In the last issue of this e-newsletter, I promised to give you
\nsome advice on how to succeed as a freelance writer in today’s
\nhighly competitive, over-crowded market.<\/p>\n
So without further preamble, here are some suggestions for
\nsurviving and thriving as a copywriter — and in particular, as a
\nnewbie freelancer — in 2018 and beyond:<\/p>\n
#1–Get good.<\/p>\n
Your competitors are studying the books, taking the courses,
\nattending the conferences, watching the videos.<\/p>\n
If you are not similarly a student of copywriting, you will soon
\nbe left behind, unable to compete on their level.<\/p>\n
#2–Next, get even better.<\/p>\n
If you think you’re already a decent writer, don’t stand still.
\nMove forward.<\/p>\n
Keep learning. Improve always. Continue reading the books, taking
\nthe workshops, and studying.<\/p>\n
Remember this famous saying: “School is never out for the pro.”<\/p>\n
#3–Read.<\/p>\n
There are only 3 ways to get better as a writer: study (see #1
\nabove) … write (see #4 below) … and read.<\/p>\n
Read a lot. Read books about business, marketing, and writing …
\nand about all sorts of other topics.<\/p>\n
The books about business, marketing, and writing improve your
\nability to write kick-butt copy.<\/p>\n
The books on all other topics give you a storehouse of knowledge
\non all sorts of subjects you can draw on to add interest and
\nverisimilitude to your copy.<\/p>\n
They will also teach you how to write better through example.<\/p>\n
#4–Write.<\/p>\n
Isaac Asimov wrote for 10 hours or so a day, 7 days a week.<\/p>\n
Stephen King has said he writes every day of the year except
\nChristmas and his birthday.<\/p>\n
Write every day. If you want Sundays off, that’s fine.<\/p>\n
#5–Avoid generic assignments.<\/p>\n
The worst projects are writing articles and blog posts on general
\nsubjects that anyone can look up on Google.<\/p>\n
That’s because writers of these articles and posts essentially
\njust search Google for other articles on the same topic, pull
\nsomething from 4 or 5 of them, and cobble together a new piece.<\/p>\n
Since any idiot can do this, it doesn’t — and never will — pay
\nparticularly well. It’s a commodity service. And boring. So why
\nbother?<\/p>\n
#6–Choose a niche.<\/p>\n
All else being equal, in whatever field you look, specialists get
\npaid more and have a much easier time getting work than
\nnon-specialists.<\/p>\n
For instance, neurosurgeons make more money than family doctors —
\nand patent attorneys out-earn local attorneys with general
\npractices.<\/p>\n
As a writer, you can specialize either in a medium (e.g., white
\npapers, case studies), a product or industry (e.g., chemicals,
\ninvestment newsletters), or both (e.g., SEO for chemical companies).<\/p>\n
#7–Acquire specialized knowledge.<\/p>\n
Once you’re in a niche, become an obsessive student of the topic,
\nand if you can, acquire some credentials to make it evident to
\nothers that you are a subject matter expert.<\/p>\n
For instance, in the 1980s, when I was inundated with assignments
\nfrom computer and software firms, I trained to become a certified
\nIT professional. And as an engineering graduate, I already knew
\nsome programming.<\/p>\n
#8–Compete.<\/p>\n
Any writing field where the success of your copy can be measured
\nand proven — and that is most notably in direct response
\nmarketing — will pay you more than writing disciplines where ROI
\ncannot be measured.<\/p>\n
By “compete,” I mean specialize in areas where results can be
\nmeasured.<\/p>\n
You don’t have to win every time, and you won’t.<\/p>\n
But if you get known as a top gun in a writing area with
\nmeasurable ROI, you can get paid top dollar.<\/p>\n
#9–Know what pays.<\/p>\n
Some specialties and writing tasks pay better than others.
\nGravitate toward one or more of those areas, and you’ll make more
\nmoney.<\/p>\n
For instance, writing white papers pays well; writing blog posts
\ndoes not.<\/p>\n
#10–Persist.<\/p>\n
You will have frequent setbacks, failures, and disappointments
\nthat will knock you to your knees repeatedly.<\/p>\n
But as long as you get right back up, you will come out a winner.
\nAs my Facebook friend Mike says, persistence breaks resistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the last issue of this e-newsletter, I promised to give you some advice on how to succeed as a freelance writer in today’s highly competitive, over-crowded market. So without further preamble, here are some suggestions for surviving and thriving as a copywriter — and in particular, as a newbie freelancer — in 2018 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1600"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1606,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions\/1606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}