Copywriting Jobs What is Copywriting

Looking for some copywriting jobs? Look no further. As an experienced freelancer, this is an area  I regularly work in and one that I have plenty of experience in. Even though you may not be familiar with the term â€Å"copywriting† you have no doubt at some point seen the end results of a copywriter’s work. Copywriting is the term used to refer to the writing of taglines, brochures, flyers, the lyrics in those commercial or radio jingles, direct mail pieces, online ads, blog posts, website text, and email campaigns. That beer label you loved and that chiropractor’s brochure that was so clever, those may have been initially done by a copywriter. Basically, any kind of promotional or advertising materials is typically done by a copywriter. Or at least it was if the business involved knew the benefits of copywriting versus traditional writing. What is Copywriting? Copywriting actually began with something called â€Å"direct response copywriting†. Direct Response copywriting was done way back before the advances of technology gave us the Internet. Copywriting was done in print form via newspapers and magazines, letters and postcards which were mailed to mass groups of people with the hope of getting a response from potential customers. Mass mailing those printed materials to people cost a lot of money. Businesses had to pay to print and then distribute printed materials to large numbers of people just to get their product or service information in the hands of potential customers. Because mass mailing was so expensive, businesses soon wanted copywriters who could demonstrate that their ads and brochures or postcards were actually bringing them customers. This is how conversion rates came into existence. To get a conversion rate, the Total Responses (from customers) are divided by The Total Send (number of postcards mailed). This tells businesses how well potential customers responded to their material and enables them to make good decisions about whether to continue those printed mailings to that group of people. So for example, mailing postcards to 10,000 people and getting 350 responses from potential customers would be 350/10,000 = 0.03 response rate. Once the conversion rate was in place, experienced copywriters started â€Å"testing† different versions of the same ad or brochure to determine which kinds of layout, which colors, which wording most appealed to potential customers. Copywriters would make slight adjustments to their copy and then compare response rates to find what worked best with different types of people. SEO Copywriters came into being as more and more advertising and promotions started to be done via the Internet. SEO Copywriters create articles or other content on the main topic or product, but they also take keywords into consideration with a goal of getting their articles, products, or websites to rank higher in search engines. The higher your ranking with search engines, the more likely it is that people will not only see your ad but click on it and read further and then possibly buy. Skills/Tools Needed to Get a Copywriting Job Formal training is available from places such as American Writers Artists Inc. and it definitely, helps. A college degree is not required. The ability to write well, edit, and proofread for clarity Research and interviewing skills Project management skills Marketing skills/knowledge Previous sales experience is helpful but not necessary You will need a computer and a reliable Internet connection Software and technology skills Where to Find Copywriting Jobs The good thing about copywriting is that every business needs to do it in some way or another. Some businesses may be using a copywriter without even knowing it. It’s a growing industry, especially for copywriters who can write for online audiences or who have the skills to do SEO copywriting. Below are just a few websites and other places for you to find copywriting jobs. Monster.com Indeed.com Upwork Local Companies Depending on the amount of small businesses and companies in your immediate area, and your area of expertise, you may be able to approach local businesses and cold pitch your copywriting services to them. With the fast-moving advances of Internet marketing, man family-owned and small businesses have still not jumped onto the online marketing bandwagon. With the right pitch, you could persuade them to take you on as a copywriter for a small project by presenting them with details on how it can positively impact their bottom line. Your Own Personal and Professional Networks Another way to find small copywriting jobs and gain experience is to ensure that all of your friends and professional colleagues, both in-person and on social media, are aware that you are a copywriter. Build your portfolio on LinkedIn and other professional networking sites and take advantage of people in that network. Join groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms that are related to copywriting. It’s crucial that you also give them an understanding of what kinds of projects your services can impact. There are many people in your own network who may need copywriting services Niche Search via Google An alternate way of finding clients who need copywriting services is to guest post on other websites related to the area or topic that you want to specialize in with your copywriting. To find potential blogs to write a guest post for, perform a â€Å"Niche+blog† in Google or another search engine. Work your way through that list and select blogs that you feel have readers who might need your services. Then pitch your guest post to the blog owner and then make sure your skills shine in your guest post and that your post links back to your website. The exact process to find copywriting jobs that are of interest to you will vary a little based on your specialty area and audience. If you’re just starting out in copywriting, learn as many skills and get experience with as many tools as you can before you approach potential clients. Use job boards like Upwork to find small copywriting jobs, bid on those, and get positive feedback on your services. Once you’ve honed your skills and built your portfolio, use some of the other methods listed here to find copywriting jobs from other places that pay well. The process to find copywriting jobs takes some effort but for those who can copywriter well, the financial payoff can be huge.