How did you get started in copywriting?

[Chris Ramsey]

Hey all,

I'd like to supplement my income by doing some copywriting in the future. Right now I'm doing some small-time free work to get my feet wet.

I'm curious to know how you got started. Did you teach yourself through books? Through other people's copy? Did you take a course?

Looking forward to hearing your stories!

Chris

[Loren Woirhaye]

double posted somehow...

[Loren Woirhaye]

I got started writing direct mail copy when I had a cabinet-making
business... but I was interested in copy from when I was a kid.

I suggest reading the classic books on the topic and also just taking
an interest in direct mail, catalogs and things. The catalog I like the
most is the J. Peterman catalog - great, entertaining copy.

There's a lot of breadth to what copywriting is... it's not all about
"kicking ass" with "rocket fueled" "homerun" salesletters. There's
a lot of workmanlike stuff to be written and you can get paid to
do it for businesses while you are working on learning the hardcore
skills of selling in print on your own time.

Businesses need brochures and websites written, copy for industrial
parts catalogs, etc... the demand is out there and you can learn
to fill it if you can write clearly.

I'd recommend you read Peter Bowerman's book on freelance writing -
it covers a lot of what you would like to know about the business,
in a down-to-earth, realistic way.

[Chris Ramsey]

Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye

I'd recommend you read Peter Bowerman's book on freelance writing -
it covers a lot of what you would like to know about the business,
in a down-to-earth, realistic way.

This is definitely something I need to learn.

Do you recommend learning print copy as well as web? I understand there is a pretty big difference in how you write. I'd like to (end result) work in web copy so I would think that I'd need to focus my time on that. Although having both skill sets would be great too.

[DavidJohnson]

I've always loved to write but never saw myself as making money from it, unless of course I got my act together and wrote a book.

I have been in sales most of my life, most of it in the car business and most of that online sales. As you can imagine online sales has a lot to do with email and resurrecting your database to keep people buying and sending in referrals.

I wrote my first direct response print ad in a local newspaper after the owner became impressed with how many sales each email campaign I did resulted in. The ad did very well and resulted in about 500 calls in three days and 12 sales.

As you can imagine the owner was very happy with the results and I wrote a few more with the same or better results. That's when he had this huge idea that if one of his employees could produce these types of results what could a professional copywriter do! Well... the pro didn't even come close and that's when I figured I had a talent.

Fast forward a couple years and while working as a National Sales Trainer I happened into a forum and saw a personal trainer asking for some help on his web copy so I helped where I could, worked on a direct mail piece for him and low and behold that little direct mail piece converted 6%. He was happy and I was happy and that's when I decided to stop writing for free, as I have done all these years for friends and clients.

So to answer your question, once I decided to go freelance I just jumped right into it, didn't even check to see if it would be dangerous to jump in head first, I just did it. My first big (huge really) account came fast and have had a steady stream since because I treat my clients like gold and give them more than they ever expected, this ensures that they preach my name whenever they get a chance.

My advice: Give, Give, Give if your want to Get, Get, Get. Just make sure you charge for it because if your worth it, they will pay.

[Alex Cohen]

Chris,

I started by reading top copywriter articles. Admitedly, this was not the best way, because it took some time before it all came together and made sense to me. A more structured approach would have been better.

But, if you're up to the challenge, here are some of the top copywriter sites and blogs ...

Michel Fortin's Blog
http://www.michelfortin.com/

Clayton Makepeace Archive
Archives | The Total Package

Gary Bencivenga Bullets
Bencivenga Bullets | Bullet #

Gary Halbert Letters
halbert newsletter archives

Bob Bly Articles
Bob Bly: Copywriter

Craig Duey Articles
Reprints of Lead Articles | Direct Response Marketing | CDMG | Creative Direct Marketing Group

Alex

[mypips4u]

i started write articles regarding health when i find a title so to write a content read books and google in the net the title...it is useful for me

[Matt James]

I started off doing freebie work and then, as my skills improved, I charged a little, then a little more...

But if you want to get really good, really fast...

Get a mentor.

If you can afford him get Vin Montello.

I was happily stumbling along as a fairly decent copywriter getting the $1000-$2000 jobs on the freelance sites.

