If you’re a seasoned freelance copywriter, you’ve watched our industry change dramatically over the last few years. Gale-force winds—technological, economic, cultural—collide in a perfect storm shifting professional terrain.
With whole industries imploding and job categories disappearing, you have to wonder: Will copywriters survive?
Or will skilled commercial wordsmiths die out like the dodo bird or—my preferred professional extinction metaphor—the great white tiger?
Are you staying alive?
Some writers find the changed environment too hostile for survival. They retool for new careers or—when age and 401(k) permit—retire.
Others adapt and forge ahead. If you’re one of them, I want to share some survival tactics helping me hang tough through copywriting’s Darwinian evolution.
Survival tactics? Darwinian evolution? Innat a little over the top?
I don’t think so.
Elements upsetting copywriting’s ecosystem
Let’s take a look at currents roiling our industry:
- The Internet: With a gazillion pages of content, you’d think the Internet would keep copywriters working non-stop. But several conflicting trends push back:
- The “Free” Movement. Just ten years ago, people paid good money for organized information, reviews, training courses, expert advice, books, magazines—and the writers who created that content. Then technology turned everyone into publishers and free content flooded channels. Writing fees dropped: Digitalization, notes Malcolm Gladwell in his review of Chris Anderson’s Free, exerts “an inexorable downward pressure on the prices of all things ‘made of ideas’.”
- Quantity versus quality content. Today the sheer volume of free content is redefining writing standards. Good, bad and indifferent—a lot of written content is given a free pass, because, hey, it’s free. Swimming in a sea of gratuitous content, some clients want to pay less for it.
- Global economics. Unstable markets, slashed corporate budgets and disturbingly high unemployment rates dim copywriters’ prospects. Time was, downturns funneled more work to freelancers. Now agencies and internal marketers scrutinize costs line by line. Caving to fear and scarcity thinking, some seasoned freelancers panic, cut fees, work for content mills, or put in extra time beyond billable hours.
- Saturated workforce. If you Google “copywriter” you get over 4 million results. Go to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and you’ll see thousands of people identifying themselves as writers or copywriters. High unemployment is behind some of the glut: As displaced workers flood the market, reposition careers or seek temporary gigs, many hang up a copywriting shingle. Without experience, a good number end up working for pennies—accelerating copy pricing’s downward spiral. The labor surplus squeezes seasoned scriveners who depend on writing for a living.
With so many currents pushing against the professional copywriters, how can you stay afloat?
9 tactics to assure your natural selection
No one has easy answers. But the following tactical tips are helping me—and other pros I know—implement necessary change:
- Raise your fees—or at least keep them at current levels. With the market flooded and competitors working for pennies, you can’t lead with discounted pricing. Don’t try.
- Position yourself as a “value-added copywriter.” If you’re like me, copywriting is only part of your usefulness to clients. You’re a value-added copywriter, as Copywriter Underground, Tom Chandler, terms it. This means in addition to writing strong, action-driving copy, you analyze competition, develop strategy and tactics, handle communications and—well, I’m sure you can add a whole slew of your own value-added features to the list.
- Fire bad clients. Radical isn’t it? Not when you consider the negativity, time, and opportunity cost of working with the wrong clients. The issue is fit. There’s no point in working with ill-fitting clients who don’t recognize the value you deliver. Let them go and spend your talent and time positioning yourself to—and building relationships with—like-minded marketers and business owners.
- Keep learning. One of the joys of freelancing is full immersion in diverse media, industries and ideas. On any given day you could be writing a business plan for a Saudi petroleum company, web content for a New York City hospital or direct mail for a yoga studio. You stretch yourself for each project. So stretch yourself a little further. When work slows, take it on yourself to learn something new: Spanish, custom coding, web design, affiliate marketing, keyword research basics, touch-typing. That’s my current list of wanna-have skills. What’s yours? Choose one thing, pencil-in some daily time—even half an hour—and start lurking in industry-relevant blogs.
- Blog. I admit I came late—and kicking and screaming—to blogging. Who has extra time to write? For free?? I was confounded by copywriting bloggers: How did they manage to post unique, valuable content daily and still write for demanding clients? Now I see how these uber-blogger copywriters cope in a number of ways: Some actually don’t work so much for clients—instead they sell their own products. Others job out posts to cub bloggers. Or cultivate guest posters. Or they simply post less frequently. Somehow they manage. And so can you. Because blogging offers real business-building benefits. Posting on your own blog:
- Builds community and generates qualified leads.
