Starting a career as a copywriter can be the most exciting thing in the world, yet it comes with its own special set of challenges, especially finding clients. Of course, great writing skills mean a lot, but ultimately, your personal marketing and securing paying clients will be what defines your success. Now, let’s get down to a step by step process that will help you find client seven if you’re just getting started in the world of copywriting. We’ll walk through how to build a basic portfolio, define your target market, reach out and connect with companies who love your style, and overcome objections in the process of acquiring clients.
1. Build a Basic Portfolio
Before you reach out to clients, you’ll need a portfolio showing off your writing skills. Your portfolio doesn’t have to be comprehensive, especially when you’re just starting, but it does need to be extensive enough to give some sense of your style, your creativity, and your ability to write for many different industries.
Here’s how you can make a simple portfolio:
Create spec work. If you don’t have any clients yet, you can always create “spec work,” or speculative work. Just pick some companies or industries that you’re interested in working for and create some imaginary pieces, whether a website copy, email campaign, blog post, or product descriptions. That shows you are familiar with their industry and that you can craft compelling content.
Write for Free or for Low Pay: The suggestion here, though contentious, is to write for free or at low pay for local businesses, friends, or startups in return for testimonials and permission to include the work in your portfolio. This is temporary, to get real world experience and build a reputation.
Blogging or Personal Website: If you are not keen on working for free, then starting up a blog would be ideal. This is just one of the many ways to highlight your writing capabilities, your knowledge in the areas of SEO, and your engaging style. One other alternative would be to have a personal website where potential clients could readily access your portfolio, testimonials, and your contact information.
Diversify Your Portfolio: Showcase variety. Include different types of copy—ads, emails, landing pages, product descriptions, social media posts, etc. This showcases the fact that you’re versatile and can adapt to whatever a client may need. This will, in turn, attract a wider variety of clients.
2. Identify Your Target Market
Copywriting is not one size fits all. Different industries have different needs, tones, and audiences. The best possible way to find a client is to narrow down the market or niche you want to write for. Here’s how to go about this:
Assess your interests and strengths. Think about the industries you are interested in or perhaps passionate about. Perhaps you like to write for tech companies or love the lifestyle and wellness sector. If you have prior experience in a particular field, it could make transitioning to writing for that market easier.
Research Growing Markets: Certain industries are always typically in need of copywriters, such as SaaS, ecommerce, healthcare, finance, or digital marketing. It may be worth doing some research into which industries currently are growing and investing a lot in content.
Specialize in a Niche: Being a generalist is good, but many clients prefer hiring copywriters who have specific industry expertise. Niching down or becoming an expert in certain fields helps you cut through the noise in this crowded market. Of course, become a specialist in writing product descriptions for ecommerce stores or creating sales pages for online courses.
Understand the market’s needs: different industries need different types of copies. As such, technology industries require blog posts explaining complex ideas in simple terms while fashion needs punchy, trend based social media copies. Understand what type of writing is in demand in your chosen market.
3. Find Companies That Match Your Style
After identifying your target market, the next thing you need to look for are companies that resonate with your writing style. Finding clients who will hire you is easier when your tone and approach to copywriting resonate with their brand’s voice. Here’s how to identify these companies:
Analyze Existing Copy: Go check out some company websites and social media pages offering your target niche. Read their blogs, ads, emails, and landing pages. Take note of tone, structure, and style. Resonate with their messaging? Could you do it better?
Look for Gaps or Opportunities: When you read a company’s copy, ask yourself, “Where could I add value?” Do their headlines sound weak? Is there a way their product descriptions could be more engaging? Know where your writing might make the difference.
Focus on Smaller Businesses: Larger companies may already have a team of copywriters or established agencies they work with, while the smallest businesses often have limited resources and are more likely to need freelance writers. It is easier to pitch such firms.
Monitor Job Boards: Sites like LinkedIn, ProBlogger, and Freelance Writing Jobs frequently have copywriting job listings. Utilize job boards not only to pursue jobs but also to research the companies that are hiring writers. Reach out to them upon whom you feel could need your services.
4. Start Marketing to Those Businesses
Having highlighted your potential customers, now it’s time for self-marketing. It is required to contact companies either via cold emails, telephone calls, or direct messages. Many take this step as scary; it is not actually it is a necessary point in getting clients. Herein, how to do it:
Personalize Your Outreach: Refrain from mass emailing the same generic email to every company. Research each potential client and tailor a message regarding how you know their business needs. Compliment their existing copy, mentioning areas you could improve.
Offer a Solution: None of your clients are looking to hire a copywriter; what they need is problem solving. In your outreach, state clearly how you can help solve their problems as regards copy. You could say something like this, “I noticed your product descriptions don’t seem to be optimized for SEO. I specialize in creating engaging keyword rich descriptions that improve your search rankings and conversion rates.”.
Keep It Brief and Clear: Business owners and marketing managers have little time to read through an extended email. Make sure that the first message is short. You will assist in reaching company goals. Attach the link of your portfolio and also an easy way to get in contact with you easily.
Follow Up: Proper marketing needs persistence. Should you not get an immediate response, do not get discouraged. It is considered a courtesy to follow up in a week or two, reminding them of what they are losing and your offer of service to help them.
5. Explain Why They Need You
When one is pitching to a potential client, he tells them what value the person is bringing to their business. You are not selling words on the page; you’re selling content to get tangible results for them: traffic, sales, or better engagement with their audience.
Here is the way to describe to them why they might need your services:
Focus on Benefits, Not Features: Instead of saying, “I write great product descriptions,” focus on the benefits: “I write product descriptions that increase conversion rates and turn casual browsers into paying customers.”
Data and Results: Employ data and results, if you have past clients, be that even free or lowpaying gigs. “I helped client X increase their email open rates by 20% using my new subject line strategy.
Demonstrate Industry Knowledge: Where applicable, showing great knowledge about your client’s industry and challenges means they are more likely to trust you to deliver the copy they want. Mention the trend or challenges facing their niche and how you can solve them through your writing.
6. Handle Potential Objections
Objections are a common thing when clients haven’t worked with you before. Overcoming objections gracefully is where the skill lies in actually winning their business. Here are some common objections and how to address them:
“We already have someone for this.”
I completely understand. Even if you already have someone handling your copy, I’d be happy to assist with overflow work or special projects. Sometimes a fresh perspective can bring new life into a project.”
“We don’t have the budget for a copywriter right now.”
I completely understand that, and I’m happy to work within your budget. Equally, I could do a small project upfront to enable you to understand my value before any serious engagement. “
“How do I know your work will meet our standards?
I’d be happy to offer a free or discounted trial project so you can see the quality of my work. I also ensure revisions until you’re fully satisfied with the final copy.”
“We’re not sure we need a copywriter.”
Many companies have never realized just how big of a difference great copy can make in their business. I’d love to talk further about ways that optimized content can increase your search engine rankings, boost conversions, and strengthen customer interaction with your brand.”
7. Seal the Deal: Closing the Sale
Once the objections are cleared, it is time to close the sale. Make saying yes as simple as possible by offering a clear next step. For example:
“Would you like to start small, such as a single blog post or product description?”
“I’d be happy to send over a proposal that outlines our next steps—shall we proceed with that?
Be certain that your message gets across, while always leaving the door open to any possibility of follow up, even if the client might not be ready to commit at that very moment.
Conclusion
It takes time and persistence for a good copywriter to find clients. However, with a strong portfolio of work to show to potential clients, focusing in on your niche, and with an amount of consistent self-marketing, you are able to attract clients who value what you write. Remember, copywriting is not just putting some words on the page.
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