Begin of Amazing Copywriting career

That you would copy by hand what someone else wrote years ago - or read a book over and over.....but not take the time to google/learn what a portfolio is...is strange to me.


Of course you practice 'for free' - writing in different voice and styles for your 'portfolio' for example. Do you have any working experience in writing?



Take the time to read some of the excellent copywriting bloggers online - and read some of the threads/questions/answers in THIS Copywriting section of the forum.

Submit any sort of writing using lower case i, for I, and be hired, like NEVER.

But feeling all Rob Schneider in so many Adam Sandler movies, I want to shout to you again,

YOU CAN DO IT MAN.

As for suggestions, writer's write.

And maybe have a good editor for grammar and punctuation handy, might suit you well.

Good luck.

GordonJ

Hi Luigi,

You're asking us for grammar corrections in your post about how to become a great copywriter? I sincerely do not want to de-motivate you and say you can't do this, but you will have a great deal of difficulty becoming a copywriter if your english grammar is weak. I'm telling you this as a supporter and offering constructive criticism.

I know you're passionate about writing and this is all you want to do, but I would hate to see you continuously struggle and never get the results you want. The English language is not easy to learn and the grammar can be even more challenging.

Why do you want to copywrite in a new language? Why not copywrite in your native language?

Website? Absolutely. You need a place to showcase your writing.

Write for free? Absolutely, but within reason. Get yourself out there.

What to do first? Instead of re-writing old books, start writing your own stuff. Write. Write. Write. Write. Write....and then....write some more. If you love writing so much, this shouldn't be a problem for you. Write every day. You need practice, especially if you insist on copywriting in a non-native language. I commend you on your persistence and bravery.

(I tried to write this post carefully because one cannot critique someone else's grammar and have mistakes of their own while doing so. I know for a fact my grammar is not perfect, but I'm also not trying to become a professional copywriter...)

Good luck, Luigi!

all of the incorrect "i's" have been placed in bold for you. they should be I and not i

Before being a good copywriter, you need to become a better writer.

Studying copywriting books at your stage of writing is like learning to pilot an airplane before even learning to walk.

I don't say you can't do it, I say you can do if you have a better strategy.

1. Learn to speak English properly. Take some online courses and master it firstly.
2. Start writing for yourself. While studying others is a good thing, writing is the true method of getting better at it. Rewriting doesn't train the brain in the same way.
3. Create something to showcase. Your own blog with articles, your own books, whatever you like. But you need to show something to clients that will hire you.
4. Work for cheap if you must, but don't work for free.
5. Your own website is something important to have.
6. I don't like working for agencies, I prefer working as a freelancer. But you might have a different preference. Usually speaking, working for someone else means that you earn less than you deserve.

Good luck!

How well do you write in your native language?

Why not try to be a copywriter in your native language?

Portfoilo is important of course, but you should have your own price cap.

Lookin' in on copy materials by Ogilvy an' Halbert won't do any harm, but you gotta remembah always how there is a difference between academic appreciation an' actshwl writin'.

Jus' bcs Michael Jackson raked in dollars and fans by the millions by throwin' on a hat an' walkin' all stoopid, it don't mean you can replicate the same trick, even if you copy the moves.

As the world changes, evrywan gotta adapt & diversify so's we don't all go stale on the Shelf of Eternal Perfection.

So unless you can directly apply what you read, prolly you better off readin' vampire novels.


Second deal relates to form an' content.

Like others have said, grammar an' punctuation gotta be solid or any messagin' you wanna put out there ain't gonna be taken serious.

Here's where a little light readin' can benefit immensely bcs whereas Ogilvy & Halbert et al offer what has come to be known as "the rules", their opinions ain't so set in stone they gonna persist forever.

Conversely, language follows tightly defined rules upon which we all agree -- until we split infinitives an' boldly go off at a noo kinda tangent -- an' all this stuff can be learned on the basis that it ain't opinion or a passin' phase.

Jus' 15 minutes a day cosyin' up to Grammar Girl would benefit you. She such a sweetie!

Check in there for a month an' that oughta plug your formality hole an' leave you free to focus on content.

Easiest way to do this is synopsis.

You might wanna try writin' out any of the comments in this post in your own words.

Keep the message, say it different.

This way, you uncover the variety of ways stuff can be said an' begin to distinguish between stuff that works better than others.

All these skills then feed into the first proper ad you write.

Fix these considerations first.

Well by reading all those you're off to a great start. : ) If you really want it, I'm sure you can be successful.

HTH.

Sometimes I wonder why people ask questions if they aren't coming back to read the answers. OP has not logged in since april 26 when he started this thread.