Start Your Own Copywriting Business
September 2002Is writing your passion? Do people always tell you should write for a career? A copywriting business is a great way to earn a living & pursue your passion. It's a business that requires no inventory - just your brain power - keeping your overhead costs to a minimum.
What is a copywriting business?
A copywriting business includes writing "copy" for advertising and announcements. Your business can include writing content for web pages, brochures, advertisements and composing press releases.
Copywriting Supplies
A copywriting business has low overhead, making it an attractive home based business. You will need the basics of any other business: your computer, Internet connection, word processing software, printer (Word will do) and some paper. The rest is all in your head, waiting to pour out.
Copywriter Skills
Marketing skills
Creativity
Writing skills
Copywriting Rates
Rates vary greatly. You can charge per hour or per job. Consider that your clients may be more comfortable paying per job as they do not see you work; they do not know how long it takes your to complete a job.
To protect yourself, you may limit the number of edits per job. For example, if you charge X amount of dollars for a press release, you might want to say one edit is included in this price. Otherwise, you may be bombarded with request after request to change something, resulting in endless hours of work.
Decide your hourly rate, even if you are going to charge per job. To figure out your per job price, determine how long each job takes and multiply it by your hourly rate.
Online Marketing Ideas & Getting Your Business off the Ground
1. Choose a niche market for your business. There are so many general copywriters out there, how will people find you on a search engine? In addition, your clients want to know that you know about their businesses. Specialize in work at home mom business or if you have some other skill or specialized knowledge - focus on that. You can even create multiple sites to target various niche markets.
2. You need to build your portfolio or you may never get hired. People want to know that you have experience in what you are doing. If you don't have a lot of experience, offer to do a few freebie or barter jobs to get started.
3. Display your portfolio and testimonials on your web page. You may not want to display all the work you have done for clients (to prevent intellectual theft), but you do want to mention who your clients are and include their testimonials.
4. Join a few lists, message boards or newsgroups that target your niche market. Make yourself available to offer writing advice and participate actively.
5. Provide people with a reason to return to your website. Return visitors get to know you better and come to build trust in your abilities - not to mention the fact that traffic is good for search engine rankings. You can encourage repeat visitors by offering something for free.
Consider writing free content articles and making them available on your website. You can write articles on writing and other business tips. Your visitors can use these articles as content in their websites and in their newsletters. Because people will include your byline when they publish your articles, it will serve to promote your business even further.
6. Build an opt-in mailing list. Ask permission to include your former clients and actively promote subscriptions to your newsletter. You can offer a monthly prize of free copywriting to encourage people to subscribe. Sending a newsletter on a regular basis drives more traffic to your site and increases people's confidence in your knowledge and ability.
7. Start an affiliate program for your services. Offer webmasters a commission for promoting your business. This will help bring brand recognition to your copywriting business, extra sales and increases your link popularity. Be sure to make an A+ affiliate program by helping your affiliates write compelling copy and personal recommendations to help sell your services.
8. Offer eclasses to help your clients writer and improve their own copy. You can charge for these classes or make them free. Either way, they will help establish your credibility in the area of copywriting. Offer your students a discount or some free work if they recommend your services to a paying client.
For a More Comprehensive Look at the Copywriting Business Stay up-to-date on copywriting styles and learn from others who already have successful copywriting businesses. Here are a few resources I personally recommend:
The Online Copywriter's Handbook by Robert Bly. (Hardcover) I have read this book several times over. Each time we open it, we find something new. This book is a perfect reference for the copywriter who focuses on writing copy for the Internet. It handles all aspects of online copywriting, including adapting print copy to the Internet; illustrating web copy; creating an effective website; banner and ezine ads and more.
Start & Run a Copywriting Business by Steve Slaunwhite (Paperback) This is perfect for a beginner to the copywriting business. It provides step-by-step advice for finding clients, setting up an office, copywriting techniques and marketing your business. This is an easy to follow guide filled with practical information.
____________________Alice Seba is the editor of http://www.internetbasedmoms.com and a professional copywriter, specializing in services for work at home moms. Visit her website at http://www.wahmcopywriter.com.