Why short form copy is where the money is

So you want to make a big income as a freelancer, but are not interested in writing a 12 or 24 page direct response packet. Does this mean you have to hang up the tile and look for staff work?

Absolutely not. Just because you’re not interested in writing pages and pages of direct response text doesn’t mean you can’t make a living as a copywriter. In fact, many of my colleagues have no interest in writing “magalogs” or any other long-form copy. Instead, they specialize in other ways that are just as interesting, profitable, and even more fun.

Here’s why short copywriting can pay off big:

>> You can finish tasks quickly. You can write a great text ad in less than an hour; a multi-series email campaign in just a couple of days. A landing page takes up to a week.

>> You can earn decent fees in no time. Rates can range from $ 150 and up for a short text ad, or up to $ 5,000 or even more for a landing page. Since you are billing customers every few days, you will be earning paychecks on a relatively consistent basis. Compare that to the long-form copywriter, which takes 4-8 weeks to complete a single task. Yes, your rates may be higher, but the paychecks are not that consistent. That’s when you start to have cash flow problems.

>> You keep exhaustion to a minimum. One of the things I like about my job is that I have a wide variety of projects. Since you enjoy a greater variety of tasks, you can keep boredom (and burnout) to a minimum. If you write landing pages or other types of web promotions, you may be able to negotiate a percentage of online sales (typically 2% or 3%).

>> You can have a much larger customer base: Businesses of all kinds need marketing material. And many small and medium-sized business owners don’t have the time or experience to produce them. That is why they need you. Since you specialize in smaller projects, they are more likely to pay you too.

What are some short, well-paying copywriting projects you might want to examine? Here are some suggestions:

o Banner ads
o Emails
o Landing pages
o Abstracts
o Sales brochures and inserts
o Space ads
o Text ads
o Radio and television scripts
o Video scripts
o Websites

All of these areas of copywriting are booming, and they will continue to grow no matter which direction the economy takes. With customers thinking twice about spending tens of thousands of dollars to send a direct response package in the mail, they are turning to magazine inserts, YouTube videos, and online advertising. This translates to HUGE copywriting opportunities that didn’t exist ten or even five years ago. Don’t you think it’s your turn to profit?