Entries Tagged 'freelance copywriting' ↓

Guest Post: Ella Davidson of couponing website Coupons.org provided this article. Coupons is a leading savings and deals site that strives to save consumers money. They offer electronic coupons, Amazon coupons and many other retailer coupons.

The author’s views are entirely their own and may not reflect the views of FreelanceCopywritersBlog.com. If you are interested in producing a Guest Post for this blog, please get in touch with your ideas.

Starting out as a freelancer in any industry (such as copywriting) can be daunting. In her post, Ella shares her tips on how to get your freelance career started.

When a person is a freelancer, they are self-employed, and do not have any long-term alliance with any specific employer. Sometimes freelancers work entirely on their own, while a company represents others. There are many different fields that people freelance in, such as website development, writing editing and journalism. Freelance positions have the benefit of being very flexible, where the freelancer has more control over their work and commitments than is normally present. Landing a freelance position can sometimes be difficult, as there are many people competing for the same work. Here are four tips to help you in securing the position that you desire.

1. Read the ad

Read it twice and make sure you understand what the employer is asking for. Many people applying for freelance jobs use the same format, or the exact same text for every job that they apply for. While this is a means of saving time, employers are often looking for specific things, and no one wants to hire someone who couldn’t take five minutes to find out exactly what the work they were applying for entails. Reading the ad also gives you a good indication of what approach to take with the employer. For example, sometimes a formal approach is best, while on other occasions a casual application may be more suitable.

2. Follow the instructions

Follow even the silliest instructions to the letter. Employers are often inundated with responses to their positions, and they do not want to hire someone who will not follow their instructions. After all, if a potential employee won’t do what they are told before they are hired, how likely are they to do so after they get the position. Often employers will ask for samples within the application, if this is the case, don’t tell them you will send samples if they request them, they already did.

3. Take a chance

If you don’t have exactly what the employer is asking for, but you are very good at what you do, it is worth making the effort and applying. Often the level of experience and training that employers ask for is an ideal level rather than an absolute minimum. Present yourself well and tell the employer why they should choose you, what your strengths are and show them that you can do the work well.

4. Be confident, but realistic

The level of confidence that you show when applying for a position is often a key factor in whether you land the position. If you approach the employer by saying that you hope you have what it takes and you think you can fulfill the role, odds are, they won’t be very interested in you. If you don’t have confidence in what you can do, why should they? Rather, tell employers exactly what you can do and what your strengths are. However, don’t oversell yourself. Don’t tell employers that you can do something that you can’t, because if you do get the position, it won’t last if you can’t live up to the expectations you have created.

Landing a freelance position can often be difficult, and you may experience many rejections before you are successful. However, as you develop your skills both in your field and in applying for positions, your success rate should increase. Keep trying, and be optimistic. It may take time, but eventually you will find what you are looking for.

Bio: Jessica Sanders is an avid small business writer touching on topics from social media to telemarketing. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including credit card processing for lead generation resource, Resource Nation.

The author’s views are entirely his own and may not reflect the views of FreelanceCopywritersBlog.com. If you are interested in producing a Guest Post for this blog, please get in touch with your ideas.

When you’re a professional freelancer, you run a business of sorts. You find ways to reach out to potential clients, rack up references, and put your work out into the world with your name on it. Like a company, this builds your brand.  Between providing high-quality work and building relationships, people get a sense of who you are.

Once you’ve built your brand, though, you want to use it to your benefit. Like any other business, you need to market yourself and your brand to build larger client base.  Lucky for you, the internet is full of opportunities for personal marketing. And don’t worry, it won’t cost a penny.

1.       Start With Your Brand Audience

Before you can begin marketing, you have to assess what your brand is saying about you. This can depend on what you write about, who you cater your work toward, etc. To begin, consider what your audience will be.

