There are many prospective writers who dream of a successful freelance copywriting career, but not aware of the dedication and commitment required to make it work. This article will look at 7 daily rituals involved with operating a freelance or advertising copywriting business and address some
of the pitfalls involved.
1) Devising the marketing strategy
You must have a marketing strategy as part of your overall business planning, and this must be an active document. The strategy should be reviewed on a daily basis and adapted where necessary. Did your cold calling strategy work, or did you get more clients by word of mouth and online
advertising?
2) Subject matter research
Many clients are known to have a tendency not to supply sufficient information, thus requiring additional research. If a particular subject matter is somewhat beyond your core competence, you need to at least conduct additional daily research to expand your knowledge base.
3) Submitting Proposals
A well-constructed proposal plays a significant part in the client’s decision to accept your work or not. You therefore have to ensure that you have as much additional and relevant information as possible.
4) Copywriting project scheduling and tracking
Irrespective of whether you work on small or big projects, scheduling and tracking are vital tasks that must be addressed every day. There are numerous low cost and free (open source) software that can assist you in this regard. If you are really serious about doing this right, you should be
using your tracking and planning tools several times a day.
5) Quotations
Not all freelance copywriting jobs are the same and you probably have to serve the needs of many diverse clients. There are of course many standard charges but generally every new writing job might have something unique about it. Attempt to strike a good balance by not over or under quoting. The
greatest skill required is to master some way to accurately estimate time.
6) Visiting clients
A freelance copywriting business is not all conducted on a faceless basis, and there will arise a need to visit clients. Alternatively, and with the aid of modern communications technology Always video conferencing or Skype, still provides the same type of interface.
7) Accounting and office administration.
It is essential to set up very rigid systems from the very start for all administration and accounting functions. Do not let the issuing of invoices, processing payments, recording expenses, managing taxes and bank accounts become overly burdensome. It does take a lot of time, but rather
outsource this as opposed to neglecting it.
Now that you have some idea of what the typical day of a Freelance Copywriter looks like, it is quite obvious that if you stick to a routine and plan accordingly, very little can go wrong within your writing business.
