Get paid to write a book

When you sit down at your desk, write a first draft as quickly as you can. Don’t refer to any of the word lists you made. Be casual, be confident, and get those words down.

Your first draft is your first take on the job. This gives you something to work with, and you can tweak it until you’re satisfied.

As you become more experienced, your first draft comes close to being your final draft. I usually send my second draft to the client as the “Initial Draft”. I offer two free revisions of this draft in my writing agreement. I’ve found that if I’m working for the client directly, then either the client accepts my Initial Draft, and says “Great! Just what I want”, or I do one minor revision. When working with an agency, I rarely get asked to do revisions.

My feeling is that because I’ve done a lot of preparation (research, getting a conversation down, and brainstorming), I’m pretty much on target when I send the Initial Draft. Therefore, the preparation work you do is important. Don’t try to jump into a final draft that you intend to send to the client when you sit down at the computer. You’ll freeze up. Having a process that you work through leaves plenty of room for discovery —and all writing is discovery — and creativity, and this shows in the final results. Even if you don’t use any of the material you created in your preparation in the final draft, the preparation process loosens you up and helps you to write creative copy day after day, because you’re not working — you’re playing, and your subconscious mind loves to play.

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You’ve got a page of conversation. Print it out if it’s on the computer. Without thinking about it too much, circle any words which appeal to you. Circle five words. At this stage, you’re nowhere near writing the final copy. You’re making creative connections. This method of brainstorming uses your right and left brain.

Starting with the first word, write down 20 word associations you come up with. You can use a cluster diagram, or just make a list.

The key to getting results with this method is lack of effort on your part. Just do the process mechanically, and write down the first words which pop into your mind.

When you’ve done this, go and do something else for a while. Have a cup of coffee, or take the dog for a walk. Sometimes you’ll get a rush job, and you won’t be able to take much time away, but no matter how rushed you are, take at least ten minutes.

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The biggest stumbling block for a writer is the blank page or computer screen. Writers get performance anxiety just like actors get stage fright. Luckily, that block is easy to conquer when you’re writing copy.

Copy is conversational. If you’re used to writing novels or non-fiction, this can be hard to achieve at first. Good copy is simply communication, rather than literary elegance, and you don’t have to agonize over grammar. If you’re getting your client’s message across, you’re writing good copy.

Here’s a handy trick to get words on the page. When you start writing, imagine you’re talking to someone, telling her about the product. It helps to type something like: “Jeannie, I just found this great new thing, let me tell you about it…” Then describe the product.

Or, if you’re writing longer copy, longer than a typical page of 250 words, talk into a tape recorder, and pretend to tell someone about the product, then transcribe the tape. Either of these techniques will stop you using a stiff and formal voice. You’ll be using an informal conversational style and tone, which is appropriate for copy.

You’ll also notice you’ve conquered the blank page.

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The more copy you write for clients each day, the more money you make. Therefore, you need a method to get copy written fast, without dithering and wasting time wondering what to do next. The following method works. I recommend that you use it on every job. More play than work, it’s fun and stress-free. Try it.

Step One: Research

After you’ve been briefed by the client, your first step is research. Even if you’re sure that you have all the information you need, doing a bit of hunting and gathering for more information lets your subconscious mind brood on the task before you start writing.

My aim when I research is always to get what I call “the Click”. The Click is part concept, part inspiration, part structure, and part my subconscious mind waving at me and yelling: “Yoohoo! We’re ready, you can get started.”

Your research period may be only a few minutes. When I was asked to do a fast rewrite job on five 30-second radio spots for a jewellery store, out of the two hours I had, I spent half an hour on research. Although I’d worked for the client previously, and knew what he was selling, I wanted to get a new angle, a unique fact – something different that I could base the copy around. I found it. I learned that gold is eternal: it’s older than our solar system. That nugget of info inspired me, and let me breeze through writing the five spots.

Unless I’d been prepared to “waste” time on the research, I would have had a much harder time writing the copy, and the copy wouldn’t have had any creative sparkle.

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ALWAYS SEND THE CLIENT YOUR WRITING SERVICES AGREEMENT, as soon as you accept the brief. Yes, it’s in caps, and I’m shouting, and the reason is this: all the hassles you’re likely to encounter during your copywriting career can be countered with an effective agreement, signed by the client, BEFORE you start work. Whenever I accept a brief, and omit this vital step, something goes wrong. So do it. Always. No exceptions.

When you’re working as a sub-contractor with an agency, whether the agency is for advertising, Public Relations, or multimedia services, the agency will usually have its own agreement that you’ll be asked to sign. Most agency agreements are straightforward. Sometimes they’re not. Strike out anything in the agency agreement you don’t agree with, initial your strikeouts, sign the agreement and send it back.