• Topics: Are you an expert in your field? Do you write strictly about food, business or design? If that’s what you most associate with as a writer then that is what your marketing should illustrate.
• Clients: Do you write on various topics for specific clients? If you cater your writing to the female crowd, but write about everything from careers to parenting, then that will be important.
• Relationships: Do you pride yourself on the long term writing relationships you have with clients? If you touch on various topics, but have a solid group of people that you exclusively write for, then that will be a beneficial aspect in the placement of your marketing efforts.

 2.       Pick Where You’ll Represent Yourself

Once you’ve decided what your audience is, you’ll want to be present where they are. If you cater to business men in their 40’s, you don’t need to have a strong presence on Pinterest.

LinkedIn: If business people are your main client base, this will be a good place to start. As the professional social network, it gives you an opportunity to reach the crowd you are hoping to attract.

• Business people are busy, and LinkedIn cuts through the fluff of photos and comments, getting straight to your capabilities as a writer.
• If you rely on recommendations, this is a great place to show that off.

Blogosphere: As a freelance writer, you most likely already have a blog. Although you are adding great content frequently, marketing your brand will have more to do with your theme and design.

• Each color represents something different, and is an integral part of how long people spend on your blog. Consider this when designing and choosing your theme.
• While you write fresh content, consider including a page giving examples of previous professional work you’ve done.

Google+: This up and coming social network was made for freelance writers. Google+ is the perfect combination of LinkedIn and Facebook.

• Use the portfolio section to link to all your previous work. If you’ve done a lot, this will look great for your experience. It’s also an easy way for potential clients to check you out for themselves.
• Use the photo section to tell who you are without worrying about tagged photos from last weekend. “Pictures and references to traveling signaled openness to new experiences and adventurousness, while the number of friends you have indicates extroversion,” according to a Northern Illinois University study.

Pinterest: The biggest social network of 2012 is quickly becoming a great way to focus your branding. If you write for women’s magazines and blogs, this is a great place to direct clients.

• Have a work specific account, and create your boards around topics you write on.
• Link to relevant work in the caption of your pin. Photos are a simple way to represent your brand and your writing, not to mention fun for your clients to look through, while still being advantageous for you.

 3.       Finally, Get Yourself Out There

Now that you have your brand out in the wild jungle of the World Wide Web, you have to spread the word. While creating your accounts and profiles will do wonders for your marketing, you should always be looking to grow your client base and audience.

• Email: Create a personal signature for your emails. You can link to all your accounts, allowing those you are pitching to the opportunity to see your work before even responding. This can be the difference between hooking the client and missing an opportunity.
• Twitter: If you already have a Twitter account, consider getting one for your business alone. Here you can create a following that is strictly work related. Tweet about new blog posts and articles that have gone live.
• Blog: Your blog is not only a good spot to place content, but perfect for getting potential clients to check out more of your stuff. Get follow buttons for your Pinterest, Twitter and Google+.

Without spending a penny you can create a full blown marketing portfolio. Keep your brand constant throughout each platform, giving onlookers a good idea of what you have to offer and what you’re all about. The key to your personal freelance brand marketing is to direct potential clients to all the places you know will best represent what you and your business is all about.

The written word is a powerful tool when used correctly.

The effectiveness of all your written marketing communications, whether they are web pages, blog posts, white papers, case studies or brochures, relies entirely on engagement.

If they don’t strike a chord with the reader they will have little or no effect.

Writing marketing materials within your organisation can often lead to text that is full of jargon, unclear and downright boring, which will reflect the reader’s perception of your company. And that’s not good.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking – you’re a copywriter, you’re going to say that aren’t you.

Yes I am, and I make no apology for it. And that’s because over the years I’ve seen a lot of marketing materials produced in-house and, pretty much all of it (with the odd exception), is like that.

The problem is, when you are part of a company, you are usually too close to your product or service to see it objectively. It’s almost impossible to mentally remove yourself from what you know and write about it from your customers’ perspective.

That’s why writing with a copywriter can really help – because they are trained to write compelling copy that will engage your readers.

Different writing tasks

When writing something, do you actively think about what you need to produce and tailor your writing style accordingly?

Probably not.

