Becoming a Successful Freelance Copywriter

One of the better jobs I’ve had, was offering my services as a freelance copywriter. I’ve always found copywriting to be enjoyable. It doesn’t matter if I’m doing SEO, writing a sales letter, direct mail, advertising collateral, or some other marketing piece.

For me, the secret to writing copy was never coming up with a headline first. It was always about writing a description, or telling a story about a photo. By copywriting “backwards” here’s how I wrote instant ad copy, for hundreds of satisfied customers, that kept coming back, year after year.

Watch the two minute video above to get a summary of the concept. Then, if you’d like to discover more, enjoy the full article below.

Freelance Copywriting Made Easy

Hate writing? Ever get writers block? Well, imagine if you couldn’t.

Imagine that you had to write great ad copy, for hundreds of clients, as part of your job description. Pumping out dozens of creatives, one after another, all day long.

I’m not talking leisurely direct mail pieces, or lengthy sales letters. I’m talking small brochures, shelf talkers, wobblers, door hangers and other advertising collateral.

I’m talking clients that walk into the printing plant at two in the afternoon, and want something on the press by five. There’s no time for whining, writer’s block, or other excuses, when the account is worth millions.

So what’s the secret behind being a successful freelance copywriter? Well, I did it as part of my job for over five years. As head of creative, for a large printing company, I picked up a few tips I can share.

You’ve probably heard the old saying, that a picture is worth a thousand words, or every picture tells a story. That’s the secret of a great instant copywriter. You find a photo, or have the client provide one, and tell the story behind it.

For example, one of our largest clients handed me a photo containing three cartons of juice, a hockey puck and a hockey stick. So what are you going to say?

Remember, this thing needs to be written, designed and proofed. Then have film and plates made. Another proof, then on the press, printed, stacked, cut and shipped within hours.

So I said to myself, all you need to do, is tell a story that involves the elements in the picture. Within minutes of receiving the photo, I was already writing the sales letter…

“Hey Mom, you’ll score big with this trio of winners. Try all three outstanding flavours. You’ll see why we call them our hat trick.”

“There’s Raspberry Cocktail, Pure Orange Juice and Grapefruit Juice from concentrate. Good tasting nutritious juice, that’s ready to be enjoyed any time of day. Order some today and make your fridge a hall of fame!”

I tied in hockey language like hall of fame, winning and hat trick, along with telling mom, that the juice is nutritious and enjoyable at any time. Then I wrapped it up with a solid call to action and an emotional reward at the end.

Simple huh? If you tell a story, and write to the person viewing the picture, sales go up exponentially. Even if you just get stock photography from a place like iStock Photo, you’ll never be stuck for words.

For example, if you want to sell aluminum foil, get a photo of family on a picnic and write about it. Tell the viewer how your brand of aluminum foil trays are strong enough save the day, for everyone from world class caterers, to grandma’s humble cabbage rolls.

See how fun it can be?

I always thought that it was an easy job being a copywriter. You can make it easy too. Just tie the creative into and around the picture. You’ll magnify your sales.

Oh… and one last thing… that company I wrote the juice ad for? They’re one of the worlds largest private dairies, doing billions of dollars per year in sales. I wrote and designed their home delivery service ads, for over five years. Yup… little old me.

So I can tell you for a fact, that this method works. Not only did the client love it, but so did their customers. And that’s all that matters, because they spoke with their wallets.

take care,

Michael

P. S.

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P. P. S.

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Tagged as: advertising. copywriting, copy writing, copywriter, creativity, ideas