Finding Copywriting Clients For Fun & Profit

I think most of you can agree with me when I say:

Freelance copywriting is no easy task!

Not only are the skills of being a copywriter difficult, but also finding copywriting clients can prove to be challenging.

There are definitely a handful of great tactics to use along this journey of copywriting, so I put them into a post to get you started!

But before I dive into that, let’s cover…

Table of Contents

What is copywriting?

Copywriting is persuasive writing used in promotional materials to convince people to take action, usually in the form of purchasing something.

To put this in other words, copywriting is the act of putting words on a page to convert better. But it is not limited to just words. Images and videos can also utilize the principles of copywriting for a higher conversion rate.

Common places to use copywriting to its fullest potential are; landing pages, CTA, sales pages, blog posts, newsletters, autoresponders, ads, the scripts for videos, and just about everywhere that a customer might see a business.

Not only that, but copywriting can work for you outside of business! Everything from dating to convincing your friends to do the activity you are interested in.

In its simplest form, copywriting is the ability to understand humans and persuade them to take action.

How do I find copywriting clients?

The hardest task of accomplishing any goal?

STARTING!

The first step in finding clients is to understand who you are looking for. So, determine your target audience and then aggregate a list of people who fit your target audience that you would love to work with.

A good target audience for beginner writers is to reach out to marketing agencies because they usually have frequent writing work that needs to get done. This should provide a constant stream of work that will help to get you off the ground.

Everyone has a different approach and tactics that they prefer, but the primary ways to find copywriting clients is from:

Referrals
Send cold email pitches
Attend networking events
Applications on Job boards
Guest posting on blogs that your ideal clients are reading
Freelancing for marketing agencies and service providers

Each of these has its advantages and disadvantages. And the best way to get clients is to do all of these and figure out which ones you enjoy the most.

But the most effective tactic is referrals. This is because a referral is a lead that is more than likely to fall into your target audience.

Best of all? You only need a small sales pitch.

Cold email pitches are something that we all can benefit from, especially when looking for clients. Getting good at this skillset will help to better other areas in your work life as well!

In a post-pandemic era, networking events will return as a wonderful method to meet new people in the business world.

There are some online networking events, but it is more difficult to generate leads from this method.

One of the best tactics for networking events is to go to events that are closely related. For example, if you are a writer and go to a writing event, you are probably going to meet tons of other writers. This is great and all, except that these other writers probably don’t need your assistance.

But if you go to a website development event, then you can meet plenty of website developers who will likely need writers, because they offer a service that usually needs writing work to compliment it.

Some of the best job boards for writers are:

How do I find my first few copywriting clients?

As you have probably realized, content marketing takes a while to start generating leads.

So instead of climbing a mountain to get your first copywriting client, go for an easy win.

The best way to find your first few copywriting clients is to reach out to your network. You would be surprised how many people in your network are in need of a writer, especially a copywriter.

What I recommend, is to go to Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, or any of your most active channels, and offer your writing services.

A popular one that the CopywritingCourse recommends, is to offer 3 emails for 100$ to any business. This is a clear offering that is easy to understand, especially when posting on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Once you have tried this method to get the ball rolling, the next step is to build out a portfolio to showcase your abilities (and sharpen your abilities). This will increase the trust of potential clients to hire you for work because they can see what you are capable of.

So here’s the thing, once you’ve built out your portfolio, it is time to follow the methods in the “How Do I Find Copywriting Clients” section above.

What are Examples of copywriting?

The best examples of copywriting are ads that performed VERY WELL back in the day.

My favorite advertisements are:

These are great to start with because they have a proven track record, and are on the good ol’ ink and paper making it a simple format to understand.

Nowadays we have all sorts of social media channels, video formats, and tons of corners on the internet. Each and every one of these areas where people are spending attention has a different strategy that works the best to increase a conversion rate effectively.

Today, there are many examples of copy, some of the best ones are clickfunnel landing pages

How can I practice copywriting?

Study what the best copywriters in history have done to understand their work on a deeper level.

Now there are many books like Scientific Advertising and the Boron Letters that you should read, but I am going to talk about how to actually practice copywriting.

A great way is to do a mockup for various forms of copy, try redoing at local billboards, or some online craigslist ads.

This will get your feet wet in the world of writing copy. It will help to formulate your writing process and understand how much of your time should be spent on researching, vs. writing.

Another great way to practice copywriting is to handwrite what the legends have done. This will enable you to start to think like the world’s greatest copywriters.

After doing this on multiple examples of copy, I learned that legends like Gary Halbert and Joe Karbo never write above a 3rd-grade level. They live and die by the AIDA formula. Every single sentence teases the next sentence. Testimonials are the backbone of persuasion. They list the benefits of their product/service and not the features.

What skills do you need to be a copywriter?

Being a copywriter is no easy task, but if you break down the job into a few skill sets, it becomes a lot easier to understand.

Being an OK writer in today’s content marketing world is not going to cut it.

The most important skills needed to become a copywriter are:

Refined writing skills

Research and listening skills

Creativity with a sense of adventure and curiosity

Ability to understand the user’s experience

Empathy

Honing these skills is a crucial step in becoming the best copywriter that you can be.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this post! I wish you the best of luck finding copywriting clients!

But here’s the thing, if you need any copy written for your site, I’d love to help.

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