NEW: Inside Secrets To Becoming a Highly-Paid Copywriter

Lecture notes

Being a copywriter is great for many reasons, but my top three are:

1. You can literally do it anywhere, all you need is a laptop

2. There is absolutely no limit to how much you can earn.

3. Every business needs words so you’ll never run out of clients

Every business needs words - no matter the industry, size or stage. By learning copywriting you can write words that’ll grow your own business and make money, by doing the same for clients.

I truly believe that learning this skill helps secure your financial future — no matter what happens, businesses will always need writers!

There are different types of copywriters, the 3 main categories are:

• Content writers

  SEO copywriters

• Conversion/Sales copywriters

Here are my top resources for learning all you can about the science behind copywriting:

? Building a Storybrand, Donald Miller

? 6 Principles of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini

? $10M Offers, Alex Hormozi

? Anything by Russell Brunson

? Copyhackers.com

...and one for motivation

? ? The Slight Edge, Jeff Olsen

Now we’ve covered the different types of copywriting, you have another decision to make - how you want to work as a copywriter (and earn money)!

1. Become a freelance copywriter.

   
   

   This is when brands or agencies will hire your services on a contract for a certain amount of time, usually to complete a specific project. This could be anything from a few hours work to a few months.
   
   You will still need to manage invoicing and timelines, but you do not have to source new clients or consider employing team members.

This is the simplest way to be a copywriter, you charge the brands or agencies you work for your time and have freedom and flexibility to work with lots of different industries.

You may get the chance to work on bigger brand names through freelance work as the agencies who hire you may have longevity in the industry and have built a solid reputation

1. Start your own copywriting business.
   
   If you go down this route you can build a company much bigger than yourself. You have the freedom to hire team members or use other freelancers to complete client work for you.

Expect that 30-50% of your week will be spent working ‘on’ your business. This includes admin, project management, marketing and sales. You will need to ensure leads keep coming in from marketing yourself and that you are turning those leads into clients.

You do not have to pick one way to become a copywriter and stick to it, many copywriters will start as freelancers and, once they become more experienced, switch to acting more like a business owner.

It’s really about mindset. If you like the idea of stepping out from writing all the words one day and not exchanging your time for money, you need to switch to a ‘business owner (or some say ‘CEO’ mindset).

A business owner spends the majority of their time working ‘on' their business and a freelancer will spend most of their time working ‘in’ it.

Want to learn how to write killer website copy? Ge the first modules of my Website Words Academy for FREE! https://courses.23wisewords.com/courses/voice-of-customer-free

Lecture notes

It’s important to be aware that as a copywriter you will have a lot of competition in the market - but view this as a good thing - it means there’s lots of work!

However, a highly-competitive market means you need to stand out and be able to demonstrate your value to potential clients. Otherwise you’ll end up competing against someone who is cheaper than you, and without seeing a differentiator in talent or value, clients will pick the cheaper option - wouldn’t you?

If you were presented with two identical plant pots, with identical product descriptions, delivery times and features, but one was cheaper. You’d have no reason to pick the more experience option.

Your job is to show your clients your value, so you don’t have to keep reducing your prices.

Here’s some ways to do that:

• Niche by expertise before niching by industry

• Specialise so you can’t be compared. What can you draw from your previous experience? For me it’s psychology

• What’s your unique process? Can you create an simple methodlogy to how you work that's unique to you?

• Create packages that help your client solve a problem, instead of making them choose from a list of services

• Overdeliver. Not by doing way more work than you quoted for by my making the process so easy for your clients

Want to learn how to write killer website copy? Ge the first modules of my Website Words Academy for FREE! https://courses.23wisewords.com/courses/voice-of-customer-free

Lecture notes

You will need to spend a lot of time marketing yourself as a copywriter, if you spend all your time writing, you’ll look up to find no new clients waiting in the wings.

Attracting new clients is going to take up around 30% of your working week...

Here are some ways I have found to be most effective at bringing in new leads and clients:

• Make sure there are 5 ways for potential clients to find you

• Pick channels that feel easiest for you: Video? Graphics? Writing? Collabs?

• Align with branding experts, SEO, designers, website developers and designers

• Join Facebook groups for copywriters, marketers and also where your clients might hang out

Getting what you need from clients when you start a new project

When you start a new project you need to:

• Understand what the client is expecting and deliverables

• Get as much information as you can about their target audience - check out my Target Audience profil in the resources section

• Understand their brand voice and any brand messages

• Set timelines and payment schedules

Top tip: Good project management is KEY to being a great copywriter.

Project management: The secret sauce to sucess

As well as writing the words, you have to simultaneously manage the project:

? Send a proposal, not just a quote - check out my Project Proposal template in the resources section

? Keep track of the time you spend so you can quote fairly in the future

? Charge 50% upfront and 50% when copy is approved NOT when it is live on the webpage

? Always offer to review once your words are on the page - this takes you above the level of most copywriters

? Set timelines and agree them with the client - give yourself enough time!

? Keep the client in the loop throughout the whole project, especially if you're going to miss a deadline or go over budget

? Always collect testimonials or Google reviews as soon as the copy is approved - check out my testimonial questions in the resources section

Steps to a typical website copywriting project (plus a sneak peak at my unique porcess)

1. Strategy call with the client to understand their brand and audience

2. Raise a 50% deposit invoice ideally with 7 day payment terms

3. Conduct research to understand the audience

4. Write the first drafts and present these to the client

5. Receive client feedback and write second drafts

6. Make final tweaks and forget final approval

7. Raise the balance invoice - usually the remaining 50%

8. Review the copy on the website once designed

Don't forget, however much you think you can, you WON'T spot typos in your own copy - always use software to spot them for you.

Copywriting resources I use all the time

Grammarly

Word Hippo

Google Docs

COPYHACKERS!!!

Want to learn how to write killer website copy? Ge the first modules of my Website Words Academy for FREE! https://courses.23wisewords.com/courses/voice-of-customer-free

Lecture notes

My all-time favourite sales psycholgoy tips to use when copywriting:

Talk about the small wins - People find it easier to emotionally engage with something less than 90 days in the future. So remember to talk about the smaller, more immediate wins you provide, as well as the ultimate outcomes

Future pacing - Help people visualise themselves in the future, after taking the action you want them to take. Use language like ' Imagine..." or "What if...". Visualisation is a powerful tool to encourage an action

Use binary choice - We prefer to make decisions using binary choice, so place buttons side-by-side so they choose to either *this* action or *this* one. Then they are less likely to do nothing

The 3 big objections - Your writing needs to overcome the 3 biggest objections any reader has to clicking the bitton: Laziness. Fear. Overwhelm

This formua is called the 'PASO' technique and you can use it to start writing just about anything...

PASO stands for:

?? Problem - What's the biggest problem your reader is facing (that you can solve)?

?? Aggravation - How can you intensify the problem in their mind?

?? Solution - How can you help solve this problem for them?

?? Outcome - What will life look like for them after?

It's such a simple formula, but it'll work for just about anything you're selling and anywhere you're writing.

Want to learn how to write killer website copy? Ge the first modules of my Website Words Academy for FREE! https://courses.23wisewords.com/courses/voice-of-customer-free

Remember, every business needs words - no matter the industry, size or stage. By learning copywriting you can write words that’ll grow your own business and make money by doing the same for clients.

I truly believe that learning this skill helps secure your financial future — no matter what happens, businesses will always need writers!

Good luck! 

Want to learn how to write killer website copy? Ge the first modules of my Website Words Academy for FREE! https://courses.23wisewords.com/courses/voice-of-customer-free