Hi, this is Jesse from StartCopywriting.com and in today’s post, I’m going to tell you exactly how to get copywriting clients. This is going to be useful if you’re a beginner copywriter, or even an experienced copywriter looking to land your first few clients.
There are two strategies I would recommend you follow to get your first few copywriting clients. And these are very easy, straightforward and simple strategies. But before I tell you these, I want to mention something that’s important first.
Set Up Your Foundations
What you should do before you start looking for clients is you want to have your foundations set up. You want to establish yourself online. Which means:
Once you’ve found a few ads you believe you can improve, call the business and ask to speak with the business owner and introduce yourself as a copywriter. You may even discuss with them what kind of results they’ve been getting from the ad and if they would like better results then you can offer to rewrite their advertising. You might say something like this.
PHONE SCRIPT
YOU: “Good morning, my name is John Smith and I wanted to speak to the person who is responsible for the ad I’m looking at in the Daily Bongo Newspaper”
SECRETARY: “Oh that would be Jim, the owner. What’s this regarding?”
YOU: “Well, I’m a freelance copywriter and I noticed a few mistakes in the ad which could end up costing you leads and sales. I wanted to briefly share these with Jim”
SECRETARY: “Ok, I’ll put you through”.
Once you get the business owner on the phone you introduce yourself as a freelance copywriter, point out a few mistakes the ad is making, and ask him/her if they are happy with the amount of leads and customers the ad is currently generating. Most business owners will say “not nearly enough” and may be open to hearing your ideas.
You may not get hired on the spot (although it could happen) but you will generate a lot of leads and interest for your copywriting services. It really is a numbers game, but if you make enough calls (and hone your pitch along the way) you will eventually generate enough paying clients to keep you busy.
Middleman companies are often:
- Having a portfolio with some excellent copywriting samples to show potential clients.
- Having a website (even a basic one) with your portfolio, about page and contact details.
2 Strategies To Get Your First Few Copywriting Clients
Strategy #1: Newspapers
Yes, I’m talking about old-school newspapers! What you do is go to your local library and ask for all the back issues of the newspaper. You go through those newspapers and look for poorly written advertisements. Try and find ads you think you could improve. This should be easy as most newspaper ads are making the same mistakes over and over again. Such as:- Uninteresting Headline
- Boring product or service description
- Feature not benefits written copy
- No obvious call to action
Once you’ve found a few ads you believe you can improve, call the business and ask to speak with the business owner and introduce yourself as a copywriter. You may even discuss with them what kind of results they’ve been getting from the ad and if they would like better results then you can offer to rewrite their advertising. You might say something like this.
PHONE SCRIPT
YOU: “Good morning, my name is John Smith and I wanted to speak to the person who is responsible for the ad I’m looking at in the Daily Bongo Newspaper”
SECRETARY: “Oh that would be Jim, the owner. What’s this regarding?”
YOU: “Well, I’m a freelance copywriter and I noticed a few mistakes in the ad which could end up costing you leads and sales. I wanted to briefly share these with Jim”
SECRETARY: “Ok, I’ll put you through”.
Once you get the business owner on the phone you introduce yourself as a freelance copywriter, point out a few mistakes the ad is making, and ask him/her if they are happy with the amount of leads and customers the ad is currently generating. Most business owners will say “not nearly enough” and may be open to hearing your ideas.
You may not get hired on the spot (although it could happen) but you will generate a lot of leads and interest for your copywriting services. It really is a numbers game, but if you make enough calls (and hone your pitch along the way) you will eventually generate enough paying clients to keep you busy.
>> Learn 6 Copywriting Tips for Beginners <<
Strategy #2: Contact Middleman Companies
What are middleman companies? I have covered this in a previous video but basically, a middleman company is a business who are already serving your potential clients.
Middleman companies are often:
- Marketing agencies
- Advertising agencies
- Accountants
- Printers
- Business coaches
- Web design agencies
- Graphic design agencies
Here’s a recap of today’s lesson on how to get copywriting clients.
Strategy #1: Pick up the phone and call potential business owners who are advertising in the newspapers. Offer to improve their advertising with better copy. Strategy #2: Call middleman companies, introduce yourself and see if you can establish a referral relationship. I hope you’ve enjoyed this video on How to Get Copywriting Clients. What’s your strategy in finding clients for your copywriting business? I’d love to read them! Feel free to post your tips in the comment section below.Share this post!
About Jesse
Hi, I’m Jesse Forrest! As an 18-year freelance writing veteran, I’ve worked with clients in over 153 industries, covering almost every topic imaginable. Passionate about helping others break into freelance writing, I’ve trained over 35,000 people, including teams at Chanel, Disney, and Sony. For the past 6 years, I’ve traveled the world with my trusty laptop, currently residing in Thailand. To kickstart your freelance writing career, download my free guide:
