Gaining Copywriting experience question

One suggestion: Before you write for free, take a course on positioning. You don't have to write for free to get started.

Which courses have you taken?

Alex

I never intended to write copy for other businesses but wrote
my own copy for my first online product an ebook. Only after
that sales letter did so well that I decided to study copywriting
seriously and become a copywriter. So you have received great
advice above. Why not start by writing "free" for yourself?

Even if you don't have a product then write for an affiliate
product and see how the copy converts. At least you are
being paid in the process.

-Ray Edwards

Do NOT work for free.

Say it with me. Do NOT work for free.

You will not value your work. You will not do your best. Your client will not value your work. And a client that will make another human being work for nothing (outside your favorite charity that you can VOLUNTEER for) is worthless.

You need experience. You do not need to worry about how to pay your bills. That doesn't give you experience - it gives you anxiety and heartburn.

Keep studying, because frankly your sentence construction needs work. But learn how to position and pitch yourself so that you get PAID. You'll treat it much more seriously.

Instead of working for free, work for yourself. Do what Alex Cohen said, learn by doing something for yourself, not by offering free services.

Alex nailed it. Learn positioning. You will LITERALLY save yourself years of grief - if you get this now.

Imagine...

You get to choose the conversation... and who you're having the conversation with.

Repeat after me....

Path of least resistance.

That's always... and only... where you wanna be (whether you're marketing your own services, selling a product of your creation or pimping out other people's stuff.)

In other words...

Say you're selling copywriting services and you need to make $5,000 a month. Do you position yourself in front of people who don't understand the value of copy and have a hard time parting with $500 - where you have to educate and convince them?

Or...

Do you go after people (already in-LOVE with what copy can do for their business) who want a copywriter to show them, "I'm the pro who will make it rain?"

Mark

The things that I've found to help me greatly over the last 3 to 4 years copywriting... is the following things.

1. Become well known and an expert in a specific niche. I started back in 2001 or so as a fitness copywriter and have since did well over 200 sales letters for clients.

These days, the financial and personal development niches are ones I've been asked to do a lot of.

Anyways, when you can narrow down your skills to focus on one niche, you can get SO good and so skilled at that niche... you can produce work that gets noticed.

It's easier to be a master of a niche or than a "jack of all trades."

Jon Benson, one of the highest paid copywriters online, is known for his fitness writing.

2. Attract clients instead of chasing them.

This is where having a platform helps.... whether it's a blog, a podcast, daily emails, newsletter.

Your platform will get your personality and information out there... and will resonate with the RIGHT kind of clients you want to work with.

This tidbit of advice has gained me more clients in the last few years than anything else.

The more content I strive to produce that's WOW.... and life-changing for folks, and I do it freely without wanting anything in return... that's when I notice more clients contacting me.

Like Mark and Alex said... two writers I respect and admire... it's about positioning yourself.

Well, if you focus on becoming GREAT in a specific niche... and you use a platform to create content that positions you as an expert that attract the kind of clients you want... you'll soon find out how much easier it is to land clients.

I can say one thing that I've learned over the years... it's this: Clients who find you, read your content on your platform, and hunt you down... they usually turn into clients so much faster and easier than if you were to send out blind offers or you contact people who have posted they're looking for copywriters.

There's something about your content and your voice being able to attract the right kind of people you WANT to work with... that puts you in a position of so much more power... than being the one contacting people who have posted job offers.

The bottom line is... with so many copywriters to choose from these days.. you betta have a way to stand out and make you seem like the best choice.

I read a few books then applied this knowledge to my HypnoBusters website. I had over 150 sales pages to amend, so by the time I finished this I knew what I was doing.

So why not set up your own website and write copy to sell either your own products, or someone else's through an affiliate program? You can then properly track your success by looking at your stats, such as dwell time and of course sales. This way you get rewarded with making some cash if you do a good job.