Aspects of a Writer Project: The Writing Life Plan

Copywriting

Copywriting is a more specialized form of content writing. Whereas the general goal of content writing is to inform, copywriting is specifically working to persuade a targeted audience. In most cases, copywriting is used to increase sales of a company’s products or services. Copywriting often appears in the form of advertisements (both digital and print), social media posts, sales newsletters or emails, and blog posts.

Besides the act of writing, copywriters spend significant amounts of time learning about the customers that their content will be targeted towards. How does the product satiate a customer’s desire or solve a problem that they are experiencing, or make their life or job easier? They also devote time to understanding the product that they are writing about: what the product is, how it works/is used, and how it compares to similar products put out by competitors.

What skills are needed?

The skills of a copywriter cross over with the skills of the more general content writer, but some additional ones are necessary.

How to get started?

You will want to start by building up a portfolio of copywriting work to showcase to a client or as part of an application. Create a website or social media account(s) which show off your persuasive writing skills. Offer to write for your friends or family or local small businesses that need copy. Freelance copyright job boards or websites are good places to get some quick experience. They will not pay much, but they are good for portfolio building.

The two main routes for a career as a copywriter are to work in-house for a company or marketing agency or to work as a freelance copywriter.

A benefit of working as an in-house copywriter is that the job tends to be more stable for income and work and has the potential for mentorship and promotions. However, this stability comes at the cost of freedom to choose what projects to work on. Schedules are also less flexible with more immediate deadlines for production.

Working as a freelancer gives a copywriter the freedom to work on projects that they are passionate about. The copywriter also gets to decide their own hours and rates. However, this means that work and income are unreliable and can be sparse at times. A freelancer needs to be prepared to deal with this level of uncertainty, and be able to self-motivate to chase down work.

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