10 Worst/Best Secrets Of A Copywriter You Must Know

I really wish I had come across such a kind of article before I chose to be a copywriter. What would have happened? Well, I still would have chosen to be a copywriter, because that’s where my heart lies. But, I could have avoided some harsh bumps in the journey.

This one therefore, is for those of you, who love to write and dream to be in writing profession. It will caution you of the snares lying around so that you are careful and don’t hurt yourself nastily to end your journey abruptly.

So let’s start with the cons fist…

1.Game Of Patience      

YES! That’s It. Whole day you wrack your brain writing a (boring) tagline for the 37th time (excuse little pluses/ minuses) Monsoon Cool Offers From Ting or (if you are under the spell of some inauspicious star), draft, re-draft, edit and re-edit a 400 words copy on 5 Reasons Why Should You Buy Apple Inc   only to hear your contact guy saying, the theme has changed to so and so. 

2.Malnourishment Of Body And Mind (For Beginners / Freelancers)

If you are a newbie, be ready for that! Because you will be awesomely underpaid. And still you have to stick to your butt, because you need to learn. And you REALLY need to work your butt out till you become seasoned. Same with freelancers. Unless you are able to create your own niche, be ready for malnutrition. Believe me, once I was told by an international company to re-write a whole book of 1000 pages FREE OF COST! And that was at the pre-screening stage!

3.How To Make A Good Portfolio?  

Writing a copy and adding some good images, is not a big deal. But how to make it stand apart from the crowd? That only experience can teach you. Trust me, Google search won’t help you much. You have to burn lots of midnight electricity to get the hang of it. Also remember, writing is subjective. Like different taste buds, there are different people with different tastes. One may like your writing, other may trash it.

4.Wait For An Angel To Find You   

Only a person who is really good at writing can sense your talent even if it is not so prominent in your writing. And you really need such a mentor to train you. On how to write professionally-creative copy. Be ready to see your school / college days creative writing skills flooding the trash bin. Those stuff do not go here in work world. And if you are a little less fortunate (like me) in finding such a mentor, you need to work your way up. For that you will need a bit of thick skin. To digest all that indigestible thrown at you.

5.Be Prepared To Be Assaulted (Your copies / ideas)            

Half the time your copies will not be read properly or would be read by people who are neither writers nor readers. Half the time your contact agent (could be your boss too) will not have very clear idea of what needs to be written (forget about how it’s to be written). Because very few people on earth can visualise clearly what they want (forget about the how part. Cool! every one can’t become a Bill Gates).

I was fired from a company on the ground that I couldn’t write White Paper. When the fact of the matter was, no one in the company (all techie company, no writers) knew what actually they wanted the White Papers on or how would they like to present them.

Same with your ideas. Mostly your Ideas WON’T CHANGE YOUR LIFE! So be prepared for that.

Still with me?

Good! It means you are the one not to quit easily.

Then here are prizes for you as a copywriter…

1.Awesome Experience

It’s a heavenly experience after all the adrenaline rush to see your copy published, and liked by people. After all the pains of writing, rewriting, editing, re-editing losing your lunch and sleep. All those would be rewarded. Profusely!

2.Glamour – doesn’t rain, pours 

Takes time, but it comes! When people ( includes your boss) tell you that you are a terrific writer. You get awards, invitations. And yes more good offers too if you are in service or more juicy deals if you are in writing business.

3. Place-Proof, Ageless Profession

That’s a wonder. If you manage to stay fit, you can carry on even at 65 (like our MPs)! Once you establish yourself, work would pour in. You may not have to pull through traffic daily to attend office at 9 sharp. Once you have established your credibility, you can enjoy holiday at the other corner of the world and still work for your client or office.

4. Beyond Recession

Nowadays buzzword- Global recession, local recession. You can beat. No matter what, people still will not stop reading. Whether website content, newspaper, Hoardings, Ads or whatever. So your writing doesn’t stop.

5. Enriched By Information

You would be a research puffin if you are a copy writer and writing different types of copies. Because your profession demands that. You will get plenty of hands on knowledge in different subjects, topics, ideas, brands, happenings around the world. Enough to be the centre of attraction in any get to gather. But, with that information you can also come up with your own blogs, books and help educate people.

To sum up then, if you really love writing and willing to  and slog at the initial stage, you won’t find a better profession. It’s an exceptionally rewarding career. Go for it!