If you’re just getting started looking for copywriter jobs, you’ve come to the right place.
While I can’t guarantee that you will get a copywriting job just by reading this blog post, I can guarantee that you will be far more knowledgeable about how to look for a job as a copywriter.
You are entering a business where there is a lot of demand for your services. But there is also a lot of competition.
If you go through the entire process of finding and landing one of the many copywriter jobs online, you will see that it is not hard, but it does require work.
So, let’s get you started so you can start making some money.
What Kind of Copywriter Jobs Are You Looking For?
The first thing you need to do before you start is to define who you are.
Writing professionally for people is a wide net.
There are all kinds of venues and different markets you can write for.
Let me give you some ideas.
Ghostwriting
This type of copywriting is where you will write for other people using their names. A lot of entrepreneurs want to have materials written to establish themselves as authorities in their industry.
However, they do not have the time to write their own material, so they hire ghostwriters.
The downside of this for most writers is that you will not become known as a writer by doing this. This is because the material will be published under the name of the person you are writing for.
You can still make a lot of money doing this depending on the type of client you have in their relationship with you.
If you think for one second that politicians write all of those books that they claim they are writing, forget about it. But they do pay a lot of money to have someone write their material for them.
Marketing Materials
Writing marketing materials is a massive industry. Every business on the planet needs them.
Sales letters, e-mail blasts, website copy, postcards, etc., all need to be written by professional copywriters.
The number of copywriting jobs in this arena is staggering. Since the intervention of the Internet, copywriting jobs have gone through the roof in terms of demand.
Blogging
This is one area of freelance writing that seems to have infinite opportunities.
So many businesses need to keep their companies in the minds of their consumers and clients. The best way to do that is to produce loads of content.
This kind of writing requires different skills that are very easy to learn. You will need to know how to use search engine optimization, formatting, and a host of other skills that require a little bit of time to learn.
Online Teaching
There is an enormous need for online teaching in 2022. Because of the pandemic, many schools are now online.
These schools will need writers who understand how to write materials and courses for online students.
Also, many online courses require scripts that will be read by the instructors. These instructors are usually entrepreneurs who do not have the time to write their own material.
Many of them do not understand how to present their course material in a step-by-step manner. These entrepreneurs probably won’t know how to structure learning in a way that helps the learning process.
If you have any experience in teaching, you can use your experience to help course creators write their materials.
Technical Writing
Have you ever bought a product that had horrible instructions with it? Of course, just about everybody has had this experience.
The process of writing directions for products and how to use them is called technical writing. This field of writing is very vast and encompasses many different avenues.
If you have experience or a degree in a technical field, you could write for that industry as a technical writer. As a matter of fact, this is one of the copywriter jobs that has loads of opportunities.
Just to give you an idea, go to LinkedIn and perform a search for “technical writer.” You will see loads of these jobs posted, and the salaries pay well.
Speechwriting
There are many different areas for speechwriters. Of course, there are political speeches that you are probably the most familiar with.
But many professionals need speeches written for different events. For example, I had a client who worked in the education industry helping Asian students. Every year he would go to various countries and promote the services for helping students who wanted to come to the United States. So, I wrote speeches for him about the services he could provide for these students.
There are executives, teachers, ministers, etc., who can use the services of a good speechwriter.
E-books
Writing e-books for people is one of the bigger copywriter jobs. Many businesses need e-books written, and many company websites offer a free e-book in exchange for a visitor’s e-mail address.
The reason for this is it puts potential clients into the company’s sales funnel. Writing an e-book is a huge task, and you will want to be compensated nicely for it.
A typical e-book can run anywhere from 20,000 to 70,000 words and take a lot of time to complete, so you will want to be heavily compensated for writing it.
Whitepapers
The definition of a white paper is it is an authoritative and persuasive in-depth report on a specific subject. A whitepaper usually presents a problem and then provides a solution.
Companies use white papers as a marketing tool to educate their followers about a particular topic related to their product or service. Just like e-books, most companies will hand out their white papers in exchange for an e-mail address.
White papers have their own formats and use formal writing styles. Just like writing technical manuals, writing white papers are a specialized field. You really need to have an in-depth knowledge of the product or service you are writing about and its industry to write in this market. However, it is not hard to learn how to write white papers.
Website Copy
Another area for copywriters that has a lot of jobs is writing website copy.
To give you an example of what I am talking about, take a look at your average accounting website. Accountants make good money and are good prospects for anybody who wants to start writing for professional businesses. But when you go to an average accounting website, you will see the worst copy ever written.
They will brag about all the awards they have won in talking high financial terms that nobody can understand but themselves.