- Establishes credibility and expertise.
- Helps you market your own products.
- Boosts SEO ranking and drives traffic to your website or social media community.
- Create community online. Join FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter or other social media (SM) communities and you immediately amplify your online presence. These networks let you share messages and increase traffic and linkage across your other digital platforms. They help you build trust and brand. And on a personal level, your SM community acts as your virtual water cooler—a huge boon for freelancers who often fight isolationism and—boohoo—loneliness when working from a home office.
- Unplug and network face-to-face. While digital community is crucial, you also need to connect with people offline. At New York City’s recent Trust Summit, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith noted that trust, transparency and relationship-building aren’t “new marketing.” These solid business tenets certainly don’t depend on electronic media. Face-to-face networking may mean a trip to Austin’s SXSW. Or it could be a walk downtown for the next Chamber of Commerce meeting. You need to find the balance of on- and off-line self marketing that works for you.
- Form strategic partnerships. Writing copy is labor- and time-intensive. And it’s tough to scale. Even when you command decent fees and are booked solid you may be under-earning. Like Four Hour Work Week author, Tim Ferris, you might try outsourcing peripheral, time-consuming tasks like bookkeeping and proofreading. But in many instances, the buck stops with the sole proprietor copywriter: The bulk of our work—strategic planning, research, interviews, writing, editing, revising—is not transferable to eLance. The solution lies in strategic partnerships—with other copywriters, web and blog developers, coders, graphic designers, freelance creative directors, affiliate marketers. Collaborate with like-minded partners and watch output—and creative energy—grow exponentially greater than when you work alone.
- Diversify income stream: As the economy recovers, industries will reshape. And it’s unlikely that the corporate world will be the faithful cash cow we feed and milk regularly. Income diversification is key. Think about developing a variety of revenue streams. They needn’t all be huge. Teaching, speaking/presenting, creating information products or starting an online business are just a few revenue generators that, in aggregate, provide steady income.
Want to adapt—and survive? Take action now.
“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” ~ Benjamin Disraeli
Change is hard. Adaptation isn’t as easy as 1-2-3 or even 1-9! But your transition is doable as long as you take action–just about any action. Don’t beat yourself up because today you’re taking a baby step—and feeling a little shaky as you lurch forward. That’s all right. You are moving forward.
White Bengal tiger photo courtesy of allereb
Lorraine:
I can relate to your point #5. It took me a while to justify the (non billable) time to do a blog and essentially give away researched copy I’m paid by magazines to produce. I now view the blog as an opportunity to hold myself accountable to organize my experiences into a systematic approach to our craft — and hopefully help (and learn from) other writers and marketers, as well . . . You’re so right about how we must create value and differentiate ourselves as advisors vs content mills. An idea for a follow up post: 7 (or whatever #) Keys to Boost Your Value to Clients and Attract Higher Fees.
Thanks for the mention of the Copywriter Underground.
I would like to make on addition to your reference to the Value Added Copywriter; Providing value beyond the SEO attributes of your copy is a powerful incentive to keep clients, but you don’t necessarily want to do that forever for free.
At some point, you need to figure out how to get paid for all your expertise. Usually it’s as simple as pitching the client a proposal allocating a few consulting dollars your way.
In any case, I think your post is largely spot on.
I agree with Sean, creating and maintaining a blog is beneficial to clients and for yourself. Keeping yourself writing as well is nothing but a good thing.
No matter what you do………..
Keep reading and Keep Writing!
Followed your lead on point #1 and got burned. Rates should be based on sliding scale, not across the board. Fact: a fitness gym chain can shoulder a $1,000 bill to improve their web content; a personal trainer or other micropeneur cannot. Still reeling over the loss of this potential client. Handed him a $800 estimate and he disappeared. What really stinks is that he told me he had like 70 clients, possibly other small business owners, i.e., referrals. Lesson learned; hard one at that.
Daniel B.
CopyStratic.com
@CopyStratic Though it comes with freelance territory, losing a bid is never easy, especially in these economic times.
