How To Pitch Your Copywriting Services as a Newbie

If you’re a newbie, struggling to get your first client can be a headache. You have no portfolio, no experience, and it scares the hell out of you. You fear messing up or sounding desperate while pitching to your first prospects. Let me shock you with what real clients look for in this short article.

Do You Need A Portfolio?

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind immediately when you think of a portfolio? A lengthy long-form extensive blog post, A flashy or moving testimonial, a sample that drove massive traffic and crazy conversions, etc. Truth is, 90% of all flashy samples don’t matter to your client. They probably have a busy schedule and going through each sample, trying to compare which is the best from others, is an added hustle.?

What Do Clients Look For In a Sample?

Most clients have busy schedules and don’t have time to go through your entire portfolio. So sometimes it’s more important to give them a link to two or three of your most relevant samples, rather than sending your entire portfolio. And what they look for is how similar the work you’ve done matches what they want.?

The one or two relevant samples have a greater impact than the huge chunks of work you’re imagining they’ll go through. A blog post is for example, a very low investment compared to content marketing. Your potential client will likely scheme through your work looking for the right tone of voice for their target content.?

Other clients are willing to hire the first person rather than spend several hours reading a bunch of work that will waste their time.?

Now Create Your First Sample And Start Pitching

Knowing this now makes it easier to create relevant samples and create them right now. For example, if you’re pitching for a client looking for a finance writer, do a 400 to 500-word blog post about finance then publish it on your linkedin or medium account. Use the links to the article to send to your potential client as a sample.

Still, You DON'T Need a Portfolio

If you’re scared of pitching, it’s probably because you’re thinking of it as a 50-50 win or lose tactic. You look at this big company or agency looking to hire an experienced writer, and then look at yourself with no experience, no portfolio, and decide to pull out. “It’s not for me”. Wrong. The real game works with the number of pitches you send.

Of course a writer with more years of experience has an upper hand because of higher quality writing. But that doesn’t mean you won’t get a response or two when you pitch to 50 different companies. One or two will eventually consider taking you.?

Just Start!

You should know one thing, no one starts at zero. Your started somewhere and someone will say yes. At the beginning, It may take you 50 - 100 pitches to get the first yes. However, with time as you gain experience, you’ll get more “yesses” after sending about 50 pitches. You’ll reach a point where sending 10 - 20 pitches will earn you more responses.?

Increasing your percentage of pitches is what gives you a higher chance of landing a yes from your pitches.?

Bottom Line

Two facts you need to keep in mind is, creating a portfolio relevant to a client’s needs is very simple. And, you don’t need a portfolio. So get out there, create your sample, publish it on linkedIn or medium, and start sending your pitches to potential clients. Good luck!