Freelance Copywriters: Here’s What NOT To Do
When I started as a freelance copywriter, I wrote anything for anyone.
I wrote emails, Facebook ads, content, sales pages… the lot. If something needed writing, “I’d put my hand up and say, “I’m a copywriter, I’ll do it.”
It seemed like a reasonable thing to do.
I was fresh out of regular paychecks and turning down cash jobs was counterintuitive, unless what I really wanted to be was destitute.
Getting client was never the problem. I had a career in magazine journalism and startup marketing behind me. People wanted me to write for them and I wanted their money.
That’s where things went wrong.
I started working with a bitcoin trader. Then a personal brand. Then a chiropractor. Then a real estate agent (never do this). Then an Instagram influencer. Then someone launching a personal development book. Then a startup in Helsinki.
It was CHAOS.
The problem was no consistency. No boundaries. No rhythm. No meaning. No mission. I was writing in seven different voices across seven unrelated industries, carrying the cognitive burden of constant task switching.
My task list looked like a crossword puzzle.
I was required for everything, all the time.
Which is just like having a job.
So, if you want the enviable freedom and mind-bending glamor of a freelance copywriting career…
The best thing you can do is say no at least as much as you say yes.
