How to Write for a Living, by a Copywriter

Apart from being asked whether or not I put the little ‘c’ on logos (sigh), one of the most common questions I’m asked when I tell people I’m a copywriter is “how did you get into that?”.

Many people assume that writing for a living is a job reserved for dreamers who wish to compose their own novel, or for university professors writing down their research. Whilst these are both fantastic ways to write for a living, for mere mortals like you and me there are still loads of ways to have your hobby as your full-time job, one of which is copywriting.

If you are, or anyone you know is a wordsmith, here’s some ways in which you can kick start your copywriting career.

Apply for an internship

One of the most interesting things I did early on in my career was a three month internship with a local training provider. Not only was this a good way to get my foot in the door of digital marketing, but i was able to learn so much from the experience as a whole.

My internship was a marketing intern, so I learnt about a variety of different marketing aspects other than just copywriting, like social media and a bit of SEO.

Set up your own blog

If you love writing, you’ll love having your own little corner of the internet where you can keep all your thoughts. Your blog can be about anything: food, fashion, travel, health – you can write about anything that takes your fancy, it’s yours!

The platform I use for my blog is WordPress, it’s free and relatively easy to use. There are loads of step-by-step guides online too.

Create an online portfolio

In today’s digital age, many people argue that the paper portfolio is dead. As a copywriter, it’s essential to keep all the work you’re most proud of in one place so that you can show it to any potential employers. It’s also great for freelance purposes once you’re further along in your career.

For my portfolio, I use snippings.me.

Email some digital agencies

Even if they’re not advertising for a copywriting vacancy, it’s a great idea to email your CV and covering letter to some digital agencies. This means they can store your details on file, or they might even be that impressed with your writing that they invite you in for an interview anyway. Many agencies are always looking for new talent to add to their team, so get networking – you never know, you could land your dream job this way!

Show off your writing skills in your CV or covering letter

If you’re sending off your CV to an agency, remember that this is another opportunity to really show off your writing skills. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through on your CV and covering letter, just keep it professional! However, try to shy away from having a huge block of text at the beginning of your CV, as this will probably just be skimmed over!

Top tip: when writing a covering letter, it’s important to show a bit of your personality, but try not to take it too far. Making someone laugh with a bit of a joke is great. However, use an inappropriate joke and you could find that your CV goes straight in the bin! It’s important to keep it quirky, but professional.

You can follow Rebecca on Twitter

Want to know even more?

Give your content marketing another boost by getting our four free digital marketing ebooks and our weekly content marketing newsletter.

You’ll immediately receive 123 pages of expert insight straight to your inbox.