Making the move from content writer to copywriter

You could do several of the above to be honest.

First find out whether you want to be an offline or online copywriter, or both. Knowing how to do both is the ideal route as it gives you more outlets for work and a better foundation in media integration.

If you set yourself up as someone who is able to transform online to offline and offline to online and everything between, you have a powerful tool to pitch to businesses.

If you're going the offline route, Arfa has a great WSO to get started with an offline freelance business.

Keep in mind that it is probably better to find a few sales letter rewrites you can do. Say something along the lines of:

"Hi, I'm a copywriter looking to add some more work to his portfolio in this niche. I will rewrite your copy for you for free on the condition that when it increases your conversions, I can obtain a testimonial from you."

But catered to the client and letter. Give it some personality and a little salesmanship.

Build your own website to explain what it is you are providing. Showcase your talents etc on there as a reference for prospects who are interested in your service.

These are some of the things you can do to prep. Jump into the mix now if you want, but don't be shocked if you're caught off guard because you didn't build yourself into a professional role.

Alex Cohen repeatedly advises learning the difference between prospecting and positioning. This is crucial because once you begin to establish yourself, it's imperative you restructure and reposition yourself and your business so that you no longer have to hunt for client. . . they come to you.

Hope that helps.

Here's my take, from someone who's done both copywriting and content writing.

1) First of all, the market is not capped for content writing. I charge 2x the market rate ($14 apiece) and I'm pretty consistently booked. If you're not able to raise your prices, it's not the market, it's your marketing.

2) I don't think you'll make more money copywriting on Warrior Forum / oDesk than content writing. Most people I see doing copywriting on this forum charge ridiculously low prices. The range I've seen is between $50 to $300 for copy. That is absolutely insanely ridiculous. I've never written copy for under $1,000.

I don't know how long it takes you to write a piece of copy, but it takes me a whole lot longer than content. I go over the copy, go over it again, print it out and go over it on paper, rewrite it, etc several times to get it perfect. I don't write crappy copy. I write good copy and that takes time - And there's no way I've doing it for a few hundred bucks.

Yes, you can "churn out copy" of mediocre quality quickly, but I think the market for that is actually worse than content on the WF. Or you can go for the high paying copy gigs, but that's a completely different market.

3) IMO If you want to make the shift from a low-paying content writing gig to a high paying copywriting gig, you're going to have to get out of the WFH and WSO market and start looking for the people who actually pay real money for copywriters.

Those are people who already have lists, people for whom a 0.3% increase in conversions is worth thousands.

The most I've made from a piece of copy is about $6,000. Upfront was only about $1,500, but we had a commissions agreement that netted me about $6K total from a little over a week's worth of work. I didn't meet them online.

You need to meet direct response marketers, list owners, existing online brands, etc. I recommend starting to do meetup talks on conversions in your area, going to business events and reaching out to the online business community.

And don't charge by the word. No real copywriter charges by the word. You charge for the project, plus a commission if you choose.

That's my advice. Get off the internet, go meet real business people who aren't expecting to get world class copy for $200.

- Derek