Category: Prospecting

The Road to Freelance Copywriting Freedom

To get you started on your journey to freelance copywriting freedom, the only question that matters is:

Which small group of people with deep pockets urgently needs me to write some wickedly effective copy for them?

To answer this, we use “inside information”…

1) Small group of people

This has less to do with the literal number of people you can help and more – much more – to do with whether or not they are easily and precisely targetable. You need to know where they hang out online.

2) Deep pockets

Are they already spending money on marketing? This should be the easiest part. You should instinctively be able to tell from their social media, website and general online “vibe” if they are equipped to wire you at least $1,000 without stammering or “running it past” someone else. If you have any doubts about this whatsoever, revisit 1).

3. Urgently needs me

This is where we thread the needle through the precise group of people who have deep pockets and loop it around the common problem that transcends industries. 

An example that “transcends industries”:

I have written copy for startups in the healthcare, travel, online learning, and crypto industries.

The problem all startups have is they’re in a hurry not to die. The feature they all share is a pot of cash they are prepared to spend quickly on someone who can guarantee to communicate quickly, clearly and with effortless artistic grace what makes them so great.   

This is how you get paid.

P.S.P French

The Bit Copywriters Musn’t Skip

(unless you WANT to remain dead broke)

If you want to cut through the copywriting competition and rise to the top, all you have to do is concentrate for the next 195 words. 

The down and dirty reason I recommend positioning yourself around a problem is that if you don’t, you force yourself to do battle against everyone else who wants to write fitness emails or stock-picking sales pages. 

And guess what happens then?

The only way you get the gig is if:

a.) you already have an established reputation or

b.) you are prepared to compete on price or timeframes or any of the other variables that result in you doing more work for less reward. YUCK. 

When I started, I didn’t deliberately position myself around a problem. I do not recommend this. It’s like putting yourself in a financial bodybag. 

If you want to compete on price, there are plenty of guys doing that over on Upwork. I hear it’s a real hoot. 

But if you want to compete on value – and you measure your value by the pain attached to the problem you can solve with your words – price issues VANISH!

In the plainest vanilla language I can muster… what this comes down to… in practical terms… is finding a small group of people who have deep pockets and urgently need what you can write.

P.S.P. French

The Chicken and the Egg

There’s a big, grumpy and grotesquely flatulent sacred cow walking around the freelance copywriting space unchecked.

It’s time it was laid to rest.

You really don’t need testimonials to get clients.

Sure, it helps. But everyone has to start somewhere, and it seems that along the way, lots of people have convinced themselves of this apparent Catch 22:

“You need testimonials to get clients but you can’t get testimonials if you don’t have any clients.”

I think a lot of people who claim they want to be copywriters just stop here and let out a sad little sigh. 

Buck up, and swallow these solutions instead. 

1 – Make the Skeleton Dance

2 – Write Your Own Testimonials (aka samples)

#1 Use your lack of testimonials as a selling point… or “make the skeleton dance”, as email marketing legend Ben Settle says. You could write something along the lines of “I’m young and lacking experience but I’m bursting with energy and am determined to become a copywriter. I feel like I’m going to explode, and I really wouldn’t want you to be responsible for that. Also, I’ll never be this cheap again.”

#2 Obviously you MUST NOT FAKE testimonials. But you can write “samples”. Find someone you want to write for, then re-write their copy and add these to your portfolio. You need to be clear that they’re just samples, but now you have something for the client to judge your ability on. Beats turning up to the party without a bottle. 

Don’t let a lack of testimonials stop you from cranking out THE MOOOLAH…

P.S.P. French

Get Started with Direct Response Copywriting

The two easiest ways to get started with direct response copywriting:

 ~ Emails and Facebook Ads ~

These are the most-in demand services, the easiest to deliver and the best way to build your portfolio and get a few testimonials under your belt. 

There is one more. If you have experience writing content, you might like to lend your pen to advertorials. These are also in high-demand – and well paid – but you need to know where to look to find this work. 

For the majority, you want to start with either emails or Facebook Ads. For Facebook, don’t worry about doing the copy, creative and setting up the ads. If you can – cool. This instantly bumps you into a higher pay bracket. But if you can’t, this requires adding two monster-sized skills to you arsenal at a time when your ONLY GOAL is to get paid for writing copy that converts. 

Don’t do this to yourself. I tried… instantly traumatizing. 

All you need to do is provide the copy and make suggestions about the creative. Any client that is halfway serious will already be working with a designer and a media buyer. 

But what about the eternal fortunes to be plundered by writing high-converting sales pages that pay you eternal royalties right down the pipe?!  

Seriously, don’t worry about building complex campaigns and writing sales pages straight away. This is out-of-sequence. The big boss man isn’t going anywhere.  You’re still coming up through the ranks.  

Get some work, gain some confidence, stack some cash.

P.S.P. French

Freelance Copywriters: What NOT To Do

When I started as a freelance copywriter, I wrote anything for anyone. I wrote emails, Facebook ads, content, sales pages… the lot. If something needed writing, “I’d put my hand up and say, “I’m a copywriter, I’ll do it.”

It seemed like a reasonable thing to do.

I was fresh out of regular paychecks and turning down cash jobs was counterintuitive, unless what I really wanted to be was destitute. Getting clients was never the problem. I had a career in magazine journalism and startup marketing behind me. People wanted me to write for them and I wanted their money.

That’s where things went wrong.

I started working with a bitcoin trader. Then a personal brand. Then a chiropractor. Then a real estate agent (never do this). Then an Instagram influencer. Then someone launching a personal development book. Then a startup in Helsinki.

It was CHAOS.

The problem was no consistency. No boundaries. No rhythm. No meaning. No mission. I was writing in seven different voices across seven unrelated industries, carrying the cognitive burden of constant task switching.

My task list looked like a crossword puzzle.

I was required for everything, all the time.

Which is just like having a job.

So, if you want the enviable freedom and mind-bending glamor of a freelance copywriting career…

The best thing you can do is say no at least as much as you say yes.

P.S.P. French