I occasionally lower fees for non-profit organizations–I’ve even done pro-bono work for causes I believe in. I’ve also adjusted day rates down when I’m working on a really big project that will take months.
And when you’re starting out, you can’t expect to command high pricing.
But adjusting fees to please low-budget clients is not a sustainable way to earn a living. It takes time away from clients who can afford your pricing–or from self-marketing that lets you find better clients.
Ask yourself if you really want to work for someone who can’t afford $800 for copy that enhances image, builds business and returns investment.
By the way, his referrals sound like hooey–a classic passive aggressive attempt to guilt-trip you because he can’t or won’t pay a reasonable price for your work.
For a lighter look at this kind of classic vendor manipulation, check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY
Hey, sorry, that last comment wasn’t from “Anonymous.” It was from me, Lorraine. I hastily posted before logging into admin. Need more coffee.
Hi guys,
I find your insights great but there is still one thing I still cannot understand, nobody seems to be giving me a spot on answer. So I’m a copywriter or lets say I believe I can provide great content for businesses. How do I market this with a blog. My actual question is this: What do I write about? I have tried writing about how to write great content and such stuff but it’s not looking like something I can do continuously. What do you guys write about? Can I for example write about cats and yet use that article to market myself as a copywriter who can then great great content for people running cat business? Hope the question makes sense, I’m really hoping for answers. IF it doesn’t make sense, kindly let me know and I will do it again. Thanks.
@John: Thanks for your great questions. I only wish I had “spot on” answers. Indeed, I feel I am exploring these same questions with every post.
Marketing wisdom tells us to write content useful to potential clients. For me, this would include corporate marketing directors, agency CDs, small business owners and healthcare/pharmaceutical marketers. The idea is to write posts relevant and valuable to them.
And I do write some posts specifically for these readers. But I also write many other posts with my fellow copywriters in mind. I believe both kinds of posts have marketing value.
While they aren’t directly usable to potential clients, I hold that well-written “how-to” posts have self-marketing value in their ability to add credibility and position one as an expert.
You ask “what do you write about?” Digitally mediated marketing content is just sonew, I think we’re all figuring it out.
But yes, I think if you’re marketing to people in the cat business, your “cat content” can help. It demonstrates your expertise, strengthens your credibility and builds relationship.
But not all by itself. You need to leverage your content with other platforms–email, social media, newsletter (I still use direct mail as well as well). E.g., you might send a friendly email to a potential client with a link to your post or article. Then tweet a link to it on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
With an eye to providing value to potential clients–and a commitment to marketing over a longish period of time–I think you’ll see results.
It seems that a lot of new writers want to simply blog their way to a steady client list – which for most is a pipe dream.
A blog represents only one marketing strategy for freelance writers, and those who ignore more traditional methods – pitching new clients (especially those you want to work with); cold calling; building networks with designers, web developers, agencies, etc. – are probably not enjoying much return for their time investment.
In other words, I could generate more revenue with an hour’s worth of phone calls than most could with ten hours of blogging.
I think that’s probably true for most freelance writers.
I think every writer probably should maintain some sort of blog (for reasons not directly related to lead generation), but they ignore other – potentially more productive channels – at their own peril.
Thanks Lorraine and TC for such a detailed focus on the questions I had asked. I was actually prompted to ask because I just got into this field recently and one question I keep asking myself is how else can Copywriters and freelancers market themselves with content apart from writing heavily on Copywriting or freelancing. I have been checking several websites owned by Copywriters and most of the content I find there goes like “How to produce killer copy”, “Ten best marketing secrets for copywriters”..and so on. So I paused and wondered, lets say an airline manager is looking for the best copywriter to do great copy on their Airline, will he or she be interested on who produces great copy about copywriting or one who is able to do great copy on airlines. This question led me to more others and for a while I stopped my plans to start producing content on my website because I still thought there must be some different way. So my concern then becomes: Why would a copywriter do marketing content whose targeted audience is the fellow copywriters? Pardon me, I’m really new but passionate in this industry but again with many questions. It is a wonderful industry though as I continue to get deeper into it. Thanks again.
I think the landscape is definitely changing. Copywriters, like those many other professions are increasingly having to diversify in order to find opportunities.
For many, this means taking on board new skills such as SEO.