Copywriting is a good career because there is a consistent and growing demand for copywriters. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 7.6% growth in copywriter jobs in advertising, promotions, and marketing from 2020 to 2030. Also, the term "copywriting" hit a global high in January 2023, per Google Trends. It shows the rising appeal of freelance writing as a career and side hustle. An Upwork survey found a 55.2% rise in demand for freelance writing. Successful copywriters now charge $19 to $45 an hour.
A copywriter is a writer who persuades readers to take action, like buying a product or signing up for a newsletter. Many copywriters specialize in a niche. Some work as social media, direct response, email, or ecommerce copywriter. The tasks vary, but a good copywriter invests time in learning specialized skills. It includes consultative selling, customer behavior, and lead generation.
A career in copywriting has its perks. You can earn a high income, work for multiple clients, and have a flexible schedule. Some freelance copywriters make six figures by starting their own marketing agencies. Copywriting has been around for decades. It has developed from print ads, like those written by David Ogilvy, to digital content produced by AI.
Copywriting has challenges that make some doubt it as a career. But, demand for this skill is rising. It’s harder to stand out in the job market and find steady work. Producing good copy takes time and energy. Plus, there's the pressure to keep up with industry trends.
A Reddit discussion reveals that the field is easy to enter. The real challenge is to sustain a successful career. It shows that copywriters must be resilient. The job involves handling criticism, managing tough clients, and chasing late payments. This is all while consistently networking to find new opportunities. A Reddit user said they first considered engineering. But, poor grades led them to choose copywriting instead. Despite the hurdles, Reddit user found the career rewarding.
Copywriting coach Tyson 4D from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, promotes it as a fun, profitable side hustle for beginners. He claims that you can earn $100 per day or $10,000 per month as a remote copywriter. According to Tyson, copywriting is a flexible and rewarding career where you only need to work a few hours a week to earn a good income.
Mason Doerr from Miami, Florida shares that he became a millionaire at 24 years old by working as a freelance copywriter. He earned $4,500 in his first month, then scaled to $35,000 per month after getting more clients. He then started his own digital marketing agency, Cardinal Agency. Mason says that copywriting is a good career because of its low-entry barrier. You don’t need a college degree or experience to look for a copywriting job.
This article will answer whether copywriting is a good career. It will also provide you with five effective ways to find an awesome job in the copywriting industry. Additionally, this article will answer some critical questions relevant to the careers you can pursue in this industry. Is it really a good career? Finally, we will introduce you to a business model that may be better than copywriting.
5 Ways To Find a Good Career in Copywriting Industry
1. Freelancing Platforms and Online Job Sites
Freelancing platforms and online job sites like Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn are the easiest way to find a copywriting job in 2023. On Upwork, there are 4,900 copywriter listings. You can find a freelance copywriting job in industries like SaaS, social media marketing, real estate, and SEO. As per Upwork, some of the most popular copywriting niches on their site are email marketing and long-form blog writing.
You can access these platforms by creating a profile with your resume, portfolio, rates, and copywriting niche. You can reply to job listings from a potential client and send as many applications as you want.
You can also promote your copywriter profile like on Fiverr. Here, clients can give you a review for each “gig” or project you finish. Fiverr rewards 5-star freelancer profiles with badges like Fiverr’s Choice, Top-Rated, and Pro to help clients find you faster.
2. Company Websites
Company websites let you apply directly to a company without going through a third-party. Before applying, research the company. Know its brand voice, content style, and desired copywriting skills.
Here is an example of a copywriting job listing from Amazon Jobs for their Brand Innovation Lab. It lists down the job requirements, company culture, and even the base pay. Amazon copywriters earn a base pay of $96,400 to $185,000 per year depending on their geographic market. You can use this info to adjust your resume and salary request in the interview.
3. Copywriting and Marketing Agencies
Copywriting and marketing agencies like Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, and McCann work with multiple clients. It improves your odds of landing a copywriting job. The agency will match you with a client from their vast network. Statista says there are over 14,000 US marketing agencies. So, there are many copywriting opportunities.
To apply as a copywriter for an agency, you can visit their website and look at the available positions. This is an example of a copywriter role at Snow Agency, a marketing firm based in Miami, Florida. It mentions that they’re looking specifically for a social media copywriter for ecommerce ad copy. It also mentions a requirement: at least 1 year of copywriting experience.
4. Cold Outreach
Cold outreach involves contacting potential clients or businesses to ask if they’re looking for a copywriter. This approach is more difficult but profitable since you won’t have to deal with third-party agencies or platform deductions. To do cold outreach, you need to build a list of potential copywriting clients, draft a cold email, and send it.
Freelance writer Jorden Makelle runs the Killer Cold Emailing course. He says that cold emails to prospects can help land a high-paying copywriting client. It’s also proven by a Backlinko study that sending cold emails to more than one prospect improves response rates by 93%.
5. Partnerships With Local Businesses
Partnering with local businesses lets you contribute to the local economy while earning high income. If you know any local business owners in your area, you can reach out to them and offer your copywriting services.
Copywriter Sean Ferres from Brisbane, Australia recommends writing them a free sample in exchange for a testimonial or referral. You can then leverage those to get more clients and increase your income. This is a big advantage compared to sending applications to potential clients and companies who don’t know you.
What Makes Copywriting a Good Career?
Flexibility, high income, and beginner-friendly roles made copywriting a good career. This is especially the case for freelance copywriters who can take on multiple clients at once. According to a report on lucianoviterale.com, the copywriting subreddit grew 422% in three years. It reflects the increasing preference for remote work among professionals. Additionally, there are over 10,000 copywriting services available on Fiverr. It indicates a robust demand for freelance copywriters.
