So, What Does A Copywriter Do Anyway?

Jamie Brown    Uncategorized     email copywriter, What Does A Copywriter Do

The question I get frequently is:  What does a copywriter do?

Before we dive in and answer what does a copywriter do, I think it’s important to start by defining some terms …

A ‘copywriter’ is anyone who writes advertising and/or marketing materials. The ‘copy’ that gets written ranges from radio ads and TV commercials to sales/email letters and cereal boxes. Copy is EVERYWHERE and there are a lot of people who make a full time living on this valuable skill.

Copywriters can take on multiply descriptions.  For instance, what does a copywriter do in the corporate world as opposed to what does a copywriter do as a freelance writer?  What does an email copywriter do vs what does an advertising copywriter do?  Copywriters can work for an advertising agencies, corporate marketing departments or as freelance writers. While an advertising or email copywriter use their skills to persuade people to buy a wide variety of goods and services, there are many freelance copywriters who specialize in a specific niches.  Email copywriters find a niche, collect leads and sell to that specific list.

Here are some popular copywriter niches :

Seo, Food, Real Estate, Travel, Insurance, Pets, Foreign Languages, Fund Raising, Fashion, Fitness, ESPN, Outdoor Living, Joint Pain, Plants, etc…

This is not a complete list – just some things off the top of my head. The crazy thing is, there are many niches within niches which means the opportunities are endless when you are trying to break into the copy-writing market.

What does a corporate copywriter do to make money?

In the corporate environment you will need to research the product or service in question and target your audience.  It is very important that you do it in that order.  The problem most copywriters have is, they find a niche that doesn’t have an active audience which means a lot of time and resources spent and no money in return.

What does a freelance copywriter do to make money (my secret weapon below)?

For a freelance writer with a home office, life is much less stressful.  You can take your time to find a niche that pays.  Meetings are usually in somebody else’s home or office and it’s not uncommon to have phone conferences or webinars. You also have the flexibility to create your own hours.  This was my obvious choice, but it didn’t come easy.  I had to really educate myself and stay committed to finding my niche.

Here’s another question i had to ask early on in my career; what does a copywriter do if you can’t write?  Here’s what I recommend you invest in if that is you and you don’t know where to start:

Popularity: 100% [?]