Here’s the Writing Services Agreement I use. It’s not fancy, but it does the job. Feel free to use it, or parts of it, to create your own agreement.

SAMPLE WRITING SERVICES AGREEMENT

Agreement for Writing Services

REF: XXXX

DATE:

Client:

Project:

Fee:

Advance retainer:

Balance due on completion:

Notes:

Your signature below authorizes me to write copy for the project above, for the fee stated. (You can return the agreement via postal mail, fax, or e-mail.)

Two revisions are included if requested within five days of your receipt of copy, and are not based on a change in the assignment brief made after copy is submitted. Balance of payment is due on receipt of the invoice.

You understand that the assignment is work done for hire, which gives you the copyright. You release me from any responsibility for legal or regulatory problems that may arise from the use of any copy I write for you.

Payment options:

 Check, Direct Deposit

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 If you’ve been hired by an agency, you’ll be given a brief. If you’re hired by a business unused to working with copywriters, you’ll need to fill out your own briefing sheet. The sample briefing sheet below contains information that’s useful to have. Tailor it to your own requirements. Computer-format your briefing sheet with adequate spacing so it’s easy to fill in, then print out some copies and keep them by the phone.

SAMPLE BRIEFING SHEET (Figure 1)

Type of product or service: 

Promotional name of the product or service: 

Any other names? 

A short description: 

What three major points do you want to make? 

What’s the primary reason the customer would be interested in this product or service? 

A technical description (or ask for the manufacturer’s specification): 

Options (colors, material etc): 

Used for, and how? 

Target audience: 

Benefits over competing products: 

Comments: 

Customer response required: 

Are there any disclaimers, or legal requirements which need to be mentioned in the copy?

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In copywriting, you don’t need to do it all yourself. In fact, you can’t. Your copy is based on whatever you’re trying to sell. This is a huge plus, because the product always gives you somewhere to start writing. And the more you know about the product, the better. Your client hands you the product, or tells you about it, or explains the service, or gives you a guided tour of the factory, and tells you what he wants: a sales letter, a brochure or a news release. This is “the brief”, your instructions.

After he’s explained the brief, the most important question to ask your client is: “What do you want the reader to do after he reads this?” (Or the viewer or listener to do, if you’re writing broadcast copy or for a Web site.) You’re asking what the customer’s response should be. Getting the customer’s response is your goal. The response could be: to call a phone number, to attend a sale, or to order from the catalog.

Write down the customers’ required response. While I’m working on a job, I like to stick a reminder note onto my computer monitor: “Call client number”, for example, or “order product”. When you get into the excitement of writing the copy, your thoughts can get tangled. It’s easy to forget the response. Writing the required response down, and keeping it visible, means that it’s always at the forefront of your mind.

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Your Day One Objectives

On Day One, you’ll learn about the client brief, and will develop your own briefing sheet. You’ll also learn a nifty technique to help you write copy anywhere, anytime.

Sections:

• The client brief.
• Writing copy step by step.
• How to Write A Perfect, Selling Ad.
• Day One Exercises.

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It’s no exaggeration to say that the sky’s the limit on your earning potential as a copywriter. If you want to push your marketing, within a couple of years, you can be earning a six-figure income without breaking much of a sweat.

When you’re just starting out, you’ll charge somewhere between $50 and $100 an hour. As your experience grows, you’ll charge more. If you have expertise in areas like finance, real estate, and multimedia, you can charge much more right away.

Of course, your hourly rate is not all gravy. You need to figure your expenses and overheads into that tally before you start to calculate the profits. But you can make money copywriting, a lot of money, because all businesses need to communicate and you’re an expert communicator.

Welcome to the wonderful world of copy! Let’s get started.

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There’s a huge market for copywriting services. Every business uses copy. You may need to educate smaller businesses on what you can do for them, but the market is there. If you’ve tried to sell other kinds of writing, like novels or magazine articles, the openness of the copywriting market will come as a huge relief. It’s not hard to find copywriting work.

However, you do need to market. As a group, we writers are not the world’s hustlers. We’re not pushy or extroverted. We’d rather write than sell our services by telemarketing or by appearing unannounced in a prospect’s office.

Take heart. If you’re by nature shy, you can make initial contact with clients via postal mail or e-mail, or by some other gentle, but resourceful method of self-promotion. You don’t have to change your personality to find effective and fun ways to promote your services.

That’s all it takes to make money freelance copywriting. Know that copy is everywhere and that it’s all a market, get your client’s message across, and market yourself.

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