What's the Best Way to Break Into the Copywriting Business?

I wrote copy for my own product (a high-ticket lead generation system in a professional niche) and leveraged that experience to start writing copy for others.

Be sure to measure your results so you can quote them later.

VL

There are a few ways to do it. Grab yourself as many free ebooks on the subject and read and reread them until you understand the theory of it all.
Practice the things you learn. Test them out on real people because it's only by trial and error that you will succeed. If you Google "free copywriting ebooks" I am sure you'll find plenty. I have some in my own collection which I read sometimes too.

I have done some research on copywriting. It seems to be a very interesting and profitable career field. However, I have no clue on how anyone would go about starting a career in this field. I am particularly interested in freelance copywriting. I was wondering if anyone out here had any good advice or tips on how to start out in this business. I would like to start on a part time basis doing freelance work and hopefully take it from there.

For some good advice and practical starting points, I'd recommend "The Copywriter's Handbook" by Robert Bly and "The Well-Fed Writer" by Peter Bowerman.

Either of those books will be useful. Bob's has more copywriting information and a chapter on "How to get a job as a copywriter" while Peter's book is a solid roadmap to becoming a commercial freelancer in 6 months or less.

I am currently an "article" writer and feel as though my copy writing skills are sub par to say the least. I am new to the Warrior Forum and saw this copy writing Forum and was ecstatic. I have to say that just with these few posts alone, I feel I have a great starting place. I am going to immediately start looking for and reading the books that you all have mentioned and I am doing a quick Google search as I type for free ebooks on the subject. Thank you all for your contributions!

By being good at it.



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THE most important thing is getting results... first and foremost, so you
can leverage those results when trying to land clients.

In other words, no matter what it takes... get some copy out there.

a method that has worked well for some of my coaching students is...
i have them go on elance, guru, odesk, etc... and practice submitting
proposals to land jobs.

those places suck for a copywriter to work... but the goal is to get
copy jobs that you can do well and then get results.

once you have proven winners, then you get the heck off those sites
and leverage your proven winners when trying to land clients.

you can use your proven copy/results when discussing with a client
that your sales letter for X produced Y results... and that you've done
that with the last 3 clients you've worked with.

any good client will ask for results, wanting to know what you've done.

so, any way you can... just start getting copy out there and tested...
so you can see results.

it's called a portfolio, or samples... but you just want
results that you can show other prospects.

it can be for you and your own products that you sell, for clients
on elance or other outsourcing sites, or you can even write copy
to promote as an affiliate.

best way to break in is to get good, get good results, and then
tout those good results to anyone who is asking.

The way I broke into the business is via multiple micro-freelancing sites like Fiverr, etc.

You have to consistently deliver amazing results and go above and beyond for each client. Your clients will constantly order jobs from you and get used to the convenience and quality of your results. From there, they won't want to work with anyone else who doesn't automatically "get their needs."

Since these freelance sites are somewhat community-based, the good word will spread quickly, like a wildfire.

Then, once you have obtained critical mass, STOP offering services on the micro sites completely.

People that have ordered with you 3,4, or 5 times will ask you how they can still work with you, and then you can happily direct them to your new start-up.

It takes time, but all good things are a result of hard work and time.

That's my story.