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.

Okay... but is any of it copywriting?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.