6) Visiting clients Although the wonders of modern email let a freelance copywriter get through about 95% of their work without ever leaving the office, it’s sometimes still a good idea to do things the ‘old-fashioned’ way – especially if you expect to work with them quite a bit. Shake hands and put a face to a name. And remember, everything about the meeting reflects on you and your business. As with your proposals, think about WHAT you say, HOW you say it, how you PRESENT. Always organise the meeting with plenty of notice, confirm the day before the meeting, be on time, summarise the meeting, and provide a call to action. (Try to do these last two both at the end of the meeting and via email after the meeting.) 7) Office admin Even for a low overhead business like copywriting, there’s always something! Changing phone plans, upgrading/fixing computers, your internet service is down, your website is temporarily unavailable, you’re enhancing your data storage procedures, you need new printer or fax ink cartridges… Office administration takes up a surprisingly large chunk of your day. Make sure you allow for it. This means allowing time to do the work, and factoring that time into your quotes. If you don’t, you’ll be continually working into the wee hours and/or losing money. 8) Marketing strategy How do you generate business? Cold calls? (See 12 Handy Tips for Generating Leads through Cold-Calling.) Website? (See Copywriting & SEO Articles for numerous website & SEO articles.) Networking? Word of mouth? Repeat business? Agencies? (See also 10 Tips for Aspiring Freelance Copywriters for some tips on succeeding as a freelance copywriter.) No matter what your strategy, you need to give it the time it deserves. It’s a good idea to average around an hour a day to thinking about and implementing marketing strategy. 9) Industry research Stay up to date on the latest copywriting industry research. Read research on usability, readability, and scannability (visit Jakob Nielsen's website on usable information technology or GoodExperience.com and subscribe to their newsletters). Read up on search engine optimization (see SEO for CEOs – Search Engine Optimization Unmasked for CEOs or try subscribing to a newsletter from WebProNews.com or Site-Reference.com). Try to track how day-to-day language is changing (what buzz words to use, what buzz words to avoid, what rules are being overlooked in spoken English, what sounds make a positive impression on people, etc.). Know the difference between writing for the web versus writing for print versus writing for search engines (see Copywriting & SEO Articles for some relevant articles). If you want to scratch the surface, spend 10 minutes every day. 10) Subject matter research Whether it’s website copywriting or advertising copywriting, to do a good job, you need to know a lot about your subject material. This means both specific knowledge about the client’s product or service as well as more generic ‘domain’ knowledge. Clients have a tendency to not supply enough information. Make sure you interview them thoroughly. And then let them know you’ll probably need to ask further questions. Even then, you may find yourself doing a bit of independent research. The Internet is your saviour, but always run any information by your client before publishing. When you’re quoting on a job, try to figure out how much detail the client will be able to supply. You can even ask them to estimate how much they’ll supply (i.e. All, Most, Some, or None). This is a good technique as it gets them thinking about your requirements while at the same time giving you some idea how much time you’ll spend researching. 11) Planning In one important respect, website copywriting and advertising copywriting are no different from any other form of writing; planning is vital. For more specific planning information, see Engage Your Customer – Write About Benefits and Writing Benefit-Driven Web Copy – 4 Steps to More Sales. Happy writing! About the Author Glenn Murray is an advertising copywriter and heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com . Visit http://www.divinewrite.com for further details or more FREE articles. Written by: Glenn Murray
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