Think small.
Big companies already have copywriters. Nike won’t hire you yet. Start with smaller companies with smaller budgets. They can’t afford an experienced copywriter. But they can afford, and will hire, an inexperienced copywriter who shows initiative.
In your search, filter out all companies with more than fifty employees. The smaller you go, the more likely you are to capture the attention of whoever makes the decisions.
Think solopreneurs–one person businesses. People who have their own gigs, other freelancers even. Photographers, personal trainers, designers, etc.
Think different.
Everyone in marketing…is in marketing. They tend to be pretty good at it. There’s too much competition. And as an inexperienced copywriter looking for your first gig, you want as little competition as possible.
The further you stray from the marketing industry, the worse the copywriting gets. Think about industries that are generally behind the times, “boring,” and naive when it comes to marketing. Dentistry. Construction. Fitness. Medical supplies.
When a company in one of these industries puts even a little effort into marketing, it makes them stand out in a big way. Do you know how easy it is to be the most well known plumber in a city? All they need is a basic understanding of marketing, because their competition doesn’t.
As an inexperienced copywriter, this is your way in. You do not need much experience or knowledge to give someone value.
Okay, so now you have a list. But nobody will hire you unless you prove you can do the job. It’s the age-old question that’s been stumping college grads for decades: “How do I get experience if nobody ever hires me because I have no experience?”
You get experience by doing it yourself.
Pick a company from your list and help them. For free. No, I do not mean do the whole project for free. Here is an example:
My first client was the owner of the small private gym I go to. I had zero copywriting experience at the time. I could not walk up and just say “Hey man, your copy sucks. I’ll fix it for you if you pay me.”
Even if he were interested, he’d at least ask, “Why should I pay you? What have you done?”
To prevent this, I had to provide instant value. Here is what I did:
I looked through all the gym’s copy. It wasn’t much, just one website. And it was really shitty. Like seriously, if you had watched one video on copywriting your whole life, you could have helped this guy. Again, this is why you think small and different.
I picked three things he was doing wrong, then I rewrote each part.
I explained the reasons behind each change.
That’s it. It was maybe an hour of work.
Now you have to pitch them. It sucks, I know, but until you get to the point when you are recruited for your skills, you will have to pitch clients.
And if you want to be hired as a copywriter, your pitch better be damn good. Because the pitch itself is copywriting. It’s great practice. It even has a built-in feedback loop–you either get responses or you don’t.
Your template should:
Have a succinct subject line. Appeal to self-interest.
Be personal. Use their name. Give a sincere compliment. If you did a good job with your research, this should be easy.
Get straight to the point. No fluff. Nothing about you. Only write what they would care about.
Of course, most importantly, you include the copy edits you did for them. This is so powerful, but rare. People constantly want to take take take. I see wannabe entrepreneurs message their heroes all the time saying shit like, “Can I be your intern?” It is misguided. Why would they do that? What is in it for them? You have to earn it.
You do that by offering a gift. It makes people more inclined to help you. Giving a small business owner actionable advice on how they can improve their copy to make more money is so valuable. When you give, people give back. Con men have known this simple “trick” for thousands of years. Use it for good, and you will go far.
Okay, at this point, you have aroused their curiosity and provided value. Time to get the hell out of there. I like to wrap it up by clearly outlining the deal at the end.
Here is the totally unabridged version of the email I used to land my first client, with my own thoughts in bold:
[Subject line: I can help your gym get more members]
“Hi James!
I've been a member of your gym for three months now. I love it! I tell all my friends how awesome it is, and a few are considering memberships!
[Nice, personalized touch to let him know I’m not some stranger only after his money.]
Anyways, I know how you can grow your gym to 800 members and double your revenue.
[This one kind of makes me cringe. Super common amateur mistake to over-promise in order to grab attention. But I had the right idea–make it about the client, not you.]
You did a lot of things right with your website, but I'm a copywriter, so I know sales and marketing. I attached a doc with three ways I would improve your copy to help you get more members, and explanations for each.
You did a lot of things right with your website, but I'm a copywriter, so I know sales and marketing. I attached a doc with three ways I would improve your copy to help you get more members, and explanations for each.
You can have these edits for free. If you use them, I genuinely believe you will sell more memberships.
But I can make you a whole new landing page for Iron Vault if you want. I can write and edit ALL the copy (and design) to lead to more people signing up for a membership.
I would normally charge about $40/hr, but for you I can do it for $25/hr. It would take about ten hours, so $250.
[Lol, I would never use the “But for you…” technique today. That’s for sleazy sales people that work at mall kiosks.]
What I would do for you:
Take out all the information that doesn't need to be there. Some stuff on the website distracts from the info that makes people want to join your gym! Talk about your biggest advantages over commercial gyms. It's not clear from your website why your gym is better. Make it a lot more reader friendly so it's easy for people to see why they should join your gym.
Let me know if you’re interested! Thanks James!”
*By the way, in every other pitch to a client, you need to add social proof. Obviously, you won’t have any in the first one. But if you are serious about this copywriting thing, you should have some “temp” work you can send instead.
Do that for ten potential clients. If you do good research and your edits are strong, you can land your first copywriting gig within a week. Make sure you get testimonials! Use them to build your portfolio.