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Thanks for the tip. I just ordered it. I'm a freak for such things. I'm a Chicago Manual of Style kind of guy and I spit--Spit, I tell you--on the AP Style Book.
I need to ask Santa for the Chicago Manual of Style. With the job I have now, I do an ample amount of writing. It is all for reports. I want to make sure what I write is articulate and concise. When I was doing enforcement I wanted my reports to be solid. It makes going to court a lot easier. Many times it kept me out of going to court.
I'm not a copywriter but I did write procedure manuals for about three years. Then as an audit manager for seven years, I wrote audit reports and edited the reports of auditors reporting to me. After about a year and a half of procedure manual writing my company sent me to a one week class on clear and concise business writing. I realized everything I had learned about writing in high school and college English classes was wrong. The essence of the class was that someone is spending their time reading what you have written. Make it as short and use the plainest language possible. If you get stuck expressing an idea on paper, stop and express it verbally as if you were talking to someone. Then write down what you just said. That one week class changed everything I have written since. So yes, you can learn a way of writing that makes everything you wrote in the past irrelevant.
There's nothing wrong with trying it your way, your results will tell you if you are talented enough at it, and a good enough business person to make a decent return doing it. I've never been a copywriter but had many different jobs including bill adjuster, bad check collector, credit authorizer, procedure manual writer, credit authorization supervisor, procedure manual writer again, audit manager, and finally working for 18 years as a sys admin and data base admin, a job I truly loved.
While always working full time I also had a sideline business for several years installing computerized accounting systems, creating business databases, and creating a published business directory with my database and desktop publishing. After I retired from my 9 to 5 job I worked two years as a full time independent IT contractor, using my years of sys admin and data base admin experience.
I worked much harder and made much less money doing my part time sideline work than doing my 9 to 5 job or my full time consulting job. I thought my income from the part time work would continue to grow, but it actually peaked fairly quickly then declined. Working my 9 to 5 job I only needed to do the job. Sales, pricing, customer service, billing, collections, was all done for me. Doing the full time consulting work after I retired from my 9 to 5 job was a whirlwind of work at the top technical levels of my field, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and it paid well.
The way to learn a craft is to get a full time job that pays you to do it. If you are good at it you will do well and make a good living at it. When I first got into IT a friend in the field told me I needed to "soak up knowledge like a sponge" and "eat live and breathe computers 24x7". I was happy to do that and became very good at it, and really enjoyed the work and made a very comfortable living at it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aprilmayjune
I have some past writing experience and am now trying to get into copywriting; initially part-time, but hopefully eventually full-time. I have gotten some pointers from listening to the online interview with Filthy Rich Writer, and decided to take the advice that aspiring copywriters can contact companies directly to ask for opportunities. In my case, I realized that I had been practicing copywriting now and then for years with marketing my own creative work, and sometimes just for fun....I just didn't know that it was called "copywriting".
So, I already have a few ideas for businesses in specific industries and decided to contact businesses to introduce myself and try to sell my copywriting material that I've already created....basically working "backwards". I haven't gotten any clients yet, but I haven't contacted many businesses yet, so it might be too early to tell.
Is it possible for copywriters to work in this way? If so, when a business expresses interest in working with you, how do you present your idea for review without taking the risk that the business might steal the material? Obviously you'd have to get paid first, but how do you ensure that? Right now I'm hoping to learn by asking around because I'm hesitant to invest in a paid training course.
Wow. On the chance you're still visiting this thread, OP, you received better advice in the first reply than in all of the silly courses combined. Anyway, I don't think you really wanted advice when you posted your question, but I'll answer it anyway. "Working backward" is a poor strategy in this business.
Wow. On the chance you're still visiting this thread, OP, you received better advice in the first reply than in all of the silly courses combined. Anyway, I don't think you really wanted advice when you posted your question, but I'll answer it anyway. "Working backward" is a poor strategy in this business.
I'm not sure what the poster's motivation was in the first place. I can't decide whether he/she is just shilling for the Filthy Rich Writer or just a gadfly who thinks getting into the biz is easy.
There's a term for people like that: Askhole. People who ask for advice but then don't take it.
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