Insert a witty title of your choosing.

November 5, 2008 3:36 PM

What does a copywriter do, and would I like doing it?

So, a friend told me she'd recently scored a job as a copywriter with a small travel company, and it got me thinking... What exactly does a copywriter do?

It also got me thinking about the job I have now that I desperately hate and want to quit.

Here's a little about me. I've a degree in psychology and certification and a second major (50ish credits) of English and education. I'm into grammar and writing as well as creative writing. I didn't take any communication or journalism courses in college, but would've if I'd had any extra time.

So, peoplewhodon'tknowmepersonally-fites, would I like being a copywriter? I'm not trying to be romantic about it, and I know I'll likely start out proofreading (which is fine by me.) Where should I look for entry level positions (other than Craigslist?) What about a portfolio?

posted by santojulieta to writing & language (15 comments total)

I've read the following related posts, but I'm still looking for a little more guidance.

Portfolio?

What is the next step?
posted by santojulieta at 3:38 PM on November 5, 2008

Try copywriting.com.

Google copywriter. Note related links.
posted by desuetude at 4:58 PM on November 5, 2008

A friend of mine took the copy editing certification course at NYU and got lots of freelance jobs through their placement office once he finish (and got some kind of certification I believe -- not sure if this is an industry standard or just something NYU does on its own). I see you're in Chicago; you might want to look for a course as copy editing is a specific skill set that goes beyond just having good grammar. Also the course would probably include tips on how to go about finding work...
posted by tractorfeed at 5:09 PM on November 5, 2008

Here's a link to some material at NYU: http://www.nyu.edu/classes/copyXediting/index.html
posted by tractorfeed at 5:10 PM on November 5, 2008

In my experience, when someone says "copywriter," they mean someone who writes marketing copy, which includes print ads, audio and visual scripts, news releases, web text, emails, newsletters, and stuff like that, all designed to sell something or improve the image of an organization. They might do this for an employer, such as any firm that sells anything, or as an independent business owner.

In the last 28 years, I've done all that, plus I worked as a tech writer and wrote print and online materials for kids. Now I do instructional design and writing for the business world.

I have to say that copywriting is at the rock bottom of my list. So here's a jaundiced view.

In my experience, most of the creativity required is the ability to come up with 19 ways to say the same thing, because there are always too many people involved in the project and they inevitably change what you write so it won't work, change their minds about the main message, or simply have no idea what they want to say and will supposedly know it when they see it. All this to sell something.

The main advantages to copywriting are that you can charge a lot and the projects are short, which means if they suck at least they're over quickly.

This video focuses on a graphic designer's experience but everything it says applies to copywriting as well.

If I remember right, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This gives you insight into the inner workings of ad agencies and gives tips to aspiring copywriters.

With any kind of business writing, you need to feel no ownership of what you produce. You have to be able to happily hand it in knowing that it could be turned into drivel. I've gotten so good at disengaging the minute I hand it in that I promptly forget I even wrote it, so when I stumble across my work in a publication or online I only recognize it because it sounds like me, and then I dimly remember writing it.

The tech writing I did was actually more creative and fun than you might imagine, because I was writing how-to stuff for mortals rather than engineery things for engineers, I was allowed to be occasionally funny, and my employer didn't interfere much. I wrote techie newsletter copy and wrote lots of manuals, reference guides, and online help. If you enjoy analytical thinking and finding creative ways to make things clear, you might enjoy technical or instructional writing.

I enjoy the writing I do now, because I've gotten myself into a nice niche where I'm "the creative one" and write sometimes funny stuff that makes people's jobs easier.

Also: Copy editing and copywriting are different things. One does not necessarily lead to the other. Copy editing is fixing people's typos and grammatical problems. I did it for several years, and in my opinion, it takes a different personality and brain than copywriting. Copywriting requires a lot more creative energy and initiative, since you're creating something out of nothing. I also found that the saying, "You're either a writer or an editor" is true--I always wanted to rewrite stuff when I was supposed to just rearrange the commas.

Also, in my experience, copy editing pays at most half of what I can charge for copywriting.

So you might try two things: Copy edit something using the techniques you can learn about online, and write some marketing copy. See what you like doing.

For the copywriting, maybe pick an organization that you believe in but that has a web site that isn't very persuasive. Identify what their main message should be and write their home page for them, but don't send it to them yet. Be able to defend your choice of message and writing style based on your knowledge of the market and what works with that market. (You can learn marketing fundamentals from web sites or library books.)

