Why working in magazines didn’t make me a better copywriter
I remember making the decision to go freelance…
I had just returned home from six months backpacking in South America in 2014 (I highly recommend visiting this part of the world when we can travel again).
After spending half a year wayyyyy outside my comfort zone, my confidence was at an all-time high.
I had gotten by on Spanglish, survived white water rapids without being thrown out of the raft, endured 30-hour bus trips and learned to scuba dive (despite being petrified of the idea).
So pursuing something new from the comfort of my computer sounded pretty do-able. Plus, I had been the assistant editor of a magazine – surely the work would flow in?
Wrong 🤦♀️
While working at the magazine, I also worked sporadically on newsletters for some big-name clients – essentially penning editorial and sending it without much business strategy.
Mostly though, I was writing stories for the magazine.
When I went freelance, I assumed that because I was good at writing magazine content and had sent a few newsletters, I could produce website copy that sounded nice too.
Seriously… sounding nice was about as far as I thought things through.
And you know what? I didn’t win jobs just because I had worked at a cool magazine (ooof, what a hit to the ego).
My work was long, full of flowery language and back story: the kind of stuff that works well in a 2,000 feature article best enjoyed with a cuppa. But pretty words do not make good business sense or compelling websites.
When I look back at the drafts for my first freelancing website, I cringe…
All I did was harp on about why good writing and grammar was important. It could have been written by your Grade 12 English teacher (truth bomb: you don’t have to be a grammar master to write useful things).
Nowhere did I talk about how I really help clients or acknowledge why they’re looking for help. It was BORING 😴
Even my boyfriend couldn’t lie to me and tell me he liked the site.
That’s when I knew I had some learning to do.
At that time, there weren’t really any copywriting courses I could take or masterminds to join. But blogs by Copyhackers and Copyblogger and HubSpot were full of info. So in I went…
Being able to write was only half the battle. The missing piece from my content was strategy: where did the words need to go and what did they need to say? That’s the stuff that makes copy effective.
Now after 6+ years of copywriting, I have tried and tested methods for producing web copy, blogs and emails for my clients. Everything is strategy-led; sounding nice is the cherry on top.
And I am still learning. I am forever listening to copywriting podcasts, screenshooting cool websites for inspiration and experimenting with new techniques.
That is what excites me. Yes I still write for magazines, and that gets the big, pretty words out of my system.
Most days though, I have far more fun digging into copy projects. Thinking about strategy and using language to bring it to life – all while considering how the design will look and how the content will be distributed.
There’s a lesson here for you too…
You have probably shared my frustration at some point…
You know how to write things well – your emails are professional, you read books and you have a good grasp of English.
But when you go to write content for your business, it just doesn’t sound right.
It sounds too stiff, or is bloated with words. And then you get so bloody frustrated. Why is writing – something you do every day – so hard?
There is a reason for this: you’ve been educated to write things like CVs, letters and emails. Not how words lead to sales and brand awareness.
So please don’t beat yourself up – no matter how good you are at writing, there’s an art to selling with language.
And please don’t hire me because the idea of a magazine is cool or because I know what a dangling modifier is. Hire me because I do not stagnate; I am forever honing my copywriting skills.
Every fortnight I share the new things I’m learning with my email subscribers, plus tried-and-trusted strategies. Join other service-based business owners by signing up 👌