The copy is written so it will not resonate with their client’s needs.
These sites rarely talk about how much tax money they can save them or how they can find common errors. It’s usually just a lot of bragging about their staff’s degrees or awards they’ve won.
This is just one example of website copy that sticks out in my mind whenever I get on the subject. When you consider all of the websites online, there is already a lot to write for, and there will be more websites every day.
Magazine Articles
Since the Internet has gotten so powerful, this is one area that is often the most overlooked. One of the reasons for this is that it is harder to break into.
If you can write magazine articles and get them published, you will be seen as an authority, and it will be much easier for you to get clients or land a copywriter job with a company.
Breaking into this area is not easy, and you will face a lot of rejection. But you can break into it if you have specific knowledge of a subject. To give you a good idea of what I am talking about, consider gardening. You can write articles about topics that gardeners can benefit from.
If you know how to construct raised beds for gardening, you could write an article that includes photographs of how you do it. But once again, expect a lot of rejection from magazines about gardening.
Many magazine articles are based on the time of year they receive their submissions. Also, there may be many submissions on the same subject that they already have lined up.
Personally, I think it should be every copywriter’s dream to have a published article. It will help you establish yourself as an expert and propel your copywriting career.
Catalog Copy
Most copywriters do not think about writing catalog copy. Writing for catalogs is an area in which just about any new copywriter can get started.
One of the reasons for this is you don’t have to write a lot about a subject.
Example:
Most catalog descriptions are not that long and require just some common sense. It would be good to understand how to write advertisements before getting started in this field.
Knowing how to present the benefits and features of products can be learned quickly, and the more you do it, the better you get at it.
One easy way to practice writing catalog copy is to list things you want to sell on eBay or Facebook Marketplace. Or, if you have friends who sell items, ask them if you write the product descriptions for them. This will give you a lot of practice, and you can go online and study how to write short advertisements for these types of items.
If you decide to get into writing catalog copy, make sure you are going into an area you are interested in. For example, if you are an outdoors person, don’t try to write for the beauty products industry.
Niches of Copywriting Jobs
Of course, the list above is only partial. There are many types of copywriting jobs, and it would take an extensive post to write about all of them.
Once you decide the kinds of copywriting jobs you would like to work in, the next thing is to figure out what industry you would like to work in.
Here is a list of the largest industries which employ copywriters considerably. Bear in mind that each of these industries has subindustries within them. When you read these subindustries, let your mind run wild with all the different possibilities because there are a lot of them.
Industries and Their Subindustries
Financial – cryptocurrency, accounting, personal finance, investing, etc.
Business – marketing, small business, business leadership, running a business, franchising, sales, etc.
Healthcare – pharmaceutical companies, medical devices, hospitals, private doctors, dentists, optometrists, massage therapy, etc
Technology – software startups, computer devices, education, online businesses, drones, surveillance devices, games, SaaS, etc.
Education – online courses, textbook publishers, course materials, educational aids, college websites, etc.
Sports – equipment companies, magazine articles, news reports, etc.
You Need to Do This As Soon As Possible
As I mentioned earlier, this list is barely scratching the surface. There are so many different industries, and within each one, there are different categories.
If there is a particular subject you are very passionate about and is within an industry that is in high demand and pays a lot, you will be in good shape.
However, if you are passionate about an obscure topic like turtle racing, then you will probably not fare so well. You must consider how much money there is in your chosen industry and if there is a need.
If you do not have any idea of what industry to write for, just pick a few. Do this even though you are not in love with those industries.
Why?
For one thing, you will develop a work ethic. There is not a single job or business on the planet you will love every aspect of. It is a rare situation to find a gig where you love everything about it.
Another reason I suggest this is you need to get started. If you have not been copywriting for very long, you will need to gain experience writing for a company or getting clients.
So, you need to get your feet wet to get into the business of copywriting.
Don’t worry, you can always change your industry focus later if you desire.
Another reason why you should write for some other industries is you may find that you actually like writing for those industries, especially when you are making decent money.
By working in different industries, you will eventually find one you love that has a high-income potential.
Once you find that, you can become an expert at it, giving you an unfair advantage over your competitors.
Best Places to Find Copywriter Jobs
In case you don’t know, LinkedIn is all about business. Other social network sites are about relationships or showing pictures of your pet frogs. LinkedIn focuses on the many aspects of business, including employment talent. Of course, you just might be that talent somebody is looking for.
If you are going to use LinkedIn to find copywriter jobs, you need to know how to use it.
Step One – Get an Account
First, you will need to get your own LinkedIn account. LinkedIn will only give you a limited one for free. If you want to use all of their services, you’ll have to pay a considerable amount of money a month.
