How to Become a Copywriter Online: The 7 Step Guide for Beginners

The cut throat competition for customers is driving brands to hire copywriters who can ace content that deliver on sales. And so many writers are learning how to become a copywriter to meet this demand.

As a content writer, it is not enough to create and share content. To outsell your competition, you need a mastery of persuasive writing that can convert a hesitant scroller to a paying client. And this is different from everyday content writing.

I had to learn this the hard way. When I started building my brand, I was not initially interested in copywriting even though I needed it to push the other aspect of my business. Eventually, I had to find my way around it when I realized it is an inescapable part of writing especially writing for digital marketing.

This is why a number of writers like you are already on the path towards learning and mastering copywriting to give a boost to their content and double the impact they create for clients.

Who is a Copywriter?

A copywriter is a professional writer that creates written content aimed at informing, engaging, persuading and converting readers to buyers, subscribers, community members etc.

The overall goal of copywriting is to create copy content that inspires readers to take a specific course of action after reading the content. This action could be submitting their data, reaching out to the business, making an order etc.

Copywriting is a skill that has been in existence before the advent of the digital media but the coming of the digital media has not only amplified it’s demand, it has now created more options, demand, niches and specific target audiences for would-be copywriters.

Steps to Become a Copywriter

The following are the steps you can take to become a copywriter from scratch.

Gain Content Writing Mastery

You may not necessarily need to be the best content writer before you can become a Copywriter but you need a decent mastery of content writing if you want to make a good copywriter.

This is very crucial because copywriting is more like a specialized form of content writing. And what this means is that you need some advanced level of skills as a writer to pivot into copywriting. But not to worry, with practice, you can seamlessly navigate into this new terrain.

I am going to break this down for new writers and people that already have advanced writing experience.

If you’re completely new to writing, to become a copywriter, you have to start with learning about writing. And this means you’ll have to get right into reading widely. Read extensively about topics that interests you, including topics outside your area of interest.

Reading this way expands your horizons, opens you up to writers and writing styles while also helps you to learn how to write and potentially settle into a comfortable writing style.

As you begin to read widely, it’s now time to start writing about the things you read. Your first pieces of writing could be an overview of what you just read, a brief description or a few paragraph sharing details about your take home.

Write every day or as often as possible. This will help you in shaping your writing skills, it’ll also improve your writing generally.

Join writing trainings. There’s a handful of these writing trainings both free and paid. Sign up for writing classes to shape up your writing. As you continue to grow in your training, begin to create content on the social media on these topics that interests you.

As part of your content you can share your journey, the things you’re learning on social media. With this, you get to build your writing muscle.

Learn Persuasive Writing

The goal of every persuasive writer is to intentionally convince, persuade and inspire their target audience to take a specific course of action, after reading their content.

Persuasive writing is one of the popular writing style used in landing pages, product launch pages and product branding materials etc.

In as much as every writer is meant to persuasively engage their audience, as a copywriter, your first job description is to persuade, convince, or inspire your audience, always.

So, as you take steps to become a copywriter, you want to focus your learning on how to write to persuade. Instead of just informing your audience alone, you also want to convince them to take a specific course of action, after reading your work. This is your primary goal.

You can start including element of persuasion in your writing as you go about learning and then monitor the outcome and overall impact on your target audience.

Persuasive writing demands that you employ some very specific techniques. For example, this includes appealing to your audience’s logic, their emotions and emphasizing your credibility.

Also, to boost the impact of your writing, learn how to use the powerful adjectives, adverbs and phrases that can amplify your work. There are quite a handful of them. These phrases are meant to add some punch to your writing.

Create a Goal

Why do you want to become a copywriter? There must be a specific reason why you embarked on this journey. And it is important you find this reason so you can use it to refine your journey.

Now let me give you an example. Some people learn copywriting because it can augment their writing skills, improve their portfolio or even give them reasons to command a higher rate from clients.

There are also writers who are learning about copywriting because they want to get into specific industries, pivot from content writing or make a specific career shift.

If you’re learning about copywriting to earn a better income then you can design your learning around specific industries that can actually pay you much more than the industry you’re currently writing for.

Where your goal is to get into a pre-determined and or very specific industry, then you have to design your learning to reflect the copywriting realities in that industry. This can include things like writing styles, specific choice of words etc.

So while it is still okay to learn about copywriting as a whole, finding your goals gives you the chance to choose a specific learning area where you can master, grow in and evolve your brand.

Evolve a Brand

A brand is at the core of your copywriting journey. Beyond mastering copywriting, you also need a brand to tell your story, connect with clients and build a notable business.

Now, the first step you want to take to create a brand is to understand your main goal. So, let’s get back to step 3 above; why do you want to become a copywriter?

