Gil, I saw your copywriting course mentioned by someone on LinkedIn.
Went to your website at http://www.freelance-copy-writing.com/ and it looks like it may be for me.
I am a stay at home dad looking for a way to bring in some extra money. I have worked as a technical writer, is that enough experience?
-Mike
Dear Mike,
While this type of career may not be for everyone, and like everything else in life, you get back what you put into it, I feel that it is an amazing opportunity for someone like yourself!
Sounds like you have a good background and could easily make something of this.
In my reports I cover how I started and how I made a success of copywriting/marketing.
Plus I include all the information on how to write copy that gets results. This information alone gives you the ability to start out at the same level as many of the copywriters that today are pulling in a lot of money. And many of these secrets are still unknown to many copywriters who have been writing copy for years.
While I get a lot of irate e-mails from copywriters claiming that copywriting is not something you can just learn overnight, there are no secrets, it takes years of experience, I agree that experience is very important.
But what if you have spent 5 years writing copy and you keep turning out stuff that doesn't work? ( I usually tell these writers that they feel there are no secrets because they haven't discovered them yet!)
By starting out with all these secrets that it took me years to learn, I realize that most beginning copywriters would have certain advantages over many copywriters who have years of experience writing.
Many folks believe that having a pile of degrees, being an English Major and stuff like that is what makes a good copywriter, I believe the opposite! Writing like an English Major produces copy that people won't read.
In my opinion, the best copywriting is something that produces results. This is done by communicating. Reaching out to your audience on a 1-to-1 basis, writing directly to your audience and at a level that matches theirs. While good English should be used, often it gets in the way.
Over the years I haven't been afraid to slaughter the English language and to even make up words to create the effect I was after.
Besides communicating, copywriting is about being creative, informative and about selling.
Is there a demand for copywriters today?
I don't have statistics on that. But I can tell you that even though I haven't promoted my copywriting services recently, I get several inquiries a week from companies that want me to write copy for them. Come to think of it, even when I was doing a lot of copywriting, I did little self-promotion, instead I did things to get the potential clients to come to me.
Even if most of the copywriters were out of work today, I would say that there would be opportunities for copywriters who could promote their work properly. It's about reaching those who need your services and about letting them know what you can do for them, not that you need a job.
Of course there probably aren't a lot of copywriters out of work. And when the economy is bad, smart business owners realize that someone that knows how to write copy that will sell more of their products and increase their sales (and possibly saving their business) is priceless!
When things slow down for a business, they may be forced to let their copywriters go. This is then a great opportunity for freelance copywriters that they can call on each time they have a project that needs to be written.
I've often been given freelance copywriting projects by companies that have a staff of writers. Sometimes because their writers were busy, weren't that good or they just wanted a fresh approach.
Years ago the CEO of Service Merchandise called me on a weekend because he had a project that was special to him and wanted it written right, and didn't want to bother with any of the writers he had on staff. And let everyone at Service Merchandise know how happy he was with what I had written for him.
Early Monday morning I received a call from the Service Merchandise marketing manager (the person who usually contacts me to write copy for them) shocked that the CEO contacted me directly, kind of like I had gotten a direct call from God!
At one point in my career, I was called in to the Publishers Clearing House headquarters. They had tried to talk me into working for them, just going over everything written and designed by their staff and improve on them!
If you know how to write copy that will sell merchandise for your clients and to sell yourself, you will have a great potential as a copywriter. This is what my copywriting reports should be able to instill in you!
And Mike, while this may not be for everyone, I have made a hell of a lot of money over the years, and I've made a lot of friends!
Plus I guarantee that this will work for you! If you are not overjoyed with where this has gotten you, contact me in 90 days and I'll give you a full refund!
(Actually it is easy for me to make this guarantee, because no one has taken me up on it yet!)
Best of luck, and keep in touch.
Gil Carlson
For a full explanation of my freelance copywriting course, please go to:
http://www.freelance-copy-writing.com/