You see, every type of writing demands different disciplines:

Working with a copywriter

First off, let’s get one thing straight – it’s not the copywriter’s job to know everything about your company.

You’re hiring them because they are professional writers and can put across your ideas and information in an interesting, engaging and compelling way.

Therefore, you will need to help them by providing them with background information and other materials to help them get to grips with your business and brand (including your style and tone of voice).

Plus, make sure you give them time to absorb all the information.

The copywriter/subject matter expert relationship

If this is going to be successful, it’s essential everyone knows where they stand from the outset and what they are to bring to the table:

Only by working together can they really do justice to your products and services by shaping and developing great copy.

So next time you engage a copywriter to help you with your marketing materials, remember they can’t produce miracles alone.

In A Copywriter Gives Power to the Words we looked at the power words that can help convey your message clearly and concisely to your reader.

But there is one very important word that I omitted to mention – “you”.

Why? Well believe it or not, freelance copywriters are actually human beings. We may well be shut away in our offices, sat in front of our computers being creative but we do also have lives and get to go out now and again.

Therefore it is important that copywriters use words to convey their humanness and the best one do that is you.

Writing using those three letters isn’t always easy though. If you have an academic background of any type (we all have) you would have been told time and time again not to address your reader directly.

Well, now you are writing sales material which is completely different and it is obligatory to use “you”, “yours” and “your”.

Everyone wants to be seen as an individual – and who is the person that people find more fascinating than anyone else? Themselves! Therefore always use “you” instead of “I”. So for example, instead of saying:

“Order now and I will send you a free gift”

Say

“Order now and you will receive a free gift.”

If you do have to write about yourself then “I” and “we” are better than your company name as it keeps it more personal and involving.

So remember – you are human, you exist, so talk to your reader conversationally – don’t talk at them from a distance.

Sally Ormond

When I was growing up, the most annoying thing anyone could say to me was “Ah, but you wouldn’t understand.”

As if anything was going to be so difficult I couldn’t even grasp the basics.

Admittedly, had it been something along the lines of Quantum Physics, I doubt I would have understood. But the most irritating thing about that sentence was the assumption that I wouldn’t understand.

Surely, if they explained it clear enough I would.

Where’s this going? Well, copywriting is a funny thing. It involves a skill we all have – the ability to write – and yet, it is something few people can do well.

That’s not to say that if you hired me to write your website copy or brochure copy, I would immediately turn round and tell you that you can’t write the content because you don’t have the relevant skills and that’s why you need me.

If I did, you’d probably show me the door.

So why would you hire me?

Copywriters add value and a whole new perspective

You and I have one major difference (OK, probably more than one, but for this blog post I’m only going to talk about this particular one).

You know your company inside out and I don’t.

Believe it or not, that gives me an advantage.

As a professional copywriter, I add value to your team because I can look at your business and its products/services from your customers’ point of view.

Let me explain.

You already know your products/services and think they are best thing on the market (if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be selling them). You would, without doubt buy them yourself. Therefore, you think all your customers think the same way and would also buy them – why wouldn’t they?

I look at your products from your customers’ view point.  In fact, I become your customer.

From that perspective I can discover the true benefits of your offering. They are not to be confused with their features. Your customers don’t really care how many colours they come in, they want to know how they will:

• Improve their lives
• Save them money
• Save them time
• Make them more desirable…

By stepping into your customers’ shoes, I see your products as they do. That means, you have to convince me to buy – and I’m not easily convinced.

By throwing every buying objection possible at you, eventually we’ll drill down to the golden benefits that will make your customers say yes.

I will admit that this won’t work on everyone. Customers will constantly hurl buying objections at you. Plus, when it comes down to it, not everyone will want or need your product.

But by placing your customers at the heart of all your marketing materials, you will maximise your sales opportunities.

Over to you

If you normally write your own sales copy, try a copywriter next time.  Compare the results you get and discover why customer-focused sales copy is so important.

Perhaps you’ve already done this and seen an improvement in your conversion rates?

Leave a comment below and share your experiences.