Question about article writing / Copywriting

by djn001
8 replies
Hi,

I am asking this question on behalf of my son. He is a graduate who has a degree in English and has very good writing and computer skills. Although he has good qualifications, he is only working in a fairly low paid job due to the fierce competition for more suitable, higher paid positions. Consequently, he is always moaning about not having enough money.

I have tried suggeting internet marketing as a way that he could earn some extra cash, but he has never really shown much enthusiasm - which is a shame because I think that his skills would be ideally suited to it. I did suggest that he considered the possibility of doing some freelance article writing or Copywriting, and he did show some interest in that, so I'd like to ask what would be the best way to get started if he did decide to give it a go?

Perhaps he may develop an interest in IM and decide to try something for himself once he got involved.

Thanks

Dave
#article #copywriting #question #writing
  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    Copywriting can be more lucrative generally, but it's
    also more skilled work than general IM article writing.

    In either case, the more money he wants to make
    the better he'll need to be at selling.

    So he should learn to sell.
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    • Profile picture of the author JAIDEEP2959
      He has good writing skills, so he can do it.

      He has to know about following things to become successful copywriter :

      1) How to choose keywords for article writing which will give more traffic to your articles and websites.

      2) Where to find content for article writing.

      3) How to write articles with proper keyword density.

      4) How to write unique articles that will pass copyscape test.

      5) How to write quality articles that will get accepted by Ezinearticles.com.

      6) How to write engaging and interesting articles.

      7) How to write review articles that comply with new FTC rules.

      Good Luck.

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    • Profile picture of the author djn001
      Can you make any recommendations as to how he could learn the art of copywriting?

      I do agree that there is a lot more to it than just being good at writing. It is all about convincing people to stay on your website and buy whatever you are selling.
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      • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
        Originally Posted by djn001 View Post

        Can you make any recommendations as to how he could learn the art of copywriting?

        I do agree that there is a lot more to it than just being good at writing. It is all about convincing people to stay on your website and buy whatever you are selling.
        I'd suggest avoiding that kind of thinking. It's all about...

        It's about very many things.

        American Writers and Artists Inc. (AWAI) has a copywriting course. That's what I
        learned from, and it won't be a waste of money if he does something with it. But
        it takes time to learn the basics, and time to... do everything, really.

        There are other ways to learn it. But that's a good course that will teach the basics
        very well. There are other courses, I'm sure.. John Carlton has some things, but I
        don't think he has anything for rank beginners. Not sure.

        It all takes time, dedication, commitment... blah blah.

        Edit: Plus hard work. No matter what he writes - hard work to learn it well and to
        do it well.
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        • Profile picture of the author djn001
          Originally Posted by KenThompson View Post

          Edit: Plus hard work. No matter what he writes - hard work to learn it well and to
          do it well.
          This applies to most things in life if you want to be successful.

          Thanks for all of your replies, I have to go out now , so I won't be able to reply back, but I will check the thread later if anyone else replies.

          Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    Hello Dave,

    I'm a copywriter and writer of other things. No matter what he does
    he should learn to sell. Right? Applying for any job is an act of selling
    yourself. So...

    There's a definite learning curve with copywriting. There's also a learning
    curve with writing good articles that produce results.

    Of course his education will help a lot. But he needs to understand that
    if he wants to succeed with either copywriting, or writing articles, then
    ideally he needs to learn about it.

    Then... regarding competition, he'll need to market and advertising himself
    and his business. There's just as much competition online for writing jobs as
    in the offline world. Obviously I don't know which has less, or more. But it
    doesn't matter. It's there, so he just needs to accept it and go from there.

    There are some shortcuts, maybe... sort of, but I'm thinking more in terms
    of getting business.

    It can be tough for a new writer to get going. It's not a walk in the park, but
    really there are variables. And a lot depends on how much fire he's got in
    his belly. You have to really want to do it, and then be willing to work to get
    somewhere.

    Not trying to discourage anyone, but the truth is better than the hype or other
    general feel-good bs. Right?

    Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    I haven't done the AWAI course, so I cannot say
    one way or the other. I recommend your son
    read the copywriting classics at least if he wants
    to be a copywriter.

    He should read at the least:
    Ogilvy, Schwab, Hopkins, & Caples
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  • Profile picture of the author BradCarroll
    Danny Kennedy's _Ultimate Sales Letter_ is a great place to start. I bought the AWAI course and, when compared to most of my college classes, got much more bang for my buck from the AWAI course (this was when it was still $500, too). It's just under $200 now but I'd say your son should read the Kennedy book before trying the AWAI course (awaionline.com).

    I think that the course is a great introduction to long salesletter-type direct response copywriting, but there are certainly other good resources. Google "Clayton Makepeace total package" and you'll find some great resources. He used to have a free archive of his copywriting newsletter--I don't know if he still does.

    While your son is learning about sales writing (studying AND practicing), he can always make some money writing online content. I picked up an ebook called The Content Chef a few years ago tat told me everything I needed to get started, it's still around and in a new edition to boot.

    If he can't afford that, I'd advise reading some quality content at Ezinearticles.com (most of what's there isn't exactly high-quality, but some of it is, and he should search around until he finds it). Then he should write some articles of his own, probably in niches like relationships (dating, get back with your ex, cheating spouse), money (loans, bizz op, debt-- internet marketing even!), health (acne, ED, and everyone's favorite colon cleansing). These are pretty universal "evergreen" niches (they aren't the only ones) and he should write some 350-500 word articles to show he can get the job done.

    Then he can go someplace like Squidoo or Blogspot and put up some samples and a sales pitch. It wouldn't hurt to hang out in Warrior Forum first so he can understand who he's selling to (technically speaking, that should've read "to whom he is selling", but if he wants to write content or copy then 9 times out of 10 he'll need to go with "who he's selling to").

    Also he should learn to pre-sell. He'll have to look that one up on his own.

    Then he can advertise his services on Warrior Forum through a forum signature that points to his sample page and/or a WF Classified, WSO, and by posting in the "Warriors for Hire" sub-forum. I started out asking two cents per word and did just fine. He may want to offer cheaper deals as a WSO, but should keep in mind that 2/word is still pretty cheap.

    I dropped out of a university English program and boy am I glad I did--the style they want their papers in is terrible! It's a damn shame what high school and (most) college courses do to a person's ability to write a clear, interesting sentence. I read Dostoevsky and Hawthorne for pleasure but my business would die if I wrote like them. Tell him to read some Raymond Carver and Anne Beattie!

    (Not that I think Dos and Hawthorne are boring--but they are to many people. Your son should pick up some good tips for content and copy at Copyblogger.com).

    Hope this helps.
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