What I’ve Learnt Since Becoming a Freelance Copywriter

I’ll start out with the good news – being a freelance copywriter has made me incredibly happy.

Whilst the journey there has not been particularly smooth, if I were to somehow be transported back to this time last year, I would absolutely choose the same decision again and go it alone in my career.

There are, however, a few things that I would have liked to have known in advance, and so I’m taking this opportunity to offer my experience of starting out a new business from scratch – and during a pandemic at that.

My 2020 started much the same as most people’s - I was still working in the same job I’d been at for a few years, not particularly enjoying it but thinking ‘meh, it pays the bills.’ I was living comfortably in a nice, suburban house with my husband and our dog - I’d say my life was pretty straightforward.

In February, it all changed when I was called into a meeting room and told that my job was at risk of redundancy.

Whilst it’s never ideal, in all honesty I was quite relieved that I was being forced out of a job I didn’t like. After a week or so of moping, I started searching for a new role.

It was at this point I realised I’d got myself into a bit of a situation. Every single job I looked at seemed like more of the same - office environments with little to no creativity, no real say in the projects or industries I could work with. I didn’t want to get stuck in the same circle that I’d been in previously, but what options did I have?

I was frustrated to say the least, but this sparked a wild idea in my head…what if I could just work for myself?

By March 2020, this little idea had become a full-blown obsession. I’d registered my business with HMRC and told my friends and family I was going out on my own as a copywriter.

Although copywriting had been a part of every job I’d had (I’d been working in marketing for over a decade), it was never something that I’d specifically used to describe what I did. I knew that I loved writing, but I suppose I’d never considered it as something I could do fulltime.

My initial research into choosing this career promised 6-figure salaries and the luxury life. Great! I couldn’t wait to get started.

Whilst I was full of excitement and enthusiasm for my new freelance career, it was nowhere near as simple as I was hoping.

A few lessons that I’ve learnt along the way…

Marketing yourself is hard. And boring.

I’ve worked in marketing for the whole of my professional career and it’s an industry that you could say I’m pretty comfortable with. But no one ever tells you how different it is when you’re running your own business!

To be honest, it can feel relentless at times. Constantly promoting yourself on social media, in networking groups, to clients – you almost feel like you’re begging for work. Despite this, it’s worth keeping in mind how vital marketing is to being successful – the trick is to plan ahead and stay on top of everything.

Being organised is more than just a personality trait

I’ve always prided myself on being organised. Every working day began with a list and I would meticulously tick things off as I made my way through, patting myself on the back for being so structured.

Organisation was not something I was concerned about when starting out in my business, however I quickly learnt that being good at making lists meant absolutely nothing when your to-do list was longer than both of your arms.

Being organised in your own business means knowing exactly what needs to be done each day, each week, each month, and in what order. It means understanding which things can drop, at what time and for how long before they become an issue.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t until I was about 9 months in that I realised how disorganised I had become and made the change to creating monthly and weekly plans to keep myself in check. Something I really could have done with in month 1!

Building your brand takes a long time

I absolutely love branding, probably more than I should really admit to. The opportunity to create my own brand was something I was so excited about and I genuinely spent ages sitting at my desk designing something that I was really happy with. I created customer personas, chose brand colours and fonts, worked with a designer on a logo that I love…and then…nothing.

I didn’t have people bombarding my website with queries. I didn’t have an inbox full of people who’d seen my amazing branding and wanted to work with me.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like this.

Whilst branding is HUGELY important to any business, it’s worth remembering that it’s not what’s going to make you successful – at least not initially.

Sometimes you have to explain why people need your services

Do you know how many people have asked me what a copywriter is? It’s a lot. I often get confused with people who provide rights and licences (copyright), or people who write the articles we read in newspapers and magazines (journalists).

Even if someone knows what a copywriter is, they often don’t understand what it is that I do specifically which helps businesses.

So for this reason, I do actually spend quite a lot of my time explaining what I do to people – this is before I get the opportunity to pitch to them!

It can take a long time to get to where you want to be

When I first started out, I had quite a whimsical view that after doing some ‘small time work’ for a few months, I’d be on my way to being rich by the end of the year.

Surprisingly, or not, this didn’t happen.

Coming up to a year on since I first started out, I’d say that I’m very much still in the beginning stages. It can take A LONG time to become ‘successful’, especially when many businesses aren’t currently investing in marketing.

Although in the past this may have horrified me, I’m actually very comfortable with it. I have a long way to go, but there are so many opportunities out there for me to take.

It can be difficult to feel productive when you’re not allowed to leave the house

This is something I’m sure a lot of people can relate to – the last year has been HARD. When you haven’t got a manager or a team relying on you, it can be even harder to motivate yourself each morning.

I’ll be honest, there were some days when I didn’t work as hard as I should have done. I beat myself up for this for a while, but in retrospect, I think we can all cut ourselves a bit of slack when it comes to our work ethics in 2020.

The freedom you get from being self-employed is second to none

Above all else, this is my biggest lesson and one that I am absolutely thrilled to have learnt. There were a few points throughout the past year when I wasn’t sure if I’d made the right decision – I wasn’t earning what I wanted to and things weren’t moving as fast as I would have liked, but the feeling of being entirely in charge of my fate was exactly why I chose this journey.

Personally, I’d recommend going freelance to anyone who is looking for a change of pace in their life and the opportunity to take control of their future.

Whilst it can be a frustrating and nerve-wracking journey, it’s one that I wouldn’t change for anything.