Your answer to this question is going to shape your brand. Let’s say you plan to learn copywriting because you want to get into writing copies for tech website then that means you’ll have to intentionally take steps to build a rand that aligns with this audience.

Your brand development will cover things like your brand colors, logo, bio, about description etc. what I mean here is that your brand should easily reflect all of this to a potential client.

Furthermore, your target audience will also influence things like your brand tone of voice, your choice of words and overall writing style so you have to understudy that audience clearly before evolving your brand.

As a beginner, you might get confused on what to get started with but with a clear understanding of your writing goal, your target market, you can take a step further to research popular and existing writers in that niche. Find out what they are doing with their brands and then see what you can learn from that to improve your own branding.

Build your Portfolio

After you become a copywriter, you’ll still need a portfolio of work to showcase your skills to potential clients. Getting this can be pretty difficult for beginners but there are certain things you can do while you’re just starting out:

• Document your Process. This includes documenting your learning journey and growth. While this might not necessarily serve as a portfolio directly, it showcases your journey, builds your credibility while also getting you in front of your target audience.
• Create Simulations. Create simulations or model of real live copywriting scenarios and use that to solve real problems, documenting the entire process. This can demonstrate your skills to a potential audience.
• Volunteer. Find volunteering opportunities with new brands, NGOs, smaller businesses etc. Volunteering gives you the chance to build real live skills while working on real projects. It can also come in handy for you as a part of your portfolio.
• Join Internships. Outside volunteering, leverage internships to learn more skills, perfect your copywriting abilities and build a portfolio
• Start Small. Alongside all of this, you can choose to launch out small, build gradually. Charge lower fees at your early days. Provide a more affordable copywriting services for businesses and then build your brand as your business grows.

Using these strategies might delay you in terms of fast earnings but it can get you the jobs you need to build a portfolio and actually use that to score your first few gigs even when you’re just a beginner.

Promote your Brand

It is not enough to become a copywriter, to be successful in this industry, you have to be visible, seen and better positioned than your competitors. And to get this kind of publicity, you have to be very intentional from the get go.

There are a lot of ways to go about this. For example, there are paid and organic promotional options. Like social media marketing, digital advertising, content marketing etc.

• Social Media Marketing: Create a page on the top social media platforms with your target audience. Update the page with your information and then create and share engaging & valuable content with your audience.
• Use Content Marketing: Content marketing gives you the chance to build an audience, establish your thought leadership and grow your brand in your preferred niche. You can use this effectively to position your brand.
• Get a Website: A website provides you with a central platform to build your brand and reach audiences beyond your location.
• Optimize your website: Beyond creating a website, optimize your website for visibility with your target keywords. This gets you the chance to get in front of your potential audience, get more visibility and attract more clients.
• Use Paid Advertising: Paid advertising will get you in front of your target audience, faster than most other marketing options. There are a number of options you can use for this, depending on your budget. This can be either search engine, social media or sponsored advertising, depending on what works for your budget.

You can single out one or more of this options or combine either of the marketing options to amplify your results.

Get the Jobs

To start earning as a copywriter, you need the jobs. Although getting jobs as a beginner might be tricky, there are a lot of options you can use to get the jobs. This includes:

• Prioritize Affordability: Instead of competing with well-established writers, consider creating packages that are more affordable to clients. This will give you a competitive edge and a chance to get jobs during your early days.
• Freelance: Freelancing is a great option for new copywriters to get new jobs. And there are quite a number of freelancing platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer etc. you can get on these platforms and compete for jobs with other freelance copywriters.
• Get on Job Platforms: There are job boards with freelancing options like Problogging job boards, Linkedin job boards etc. you can use these platforms to get new jobs.
• Request for referrals: Ask for referrals from your audience, friends and family, existing clients etc. this word of mouth referral can bring in a number of jobs as you get started.

There are other ways you can get jobs outside these. Find out what works for you based on your industry and do not be scared to try out options to see what works.

Final Words

In a nutshell, almost anyone can get to become a copywriter. And with this guide, you can seamlessly get started on your own journey today.

But, as an aspiring copywriter, you must pay attention to becoming grounded as a writer, understanding your goals and aligning your journey with a strategy that will deliver on that goal.

In addition to that, you have to create a brand that distinguishes you, and then promote and position your brand in front of your target audience. This is very important.

Finally, keep learning and evolving to meet with industry changes if you want to make a mark in this industry.  Understudy trends like AI, Video Marketing etc. to stay relevant in the industry and always reach out to our team, if you need further assistance.

Now, your turn. What is your biggest question when it comes to becoming a copywriter? Drop your comments below.