How do you build your reputation as a copywriter?

Knowing your niche is as important as you need water to live. In this vast ocean of digital marketing, without finding your niche you'll always going to struggle. So, find your niche by your interest and knowledge and start your journey of becoming an expert in your field.

Publishing content is important to building your reputation as a copywriter. You can create blog posts, YouTube videos, newsletters, or social media content about copywriting or a particular industry. It's proven that content marketing generates traffic, and conversions but very importantly, reputation/authority, with your audience.

In my experience teaching, I have found that when you make the lessons fun, interactive, and inclusive, your students will enjoy learning much more. When giving my daily Phonics Lessons as a Montessori Assistant Teacher, I would make it into a game similar to Wheel of Fortune, minus the wheel. I would think of a category or a spelling word that the children were supposed to be learning that week and have them guess a specific letter when it was their turn. if they were able to solve the puzzle then they would win the game. this helped make the children more eager to learn as well as help them have fun while learning.

The first step to becoming a good copywriter is to understand your strengths, the niche areas that you are passionate about. When you are passionate about your work, you will be great at what you do. Once you have identified your niche, conduct a thorough research on your target audience and gain an in-depth understanding of their interests, hobbies, needs, limitations, pain-points. Design a user persona. Find out what kinds of content they are most interested in consuming. Find out which products and services they are most invested in. Then tailor your copywriting skills to their needs, while maintaining your individual writing style.

Creating a portfolio of work samples adds credibility and social proof to your copywriting skills. Your clients and recruiters are going to make their first and most important impression about your skills based on your portfolio. Add different types and formats of copy in your portfolio to diversify your skills and make it credible. Your portfolio is the sum total of your brand voice, your USP. You can use tools like Notion, Behance, Canva etc. to design a professional portfolio. Ensure the portfolio is well-structrued and provides a smooth User Experience. The portfolio shouldn't be crammed with too many projects and case studies. Showcase only your best work on the portfolio and keep revising it on a quarterly basis.

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved cartoons. I would watch them every day when I got home from school and would not be interested in anything else. Even as I entered middle school I would still watch cartoons on television and even animated films. This soon began to set me apart from my peers; one girl in my class asked me, "Don't you watch any real movies?". That stung. How were animated films and television shows not real movies? I always thought they were just as accurate as any other film. I knew plenty of adults who liked animation, and many of their themes could be as relevant for adults as for kids.

I have been making up stories ever since I was in elementary school. I loved school assignments where we wrote our stories, and people told me I should become a writer someday. I believed them then, but as I got older, I developed a profound sense of what I would recognize as "Impostor Syndrome." Every time I tried to write something, I would get this nagging voice inside my head telling me that I wasn't good enough and never would be. So, I would not write. The ideas would stay in my head. Now that I am 33 and making a significant career pivot, I am determined to conquer this demon that has plagued me for years. I will practice my writing more, improve what I need to, and remember: I am me, and I am enough.