05-19-2016, 12:24 AM
(05-18-2016, 11:22 PM)Ivaylo Wrote: Hey heavysm
I've been doing some freelance copywriting myself for the last few months for the same reason you are considering it, and I decided to throw in my 2 cents if that's of any use to you.
A little relevant info: I'm currently at $50/hour after I built my portfolio a little and I'm getting enough requests for work to never have to seek them out on my own. Granted, I'm working on other projects too and I can only set aside 10-20 hours a week, but still.
To be blunt - in my experience working with clients is a bad way to learn copywriting, unless you find clients that are willing to trust you completely. Almost everyone I've working with has been very particular about how they want their sales copy, which for me makes it pointless as a learning experience.
For example - just the other day a client paid me 100 bucks for a short sales copy piece... however it turns out they wanted it lifeless and generic, lol. When I said I don't believe that's what they need, she just wrote the piece the way she wanted it, gave it to me for revision (which took me 10 minutes total) and she was completely happy with my work.
To put it simply - when you're a copywriter for a client, it seems to me that more often than not you're selling the copy to your client. Trying to write something that actually sells, while still making it attractive to *your* client can be an uphill battle, in my experience. Which might lead to forming some bad habits in your copywriting if you don't watch out.
If you can find enough clients that trust you and let you work, it can be a good learning experience. It hasn't been easy for me as a freelancer, I'd imagine it would be even harder if you work for an agency. As my hourly rate goes up, I'm hoping that might change though. That's the only reason I keep doing it to some degree. If not... it's just going to be my safety net income.
Sorry I'm not giving you a lot of positive news here, just my experience.
Every industry has its negative points. I was told every horror story in the book about getting into the traffic biz but somehow i made that work out. Right now I have a side gig to make sales pages for an IM coach and his clients. I make a handful of basic sales pages each month and i get like $2 - 3k for that, though he makes well into the 5 figures from it. For now I'm happy with the arrangement since I can practice and try out different ideas I wouldn't otherwise have the chance to try out.
Your situation sounds like a few others I have connected with. Others work directly for agencies and have to write in a very particular way, or else they get the boot. I'm definitely pushing to work for a set rate per project, rather than per hour (not working for an agency), since many of the more successful writers I've connected with basically abhor the idea of working for an hourly rate. One guy was even joking to me, saying that he did a sales page that took him 8 total hours to write for like $15k. The page itself was worth about a half million to the client, so it made sense to pay him that much. And obviously there was much negotiation and back and forth regarding the project cost, but there you go.
I'm not down-trotting your experiences, and i thank you for sharing them. I'm confident I can gain some momentum over time just like i did for my traffic biz. I spoke to too many people in my industry early on saying how hard it was to get clients and charge more for my services BUT somehow i was able to brand myself as a reputable seller and over book myself on my services even though i am charging nearly double of what my competitors offer.
If it's going to be a challenge, then it's challenge accepted
