement

Copywriting became famous because of ads. More prevalent today than ever before, ad copywriting is the ‘make or break’ for any business. If you can create a strong copywriting portfolio in ad copies, you are sorted for life.

Social content

A new form that has come up in the Internet era is social copywriting. This includes writing copies for social media ads and posts. Because the entire world is now online, I cannot stress enough on learning the art of social media copywriting.

Learn the art of persuasiveness

The bottom line for copywriting is to persuade people to take the desired action after reading the content. You write the copy to influence the action of your audience.
Learning persuasive writing is a vital element to build your copywriting portfolio. The ability to persuade others via your writing is a universally beneficial skill and has limitless applications across various industries.

Get your first few clients online

More than half of your learning happens when you actually start the work. While it is important to consume some good materials and resources to learn about copywriting, the real learning happens when you actually get down to business.

Everything looks good in theory, but when you land your initial freelancing copywriting jobs, you then understand the real challenges.

You tend to work and resolve practical problems. One of your clients might want to increase his ad clicks, while the other might want to increase the ‘add to cart’ clicks—your copy for both of these needs to be different.

You will only understand these nuances when you practice REAL WORK.

Wondering how to get your first client? My favorite platform to get genuine clients is Upwork. Check out this fresher’s guide on how to get started on Upwork.

Understand the needs of the clients

Every client has a different need- they run different types of industries catering to different audience segments, and have different business goals. As a freelance copywriter, your job is to understand each of these clearly and then convey them through your copy.

It is always advisable to understand what the client wants, what are their business goals and USPs, and what they want their customers to know.

With these questions answered, you will be able to carve a unique plan of action for each client and include their value proposition in each content piece. It is also the single best way to get the client excited about your copywriting.

Build your profile

When you start getting new clients and get to try your hands on multiple projects, it is the time to build your copywriting portfolio. When clients see the work that you have already done, your efforts to convince them reduces drastically.

Your work will convince your potential clients, and they might pitch you the other way around.

It will also become easy for you to pitch more clients on freelancing marketplaces, and improve your chances of conversion.

Next steps

I hope this guide helped you understand the life of a freelance copywriter and how to become a copywriter yourself.

While there are many benefits of freelancing in 2021, it is essential to make consistent efforts in getting new clients and working hard to deliver successful work for them. A lot of people get entranced by the luxurious lifestyle of freelance copywriters, but it is not an overnight journey.

With hard work, constant dedication, and an untiring attitude, you can become a successful freelance copywriter and earn an impressive income.

If you find this article interesting and need help in your copywriting journey in copywriting, you can connect with me at [email protected] for any queries. I would be happy to help you! Join the Discord community of like-minded freelancers here.