Want to make REAL money writing?
You know you can write. Maybe you're even making money writing. But are
you making enough money writing? Or is it just a hobby, costing you more in
computers, postage and paper than you're earning? According to writers'
organizations, 95 per cent of writers never make enough money to quit their day job.
What about the top five per cent of writers --- they're making big money,
right? A small proportion of the top five per cent sure are. They're the headliners ---
brand name writers like Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Journeymen (and women)
writers are doing OK too. They're the genre writers, writing romance, mystery and suspense, and non-fiction. Writers in this group spend a lot of time looking over their shoulder. Will their publisher accept their next book? Are they writing enough?
(Gotta turn in at least two books this year.) What nasty reviews of their latest book will they find on Amazon.com today? Magazine writers may do well too if they
combine magazine writing with writing books.
If you want to make real money from your writing skills, you can. And you
can do it easily and quickly, in seven days. How? Start a copywriting services business.
I've been making good money as a copywriter for over 25 years. It's fun,
lucrative and creative.
Can YOU make money freelance copywriting?
Copywriters write for business. They write the words that educate, sell and instruct---
everyday words. The words on ads, leaflets, brochures, press releases, product instructions and labels, newsletters, direct mail, and on Web sites. These words are everywhere, and are invisible to most people. To copywriters, all these words indicate
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a market. Copywriters can make excellent money: the most experienced, enterprising, and productive copywriters scoop in a comfortable six figures annually.
There's nothing fancy or magical about the words copywriters produce. In fact, if you can write clear instructions or a letter, you can write copy. You don't have to be a great writer to be an excellent copywriter, but you do need to recognize and be able to use the attributes of both fiction (evoke emotion) and non-fiction (be clear) in your writing.
Of all the writing I do, I love copywriting most. It's fun, it's easy, it's creative -
-- and the biggest plus of all, it's usually short. Whatever writing you're currently doing, whether it's novels, short stories, or magazine articles, you'll feel at home with copywriting, and it will be an additional income stream for you. If you're a new writer, the skills you learn while writing copy easily transfer to other kinds of writing.
Here's the successful freelance copywriter's mindset. You:
know that you're surrounded by copy every day, everywhere you look. Radio, TV, the Internet, newspapers, food product labels, signs: they all contain
words, and a copywriter wrote them. To most people, copy is so ubiquitous it's invisible. To you, copy signals a market. You're observant and aware, and
every time a message catches your eye, even if it's only a street sign, you're thinking: "Hmmm… a potential market";
are interested in getting your client's message across;
are prepared to market, and then market your services some more.
First must-do: get your client's message across
When you're writing copy, you're writing it for someone else, to do a specific job.
That job may be to get someone to buy something, or to do something. In the case of a news release, you may be trying disseminate information or to change someone's opinion. Whatever you're writing, the message is the client's, and your job as copywriter is to make that message crystal clear.
If the copy fails --- and you won't need to look far to find poor copy --- it's because the copywriter failed to deliver the message. When I catch myself thinking
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about a print ad or a TV commercial: "Woeful writing"! I ask myself: "Did I get the message?" If the answer is "I have no idea what they're selling and I could care less", it's bad copy. On the other hand, if my answer is: "I hate everything about it, but I know what they're selling and what they want me to do", it's good copy.
Second must-do: market your copywriting services
There's a huge market for copywriting services. Every business uses copy. You may need to educate smaller businesses on what you can do for them, but the market is there. If you've tried to sell other kinds of writing, like novels or magazine articles, the openness of the copywriting market will come as a huge relief. It's not hard to find copywriting work.
However, you do need to market. As a group, we writers are not the world's
hustlers. We're not pushy or extroverted. We'd rather write than sell our services by telemarketing or by appearing unannounced in a prospect's office.
Take heart. If you're by nature shy, you can make initial contact with clients via postal mail or e-mail, or by some other gentle, but resourceful method of self-promotion. You don’t have to change your personality to find effective and fun ways to promote your services.
That's all it takes to make money freelance copywriting. Know that copy is
everywhere and that it's all a market, get your client's message across, and market yourself.
How much can you earn?
It's no exaggeration to say that the sky's the limit on your earning potential as a copywriter. If you want to push your marketing, within a couple of years, you can be earning a six-figure income without breaking much of a sweat.