But the free version of LinkedIn should be plenty for most people, so I highly recommend getting an account with LinkedIn.
Step Two-Start Working on Your Profile
Once you get a free account with LinkedIn, you will need to build your profile. This will take you a considerable amount of time, and you will need to update your profile regularly. You’ll also need to add keywords specific to your talents and niche into your profile description. So, if you are writing whitepapers about personal finance, you will need to use those keywords in your profile.
You will also need to add a professional picture, place links and other information into your profile, as well as post samples of your best work.
Step Three – Keep an Eye on Who Has Been Looking at Your Profile
Sometimes people will look at your profile. Also, sometimes you will be able to see who they are by clicking on the link” who’s looking at my profile?”
You can then see some of the names of people who have been looking at your profile. Sometimes, you can even message them and ask them if you can do anything to help them. Whatever you have to say or do to start the conversation is a good idea.
Step Four – Look at Available Job Openings
You can perform a search for copywriting jobs on LinkedIn because it has a search for jobs function on the website. You can actually search for copywriting jobs and use filters for the different kinds of jobs you are looking for.
For example, you could type in “copywriting financial.”
Doing so will give you a listing of all the financial copywriting jobs there are. Using the different filters that the job search function has, you can also look for just remote jobs, freelance copywriting jobs, or just jobs with companies in general.
Step Five – Use as Many Networking Opportunities on LinkedIn
LinkedIn has groups, forum postings, and places where you can leave valuable comments on the site. Also, you can have your own blog on LinkedIn where you can write about your own experiences in writing about your clients and services.
Problogger
A good site for finding all kinds of copywriting jobs is Problogger. The site has a massive listing for copywriter jobs. Here are the steps you need to take when using this site.
Step One – Put Together a Resume and a Cover Letter
Before you start clicking on all of the different types of jobs available, you will need to put together a decent resume that highlights why you would be a great candidate. It would also be a good idea for you to write a professional cover letter for yourself too.
Step Two – Contact a Lot of Companies in Your Niche
The great thing about pro-blogger is it is so simple. Anybody who wants to create a listing for copywriters can post them here. And if you look at ProBlogger’s search interface, you’ll see that it is simple, and there are a couple of filters you can use to look for particular types of copywriting jobs.
The reason I told you to put a cover letter and resume together is so you can quickly apply for the jobs listed. Almost every employer who advertises on this site gets a lot of solicitations from people who want to do copywriting for them.
So, you will need to stand out from the crowd. By having a prepared resume and cover letter, you can use those as a template.
Each job you apply for should have a tailored cover letter and resume for that particular position. You’ll have to change a couple lines in your resume and cover letter to tailor those documents to the job you’re applying for.
You will have to write an entire resume all over again, but you will have to make sure that your resume and cover letter that the company you are writing for.
Upwork and Fiverr – You Can Start Here…Just Don’t Stay Here
Upwork and Fiverr are two places you can find copywriting gigs at.
Both Fiverr and Upwork are freelancing sites that connect you with people. However, there are a couple problems with working with these two companies.
First of all, you will probably only get people who are looking for cheap copywriters. These types of sites are notorious for this kind of activity.
As a matter of fact, Fiverr is for people who will do a task for only five dollars. You can set higher prices, but usually, these are people who are looking for a bargain. If a budding entrepreneur is looking for a copywriter, he is probably looking for a cheap one.
That’s great if you only want to work your entire day and make less than $30.
The other problem is, you have no direct communication with your clients. Both Upwork and Fiverr have a policy of not letting you speak directly to the people who hire you. You have to use their communication system to talk to clients. They monitor your conversations to find out if you send these clients your personal contact information.
The reason for this is they want to be the middle man. If you will work outside of their network and then they won’t make any money. Also, both companies take a hefty amount of your profits from your labor.
The good thing about these freelancing sites is that they are great for getting started. If you aren’t sure about your writing abilities, you can get feedback from people who hired you. Also, you’ll learn the basics of working with people and helping them with their projects.
But let me say, it is no place for a professional copywriter to stay at. These kinds of sites are writing mills, and you will never make decent money writing for them.
Conclusion
Those are the three best sites to look for copywriting jobs on. Before you start pitching to companies and clients, do your homework first. You need to know what niche(s) that you will want to work in first. You do not want to go after every kind of copywriting gig that comes along. All you will get is tired and more confused.
One thing to remember when looking for copywriting jobs is to not get discouraged. It takes time to build a business, even a copywriting one. So, stick with it, no matter what.
If you liked this article and would like to share your thoughts, please leave a comment below. It will really make my day.