Freelance copywriters are a strange breed, aren’t they? Especially, the direct response kind.
With that in mind, I offer the following “Top 10″ list.
You know you’re a freelance copywriter if…
- You write copy in your head while you’re driving, showering, and running errands.
- You feel a strange sense of exhilaration when a deadline approaches.
- You go shopping and find yourself analyzing how the store could increase its sales.
- You study great copy… only to wind up buying the product being advertised.
- You save junk mail — and then proceed to critique it.
- You flip through local ad magazines and mutter things like, “I can’t believe this. These guys are so stupid.”
- You start experiencing withdrawal symptoms if you don’t write for a few days.
- You could never hold a 9-5 job again because you’ve been spoiled by working from home.
- You know “swiping” and “bullets” have nothing to do with crime.
And last but not least…
- You think writing copy when other people are sleeping is normal behavior.
So… which one of these can you most relate to? Leave a comment and let me know. Thanks!
-Ryan M. Healy
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Good ones, Ryan! I can relate to all of them, but the one I instantly saw myself doing was…
Writing copy in my head while I’m driving, showering, and running errands!
Cheers,
John
These are great Ryan. This is the one that has brought me to grief more than once –
You study great copy… only to wind up buying the product being advertised.
Thanks,
Barb
Great I loved it. You could add another “Your wife gives you her magazines so you can go through them looking for ideas and ads for your swipe file” and “she has stopped thinking it’s weird”.
John
When I first clicked through to this post from your e-mail, I would have never guessed literally ALL of them would apply to me.
Alas, they do.
All of them.
Plus the habit of analyzing the billboards along the highways on road trips … I’ve even taken notes on a few of them. LOL
This is good.
Hello Ryan,
I just decided two weeks ago to make copywriting my primary business objective and am having a great time so far. Mostly learning, mind you, but I am rewriting my first sales letter (for my own product).
I wanted to personally thank you for this great training checklist. I’m looking forward to fully developing all ten of these traits in my own life, ha-ha!
Actually, a couple of them are already starting to show up…
Thanks for sharing that.
Best regards,
Tom
How about this one… do you ever go to see a movie and they have commercials at the beginning and you start commenting out loud how they should have done it? Then you start getting those glares from people. You know the ones.
Or have you ever been writing copy in your head while someone else is trying to talk to you? And then you realize and think to yourself you have no idea what they’re talking about? :)
Wow!
Since so many of these bullets apply to me, I’ve evolved to becoming a copywriter.
It’s a privilege!
Rob
Very witty list, Ryan.
Thanks!
Rob
These are spot on, Ryan.
How about when you’re reading to your kids and you think, “Damn, I need to get my letter as simple as this book.”
Lmao, that’s hilarious. I actually started laughing out loud as I read that list and thinking of pretty funny memories (i.e. complaining to my fiancee when we went in a “girls” store on vacation about how bad they were at marketing, followed by me listing about 5 things off the top of my head they could do to increase sales)
That’s one of the best posts I’ve read in awhile :) It should be the first paragraph in every single piece of copywriting study course available.
Jeremy Reeves
http://www.controlbeatingcopy.com
I like them all, and they all apply. For me, the last one really hits home. My working hours are 9:00pm till 2:00am or 3:00am. The house is quiet, I can concentrate, and I really do fit that stereotype of working at home in my pj’s! lol But of course, mention these working hours to anyone else and they think I’m nuts. I think it’s perfectly normal…..
Guilty, Guilty, Guilty . . .
I’m also prone to “Copy Talking” . . . slipping into copywriting mode in the middle of a conversation. Weirdest part is when the people I’m talking to try and write it all down so they can get that sweet copy goodness without paying for it.
Ryan,
Thanks for bringing much needed chuckles to my day.
Great list Ryan. I’m another copy addict experiencing all of these symptoms. I especially relate to:
* the exhilaration when a deadline approaches.
* going shopping & analyzing how the store could increase its sales.
* absolutely could never hold a 9-5 job again!
@dianacacy – I’ve even taken a camera and purposely driven past my favorite billboards to take pics. Oh dear…
So many of these points are true. Especially…”You save junk mail — and then proceed to critique it.”
I’ve been doing this on my own Blog the last few months.
Not too sure about writing in the middle of the night though…
cheers
Mark
Wow! I’m blown away. I published this post just before dinner, went to bed, and woke up to all these great comments.
Thank YOU!
Louis – “Or have you ever been writing copy in your head while someone else is trying to talk to you? And then you realize and think to yourself you have no idea what they’re talking about?”
Yes. My wife now knows she’s got to make sure I’m really listening before she starts talking.
Many times “I’m in my own little world” and I have no idea what’s going on around me. Part of being a copywriter I guess…
“You study great copy… only to wind up buying the product being advertised.”
Do you know how many times I’ve read an old Eugene Schwartz ad, and wanted to order some out of print book on a topic that would normally not even interest me.
Ryan,
Great post!
An extension of the “You study great copy…” bullet…
“You end up buying stuff through the mail or online, just to see and critique the marketing process behind it.”
Joe
“You go shopping and find yourself analyzing how the store could increase its sales.”
More so going to service-based businesses. Like the chiropractor. I’m constantly cringing at the expensive yet useless advertising.
Not even just the copy…
Expensive posters for a workshop they are holding, where the font is almost unreadable and the same colour as the background image…
Or a letterhead with their contact information in this super-faint font (I guess that looks cool).
Or a call to action on a reactivation letter that say “Call use to schedule…” but doesn’t give the phone number!
Magazines are second, though… National Geographic’s back page is great… Takes me like 10 minutes to figure what the heck they are selling…
Oh and…
Lois: “Or have you ever been writing copy in your head while someone else is trying to talk to you? And then you realize and think to yourself you have no idea what they’re talking about?”
I think my husband’s starting to catch on that I’m not actually deaf when I ask “What?” so many times during the day. LOL
and
“How about this one… do you ever go to see a movie and they have commercials at the beginning and you start commenting out loud how they should have done it? Then you start getting those glares from people. You know the ones.”
I think my family’s getting tired of that. Me too, actually. So many commercials anymore are useless clips of entertainment, sometimes badly done. You’re left with wondering what in the world were they trying to sell in the first place. I either leave the tv or read a book during the commercials.
Ha, ha. I scored 8 out of 10. I don’t generally buy the products when I’m reading the salesletters for professional reasons, and I don’t even read more than 10% of the incoming third-class mail. But I used to.
Somehow, the days are so much shorter than they used to be!
Shel – Sounds like you’re a closet copywriter! ;-)