When you're just starting out, you'll charge somewhere between $50 and $100
an hour. As your experience grows, you'll charge more. If you have expertise in areas like finance, real estate, and multimedia, you can charge much more right away.
Of course, your hourly rate is not all gravy. You need to figure your expenses and overheads into that tally before you start to calculate the profits. But you can
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make money copywriting, a lot of money, because all businesses need to
communicate and you're an expert communicator.
Welcome to the wonderful world of copy! Let's get started.
Day One: Getting Started
Your Day One Objectives
On Day One, you'll learn about the client brief, and will develop your own briefing sheet. You'll also learn a nifty technique to help you write copy anywhere, anytime.
Sections:
The client brief.
Writing copy step by step.
How to Write A Perfect, Selling Ad.
Day One Exercises.
The brief, and your Writing Services Agreement
In copywriting, you don’t need to do it all yourself. In fact, you can't. Your copy is based on whatever you're trying to sell. This is a huge plus, because the product always gives you somewhere to start writing. And the more you know about the
product, the better. Your client hands you the product, or tells you about it, or explains the service, or gives you a guided tour of the factory, and tells you what he wants: a sales letter, a brochure or a news release. This is "the brief", your instructions.
After he's explained the brief, the most important question to ask your client is: "What do you want the reader to do after he reads this?" (Or the viewer or listener to do, if you're writing broadcast copy or for a Web site.) You're asking what the customer's response should be. Getting the customer's response is your goal. The
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response could be: to call a phone number, to attend a sale, or to order from the catalog.
Write down the customers' required response. While I'm working on a job, I
like to stick a reminder note onto my computer monitor: "Call client number", for example, or "order product". When you get into the excitement of writing the copy, your thoughts can get tangled. It's easy to forget the response. Writing the required response down, and keeping it visible, means that it's always at the forefront of your mind.
Your briefing sheet
If you've been hired by an agency, you'll be given a brief. If you're hired by a business unused to working with copywriters, you'll need to fill out your own briefing sheet.
The sample briefing sheet below contains information that's useful to have. Tailor it to your own requirements. Computer-format your briefing sheet with adequate spacing so it's easy to fill in, then print out some copies and keep them by the phone.
SAMPLE BRIEFING SHEET (Figure 1)
Type of product or service:
Promotional name of the product or service:
Any other names?
A short description:
What three major points do you want to make?
What's the primary reason the customer would be interested in this product or service?
A technical description (or ask for the manufacturer's specification):
Options (colors, material etc):
Used for, and how?
Target audience:
Benefits over competing products:
Comments:
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Customer response required:
Are there any disclaimers, or legal requirements which need to be mentioned in the copy?
Your Writing Services Agreement
ALWAYS SEND THE CLIENT YOUR WRITING SERVICES AGREEMENT, as
soon as you accept the brief. Yes, it's in caps, and I'm shouting, and the reason is this: all the hassles you're likely to encounter during your copywriting career can be countered with an effective agreement, signed by the client, BEFORE you start work.
Whenever I accept a brief, and omit this vital step, something goes wrong. So do it.
Always. No exceptions.
When you're working as a sub-contractor with an agency, whether the agency
is for advertising, Public Relations, or multimedia services, the agency will usually have its own agreement that you'll be asked to sign. Most agency agreements are straightforward. Sometimes they're not. Strike out anything in the agency agreement you don't agree with, initial your strikeouts, sign the agreement and send it back.
Here's the Writing Services Agreement I use. It's not fancy, but it does the job.
Feel free to use it, or parts of it, to create your own agreement.
SAMPLE WRITING SERVICES AGREEMENT
(Figure 2.)
Agreement for Writing Services
REF: XXXX
DATE:
Client:
Project:
Fee:
Advance retainer:
Balance due on completion:
Notes:
Your signature below authorizes me to write copy for the project above, for the fee stated. (You can return the agreement via postal mail, fax, or e-mail.)
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Two revisions are included if requested within five days of your receipt of copy, and are not based on a change in the assignment brief made after copy is submitted.
Balance of payment is due on receipt of the invoice.
You understand that the assignment is work done for hire, which gives you the copyright. You release me from any responsibility for legal or regulatory problems that may arise from the use of any copy I write for you.
Payment options:
Check, Direct Deposit
(Sidebar) The copywriter's formula: AIDA
Memorize this. I don't know who to credit for this copywriting formula, but AIDA (Attract, Interest, Desire, Action) is a handy copy checklist. All the copy you write should include these elements.