I read all the books, studied the masters etc.

I needed to up my game so teamed up with Vin and got much, much better.

In my case I needed someone to say "hey, don't write it like that, write it like this..."

Also, it's no good charging a few hundred dollars for a letter and then rushing to complete it so you can move onto the next job.

You need to get higher paying work and for that you need to get good and to get really good (in my opinion)...you need a mentor.

[Chris Ramsey]

Originally Posted by Matt James

Get a mentor.

I have been on the fence about this for a while. I've been thinking about it, but I guess it's that whole 'action' thing that I need to take.

I think the best book I have read anywhere is Maria Valisomehting or other Web Copy That Sells

I've actually got this one already, and love it! I need to go through it completely though, as I've only skimmed through it.

[gcjmarkets]

Chris,
I started by doing free work as well and as a result I ended up with a couple of good customers as well as friends.

The best book I have read is Dan Kennedy's "The Ultimate Sales Letter" and the best course I have seen recently is actually in the WSO right now. He actually writes 3 sales letters in real time to demonstrate what he taught in the course. I think the thread title is "mind control sales copy" last time I checked it was still on the first page.

Good luck

[Alex Malave]

One of my favorite quotes from Dan Kennedy is...

If you want to learn how to write good copy fast, then you have to write a lot of it slowly and badly

Paraphrased, but I think the only way to get good is to cram all the how to's and then just start writing like consistently.

[SiteKist]

Just start writing about something you're enthusiastic about !

I simply began writing my blog about personal growth years ago and noticed what people liked reading - a blog like that on the side helps you practice enormously.

[Anthony J Namata]

Hi,

My very first writing course was in Business Correspondence. And then in addition to Marketing (which I love), I studied Creative Writing. That's how I got started. Nowadays you have all sorts of writing courses available online. Creative writing DOES help -- I find -- to give you a certain way with words that can be utterly effective in Copy Writing. Take a look at The Writers Bureau – home-study creative writing courses that help get you published.

[MontelloMarketing]

Originally Posted by mypips4u

i started write articles regarding health when i find a title so to write a content read books and google in the net the title...it is useful for me

Okay... but is any of it copywriting?

Originally Posted by SiteKist

I simply began writing my blog about personal growth years ago and noticed what people liked reading - a blog like that on the side helps you practice enormously.

Okay... but is any of it copywriting?

I'm not saying it's not. I'm just asking. Because if there's one thing I see as rampant on the WF copywriting forum is people who have never written copy, thinking they are copywriters.

In most cases article writing is not copywriting...
In most cases blogging is not copywriting...
In the vast majority of the cases info-product creation is not copywriting.

I think bloggers... article writers and copywriters will all be better served once these lines are sharpened and everyone realized what they are... and are not.

That said, some of the best blogs used by people who are selling something, use classic copywriting tactics and techniques...

Some of the best articles used by those who sell use these techniques too...

Same with product creation. There's a concept widely used by the bigger marketers at least, that employs copywriting techniques inside the book (or whatever) to continue to sell the customer even after they have bought.

This is all advanced stuff that can all be done by most good copywriters.

Most good article writers and the like are real good at word counts and phrase stuffing. None of this will help you sell anything.

[ndcole78]

Well stated Vin. I don't know why people call article writers copywriters or call writing articles copywriting. They are 2 totally different things.

[Topgunb]

The Best Advice I can give is

1) Read the best sales letters you can find.
2) Rewrite them in your own words
3) Keep all the great copy you find in a file and read through them.

Try to find what people are looking for online, then find a product for them. Now try your hand at writing great copy to sell it. If you get sales, that is great copy!

By the way 2% is not a good conversion - It just means your copy is acceptable.

So I guess that means to write great copy you have to read , research, make notes and then write! Wait a day then come back to it, if you did not get any brainwaves.

Thats all for now!

Brian



Remember - what people say is always the correct answer but not always the true answer!

Great copy sells - check results by payments made not by votes

[ados67]

Needed copy for my own products, started learning how to write it (through free reports, articles etc.) - and here I am today, 8 years later

Adi Friedman
Two Believers.

