Some (very) basic newbie questions.

1. It depends. I generally get 100% upfront, with some exceptions. Depends on your relationship with the client and plenty of other issues. I'd never recommend payment after delivery.

2. I generally write in word.

3. I deliver in word or html, depending on the client. Sometimes in .pdf if it's an offline piece.

4. Library. Google. Competitors. I tend to stick to niches I know well.

5. I could write a book on it. (I may). That's the most important part of the business. find people who want to buy copy and convince them you're the man for the job.

6. All books in the sticky at the top of this forum.

7. After a falling out with an old business partner. I was used to writing copy for our products. I jumped into freelancing and love it. Moving back into my own products now.

Hope that helps!

-Scott

Well none of your questions are dumb-
There are Entire Courses devoted to each and
every single one of your questions...

So figure that one out...

I'm not so sure whether your questions
are for Copywriting or for Internet Marketing
in general...

Scott Murdaugh gave you some Good answers
but I just wanna add my 2 cents...

I'm pretty good at Copy but I'm not a gun for hire...

He looks like a copywriter for hire... And he
maybe Great at it... :-)

1)It's suggested, that you make payments to
anyone you outsource in different times (through
completion of work.)-

The really great copy writers will ask you for a
fee upfront + a portion of your profits if they
are Giants @ Copy...

some people do Half before the work- half after...
Some people do it in thirds... others give all the
money upfront- Depending on how much you trust
the Copywriter and his proven work...

Some people ask to see some sample work, to know
the skill level... etc

1) Method of payment as you guessed it, will be
different from writer to writer...

2&3) Medium of writing depends completely on the
client- like Scott told you, whatevber you are more
comfortable with- but if your copywriter can do it all-

-Like Scott, you should be reassured...

4) If you want to write on a subject matter you have
zero familiarity with... (Like he said, google, competitors'
websites are great- But one of the best places- Forums,
like this one...

... You get to really know what the target market is like...

It's like getting a free ticket into a prospect's sanctuary:
In forums you'll get to know their, frustrations, hopes dreams,
what they hate about other products similar to the one
you're writing copy for...

Blogs, Libraries, magazine racks,
Television are also great places for direction...

5) You can gain new clients in a forum, build
your own website or blog. Or advertise on social
media like Facebook twitter myspace etc...

Places like elance, guru etc...

6) The stickies at the top of the forum are
Grrrrrrreat resources- Listen to Scott...

7) If writing comes easily to you, then after
you've learned the basics of copywriting it
should come naturally to you...

A lot of people live with the fear and fantasies
that copy is like Black Magic or having super powers,

but it's far from the truth- There are some
emotional persuasion triggers to hit- You have to
speak in your prospect's language- and you have
to know what's visually appealing to your prospects
and what the search engines like to see...

If your learning copy for outside the internet as well...

Then there's all kinds of tricks of that trade as well-
but it's pretty similar...

One thing you will find out is, if you approach this
with reluctance and you force yourself to like it-
You're just not gonna be good at it...

7) I love Copywriting- But then again, I obsess about
Salesmanship in general- it's VERY artistic, and skill
oriented...

If you don't find that you're passionate about this stuff
after having read many different people on the subject...
It probably is not for you...

You can always hire people to do it for you...

But where's the funi in that??? :0)

Peace out... And good Luck!

1. I get half up front, half on delivery via PayPal. I avoid a lot of rewriting by asking enough questions up front so that I understand the project completely before starting. If a client can't answer the obvious, (many cannot) I pass on the assignment.

2. I write in Word and deliver the project in Word. Recently, for the first time, I formatted a sales letter in HTML.

3. See above.

4. I rarely write on 'unfamiliar' topics and do my research online using Google and competitive sites.

5. I don't really seek out new clients. I've gotten a quite a few inquires here, more than I've actually taken on, just responding to posts people have PM'd me asking about my services. I also have a Website where people find me.

6. Check the sticky above and read as many books as you can. But more important, read fiction, how-to, anything... as much as possible and write as much as possible. Reading and writing keeps your brain lubricated. I write a minimum of 2000 words every day (this post will count toward that) even if I'm not working on a project. So, the answer to this is read a lot and write a lot. If you're not willing to do that, forget writing as your profession.

7. When it clicked was when I found out writing was fun and I could get paid for it. I submitted some how-to real estate stuff to an offline publication back in the early 90s and they bought it at $.10 per word. From there I had a steady gig writing content. I'd been writing a long time before that though and had earned s little money but the real estate gig was the turning point. From there I started writing my own books, creating products and sales letters...

