Copywriters get to do work that they love, while choosing their own hours, working from home (or anywhere in the world!), AND have no limit to the amount of income you can bring in…and that is available for YOU, too!
I went from high school teacher to six-figure copywriter…and I’ve helped dozens of newer copywriters become booked out with clients as well.
Read on to learn my secrets about how to get started with copywriting quickly – even with zero experience.
The Secret to Starting Out as a Copywriter
The secret to starting as a copywriter is simple:
Start pitching.
Before you create a website.
Before you create a portfolio.
Before you “decide” on your niche.
If you’ve taken a copywriting course, then you are qualified.
You might feel wildly unprepared and unsure, but hear me out:
You won’t know what to write on your website, or what spec pieces to create for your portfolio, or what niche you actually want to serve when you think about it or try to reason your way to a solution.
Getting out there in the market will inform you of your prospects’ real needs and problems you can solve better than you could ever do by staying in your head.
You’ll become familiar with the types of clients that are out there, begin to form your preferences when it comes to the types of writing you’re interested in, and discover the volume of work that is available for you.
How Do I Become A Copywriter With No Experience?
Clients aren’t always looking for your past experience or samples or numbers and results. Those things will support you as you grow as a copywriter, but they are not necessary for when you’re starting out. It’s okay that you don’t have that yet. Everyone has to start somewhere.
There are three primary elements to weave into your pitching so that you can get your first copywriting gig. (This is what no one tells you about starting with no experience!)
- Build Trust
What clients are really looking for when they hire a copywriter is someone they can TRUST—not necessarily the writer with the most experience or most impressive stats. Trust is often the biggest obstacle for clients who want to hire a copywriter. Your level of experience becomes irrelevant when they do not sense that you are trustworthy. And being a trustworthy writer with integrity requires zero copywriting experience.
- Align Values
The client wants you to be genuinely aligned with their mission and their values. That is the most powerful sales conversation. Trusting someone with your voice, the message you are putting into the world, and the mission and vision that your words carry is not easy for business owners to let go of. They are looking for someone who gets them, who aligns with their company’s vision, and is also passionate about their mission. They want to know that their voice will still be authentic, even when they aren’t writing it anymore (because YOU are).
- Exude Confidence
They are looking for trustworthiness and confidence. What is going to give you the confidence to tell a prospective client that you can write a highly copy for them? Giving them a discount because you’re new and you haven’t done this before yet doesn’t instill confidence. Because even if it’s free, there’s still a time cost associated with them investing in your writing. Not every cost is monetary. And often time is of the essence for these businesses almost that’s why they’re looking to outsource it because they don’t have the time to do it themselves.
So if you have been through a copywriting course (or equivalent), you have the skills that you need. Now you need to go out there and pitch confidently. Start connecting with more people because the number of conversations you have is directly linked to the number of clients that you will get.
How To Get Your First Clients As A Copywriter
The only way to make money as a copywriter is to get clients. And the only way to get clients is by pitching your services.
You might be thinking, “I’m not good enough to start right now!” But the only way to get better is to get practice by getting experience. You’ll become an expert copywriter much more efficiently by getting experience than you would by trying to learn from the sidelines or taking yet another course (because that feels safer than putting yourself out there).
Starting out can be scary because you might not feel like you know what you’re doing… but, if you’ve taken a copywriting course and consumed other copywriting and marketing resources, you know more about copywriting than people without any of that experience. And those are people that you can serve with your gift!
Besides, if you’re even considering this as a career path, you’re probably already good at writing. If I had to guess, you just need to build your skills in copywriting, and that’s totally doable!
You can continue to improve your copywriting skills by reading copy that is written by some of the greats. Handwrite their copy in a notebook and mark up the techniques they used.
You can also create spec pieces (for a fictional client) so they can get a taste of your style. This both gives you more practice AND gives you a piece to start your portfolio (as long as you label the sample piece as “fictional” in your portfolio, this is totally a fair – and normal! – practice).
If you would like support, resources, and a community as you build your copywriting business, join my free Facebook community of copywriters! This journey becomes so much easier (and more fun!) when you have other copywriters in your corner who understand the struggles because we’ve been through it, too!
