special report, “Everything You Need to Know to Start

26 Pages·2012·0.42 MB·English

by  By Stacey Mathis

Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting

—Special Report—

Everything You Need to Know to
Start a Freelance Copywriting
Business Immediately
Your Answer to: "Where Do I Begin?"
nd
2 Edition
By Stacey Mathis
2012
2 4 4 Fif th A ve nue, Su ite S2 0 8 , N .Y ., N. Y. 1 0 0 0 1
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 2
Everything You Need to Know to Start a
Freelance Copywriting Business - Your Answer to: "Where Do I Begin?"
Since the last edition of this report, consumer demands have changed drastically.
Gone are the days when brands can exploit the luxury of presenting a product to a
captive target audience. Gone are the days when brands persuade that audience to
buy a product simply on the basis of the brand’s “say so.” The social media and digital
worlds have changed the rules of the game! We have officially entered the consumer
control era. This unprecedented development has revolutionized the advertising and
marketing industries. Consequently, the copywriting arena has seen major changes -
from how we approach a copywriting project to the marketing tools we employ to convey
a brand’s message to its audience. For this reason, many of the resources and links in
the 2010 version of this report suddenly were no longer relevant and have since been
deleted or replaced.
Your Freelance Writing Career Begins . . . Now!
Did you decide you wanted to start your own copywriting business, but then were
discouraged by all the hurdles like figuring out how to manage and market a freelance
business or how to set one up or how to bring in business when you have no
experience? If you have a computer and Internet access, you already are well on your
way.
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 3
I’m going to pull back the curtain and show you what I did. The reason I decided
to write this report was because, a while back, I visited a few online freelance writer’s
forums and was surprised by what I saw. After reading through a lot of the questions, I
realized that, despite all the information there is online and in the bookstores, people
still are unsure of how to go about getting started in the field of freelance copywriting.
There’s all this discussion about bidding for projects and SEO and optimizing one’s
blog, and social media this and mobile marketing that, but clearly no one is spending
much energy giving new copywriters direction in just where to begin and how to
begin. Or, at least, new copywriters don’t feel confident following the available
blueprints. The gurus seem to be talking only to writers who’ve gotten something under
their belts already or who have some second or third-level understanding that the
beginners don’t have.
This report is specifically designed for new freelance copywriters and for those
interested in becoming freelance copywriters, but who are still not sure or have no clue
how to go about it. This is pretty much how I did it. So I know personally, this is an
outline that works.
By the end of this report the following questions and a bunch of others will be
answered:
■ What does being a copywriter mean today?
■ What are the best books and blogs to learn about copywriting?
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 4
■Scheduling? What’s that?
■ What should I do to legally set up my freelance copywriting business?
■ How should I set up a website?
■ Do I need stationery and business cards?
■ How should I organize the administrative stuff to run my freelance copywriting
business?
■ How do I build my first portfolio?
■ What types of pieces do I include in my portfolio in order to land a job?
■ Where do new copywriters find companies to hire them?
■ How do I approach someone for a copywriting job when I have no experience to prove
I’m capable of bringing in the results they want?
■ How do I handle networking and market my business?
What Does Being a Copywriter Mean Today?
Copywriters used to simply write copy, using compelling language and tone to
persuade a corporation or an association’s target audience to take some sort of action.
In the old days, the brand simply interrupted your media activity and told you what you
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 5
needed and convinced you that your life would be better with or worse without X. It was
a very one-sided marketing approach. I, the brand, “got it” and let me tell you, the
prospect, why you want it.
Today, the customer is in the driver’s seat. Creative teams must find out what
their audience wants and what they want to share with their friends and family or, in the
case of YouTube, share with the world. They then have to address that desire. It’s the
brand’s job to figure out how to engage the customers; how to make a connection with
customers; and/or how to encourage conversation with these customers. A copywriter’s
job can be a blend of creative activities, including roles as large as brand creation
(involving idea generation) and a lot less writing. The copywriter’s goal is still to get that
customer to take some sort of action, but by fashioning a dynamic customer experience
in a co-creative way with the consumer. A copywriter today is more like a judicious and
observant matchmaker, bringing together a customer (and hopefully their circle of
friends) and a brand for mutually desired, win-win, straightforward resolution, whether
that resolution is a new Governor or tickets to see an NBA All-Star game or a new
automobile insurance carrier.
Lastly, the copywriter’s words or functions may end up in or impact the message
coming across on a smartphone app, a website brochure, a Facebook page, mobile
web content, a mobile ad, on a webpage for a worldwide business expo, a blog post, in
a press release, a tweet on Twitter or a radio broadcast. And the action the customer
takes can be: reply to a company’s email, respond to an SMS, MMS or push
notification, enter a contest, buy a product, call the organization, sign up for some
service, mail a form back to a store, vote for a candidate or simply remember the brand.
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 6
Absorb the Fundamentals of Today’s Copywriting Field and Some New and
Classic, but Timeless Techniques
There are a number of copywriting books out there, but, as you may have
guessed, some of them are obsolete given the direction in which advertising and
marketing are headed. For starters, I recommend committing to at least one or two of
the publications on this reading list so you can start out ahead of the game:
The Idea Writers: Copywriting in a New Media and Marketing Era (Advertising
Age) by Teressa Iezzi
The Creative Process Illustrated: How Advertising's Big Ideas Are Born by
W. Glenn Griffin
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads
by Luke Sullivan
Brand Media Strategy: Integrated Communications Planning in the Digital Era
(Advertising Age) by Antony Young