Good questions. Good luck.

I'll answer #7.

I realized that copywriting was my gig when I discovered that I loved selling to complete strangers. It's fun climbing into someone elses head, seeing how they click, and solving their problems. I'm an introvert naturally - copywriting is my social therapy.

The funny part is that you need to find this specific passion to be a problem solver too. Too many mediocre copywriters believe that copy is about tricks, templates, and other shenanigans. Focus solely on the prospect and your 80% of the way there.

Great responses so far, guys. Thank you very much for your input. I look forward to reading more.

Edit: Just looked into Mr. Carlton's course. Everything sounds interesting but I don't if I wan't to spend $800 on it, at least not at the moment. I'm just starting out with learning to write copy. I think I would want to get a better feel for if I have what it takes first. Then again, "knowledge is power", as they say.

Any sources on where it may be available a bit lower-priced ? Feel free to PM me. eBay seems to be a miss.

Stan Dahl definitely knows his stuff:
I consider him a Guru- He works with
Carlton, but he is an expert...

You said you like psychological triggers-
If you want a book that'll help you to
reach masses of people...

►The Bible" for:
Copywriting/ Salesmanship/ Persuasion
►►► "Influence, The Psychology of persuasion by Robert Cialdini"

You can find it on Amazon for a little bit
Just $12- But it's probably worth more than 5000
times it's value- from the amount that you can
make with the knowledge in that BOOK...

A big part of Jeff Walker's business model is taken
directly from that book...

Jus' adding my two cents here...

No question is dumb especially when you are talking to the client. Make sure you ask as many questions as you can so that you and your client are on the same page. You will know what to write and he will know what to expect.

Just checking in to say thanks for all the input. Obviously this will also find it's way up a notch or two when I respond, so perhaps others may be able to add their input as well.

I've got two books (basic info for writing copy and one for improving your writing in general) and I plan on starting to read them in the next few days. Any thoughts on good swipe files and how to get the most out of them? I've already read in previous threads about copying them by hand, but maybe there are additional ways.

If you haven't responded already, please feel free to also answer the other questions in the OP.

Thanks!

You have to jump in and get on with it, you will only learn the real score by actually doing it

There's a lot to learn...but if you just jump in at the deep end you will find yourself getting up to speed pretty quickly.

Rob

Dear camalus1026,

1.) For small jobs, hourly. For larger projects 50/50. For bigger projects still 33/33/33.


2.) Hand written notes, then Word. Then the rewriting and the editing. lots of editing. Every word and sentence needs to pull its weight, otherwise it's toast.

3.) Word. or as locked PDFs (this latter one prevents tinkering).

4.) The library and all authority based sources online. If you're going to use sources, and quote them, always ALWAYS ask for permission and cite accordingly. Otherwise, rewrite it in an appropriate voice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
5.) Word of mouth, and by doing jobs for little money. When people have seen my results, they tend to rehire me for larger projects. If my clients are not happy, they don't pay. I tell them this up front and so far, everyone has paid me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
6.) Read anything anyd everything you can lay your hands on from Dan Kennedy, John Carlton, John Caples, Elmer Wheeler, Claude Hopkins, Bob Bly, and my mate Neil French
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
7.) It all clicked for me in 1994 when my first ad won an award: I watched a man read my long copy ad. My award? After he'd read my ad I watched him take direct action.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Whatever it is you want to do, keep at it. It was ten years before I wrote an ad worth a light.

camalus1026, thank you so much for asking, and everybody else, thank you all for your responses. My position is similar to camalus1026, in that copywriting is something I very much want to learn, and even more, want to be doing. This isn't the first time I've been on the brink of something completely different, and that sense of walking to the end of the high dive board never changes.

I've been lurking here for a couple of weeks, and what impresses me most is the willingness of those of you who are successful to share with those of us who want to learn. I've been writing and editing for ten years now, but my primary responsibilities have always been page layout and design. Then one of those epiphanies hit me in the head right before Christmas, one click lead to another (as only really great clicks can) and I finally found myself here.

So, again. thank you. Oh, and I haven't figured out how to actually "thank" an individual, so that's my first forum related question. With any luck, I'll stumble over it on my own. Very feature rich forum, I'm glad the lights are always on.

I promise, I won't post pad my way up to the magic 50. But once there, I can respond to PMs and perhaps that magic "thank you" button will appear, too?

Anyway, thank you, again, camalus.