If you enjoy that, contact the org and ask if they want some help with their copy, and work with them on a volunteer basis to see what it's like to write what others want you to say. If you enjoy that, then you might do it as a volunteer for some other non-profits to build your portfolio before you try to get paid work.
posted by PatoPata at 5:51 PM on November 5, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]

I'm a copywriter. Honestly? I really like it, and I'm good at it. Professional bullshitter, if you will.

But the flip side to that is that it can be terribly boring. You will find yourself saying the same things in different ways over and over and over.

I like it for the creativity, and in my particular line of copywriting (catalogs), the pay is pretty nice. I get to be imaginative and express myself in ways that I never before could in the workplace. But it's not for everyone, and if you start, you'll know if it's for you by the end of the first month.
posted by sephira at 6:11 PM on November 5, 2008

"Who Else Wants to Know About Copywriting?"

*Keep Reading-- In the next 4 seconds,
your old beliefs are going to be BLOWN APART--
and your mind will Flash Like Lightning--
as Your Heart Explodes-- with RAW EXCITEMENT!*

Why????

Because FREEDOM, LIVING LIFE YOUR OWN WAY, and (*STOP!*--
Are you someone who DEFINITELY WANTS FREEDOM? If you do-- Keep Reading!)
ENJOYING YOUR LIFE and LOVED ONES While Living Life the Way YOU WANT IT
are REAL Possibilities... Starting Right Now!

***Wednesday, 6:02pm***

Are you looking for a different kind of job-- a job where you can be yourself?

A job where you are "Work on a Sunny Beach!" free?

A job where the things YOU PERSONALLY WANT, like

*Bullet 1
*Bullet 2
*Bullet 3


Etc.

***********************************

Beauty is truth, truth beauty... and copywriting is something else entirely.

Copywriting is designed to sell stuff, through childlike simplicity, repetition, cliche, and direct appeals to fear and desire.

It's a very particular craft, one that demands you shun creativity or aesthetic achievement in favor of reliable, statistically validated triggers.

Basically, you're ignoring the reader's neocortex, and trying to hook his or her limbic system.

You're bypassing critical thought, and trying to amp up emotion.

Think of it as the counterpoint to crit-theory-ish reader response models; instead of your reader having some private, unknowable experience in relationship to your writing, you are trying to make the reader think this:

"Okay, I'll buy that."

Anyway, copywriting can be brain-bruising, but there's a great deal of personal freedom available, and can actually be very lucrative.
posted by darth_tedious at 6:12 PM on November 5, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]

Ditto PatoPata. Copy-editing does not equal copywriting. Copy-editors take other people's copy and fix it, to varying degrees. Copywriters write ad copy.

And as I just learned, when the word "copy" appears too many times in a small space, it starts to look like gibberish, even to copy-editors.


There are two big questions you need to answer:

1. Do you like to write things or fix things?

2. Are you introverted or extroverted?


Once you've answered those questions, here's how it breaks down, very roughly.

• If you just like to write, being a reporter (editorial side) or copywriter (ad side) might be good for you.

• If you just like to write, but would prefer not to interact with people very much, copywriting would probably be better for you; if you do like interacting with people a lot, reporting is your gig. (This is a very rough distinction that blurs a lot, depending on your workplace's expectations and the assignments you receive.)

• If you'd rather investigate things (and the stories behind those things), rather than sell them, reporting is for you; if the opposite is true, you should be a copywriter.

• If you just like to fix things (and are a good enough writer that you can rewrite when necessary), and are actually good at rewriting and fixing things, being a copy-editor or proofreader or fact-checker might be good for you.

• If you don't like to write (or need existent material to work with in order to force yourself to write) and don't like interacting with people, but, again, are good at fixing things, being a copy-editor or proofreader is an excellent choice.

• If, on the other hand, you don't like to write (or can't force yourself to write a lot) but don't mind interacting with people and doing lots of research—and perhaps are less keen on the fixing grammatical things part and more keen on the fixing factual things part—fact-checking might be your thing.

• And finally, if you like doing all these things in varying proportions on a daily basis and are fairly competent at all of them (and are willing to learn, on a daily basis, how much more competent you could be), then congrats—you could be an editor!
posted by limeonaire at 6:25 PM on November 5, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I was a psychology major, and now I'm an editor.
posted by limeonaire at 6:29 PM on November 5, 2008

darth_tedious seems to be talking about direct sales copy, which is a small, often profitable corner of copywriting. You don't have to do that kind of writing if you don't want to. I'm burnt out but I'm not so burnt out that I would say that all copywriting is that bad. I was usually hired to do more "relational" stuff, which basically meant sounding friendly and pointing out the real, not hyped, benefits of the product or service.