In terms of income, copywriters on Upwork charge median hourly rates between $19–$45/hr, as per Upwork. Also, Indeed says that the average salary for a copywriter in the United States is $55,463 per year . Moreover, email marketing, a common copywriting service, is 40x more effective at acquiring customers than Facebook or Twitter. It allows email copywriters to charge higher rates, as per McKinsey.
Alex Cattoni, the founder of The Copy Posse course, shares that copywriting allowed her to travel the world while working remotely. Alex is part of the 15 million digital nomads from the US who make money online. As a copywriter she claims that you can turn copywriting from a $100 side hustle into a $10,000 per month writing business, even as a beginner.
What Skills Do You Need in Copywriting To Have a Good Career?
Research, commitment, and selling are the skills you need in copywriting to have a good career. You need to understand your audience and the product or service you’re writing about. This means knowing how to look at facts and finding the right sources. According to ProWritingAid, effective research often takes more time than writing, and using long-tail keywords is recommended for understanding audience discussions.
Since copywriting has a steep learning curve, putting enough time into learning can help you improve your writing for clients. ProWritingAid also highlights that self-motivation is crucial for maintaining productivity and meeting deadlines, especially since most copywriters work from home and set their own schedules. While sales skills aren’t required for copywriters, it helps to know the right way to persuade audiences or customers.
What are the Career Paths in Copywriting?
Is Copywriting Profitable?
Yes, copywriting is profitable because copywriters earn up to $136,000 per year based on a report from ZipRecruiter. The average copywriter salary sits around $77,180. According to writer Elna Cain, freelance copywriters can charge anywhere from $0.05 to $0.20 per word. This means you can already make $500 from only one 2,000 word blog article.
However, these figures are not the same for all copywriters. Online entrepreneur Shane Hummus explains that freelance copywriters and business owners have higher income than copywriters employed by a digital marketing agency or advertising firm. In fact, beginner copywriters can earn as little as $10,000 a year as per copywriter Carmine Mastropierro.
Wire transfer, bank deposit, and online payments are the payment options available to a copywriter. Employed copywriters who work in an agency usually get their salary deposited into their bank account. Freelance writers who work remotely receive payments through international wallets like PayPal, Wise, and Stripe.
How To Become a Copywriter With No Experience to Start Your Career?
To become a copywriter with no experience, you need to study free copywriting courses, invest in a paid program, practice persuasive writing, and choose a copywriting niche. Once you have a solid foundation of technical writing skills, you can start building a copywriting portfolio. Include samples you published on Medium or any copy you made for a local business. You can also join copywriting groups where you can ask for advice and network with more successful copywriters.
Is There a Future in Copywriting Career?
Yes, there is a future in copywriting because businesses always need to sell their products or services. These companies need copywriters to create ads, social media posts, and online content that can persuade people to buy.
Even with AI, copywriters won’t be replaced in the future since AI and machine learning can’t replicate human creativity and intuition. One Reddit comment shares that a big part of copywriting is knowing how to describe technical fields used by the company, which AI tools like ChatGPT can’t copy.
Is It Hard To Get a Good Career in Copywriting?
No, it’s not hard to get a good career in copywriting if you know how to market yourself to potential clients or companies. There is a huge demand for copywriters as shown by the 4,300 job openings for copywriters in hen ZipRecruiter. But this demand also means that there is high competition. Finding clients involves making your portfolio stand out from other copywriters.
One reviewer from Reddit mentions that copywriting gets overhyped. He mentions the online entrepreneur Dan Lok who makes copywriting seem easier than it is through his paid courses and YouTube videos. It gets harder to build a copywriting career if you don’t know which skills or copywriting niche you should focus on.
Why People Say Copywriting Is Not a Good Career?
Poeple say copywriting is not a good career because of competition, unstable income, and technical skills. Despite the high demand for copywriters, the industry is saturated with many people treating it as a get-rich-quick hustle. The reality is that 95% of aspiring copywriters fail because they didn’t have the right skills and knowledge.
Deanna Blanchard from Asheville, North Carolina is a direct response copywriter with 15 years of experience. She says that it’s unlikely for anyone to start earning 6 figures from copywriting in just a year. You first need to learn how to write copy and understand persuasive selling.
Freelance copywriters face unstable income since they don’t get a fixed salary from an employer. In fact, a survey by The Mighty Marketer revealed that 72% of freelancers identify unpredictable income as their top challenge.
Conclusion: Local Lead Generation is Still a Better Career Than Copywriting?
Copywriting has many challenges, like inconsistent income and tough competition. It makes finding clients hard. While copywriting can be a rewarding career for some, it’s not the case for everyone. Not all copywriters can scale to 6 figures with the business model, unlike what some copywriting gurus might make you believe.
Local lead gen isn’t prone to competition or market saturation since you target local business in a specific and niche market. This focused approach is more effective in attracting and retaining clients. BrightLocal's survey found 75% of local businesses struggle to generate leads. This shows a demand for local lead generation services. Local lead gen works by creating and ranking websites in search engines to generate leads for local businesses. These lead gen sites can earn between $500 to $2,500 per month, offering a lucrative avenue for those adept in SEO and online marketing strategies.
If you're exploring a career path that offers stability, scalability, and high income potential, local lead generation stands out as a promising option. It offers a reliable alternative to the uncertain world of copywriting. It can boost profits and job satisfaction.