Read 15 Ways To Find Copywriting Clients Easily—Even As A Beginner! for practical ways to start getting clients NOW.
Earn While You Learn!
Copywriting is a skill you learn by doing:
You’ll learn by writing.
You’ll learn by working with different clients.
And you’ll learn by getting client feedback.
You cannot wait until you’re a highly skilled copywriter to start pitching clients…because that time will never come. The way you become a highly skilled copywriter is by getting experience.
Once you’ve taken a copywriting course or have learned the craft of copywriting in other ways, you likely know more about copywriting than most business owners. That means your skills are good enough to start working with clients, even if you have no prior work experience.
Still not convinced you’re good enough?
Take a look at some of the copy of prospective clients that you want to pitch.
What recommendations would you give them?
How would you make their current copy better?
If you can answer those questions, then you’re ready to support them as a copywriter.
Still don’t feel ready? Let’s walk through it together in my mentorship program.
The Biggest Mistake New Copywriters Make (And What To Do Instead!)
“But I’m just starting out.”
“I don’t have enough experience yet.”
“I don’t have any samples to show in my portfolio.”
“Can I even call myself a copywriter if I haven’t had a client yet?”
If these thoughts have raced across your brain, you may be tempted to offer your time, expertise, and writing for free, or very low/discounted rates, or in exchange for a testimonial…but that always attracts the WRONG clients—and it will NEVER be sustainable for you as a writer.
Here’s what I mean:
Low rates attract clients who don’t see the value of good copywriting, they just know they need to get it done – and they want it fast and cheap. When they don’t want to pay the rates that are going to be able to allow you to do your best work, that means you need to take on a high volume of work to pay the bills, and consequently your writing suffers (and so do you). When your writing suffers, it is more difficult to produce the high quality of work and customer service that will allow you to charge premium rates. It is a vicious cycle that keeps you stuck as a low-paid writer.
Additionally, there’s no opportunity to grow with them. If they are not willing to pay you now, they’re probably not going to be willing to pay you next month either. Things don’t change that fast in business.
If they cannot afford a copywriter, it is likely because they do not have their messaging nailed down yet (otherwise they’d be making more money and be able to pay you a portion of it). When they don’t have a proven offer or messaging, the copywriting is going to require a lot more market research–way too much to make it worthwhile to really see the effect that copywriting can have. If they cannot afford your rates, they may not be ready for a copywriter yet. And you have to be okay with saying no.
How To Become A Highly Paid Copywriter
It is never appropriate to offer your time and your expertise in copywriting for free—even as a beginner. Here’s why:
If you charge the right rates, there are a whole host of benefits…
- attracts the right clients
- allows you to do your best work
- afford you the capacity to do the research to get them the results that they actually want.
The good clients don’t want your low or discounted prices.
Read that again.
Good clients don’t want low rates. And that’s because they understand that good copywriting comes from well-taken care of copywriters.
In the first few months of my journey as a full-time copywriter, I was getting so frustrated with all of the rejections that I decided to keep lowering my price until someone would hire me. I didn’t want to take another “no” answer. And on my next discovery call, the client didn’t hire me…because my price was too LOW! I was dumbfounded…and the expression must have been clear on my face because she went on to explain that she wanted the writers on her team to be excited about getting out of bed in the morning to be able to write for her. And it’s hard to be excited about writing when you’re actually worried that you’re not getting paid enough to take care of your bills and yourself.
And after that moment, I never low balled my rates again.
Unsure of how to price your services? Check out my Ultimate Guide On How To Price Your Services As A Copywriter.
You are worthy of getting paid well for your work—even if you've never been paid for it before.
Maybe you have some samples from a past job or copywriting course that you’ve done.
Maybe you’ve written some fictional/spec pieces to demonstrate what you’ve learned as a copywriter.
Maybe your vision and values are so aligned with the client’s that they don’t want to work with any other writer.
As long as you know with integrity that you can produce this work, you are worthy of getting paid for it.
Do you believe that?
This life and this business is possible for you. And I want to help you create your vision of success as a copywriter. Let’s do this. Join the Mentorship program for instant access to the program that teaches you how to turn your copywriting skills into a business that can set you free.
