How Not To Get Copywriting Work
Another quick browse of reddit’s copywriting subforum confirms that the competition for copywriters is as weak as ever.
Check out this plea for clients:
Now, usually when I do these “observational studies” I’ll try and reach out to the person in need of help. This guy has deleted his handle so I can’t message him. If by some chance you happen to read this, let me know. Apologies also for the fact I’m about to savagely tear apart this mess of a pitch.
This is going to be instructional for some of you readers if you have trouble with getting clients or don’t know where to start. Speaking of which…
What’s The First Thing Wrong With This Pitch?
Everything that could be done wrong outside of reasonable language skills (those aren’t a given nowadays) has been done wrong here.
But what’s the biggest elephant in the room that nobody points out in these scenarios?
This guy, before he’s even written a word, has failed.
Why?
He’s pitching to the wrong people. He’s in the wrong place and there is no point in trying to get copywriters to hire you as a copywriter. They can do it themselves. (Although, looking at Reddit, you’d be mistaken for thinking otherwise.)
Think about it; why are you asking copywriters to give you a free chance, guidance and potentially create a competitor for no real gain other than hours of their life they’re never going to get back?
That sounds harsh, but I want to impress upon everyone reading that targeting is important. You don’t want to end up like this guy and completely waste your time pitching to people who are never going to hire you.
If he’d have posted to a “make money online” forum or small business site, he’d have had more freebie-seekers than he knew what to do with. Let’s move on to the next thing because it’s a perfect moment.
NEVER WORK FOR FREE
You should never, ever, ever work for free. Never. I cannot stress this enough.
This poor guy is thinking, “I’ve spent a month of my life learning how to write copy, but I want some experience… if someone gives me a chance, I’ll learn some more and get my foot in the door.”
Look… think about this for a second.
Which business owners want free labour in an in-demand skill and would trust an actual project with someone with no experience – one that’s asking for hand-holding none the less?
That’s right; broke business owners.
Now, what “valuable experience” or knowledge could you possibly gain from working for someone who is broke?
Not a lot. Why would you take advice on copywriting from someone who’ll only hire you if you work for free? They can’t give you any valuable advice.
Added to that… you have all those common arguments about devaluing your own time, your own self-esteem and making it more difficult to get paid in the future. Those are all true.
Don’t work for free. It doesn’t matter if you have to hustle and bustle or you only work with a single client in the beginning. It doesn’t matter if you do simple jobs. No excuses. Don’t work for free.
The Value Proposition
Flip the script on our example pitch. Beyond the words themselves, this guy is saying:
- I don’t have experience
- I don’t have confidence
- Please hire me because I’m begging (Begging never works unless you’re a helpless baby looking for a bottle or an irresistible puppy)
- You need to tell me what to do
- You need to contact me and give me everything I need
- … And then you’re giving me advice for free on your own time
- I can’t guarantee that this will actually be beneficial to you in anyway (at least you aren’t paying)
- Oh, I’m so sick of not being a superstar – I put in a whole month’s work! Woe is me!
- …and by work, I mean I read some books and did some handwriting, which you’ve all done too but you know it’s tough right?
- I spent a whole 5 minutes on this pitch!
Now, none of those things should be in a pitch. Having written them all out, I’m pretty convinced that this is some elaborate troll job and I haven’t got the insider joke here.
If you are in fact a troll and you’re thinking, “Good one… got this idiot!” then you’re right; I am an idiot. However, your joke is terrible.
Assuming this guy isn’t a troll and this is serious, here’s a quick formula for never messing up this badly again.
The Pitch In One Simple Formula
This will work for copywriters but also for any pitch anywhere:
- State who the customer is
- State what they need
- Introduce yourself
- Tell them why you are the man (or woman) to save their business (bonus points for subtly demonstrating that without you it’s going to be OVER for them sooner or later)
- Tell them what you’ll do (Your service)
- What this will do for them (imaginary scenario where problem is over)
- Tangible results + all those intangible qualities. (I have made a million dollars for my clients, but I don’t sit back and relax… I’m up at 6am sharp to do better next time, or whatever)
- If they want to contact you, then here are the million ways they can do so, or you’ll catch up with them later
- Some rudimentary S. section about how you’re busy or you saved a kitten’s life or how you checked out their website and you’re probably going to buy one of their product’s for your mother come Christmas time
This pitch structure will succeed at a massive % rate when compared with most of the drivel out there.
Final Thoughts
Begging people to work for free is never going to work. It’s lose-lose for everyone (except the penny-pinching misers who love free work, and trust me… you don’t want to be involved with them.)
Instead of being like the guy in the example, forget yourself and think about how you can be useful to potential clients. Then demonstrate it using the template pitch above.
If you’re worried about being inexperienced or having a lack of copywriting guru wisdom, bear in mind that you’re competing against people whose game plan is to moan and beg for table scraps.
Don’t be those guys… win.