Copywriting
For those of you who are not familiar with the art of copywriting, this article will focus on giving an introduction to the subject and why it is in such high demand today.
The field of copywriting is large and continues to expand every year. A way to describe copywriting is putting a creative message in front of a consumer. In the book, Copywriting, it is mentioned that copywriting is based upon three fundamental principles. When you are writing to a customer, there has to be an involvement between the customer and the seller. You must then make sure that you explain the rewards as far as when the customer is purchasing a product. The final piece is achievement and that is what you as the writer will be focusing on. Whenever you write copy, you are looking to have a certain effect upon consumers. Usually this effect will be for consumers to desire a certain product because they will want to gain certain rewards. You know that you've achieved your objectives by hitting certain sales goals that have been set for your copywriting. There are many writers in the world but there is a specific niche for copywriters. Copywriters are the ones who write messages but mold them in a way that it brings about an interest in a consumer. With the number of advertisements out there today, consumers will not respond unless it is something that specifically interests them. This is why it is more important than ever to have a clear focus when you are writing your copy so that you know which particular niche you're trying to hit within the broader population.
There will always be a need for copywriters no matter whether the economy is in a recession or in a boom. Companies must always put out a message to consumers and as long as this demand is needed, copywriters will be in high demand. If you are interested in working as a copywriter, you will have many different places to look for work. You can decide to work for advertising agencies, on the Internet, or be your own boss. There are many different markets for you in these three that were just listed.
When you are writing copy for a seller of a product, the key is that you must remember to put yourselves in the shoes of the consumer. This is done through doing extensive research and studying what goes through the mind of that particular consumer. Each niche or group of people will be different in what will motivate them to do certain things. By doing this research, you will have a better idea of where you need to go with the message that you are trying to convey to your target audience.
This article on copywriting is meant to give you a broad overview of the field. The demand for copywriters will always be strong due to the need of companies to send messages to their audiences to buy their products. If you do not employ someone to promote your product, you will be left behind. This is why copywriting is such a good field and is in such high demand.
Copywriting Assignments
There are numerous methods for you to acquire copywriting assignments. Within this article day, will focus on different websites where you can acquire copywriting assignments as well as how to acquire clients who will bring you copywriting assignments.
There are many different online freelance marketplaces where you can acquire copywriting science. There are three particular websites which stand head and shoulders above most others. The first of these is www.guru.com. This is the biggest online freelance marketplace. He second of these three websites is www.elance.com. A third of these three websites is www.findafreelancer.com. Each of these websites has a search agent which can e-mail jobs based upon the desired search criteria which you would like. The third website is the European version of the first two. It is the smallest of the three but is still a significant source of good copywriting work. Most of the websites do usually charge a subscription fee, whether it be monthly or quarterly. This can be a great investment because you will have access to copywriting assignments that you would not normally have seen.
There are many other ways to acquire copywriting assignments other than using online freelance marketplaces. This is a place where you can use your creativity in selling yourself. Many companies in need of copywriting work will not normally look online first. They may go towards local contacts and sources that they have because they feel more comfortable using someone who they can physically meet with. You can take advantage of these needs by cultivating contacts within your region. Look into joining your Chamber of Commerce as well as other civic groups. Be sure to bring business cards with you and have a thirty second speech explaining what you do so that people remember what you do and who you are. Do not work at directly selling yourself to them at first but rather make the connection and allow them to come to you. People are more willing to do business with you when they actually know you rather then just a face on a website or an anonymous bid to a project that they post.
Another key when acquiring copywriting assignments is to make sure that you have a website. Many copywriters and professionals do not have a website and this can give you a competitive advantage. You can publish some of your past assignments on the Internet so that if people are interested, they can look at your website. You do not have to worry about e-mailing them any information and they will contact you if they're interested. If you work on getting your site indexed, people searching the Internet for copywriting could also stumble across your website and provide in other source of leads for you.
When looking for copywriting assignments, the key is that you must sell yourself and think creatively outside of the box. If you set yourself up well, you will find that you will be inundated with work by consistently prospecting for new business using some of the techniques explained above.
