Yahoo’s Hot Jobs for 2007 listing now says that “copywriter” is one of 2007’s hottest professions (which might explain my staggering workload).
In fact, in a survey by our company, 60 percent of advertising and marketing executives who plan to hire new employees said they’ll be adding copywriters. Due to this increased demand, average starting salaries for senior copywriters will rise 6 percent in 2007 to $63,000 to $92,500 annually. Versatile writers with experience developing content for both print and online projects are especially valued and may earn even greater pay. Copywriters who specialize in a particular industry, such as pharmaceuticals, are in particularly strong demand.
Please note the next to last sentence: “Versatile writers with experience developing content for both print and online projects…“
Versatility. It’s a good word, especially as it concerns your career. Online’s cool, but print is still where much of the money lies. The value-added writer does both.
Do It Now!
Look, I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’ve been through a lot of boom and bust cycles, and right now, writers are looking at a boom.
If you’re looking for commercial work but not finding it, you need to change where you’re looking.
Yes, there is a lot of low-dollar competition, but differentiating yourself (and adding value to your words) makes all the difference. Let the others fight over the underpaid scraps.
Be smart. Add value. Build a sustainable business. And market that business to the people you want to work for.
And realize that you write the story of your own career. Make yourself the hero.
Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
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Comments 15
Excellent post, as always, Tom. Here’s a post made by my friend Ryan Healy (in response to one of my posts) about being different…
http://ryanhealy.typepad.com/copywriting/2007/01/controversy_in_.html
I truly believe that versatility is going to be a powerful skillset sought by today’s more discreminating client. (And clients will become more discreminating over time, too.)
Good job.
Hi Tom, now I’m probably going to sound a little dumb here but that’s okay – I don’t mind. But I do want to get a good understanding what exactly a copyrighting is, what sort of training you need, and how a new writer might start to develop their copyrighting skills. You might have already posted on this before, but would be grateful if you could direct me to some posts or sites that might help me understand. Cheers, Liz
Liz, you’re talking about owning the rights to the copy (called copyright) rather than writing the copy (or copywriting). They are different. One is about ownership while the other is about creating it.
Liz, Michel’s right. Like me, he’s probably identified himself as a “copywriter” at a party — and had people ask about intellectual property issues. It happens to me all the time.
A copywriter is essentially a commercial writer. While a copywriter could write the entire range of commercial copy – from press releases to ad campaigns to direct response to white papers – most tend to specialize in a specific area.
How to get started? That’s a huge question. A great starting point would be a self-evaluation. Are you a good writer – a person with a quick mind and lots of ideas?
There are a million ways to get started. I can’t truly point to any specific blog. There are no end to the number of books available that cover that ground; some help with the writing while others cover the business half of the equation.
I’d start there.
Hi Tom (and Michel), thanks for that. I see that I made something of a spelling error when asking about ‘copywriting’. Apologies. Thanks for the answer. It seemed everywhere I turn on the internet, the word ‘copywriter’ appears, so was curious. Obviously it’s a catch all phrase for all sorts of writers that target businesses to write for. Sounds like something I can do. I will have to look into it. Will check out the local library and see what they have to read. Cheers, Liz
Hi Tom, thanks for the encouraging post.
I recently expanded on my work as a legal writer-blogger by launching a business communications company offering consulting and content writing to service professionals.
I’ve been testing out a few different pricing approaches and would appreciate some guidance from seasoned copywriters.
I’ve seen the Writer’s Market report. Do you know of any other pricing resources? Thanks very much, Lori
Tom, somehow we’re pedaling on the same bike today, so I’ve quoted you in my post.
I have a writer client, very creative AND resistant to structure. When I asked her “What’s your plan for this year” she said she wanted to make 100K copywriting and use the rest of her time writing a novel. When I asked her how she scheduled time for both (plus her family) she said, “I don’t. I just do what’s in front of me.”
It’s always curious how creativity and structure get mutually annihilated in our brains. If she hits 100K and gets traction on her novel, I will be the first to apologize.
Positioning yourself effectively in a niche is definitely the key to getting high paid work as a copywriter.
Many of my best clients will speak to several different copywriters before they hire me.
It’s my diversity and depth of knowledge in helping information marketers market themselves both online and offline that puts me ahead of other copywriters.
But there are so many untouched niches.
I talk a little about how to think out of the box when you’re starting out as a copywriter in this blog post…
http://www.copywriting1.com/2007/01/getting-started-making-money.html
But beyond that if you’re smart you’ll niche tight and use every piece of copy you do to increase your value to that niche.
Look at Alan Forrest Smith niching himself in the hairdressing industry.
Bob Bly is niched in a couple of industrys so technical I can’t even explain to you what they are.
Clayton Makepeace told me in a recent phone conversation that nearly all his copy is in the health industry now (Clayton makes over $2 million dollars a year writing copy).
Unclaimed niches abound for copywriting.
Just call yourself a marketing consultant instead of copywriter and you’re in business.
Most people, including business owners don’t understand what a copywriter is.
So tell people you’re a “marketing consultant” or you write ads.
Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh
Lori: Pricing issues always come up. There’s no “magic bullet” when it comes to pricing. You can always reverse engineer rates by setting a target income and working backwards form there, ending up with an hourly rate.
That’s tough when you’re starting, and it ignores the market realities. Still, it’s a staring point.
And it’s always nice to know what others charge for similar work, but experience suggests the rates charged by consultants and freelancers vary widely – even for the same work.
Lisa: I’m not exactly the Structure King either. Though I’m not planning to write any novels.
Andrew: Niches are good, but I encourage “niche promiscuity” among newer writers. Those with talent find a way play across markets, and I think it prevents a certain staleness.
I couldn’t agree more. In a few years I went from being a pretty poorly-paid commodity hack writing for magazines to being a pretty well-paid technical copywriter working for big companies such as HP, Microsoft and eBay. How? By learning about websites, how they are produced and how to write for them, by totally geeking out on my clients products and services and by specialising in the technology sector. Your mileage may differ but differentiation and specialisation worked for me.
Heck, I’m just goose-pimply at the thought that companies are finally realizing that hiring folks to write for the way we all read online is a good thing.
(OK, they threw writing for print in there too. Makes sense. Still — anytime anyone says anything positive about writing for the web, it’s stand-up-and-cheer time.)
Seriously, if I hear one more “let’s just duplicate our existing print online and save a few bucks,” … well … it’s not going to be pretty. It’s encouraging to hear that those paradigms maight be a-shifting at last.
The trend the last decade has been to jettison the staff writers and outsource. I wonder if we won’t see that trend reversed sometime soon.
There’s so much content a company *could* be writing for the Internet that it could easily consume a writer’s full attention.
Hallo there… I’m from Italy. Your post is quite interesting and it let me hope well… me too am in the copywriting,,, but here is quite diffuclt to catch and to keep a good flow of work….
Would you recommend AWAI as good skill-building for developing the assets of a good copywriter? Are Michael Masterson and Bob Bly’s online courses a solid investment? I have heard pro and con about AWAI. Thank you.
Lillie: While I attended a few seminars many years ago, I haven’t taken, witnessed or perused the coursework for any of the classes you mention.
I can’t offer an informed opinion beyond saying a class designed to de-elevate the learning curve probably wouldn’t hurt, though there are several books available that offer much the same advice.
What a class really offers isn’t the “Ten secrets of Instant Copywriting Success” (there aren’t any) or a surefire method to $200K a year, but the chance to learn in an interactive environment.
In other words, look for an instructor you respect, not a list of promises you can’t quite believe.
Good luck, and let me know what happens.
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