[Raydal]

I did a video addressing this question a few months back ...

YouTube - How I got started as a Copywriter

-Ray L.,

[freedom25]

I did a degree in Creative Writing and English Literature and part of the course covered copy writing and editing. I guess this is what started me off, as I found it very interesting. I put the word out on other forums about my services and read other people's work to get ideas. From there things blossomed. I don't think it is really necessary to complete a course. It is probably more worthwhile reading as much as you can and working from there.

[myob]

I have a degree in Marketing, and I write brochures, catalogs, and online sales pages. Remember that copywriting is sales in print, whether on the web or as hardcopy. It is not article writing. You need to understanding sales psychology and there are differences in selling online and offline. If you are serious, you should take some courses in writing and marketing. Many local and community colleges offer these, and the really big advantage of taking courses is that you have a mentor.

[MikeHumphreys]

One of my closest friends, Tom, also happens to be the guy who introduced me to my future wife. Tom owns an industrial farm in Lancaster County, PA, which you can learn about here: Beechdale Animal Supplies — Frozen feeder Mice — Frozen Feeder Rodents — Live Crickets — Worms.

His online sales were awful (0.1% to be exact). He bugged me for months to write up a good home page for his site until I finally agreed to do it. He insisted on paying me $100 for my time.

It was late 2005. He became my first official copywriting client. I've been writing my own copy for my businesses since 1993 but hadn't written for anyone else until then.

I wrote something up for him in a few hours and then uploaded it to his site for him. A month later he calls me to give me the news. Turns out that his response rate for orders coming from his website shot up to 1.5% -- a 1500% increase in response.

Again, to the average internet marketer, 1.5% isn't great. But to the small business owner who's losing money on their website every month, it's a real life-saver. He was so excited that he gave my name to 4 other small business owners he knew who needed marketing help. Keep that in mind if you decide to work with offline businesses -- they care more about ROI than conversion rates.

Tom hasn't let me update his site since then because he's happy with how it's performing.

I did random word of mouth client work like this until August 2006 when I decided to treat it like a real business. Two months later, I was ready to go full-time as a copywriter and I've been full-time ever since.

Take care,

Mike

[MikeHumphreys]

Originally Posted by myob

I have a degree in Marketing, and I write brochures, catalogs, and online sales pages. Remember that copywriting is sales in print, whether on the web or as hardcopy. It is not article writing. You need to understanding sales psychology and there are differences in selling online and offline. If you are serious, you should take some courses in writing and marketing. Many local and community colleges offer these, and the really big advantage of taking courses is that you have a mentor.

Paul, you're the exception to the rule.

I know of more copywriters who barely finished high school than ones with marketing degrees. Guys like the late Gary Halbert, John Caples, and Dan Kennedy come to mind as I type this.

There's other successful ones who made a career change and went into copywriting without going to school for it. They may have studied with a master copywriter (i.e. John Carlton with Jay Abraham and Gary Halbert) or they may have studied tons of copywriting/marketing books/tapes/courses.

Personally, I've never taken a college marketing or copywriting class. I have studied hundreds of books, courses, tapes, etc on copywriting, marketing, sales, and so on to create the best marketing I could for my own business. Then years later, I started writing for other people.

Granted, if you want to do more agency-related copywriting, the marketing degree could be helpful.

But 99% of the copywriters I know don't have a marketing degree. And I've never had a problem getting paid nicely to write copy professionally.

Take care,

Mike

[justsomeone]

I started off as a typographist and was working for various ad agencies. One day I noticed a single punchline, "Think Pink Mink", in a book by David Ogilvy (founder of "Benson Ogilvy"), and ever since I have tried to delve deeper and deeper into the amazing world of copywriting.

[ecoverartist]

One name: Bob Bly.

Seriously, I read his work and every book he writes completely floors me. Not only that, but once I gave copywriting a try, I realized how astoundingly deep and complex (and fun!) it was. You essentially put yourself in someone else's shoes and look for what makes them tick.

Since then, I've gone through the AWAI course, went to seminars, anything I can to just keep learning and improving. Writing just comes naturally to me and it's something I love doing, so that makes it that much easier