How to be a great copywriter

During the recent launch of Confident Copywriting, I was asked if the group would help them become a great copywriter. And it got me thinking.

What does it mean to be great? Who are the great copywriters?

There are no wrong answers to this one as it’s totally subjective. But who came to mind first and why?

Did you think of a top writer?

A high earner?

Someone who is well-known? Or a secret weapon?

What is it about them that makes you think they’re at the top of their game?

• Their leadership and the impact on others?
• The results and outcomes they achieve?
• The quality of their work?
• Their reliability and consistency?
• Maybe even their efficiency.

If greatness is on your roadmap, there are two tracks to consider:

• Your writing
• Your business

You need to pay attention to both.

If you become a great writer but you can’t run a business, you won’t earn enough to live and be sustained by your copywriting. And that’s fine unless copywriting is your main source of income.

If you only focus on your business operations without making sure you’ve got the copy chops to deliver, you won’t be a success either. Clients will become disgruntled about the lack of results, and word will spread.

When it comes to your writing…

A great copywriter doesn’t write pretty words. They write words that achieve specific goals.

You need to invest in learning the craft of copywriting to make sure you know the right words. I mean techniques, the science of copywriting and effective marketing as a whole, but also how our brains and emotions respond to specific triggers. 

And it’s not just about learning. You need to implement. You need an intentional approach to your writing, pulling from the skills you have to write the best damn copy you can with what you know at that time. 

You can get there with a copy coach like me. Someone who can find the weak spots in your copywriting and show you where to focus your effort. 

Learn, practise, be intentional when you write and put yourself in the path of copywriters who are further along. BOOM.

When it comes to your business…

You need to get a handle on systems, processes, marketing, money, time management and mindset. It’s all part of running an effective, profitable, successful business. 

But that’s hella hard to get set up on your own. That’s when being around other copywriters, copywriters who are further along than you, can help. You get a shortcut past the horrors of figuring it all out through trial and error (AKA mistakes and pain).

How you run your business will impact how much you can confidently charge clients. Demonstrating that you have established, effective processes and systems will help them decide if they’ll get a premium experience for their investment. An experience that takes a burden off their plate and delivers copy that elevates their business.

You need to invest in each of these tracks to be a good copywriter. 

Through learning, experience, support and tools, implementing intentionally as you grow and scale, you can become great. 

But the key to it all is incremental action.

Getting 1% better on every single project.

How fast you get to great is entirely up to you. It depends on your goal. It depends on how much time you have. It depends on the actions you take.

I can give you all the tools and education to become a great writer. I can give you all the tools to run a great business. What you do with these is your decision. If you don’t take action, your path to greatness will be a dead end. It’s that simple.

Decide what YOUR version of greatness looks like and get on with it.

Belinda

P.S. I would love to know you define “great”. What does it mean to you?

This blog post is mostly me giving myself a talking to.