I agree with limeonaire, especially regarding the amount of extroversion required for journalism. Based on my short experience with it, I'd put it on the most extroverted end of a scale that might look like this:

INTROVERT ------------------------------------------------------------------- EXTROVERT
proofreading --- copy editing --- technical writing --- copywriting --- journalism

And one more thing: I occasionally hire writers for myself or for clients. If someone came to me saying they had proofreading and copy editing experience but no writing experience, I wouldn't consider them. Copy editing is unlikely to get your foot in the writing door, at least not with testy types like me.
posted by PatoPata at 7:17 PM on November 5, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

>darth_tedious seems to be talking about direct sales copy

Yeah, fair point.

Writing "soft sell" copy is an option, and has the benefit of not systematically making you want to puke as you write it. My impression, which may be off, is that most softer copy tends to be in the context of relatively steady gigs or long-term jobs with established firms. This sort of copy actually is often not that far off from journalistic feature-writing.

The visceral, Hot Button (tm), Adrenaline-Packed!!! stuff tends to go with jobs that are freelance and short-term.
posted by darth_tedious at 7:59 PM on November 5, 2008

Bear in mind too that frequently you are competing with other writers within things like ad agencies and are often demanded to come up with words that don't exist, work for six months on a project that get scrapped, and/or end up with a horrible editor who makes all your writing sound like his... which you hate.

I made jack squat for pay for years but make decent money now. You have to prove you can write well for free before you get to write well for a good paycheck, but that's just my experience. I've done journalism, technical writing, advertising, marketing, emails, site copy, edited books, doctoral theses, poems, you name it. Be prepared to have people steal your ideas and go through writer's block, too (which is terrible when you're doing banner ads or the even-more-insidious billboard, which is the bane of a writer's existence).
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:46 PM on November 5, 2008

Copywriters do all sorts of things. In my time I've written those nasty retails sell sell sell 50% off stuff, I've written brochure flyers and catalogues, I've written corporate profiles and websites, corporate videos and radio ads. Press and billboards. And I've also done the very high end stuff. Think of those big brand (Coke, Ford, Amex) tv ads in exotic locations with celebrities and big budgets, that appear of World's Greatest Commercials tv shows... well I've done all that too. That's what I do now. It's great fun, don't get me wrong. It's all about big ideas, so if you're creative, it's the job for you.

But shooting in exotic locations counts for 1% of the job. 99% of it is working for 8 months on that brief with a partner coming up with 300 scripts so the client (all 5 levels and their lawyers) can reject and water them down until you end up with something that bears no resemblance to the original spot you showed them. This is why most of the ads on tv suck, all the good ones got rejected. You have to have the hide of an elephant and be able to be endlessly creative, to keep coming up with new stuff they just tear down.

For every say, Coke, client, they won't just need one tv ad (the fun part) they'll need endless pieces of point of sale crap random coke sales material to go with it. This will be the bulk of your job. I love it, but it's the 1% that makes up for the 99% of shit. You have to really love it to do it, because it's looooong hours to get anything decent out of it.

Money's not bad once you work your way up. Competition's fierce to get in, hence you have to be good and be tenacious.

Best way to get in would be to do a portfolio course and see if it's for you, get some work experience and come up with a folio, then hit the agencies and job hunt. Good luck, I wouldn't do anything else.
posted by Jubey at 2:46 AM on November 6, 2008

If you are looking into getting into online copywriting, you might like warriorforum.com

check out their copywriting forum.

if you would be interested in doing copy as part of a Joint Venture or for a low fee (offering a satisfaction guarantee), that's definitely the place to start.
posted by Izzmeister at 3:12 AM on November 6, 2008

As a copyeditor who's spent a lot of time working with and around copywriters, I completely agree with PatoPata. Also, sephira's "professional bullshitter" is a perfect capsule description. If you don't mind the idea of coming up with dozens of slightly different ways to make a sales pitch that fits in with the client's current "theme" (which of course may be changed at a moment's notice), and aren't bothered by the thought of everything you write being either ruthlessly rejected or ruthlessly rewritten to the point that you don't recognize it any more, go for it. But it's really a totally different skill set than copyediting (most copywriters I've known couldn't edit their way out of a paper bag and have been very grateful for the help they've gotten from the editors); you should focus on learning how to write copy, because that's what potential employers want from you.

I disagree with this:

If you just like to write, but would prefer not to interact with people very much, copywriting would probably be better for you

In my experience, copywriters always work as part of "project teams," which involves lots of meetings and discussing proposed ideas with other writers as well as with editors, artists, and bosses. If you would prefer not to interact with people very much, I don't think it's the career for you.
posted by languagehat at 8:00 AM on November 6, 2008