Learn copywriting (almost) for free

I've written copy for both Fortune 500 companies and early-stage startups. I've learned a lot and made many mistakes along the way.

If I had to start my career from scratch, here's how I'd do it:

1. Study

You'll find everything that is taught in ad schools in books or for free.

But, portfolio schools, courses, and universities give you four things that books don't:

? Structure

? Mentors

? Community

? Internships

If you can't afford education, that's alright. You can still do it yourself.

Start with structure. Create a personal syllabus of everything you want to study, or use mine:

?? Click here to access my favorite books, articles, and posts.

2. Practice

Creative practice mainly comes down to:

? Imitation: Find work that you like and try to make something similar.

? Improvement: Find work that you don't like and try to make something better.

? Invention: Come up with your own?spec campaigns.

?? Tip: Find a creative partner. If your focus is writing, work with a designer. It can be someone from your course or a community like?r/advertising?or?Very Creative People.

3. Get feedback

Practice without feedback is useless.

Get social, peer, and mentor feedback on these platforms:

?? I explain how to find mentors here.

4. Build your brand

A creative's personal brand consists of:

?? Learn how to build a creative portfolio here.

?? Tip: If you want to start sharing your journey online, ignore all the fake gurus. These three resources are more than enough:

??The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online by David Perell

??Writing Better by Julian Shapiro

??Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

5. Start working

Get your first client, internship, or start a business and promote it. The more you invest in your personal brand, the easier it'll be to land your first gig.

?? Tip: If you do cold outreach, remember that 99% of copywriters only make empty promises. So, show, don't tell. Create a spec piece for the clients you'd like to work for.

If they hire you, congrats. If they don't, great, you have a new portfolio piece.

Roadmap:

Thanks so much for reading!

Let me know what you think. I'll respond to every comment ??