Advice for the start

Bsbear,


here's a few tips to get started in searching for clients:


1.) Put up a 'for hire' thread in "Warriors for Hire" sections of this forum. Also, you might want to consider offering some review copies - Ill explain better in a sec.

2.) Contact people with poor web copy, on Clickbank etc. You'll be amazed at how much poor copy there is in this world. Look in your local newspapers, flyers, junk mail - the list goes on, but you get an idea of what I'm talking about.

3.) Try non-profit organisations. Tell them you're a new copywriter (explain to them what what it is you do - more often than not, people don't know us by the term 'copywriter'), and you'd like to write some copy for them for free in order to build a portfolio.


4.) Offer people free or cheap review copies. I know this sounds counter-productive to making money/getting good clients, but you need to build a good portfolio.

Otherwise, you could say this: "Hey, I'm a new copywriter, looking to build a portfolio. I've got some ideas for your copy. How about you pay me X amount if I improve your copy?"

Not those exact words, but something similar.

5.) Take a product/make one up and write copy for it. The only problem with this is, you can't get any results from it.

That's the biggest thing: the ability to show what results you got for your clients. If you can say "This is a piece I did last month, and it's converted at 10%", it's ten times better than just a shiny looking piece of copy that's untested.


This should get you started. To sum up:

1.) Make a 'For Hire' thread.
2.) Find crappy copy in your local area, online and everywhere inbetween, and offer to rewrite it (you could even write on-spec, though that runs the risk of no payment/testimonial)
3.)Offer to work free of charge for NPOs.
4.)Free copy in return for building a solid portfolio of work, testimonials and results.
5.)Make a product up and write copy for it.


If you need any more ideas, let me know.


Ben.