Copywriting Jobs
There are a great deal of copywriting jobs out there today. Within this article today, we will look at the future of copywriting jobs as well as where you can find more information.
The number of copywriting job is enormous. As of February 10, 2007, if you did a keyword search of "copywriting", there were 509 open jobs. This is only a small part of the market and you could find many other copywriting jobs on other websites as well. With the evolution of the Internet, there are more and more jobs available to write good web content among other things on the Internet. Often many copywriting jobs can be found where you will find a plethora of advertising agencies and a good example of this would be in New York. Within your area, there will be a good number of smaller marketing agencies where you may be able to find work as a copywriter. The number of opportunities for a copywriter is very high and this is a great feel to work in.
Copywriting salaries usually range from $41,000 a year up to $56,000 a year or more. From this website, 41,000 represented what the 25th percentile are making on average within the field whereas the people earning 56,000 a year were in the top 75%. This is a rough gauge on what you could potentially make if you decide to take a copywriting job.
To look just be on the realm of grabbing a job as a copywriter, you could also look at doing some freelance copywriting. If you're not happy with the amount of money that you could make within the copywriting field, you could look at supplementing this on the side by bidding for projects at either of these two following websites: www.elance.com or www.directfreelance.com. On either of these two websites, you are able to bid on projects that are listed as well as set up a profile to showcase your best work. You can create search criteria so that jobs that meet what you want can be e-mailed to you. This is a great way to supplement your income.
Copywriting jobs are out there for the taking. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, copywriting jobs will grow in line with the general economy over the next decade. This means that you will see probably about average growth for the industry but you could see a great deal more growth if you focus on Internet copywriting. This is a very flexible industry in which you have potentially a greater chance at dictating your terms and conditions and how you would like to work. This is something that you can look into when you start talking with a potential employer. Do not underestimate also the opportunity to work as a freelancer because you could command higher rates and this would increase the amount of flexibility you would have within your life.
Copywriting Procedures
Within this article on copywriting procedures, we will look at how to structure your copywriting when working for a client. There has been a great deal of copywriting done through the years and it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel every time you want to write copy. We will specifically be focused upon the sales letter because this could have the greatest impact for you, especially if you decide to do SEO copywriting.
One particular school of thought speaks to making your website one large online sales letter. Continuing in this train of thought, this could present a great opportunity for you. You could write for both off-line businesses as well as for online business using the format of a sales letter.
Within a sales letter, there are three main components that will make a difference whether or not your product will sell. The first component is the headline. If you do not grab your prospects' attention right away, you will have wasted your time in developing the rest of the copy. The second component of a sales letter is the offer. This part is important as you must be explicit with the offer to give the prospect what he or she now wants. It must be something that will entice the prospect to take action upon the completion of reading the letter. The final component of a sales letter is the postscript. This is the second most read portion of a sales letter after the headline. When you are writing this, this is the extra incentive that you will be using to motivate your prospects to take advantage of the offer that you presented right away. When you are focusing upon writing a sales letter, you should take each particular step of the sales letter in order. You do not sit down and just writes a sales letter completely through but rather take it step by step. This entails writing the headline followed by writing the offer and then followed by writing the postscript. Following these copywriting procedures will ensure that you will have set yourself up for great success.
If you do not have a great deal of experience within copywriting, make sure to follow the examples of copywriting procedures set up by some of the foremost experts. One of the key authors who you should look into is Dan Kennedy. He has written some great books over the years and is a great resource for you to use.
Hopefully this article on copywriting procedures will help you in becoming a better copywriter. The key behind successful copywriting is to use the formulas that have been developed while putting your own spin on what you're writing. Copywriting procedures are important because people have developed these in a certain method to be successful for a reason. There is no need to reinvent the wheel because this will only be frustrating for you in the long run as you'll find that you have less sales while putting in more effort. By taking the time to follow operating procedures, you'll set yourself up to maximize potential sales when developing a sales letter.
Dot Cully
http://www.dotstrustinyou.com
http://www.yourlearingcurve.blogware.com