Attract = get the reader's attention.
Interest = keep his attention.
Desire = evoke emotion.
Action = get a response.
Writing copy step by step
The more copy you write for clients each day, the more money you make. Therefore, you need a method to get copy written fast, without dithering and wasting time wondering what to do next. The following method works. I recommend that you use it on every job. More play than work, it's fun and stress-free. Try it.
Step One: Research
After you've been briefed by the client, your first step is research. Even if you're sure that you have all the information you need, doing a bit of hunting and gathering for more information lets your subconscious mind brood on the task before you start writing.
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My aim when I research is always to get what I call "the Click". The Click is part concept, part inspiration, part structure, and part my subconscious mind waving at me and yelling: "Yoohoo! We're ready, you can get started."
Your research period may be only a few minutes. When I was asked to do a
fast rewrite job on five 30-second radio spots for a jewellery store, out of the two hours I had, I spent half an hour on research. Although I'd worked for the client previously, and knew what he was selling, I wanted to get a new angle, a unique fact –
something different that I could base the copy around. I found it. I learned that gold is eternal: it's older than our solar system. That nugget of info inspired me, and let me breeze through writing the five spots.
Unless I'd been prepared to "waste" time on the research, I would have had a much harder time writing the copy, and the copy wouldn't have had any creative sparkle.
Step Two: Prepare by getting a conversation down on paper or on
the computer screen
The biggest stumbling block for a writer is the blank page or computer screen. Writers get performance anxiety just like actors get stage fright. Luckily, that block is easy to conquer when you're writing copy.
Copy is conversational. If you're used to writing novels or non-fiction, this can be hard to achieve at first. Good copy is simply communication, rather than literary elegance, and you don't have to agonize over grammar. If you're getting your client's message across, you're writing good copy.
Here's a handy trick to get words on the page. When you start writing, imagine you're talking to someone, telling her about the product. It helps to type something like: "Jeannie, I just found this great new thing, let me tell you about it…" Then describe the product.
Or, if you're writing longer copy, longer than a typical page of 250 words, talk into a tape recorder, and pretend to tell someone about the product, then transcribe the tape. Either of these techniques will stop you using a stiff and formal voice. You'll be using an informal conversational style and tone, which is appropriate for copy.
You'll also notice you've conquered the blank page.
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Step Three: Brainstorm with word associations
You've got a page of conversation. Print it out if it's on the computer. Without thinking about it too much, circle any words which appeal to you. Circle five words.
At this stage, you're nowhere near writing the final copy. You're making creative connections. This method of brainstorming uses your right and left brain.
Starting with the first word, write down 20 word associations you come up
with. You can use a cluster diagram, or just make a list.
The key to getting results with this method is lack of effort on your part. Just do the process mechanically, and write down the first words which pop into your mind.
When you've done this, go and do something else for a while. Have a cup of
coffee, or take the dog for a walk. Sometimes you'll get a rush job, and you won’t be able to take much time away, but no matter how rushed you are, take at least ten minutes.
Step Four: First draft: write it fast
When you sit down at your desk, write a first draft as quickly as you can. Don’t refer to any of the word lists you made. Be casual, be confident, and get those words down.
Your first draft is your first take on the job. This gives you something to work with, and you can tweak it until you're satisfied.
As you become more experienced, your first draft comes close to being your
final draft. I usually send my second draft to the client as the "Initial Draft". I offer two free revisions of this draft in my writing agreement. I've found that if I'm working for the client directly, then either the client accepts my Initial Draft, and says "Great!
Just what I want", or I do one minor revision. When working with an agency, I rarely get asked to do revisions.
My feeling is that because I've done a lot of preparation (research, getting a conversation down, and brainstorming), I'm pretty much on target when I send the Initial Draft. Therefore, the preparation work you do is important. Don’t try to jump into a final draft that you intend to send to the client when you sit down at the
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computer. You'll freeze up. Having a process that you work through leaves plenty of room for discovery ---and all writing is discovery --- and creativity, and this shows in the final results. Even if you don’t use any of the material you created in your preparation in the final draft, the preparation process loosens you up and helps you to write creative copy day after day, because you're not working --- you're playing, and your subconscious mind loves to play.
