Hi there... I am a copywriter that doesn't really know it. Well, I guess. I mean I am in the radio industry and have been for at least a few decades. I have helped clients and sales people, even some copywriters write copy throughout all these years. I was recently asked by a guy who I barely know to come up with some spec copy for him for various clients, to which he would pay me for those he thought were good enough. Like I said I barely know the guy but I was referred to him by... well, apparently somebody who is familiar with my copy work. I don't know how he found out about me actually. But somebody had to tell him because we live on different sides of the country. So I wrote him some copy and he accepted every piece! And he GUSHED over them. I was reading his email where he went on and on and could not figure out what the big deal was.

I talked to my wife about it and realized from that conversation that I must know how to write copy pretty well. Who'd a ever thunk that? I just thought I was a voice over/audio production guy. I guess these years of reading copy has saturated me to the point that I can really write good copy too. But then I stopped... maybe that's true for radio and TV. But does that make me a good copywriter? I barely know what a copywriter is. Much less if I am one. I know nothing about the kind of person you have to be to be a copywriter or the rewards and bitches of the job. But I want to find out. So this post is kind of like a research project. My question is, what was it that made you realize you were a copywriter and could even do it for a living. And, what's that career choice meant to you? Thanks for your patience. I know that was a long story. And thanks for your input as well.

Tim

Hi Tim, I really enjoyed your post, and I guess the story is close to my heart because I too came upon copywriting as a total accident. I always wanted to be a graphic designer and for some reason I just figured that a designer also does all of the text that you see on things. Then one day, after I finished uni (and a B.A. degree in Management - nothing to do with design - haha) I was employed by an ad agency as a general assistant, because they didn't know what to do with me since I didn't have a day of experience. At the time they stuck me in the office with the only copywriter they had. Two weeks after I got there, the copywriter had a massive fall out with the owners and he got fired. Since I was in the office with him and they had noone else they told me that I would be the copywriter! They gave me a couple of assignments to do and I did really well. I haven't looked back since.

I've worked on some major clients and campaigns and I have realized one thing over the years....not everyone can be a copywriter! I hear people say all the time that if you're half literate and the least bit creative you can do copy. In my opinion that bull! Sure you have to be able to put together a well constructed sentence, but I believe that in order to be a great copywriter the first thing you need to do is be able to understand people - after all that's who you're writing for.

The other thing is that I come across people all the time that think copywriting is only about, well writing copy. It isn't. It's so much more than that. You always have to think about how your copy is going to draw people's attention, but you also have to be able to understand where your copy is going to be applied. If you're writing long articles in order to increase someone's web presence, it's likely that all you'll be focusing on is the text. But if you're writing Headlines, slogans or short paragraphs for posters, flyers and brochures, you have to also be able to understand how your copy is going to visually impact the viewr/reader.

I'm not going to keep going, because I will take up too much space, but what I do want to tell you is that I believe you already have some of the most important elements for being a copywriter: a feel for the job, creativity, and experience (although you may not be an 'official' copywriter the things that you have mentioned have obviously given you enough experience for the job, and you already have things to include in your portfolio). My advice is go for it! I think you'll realize it's an amazingly fun, challenging and interesting job.

Best of luck!

I also stumbled into copywriting. I studied journalism in university, but after graduating decided that I didn't want to move to some small town in rural Canada in order to get a decent job. I started working for a tech. company writing company newsletters and working in account management. All was well until they moved to the United States. Now I am a freelance website copywriter and I love it!

"Hi! Thanks for that post. I believe I understand what you wanna say."