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START & RUN A COPYWRITING BUSINESS
Preface
1. Adventures in the Copywriting Business
A Great Home-Based Business Opportunity
What Is Copywriting?
Copywriting versus Other Types of Writing
Materials
Audience
Writing that sells
Style and structure
Grammar
Visuals
The Demand for Good Copywriters
The Road to Success
You as a Self-Employed Copywriter
2. Is Having a Copywriting Business Right for Me?
Pros
Working from home
High income potential
Low start-up costs
Greater control over your work schedule
Plenty of work to go around
Working on creative, stimulating projects
Cons
Working from home
Lack of professional recognition
Uneven work flow
Deadline stress
No published writing credit
Your wrists, butt, waistline, and back
No regular paycheck
Financial stress in the first few years
A Day in the Life
3. Getting Started
Focus on a Goal
Are You Going to Start Part Time or Full Time?
Playing the Name Game
Business Cards and Letterhead
Planning Your Work Space
You Must Have a Computer
You Must Have Internet Access and an E-Mail Account
What Happens When the Phone Rings?
Start-Up Finances
4. Building Your Book
What Is a Book?
What Samples Should I Include in My Portfolio?
Collecting Samples of Your Work
“But My Client Won’t Send Me Samples of My Work”
Never Loan Your Original Samples
“But I Don’t Have Any Writing Samples”
Volunteer writing for an association or charity
Help a small-business owner
Help a freelance designer
Write for your employer
Write articles for small publications and e-zines
Take a course
Create spec samples
Get a job as a copywriter
Try the sales letter idea
Don’t forget your own marketing materials
Putting It Together
Creating an Online Portfolio
Why have an online portfolio?
Putting together your online portfolio
Get a website address
Sign up with a web hosting service
Decide which portfolio samples to include
Convert your portfolio to online images
Decide how your online samples will be read
Get the word out
Keep it up to date
5. Identifying Target Markets
Start with What Brought You Here
Agency Side or Client Side
The Top Markets for Copywriting Services
Advertising agencies
Corporations
Direct Marketers
Charities and other nonprofit organizations
Professional associations
Less Likely Markets — but Still Prospects. Small businesses
Governments
6. How to Get Clients
Creating a Successful Prospecting Plan
Sales letters
Postcards and other self-mailers
Cold calls
Advertising
Articles
Speaking
Networking
What’s your prospecting personality?
Creating the Perfect Fulfillment Plan
How to get clients to say nice things about you — in writing
Creating an Effective Keep-in-Touch Plan
Ten ways to stay in touch with prospects
Remember, Each Assignment Earns the Next
7. The Fine Art of Quoting
Develop a Fee Schedule
Hourly Rate or Fixed Fee?
Factors to Consider when Quoting Assignments
Meetings
The deadline
Type of industry
The technical complexity of the project
Is your client an agency or a design firm?
Size of client
Type of project
Negotiating Your Fee
Confirming the Sale
8. How to Write Copy Your Clients Will Love
Three Questions to Ask before You Write
1. Ask: “What is the goal?”
2. Ask: “What’s in it for the reader?”
3. Ask: “What do I want the reader to do?”
Unlocking the Secrets of Great Copy
Gain attention
The headline
Visuals
Presentation
Be better than the competition
Talk benefits
Support your claims with specifics
Use endorsements
Reduce the risk
Include a call to action
Specialized Copywriting Tasks
Writing for the Web
Writing “long copy” sales letters
Writing for the B2B market
The Best Way to Improve Your Copywriting
9. How to Complete Common Copywriting Tasks
Brochures and Other Sales Literature
Advertising
Direct Mail
Websites
E-Mail Marketing
Microsites
Case Studies
Newsletters and E-Zines
Press/Media Materials
Audio/Visual, CD-ROMs, Video, and Multimedia
Fundraising Letters
Keeping Your Skills Sharp
10. Managing Your Work, Time, and Money
From Start to Finish: How to Complete a Copywriting Assignment
Collect
Organize
Draft
Edit
Submitting the Assignment
Handling Requests for Revisions
Scheduling Your Time
Tips for Improving Your Productivity
Keep regular hours
Write during your power hours
Stay seated
Separate work from home
Invest in productivity-boosting ideas
Minimize time spent on non-billable tasks
Stay organized
Watch the Money
Sending invoices
Getting paid
Keeping good books
Some Final Advice
11. Troubleshooting Guide
Proven Solutions to Common Problems “HELP! My client complains my quote is too high!”
“HELP! I have more work than I can handle!”
“HELP! My client has given me an impossible deadline!”
“HELP! I don’t have any assignments!”
“HELP! A client won’t pay my invoice!”
“HELP! My client hates my copy!”
Don’t be defensive
Explain your approach
Ask for specifics
Confirm
Set a deadline
Complete the revision exactly as directed
“HELP! I can’t stay motivated!”
“HELP! I have to back out of an assignment!”
“HELP! The client I’m working with is a jerk!”
“HELP! I can’t get all the information I need from my client to complete the job!”
“HELP! My client wants a teleconference. What the heck is that?”
“HELP! My client wants me to do more work than I bargained for.”
Warning Signs
BEWARE! Small agencies and design firms
BEWARE! Entrepreneurial startups
BEWARE! New product launches
BEWARE! Clients who want a cheap price in return for the promise of future work
BEWARE! Assignments with no set deadline
BEWARE! Large approval committees
BEWARE! Handshake agreements
BEWARE! Signing confidentiality agreements that limit your ability to freely market your services
BEWARE! Disreputable marketers
12. Advice from the Pros: Three Famous Freelancers Tell Their Stories
Donna Baier Stein
Bob Bly
Ivan Levison
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Titles in the Start & Run Series
Notice to Readers
Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook
Contents
When I wrote the first edition of this book in 2001, my goal was to create the most complete how-to guide available on the subject — packed with information to help you learn the craft, set up your office, get clients, and make money.
Since that time a lot has changed. The growth of the Internet has revolutionized the business and created a wealth of new opportunities. In addition to the dozens of top-rated copywriters I originally interviewed for this book, I’ve since spoken with more than one hundred — some of the most highly paid in the world — and learned their inside secrets to success.
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Copywriting can also be a bit like screenwriting. A screenwriter will often “see” the movie playing in his or her head while writing the scenes. A copywriter does something similar. He or she will often “see” the ad or brochure while writing — visualizing how the artwork, headlines, and body copy work together to tell a persuasive story.
Ideas for artwork, visuals, and other graphical elements often pop into my head as I write. When this happens, I sketch out the idea and send it to my client or the designer (I can’t draw, but I’m famous for my stickpeople). I may create a mocked-up version of the collateral I’m writing — folding and cutting paper, roughing in the headlines and images with a pencil — to help me better visualize what I’m writing.
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