Copywriter's How –To: Five Easy Tips To Write A Perfect,
Selling Ad
( Each chapter contains Copywriter's How-Tos, copywriting reference articles.) A perfect, selling ad? I lied. There's no such animal as the perfect, works-every-time, selling ad. But I got you to read this far, didn’t I? That was the title's purpose --- see Tip Two: Write an attention-grabbing headline.
I didn't lie about these tips, though. They're easy and fun to use.
Tip One: who's the reader? (Or viewer, or listener if you're writing
for broadcast.)
Although you're writing for a crowd, it's easiest to write if you imagine you're talking to one particular person.
You can even start writing your first draft with a salutation, as if you were writing a letter: Start with "Dear Elli", and keep writing.
Who is this person? Is she old, young, married? Where does she live? What's
her life like? What does she want most? What's she scared of? Why would she be interested in your product? What difference would it make in her life?
Professional copywriters spend a lot of time in this phase of the writing
process. You can't motivate someone if you don’t know who they are.
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Tip Two: Write an attention-grabbing headline
Your headline is vital. No one is looking for your ad. You've got to wave and yell at them to get their attention. If you don’t get their attention, no sale.
Write a trial headline to get yourself started. This probably won’t be the
headline you'll use. However, with a trial headline, you've got a corral for your copy.
You're writing to that headline.
When you've written a draft of the ad, force yourself, with a timer, to write another twenty headlines in five minutes. (Read the rest of the tips and write the benefits and the response before you write a draft.)
Don't try too hard. Who cares if they're all junk? You're writing lots of
headlines to get your subconscious mind to take you seriously, and throw up the PERFECT headline. You'll never achieve this perfect headline with conscious
thought. It's a gift from your subconscious, but you have to goose it into cooperating.
You may find a headline you like more than your initial headline. Just
substitute it, if it fits. If it doesn’t you can write another version of the ad to fit that headline's concept.
Tip Three: Write the features first, then work out what the benefits
are
Nobody buys a product (or a service) for its own sake. They buy because it benefits them in some way. The benefits are what you're selling.
You're not selling a German Shepherd puppy, you're selling an intelligent, loyal companion and family protector.
You're not selling a car, you're selling travelling comfort, prestige, and a sure-fire babe-magnet.
You're not selling a book, you're selling the adventure of a lifetime, love, romance, and sex.
To get a handle on this, take a sheet of paper and briefly list the features of your product or service on the left.
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Then beside the feature, write the corresponding benefit that each feature
provides.
Remember --- use the benefits in your ad.
Tip Four: Don’t forget the response!
I've lost count of the number of ads I've seen everywhere from the Yellow Pages to full display ads costing thousands in magazines, where the copywriter and everyone else forgot the response.
You must tell the reader what you want him to do. You must ask for the sale.
Ask the reader to do something: call a number, come into the store, go to a Web site.
This is so important that when I'm writing an ad I always write the required
response on a sticky note and tape it to a corner of my monitor. I tape it onto the screen itself, so I can't miss it. (Yes, I have been guilty of forgetting the response. And very embarrassing it was too.)
Tip Five: Read it out loud
You've finished the final draft of your ad. Before you show it to anyone else, read it aloud.
You'll pick up redundancies, awkward sentence construction and other nasties
when you read the copy aloud.
Day One Exercises
Exercise One: Write a brief
In this exercise, you'll put yourself in the client's shoes. You're a furniture manufacturer. Your business is expanding. You're inserting a quarter page display ad in your local Yellow Pages. You pick up the phone and call a local copywriter. (You know her because she called you and left her contact details.) What instructions do you give the copywriter? Write 100 words of the manufacturer's instructions to the copywriter.
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Exercise Two: Getting (conversational) words on paper: Tell me
about your favorite pen
A pen manufacturer has hired you to write copy for a newspaper display ad. Pick your favorite pen, and do some research on pens. Next, in 150 words, tell me about the pen.
Start with "Angela, let me tell you about this pen…" Remember, that you're talking, not writing. Write as you'd speak. Also remember that this is not copy, this is just you, telling a friend about your pen.
Exercise Three: Write ad headlines from the brief you created
In Exercise One, you wrote a brief. Now write 30 headlines you could use for the ad which you'll write from the brief. Remember, this is a quarter page ad for the Yellow Pages. Read the Yellow Pages, and check out some of the ads before you start.
(When you're writing copy for clients, it's good practice to write at least 20 to 50
headlines (some master copywriters write 150 headlines), before they set to work on the ad itself.)
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