Yo, Point Loma.

Some helpful resources for you. Feel free to connect on LinkedIn. (It’s time to set up an account if you want a job.)

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Creative Resources

Copywriting Resources

Books

How do I get to know people?

Plus you should also get out there and volunteer for Creative Mornings, SDX, Ad2, AIGA, or AMA. That's how you really get to meet people.

P.S. I was pretty awful when I started out. I went on about 30 interviews before I got my first full-time copywriting job. Grit pays off. And being nice to people. And more grit.

You need a portfolio.

Yes. Your portfolio is your business card.

Wordpress – Templates galore. You do have to host it.
Weebly – Another template site.
Wix – Another template site.
Squarespace - My personal favorite. Looks good, they take care of hosting—it’s never down. The templates are gorgorgeous. Easy SEO.
Behance – Another place to get found. Post some work here and then work on building your own website.
Cargo – Another portfolio site.
The quick fix – Make a pdf of work and upload it to Google docs. At least you have something to send clients to while you are getting your site up.

What if I don’t have any experience?

It’s time to start writing. Set up a site and start blogging about business. This will give people a taste of your writing if you lack a lot of professional samples. (This isn’t the place to blog about your kids or your trip.))

Volunteer for a non-profit
Do you have any friends with businesses you could write for? Do some work in exchange for a testimonial.
Create your own spec work. Create a homepage or email campaign. Yes, you can put these in your portfolio, you just have to say it is spec work.
Businesses want to know that you can write for business. Creative short stories, and writing from your English paper scream student. I wouldn’t put them on your website.

Do I have to specialize in an industry?

Some copywriters specialize in industry: healthcare, wellness, beauty, automotive. They become known as experts in an industy.
Others become known for ghosting blogging, email campaigns, or landing pages.
Others become generalists.

How do I meet people? I’m too shy, too old, too young, too ______.

Join a co-working space. This will help you meet people, you can host workshops, and even blog using their platform.
Join a professional organizations. There are professional organizations for builders, healthcare, lawyers, marketing folk, hotel, restaurants, whatever industry appeals to you. Volunteer for their board and offer to do their copywriting. You will meet a ton of folk.
Get involved with your local startup community, business accelerator, or other meetup. These are the people building businesses. They are clamoring for your services.

Is social media worth the time?

I think so. It reenforces the connections you make in real life.

LInkedIn – Post and share other people’s content frequently. Write some of your own pieces and share on LinkedIn.
Facebook page – Even if you don’t share frequently, create a Facebook business page and link it to your porfolio. Facebook has really good SEO so even if you don’t share on your Facebook pages a lot, it will show up in search results.
Instagram – Create a business account and post about writing, your clients, creating a business.
Video – Even better than blogging.

Useful writing tools
Grammerly – I swear by the pro version
Wordy – Instant proofing. (And they need proofreaders too.)
RelatedWords.org
WordHippo.com
Hemmingway app
Rev – I record conversations and then have them transcribed.

Should I freelance or work for an agency?

You will freelance when you start out. And most agencies will hand you a freelance assignment before considering hiring full-time. I I suggest getting a job in-house or at an agency to learn the ropes, build a portfolio, and get to know people. With an agency, clients will have larger budgets. There will be designers and web developers so your work will look beter. You’ll have the chance to learn about strategy, presetning, and looking at things from the client’s perspective.

Never stop networking.

So even if you get an agency job, never stop looking ahead. It’s easy to get bogged down in your agency or company deadlines and never get involved with the greater community. Then when you get laid off (we all will get laid off several times in our careers), you don’t know anyone outside of your company. So go to ad club events at night. Get involved in your local startup scene. Volunteer for a conference. The key is to network both online and offline. Networking online is easier but networking offline in real life is richer. Online is a good way to keep up with your in person contacts.