The secret weapon of a master direct response online copywriter: How to
position your brand for success, based on the research of Swiss psychiatrist Carl
Jung by Peter A. Schaible
Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars
(and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (New Rules Social
Media Series) by C.C. Chapman
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 7
The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful
Advertising and Marketing Copy from One of America's Top Copywriters by
Joseph Sugarman
If you are interested in fundraising writing, I’d recommend:
How to Write Successful Fundraising Le tters, with CD (The Jossey-Bass
Nonprofit Guidebook Series) by Mal Warwick
A number of blogs are excellent resources for learning about copywriting and
mobile marketing writing techniques as well. A few of my favorites and the ones I
recommend are: Copyblogger, Toprankblog, Seth Godin, Men With Pens,
Webinknow.com, Thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com, SEOwriting.com, Sparksheet, The
Rant, Mobile Marketer, The Future Buzz, Social Media Examiner.
With marketing climate changing regularly at the speed of lightening, it’s
important for freelance copywriters to stay up-to-date on the trends in the marketing and
advertising industries so that you can hone your copywriting skills accordingly.
Scheduling
Although it’s exciting, a freelance copywriting business can get very busy. So, in
any case, but especially where you’re still working a regular job and doing this on the
side, you will want to create a workable schedule. One reason is because, as time goes
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 8
on, you may realize that you will want to incorporate different marketing strategies into
your work busy calendar. You may find you need a blog or that you want to craft a
certain number of emails or sales letters each week to mail out to prospects or that you
need to craft tweets to load into a tweet-later scheduler. Maybe you’ll want to update
your Facebook business page, or attend a weekly offline networking conference or keep
an active presence on other social media sites.
Marketing activities are necessary to maintain the flow of business. You’ll be
happy to know that none of this needs to cost a lot of money. None of it. It’s also
important to stay in touch with your customers once they are no longer prospects, so
you may see the need for a monthly newsletter or some small item you can send them
regularly. I recommend spending 30% of the time you’re in business on marketing the
business. It will reward you greatly, if done consistently. Small business owners often
make the mistake of taking their attention away from marketing once business picks up.
Your marketing should not stop just because business is coming in; it’s a big reason you
have customers, so you want to make sure they keep coming in the door, especially
repeat customers. Your schedule could look something like this: send 30 sales letters
on Saturday and comment on 2-3 blogs in your niche market on Monday; email
copywriting tips to your customers on Tuesday, attend a networking meeting on
Wednesday; make appearances on 2-3 social networking sites on Thursday, read up on
the latest copywriting and marketing techniques and work on article marketing (to drive
traffic to website) on Friday.
Ugh! - The Business End of Things
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 9
You want to set up your business in the most optimal way. Contact a business
attorney or an accountant to find out the requirements for setting up a freelance
business in your state. Many attorneys and accountants give FREE consultations. As in
New York, it may be possible for you to merely pick up a DBA (Doing Business As) form
at a stationery store, file it at your County Clerk's office and apply for an EIN (which
stands for Employer Identification Number) on the IRS website. But, please speak with
one or the other to determine the best option for you. It’s really not as daunting as it
seems. When some people hear the words accountant or lawyer they start to feel
overwhelmed. Don’t. If it were that big a deal, I CERTAINLY would not be a freelance
copywriter, because when it comes to my own personal stuff, I have no patience for
convoluted business rigmarole. Zero. If I can’t do it, anybody can do it.
Once you have the legal end of your business set up, open a business bank
account. Don't forget to take your new company's certification, registration, tax
information, etc.
Lastly, any time you spend money in connection with your business, when you
get home, file your receipt(s) in a file folder, because you will need it for tax season.
Likewise, whenever you receive payment from a client, record that payment’s exact
amount in a ledger (hard copy or on your computer system). We will discuss how to
organize your business later in the report.
Set Up Your Website
First of all, understand that you do not need a website to get started as a
copywriter. You will want one, however, as time moves on, because you want potential
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com
Everything You Need to Know to Start a Freelance Copywriting Business Immediately 10
clients to take you seriously. Experienced copywriters are all over the map with the
issue of websites. Some use community sites that house their portfolios, some suggest
using just a blog platform or Facebook, and others believe a traditional website with a
blog on it may be the better option. I prefer the versatility and functionality of a blog on a
premium platform with a reliable host.
Generally, to have a website/weblog (blog), you will need two things: a web host
and a domain name (I suggest you own your domain name). There are a number of
good reasons for owning a domain name. One primary reason is, if you decide to
change your web host, you can take your domain name with you. You don’t have to
worry about informing your visitors of a name change, getting new business cards,
stationery, contacting your business associates, vendors, etc. Also, if your domain
name is the suffix of your email address, which it should be, you don’t have to bother
changing your email address, and re-entering it on all the places online with whom you
communicate.
As to platform, I recommend WordPress, as it provides a number of features that
will come in handy later, for example: it’s easy to add content; you can easily optimize
images for SEO; and it offers countless easy-to-install plug-ins (software components
that add specific abilities to WordPress, like playing video, scanning for viruses and
displaying new file types). An example of a plug-in is Adobe Flash Player.
You will want to get WordPress.org, not WordPress.com. With WordPress.com
you will not own the domain, and remember, you want to always own your domain so
you can set your blog or site on the server of your choice (e.g. Hostgator).
© 2012 Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting
www.staceythewriter.com