No matter how passionate you are about copywriting or being a freelancer, chances are you still want to actually make money from this venture.
If you’ve been plugging away, but you’re not getting paid work, and things are not getting easier for you, it might be that you’re not doing some of the things outlined below in this checklist.
The good thing is all of these things are within your control.
Some may scare you or challenge you, but if you don’t overcome those fears, you may find success will elude you.
Check out these top 15 items and choose just one you need to work on. Start with only one. Get stuck in, do it, and then move on to the next.
- Biz card – invest $20 at your local printer and get started. Don’t wait for your website to launch before getting these.
- Biz name – if in doubt, use your own name, which means you can get started right away.
- Website – use Draftium.com to help you draw it up.
- A one- or two-page PDF flier – use this to promote yourself and showcase your work.
- Lead magnet – use Hubspot’s ebooks as a lead magnet to give away. They’ve given us permission to use their resources. Don’t change the branding though.
- Email welcome sequence – once people download the lead magnet, send them a few emails to welcome them. Offer value in the first 3 emails and then ask for the work in the fourth.
- Pitch rehearsed – what do you say when people say, “What do you do?” Rehearse it so it comes out fluently.
- Pricing summary – written out so you can rehearse what you will say when asked, ‘What do you charge?’ A ready-to-go rate card saves time and energy.
- Niche sorted – who or what do you want to write for? Start here. You can change it up later.
- LinkedIn profile written – have you added ‘copywriter’ to your profile?
- Networking events lined up – use Eventbrite’s filters to find the right event for you.
- Your ‘reason why’ – to keep you motivated when things don’t go right.
- Blogs written for your own website – write these and keep your hand in if you can’t find paid work elsewhere.
- List of friends/colleagues written down – contact them to let them know you’re now a copywriter.
- Using email software like Mailchimp – (it’s free) – use it to collect email addresses and start automating your marketing.
