In a nutshell, copywriting is “the use of words and/or copy in advertising, marketing, or public relations to persuade or influence people to take an action, buy something, or behave in a certain way”. If you want to start a business around copywriting, you’re in the right place. We’ll cover the basics of getting your feet wet as a copywriter, as well as provide you with a solid foundation to build upon.
Find Your Niche
Finding a profitable niche is the first step to successfully running a copywriting business, as there are undoubtedly many areas in which you could excel. For example, you could become the go-to person for digital marketing or social media content writing among businesses and brands in your industry. There are several lucrative niches out there that you could exploit, so don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to one area.
Develop Strong Skills
The next step to starting a successful copywriting business is to develop your skills and grow your expertise in the field. To do this, you’ll need to learn the fundamentals of writing compelling copy and apply what you’ve learned to create practical examples of adverts, email campaigns, and website content. There are many free resources available online that can help you develop these skills, such as copywriting courses from Stanford and the University of Colorado. Additionally, don’t forget to develop your own unique selling point (USP), which is your company’s special ability to solve a particular problem or give consumers a compelling reason to choose you over your competitors. For example, let’s say you’re a financial services consultant, and your USP is that you’re the only financial services consultant to have a background in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics. This is a fairly unique combination of skills that sets you apart from the rest, and you can use this to your advantage.
Find A Way To Measure Your Success
Once you’ve established yourself as an expert in your field, the next step is to find a way to measure your success. You’ll undoubtedly be running your copywriting business for many years, so it’s important to know how you’re performing during this time. Learning to measure your progress and determine your ROI (return on investment) will be critical to your future success. If you can implement the right measurement framework, you’ll be able to properly track the results of your efforts and determine if this is a profitable venture or a hobby you should be taking time off from.
Hire A Team Of Writers
To fully establish yourself as a copywriting business, you’ll need to take the next step and hire a small team of writers. It’s not uncommon for copywriting businesses to have up to five writers on their payroll, as they often like to have one or two senior writers and several junior copywriters to assist them with various tasks. The amount of work can vary from one or two big projects a month to a thousand or more hours of copywriting, editing, and marketing work annually. The important thing to note here is that you’re not necessarily looking for full-time, salaried writers. It’s preferable to have contractors who can come in as needed to help with project work, as well as those who can contribute content on a freelance basis.
Take Advantage Of The Digital Marketplace
To conclude, you’ll want to make sure that you fully grasp the various digital marketing channels and how you can best take advantage of them. These channels, which include digital ads such as banner ads, social media marketing, and SEO (search engine optimization), can be exploited to gain exposure and attract potential customers to your business.
For example, if you’re selling kitchenware, you might decide to place an ad on a food related website as it is the most profitable marketing channel for your product. Alternatively, you could decide to run a social media campaign to generate interest in your product and gain potential customers who then become loyal advocates of your brand. Or, you could decide to pursue SEO, as this is one of the most economical and effective ways of attracting audiences and gaining credibility with search engines such as Google.
The digital marketing landscape is constantly changing, so it’s important to keep up with the times and learn new things to further your own career. Additionally, understanding the fundamentals of writing and applying them to various forms of content can help you build a meaningful and profitable business, no matter what stage you’re at.