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How to Become a Copywriter with NO Experience: Blueprint to 6 Figs

How to Become a Copywriter with NO Experience: Blueprint to 6 Figs 

Okay, so you want to know how to become a copywriter, with no experience. OR you want to know how to get started in copywriting and start your freelance copywriting business so it brings in sustainable income. Well, you’re in luck. You landed on the one web page that will give you ALL the information you need and possibly just change your life.

This article, How to Become a Copywriter with no Experience: Blueprint to 6 Figs, is useful if you’re a: 

  • college graduate and went into a complete field other than marketing or writing
  • social media manager
  • or virtual assistant but want to switch it up and get into copywriting. 
  • mom who wants a stay-at-home mom job
  • individual who just wants freedom in their day-to-day schedule

And this article can even teach you how to become a copywriter without a degree (I mean, no sense in wasting THOUSANDS in college when you can literally teach yourself everything you need to know about starting an online copywriting business by yourself). 

**Disclaimer: This is how I became a 6-fig copywriter. However, by writing this article, it does not mean you will make 6 figures as well. A lot goes into how successful you are as a freelance copywriter, depending on the time you put into it, the way you network, the niche you choose, and the quality of work you produce, along with numerous other factors. Please know the average income for copywriters ranges from a few hundred a month to millions a year. However, my hope is this blog can guide you, motivate you, show you the possibilities, and give you the tools to become a successful copywriter. 

Anyway, let’s jump into this Ultimate guide on how to become a copywriter from scratch.

What is Copywriting? What do you do as a Copywriter?

As a freelance copywriter, you may write a variety of copy and even content for your clients. This includes:

  • Landing Pages
  • Sales Pages
  • Websites
  • Emails
  • Blogs
  • Social Media Captions
  • Course Content
  • Video or Youtube Scripts
  • Flyers
  • PDF Guides/ Quizzes/ Opt-ins

Benefits of Being a Freelance Copywriter

Being a freelance copywriter means that you can create your own schedule, determine your own workload, choose who you work with (you are the boss now!), travel when you want, work anywhere in the world, and make GOOOOD money doing it.

Income Potential as a Copywriter

The income potential of a copywriter in the first year of business can easily be $50,000. However, the more you get your name out there and get clients, they will refer clients to you and within a year you could double or triple your income. And honestly, in the first year of being a copywriter you could even reach 6 figures if you work hard, go all in, and follow this blueprint. 

Main Investments to Become a Copywriter

Unlike other entrepreneurs and business start-ups, an online copywriting business does NOT take much money at all to start. The start-up costs are just a tiny fraction of what a brick and mortar could cost you! (and you began to see income pretty much ASAP in the big scheme of things).

Reliable Laptop 

Having a reliable laptop is a must! I love this one because it’s super easy to travel with which is awesome for copywriters who want to work anywhere (your couch, desk, bed, plane, or hideaway Costa Rica…). 

You don’t need any special programs as a copywriter. You literally just type words into a Google Document. Any additional tools you need are just websites! If you have a laptop, great! If you need one, you can find one for less than $500 on amazon. 

Bluehost Website Hosting + Copywriter Website

You’ll need a website to showcase your services and portfolio and to appear more professional so clients will want to work with you. You’ll first need a hosting platform to host your domain. I use Bluehost and love it. Some website platforms like Squarespace will host your domain for you. But this also makes it harder to switch website platforms in the future if you decide to do so. 

Canva Pro

Canva is free design software for “non-designers.” Even though I’m not a designer, copywriters can stick out if they know how to do some simple design, especially as a new copywriter and want to help your clients in any way possible to build up business trust. 

Canva Pro is worth every $12/month I spend on it. I use it to get stock photos for my clients, and I use it to create logos and infographics to market my business and my clients, You can create website wireframes to help clients see what their copy would look with design. I have access to templates for PDF guides and more. I promise Canva Pro is amazing and it doesn’t require any special downloads or anything!

Google Workspace

Google Workspace is an integrated, cloud-based business version of all Google products. My copywriting business wouldn’t survive without Google Workplace! I organize EVERYTHING into:

  • Google Documents
  • Google Drive (I create a file specifically for each client)
  • Google Calendar (link with Calendly for potential clients to set up discovery call)
  • Gmail (you can get a professional business email with your domain name instead of @gmail.com)
  • Google sheets (track business finances)

This is only about $12//month and again, worth EVERY penny. 

Search- SEO Tool for Copywriters

You need some type of SEO research tool as a copywriter. This is the one I use (in addition to others, but this is my go-to) And it’s only about $11/month. 

For $14, join my “Learn SEO in a Day” Masterclass Training where you learn SEO basics to get your clients to rank in Google and so you can charge more for your copywriting services!

Continued Copywriting Education Through Online Copywriting Courses

You want to keep your copywriting skills sharp by signing up for a course every year or so. There’s always something new you can learn to help improve your writing.

I suggest my own course, The Copywriter’s Academy for ONLY $37! (seriously, such a steal), Copywriting Courses on Skillshare (sign up for a free trial), or Amanda Kolybe’s Skills Mastery Academy.

Copywriting Books

  • The Copywriter’s Handbook
  • Building a StoryBrand

Ultimate Blueprint on How To Become A Copywriter 

Okay now, let’s jump into the exact steps you need to become a copywriter with no experience. At the beginning, it may seem like a lot. But take it one day at a time and one task at a time. Go in order so you can avoid overwhelm and don’t have to redo a bunch of things.

You don’t have to wait until you get to the end of this blueprint list to begin making money from copywriting even as a beginner. You can begin making money as soon as a couple of weeks! But this entire step-by-step process is what can elevate your copywriting business to a new level so you can stick out from other copywriters. 

19 Steps on how to become a freelance copywriter

  1. Work on Your Mindset

I highly recommend:

  • You are a Badass by Jen Sincero
  • Everything is Figureoutable from Marie Forleo
  1. Learn Copywriting Techniques/ Copywriting Basics
    1. Read Copywriting Books
    2. Take Copywriting courses. There are amazing ones that cost over $2,000 and there are ones like The Copywriter’s Academy for ONLY $37. I recommend taking some low cost ones first to see if its actually what you want to do. Plus my $37 course has everything you need to know to make 6-figs by the way. 
  1. Learn SEO: Moz.com has some, Skillshare and my $14 course, Learn SEO in a Day Masterclass training that is INCREDIBLE if I don’t say so myself.
  1. Pick a Niche: This could be anything from pet supplies, to health and wellness, to healthy foods, motherhood, eco-friendly brands, to tech companies, and CBD.
  2. Choose your ideal client avatar: know exactly WHO you are speaking to so you can market your services most effectively. 
  3. Pick the services that you’ll offer: You don’t have to offer everything. You can offer just blogs, or just website copy, or even social media captions. OR you could offer everything for a specific niche. 
  4. Get Practice. Reach out to get some experience for a low rate (friends/ family, local businesses) this is more to learn and get some experience. You can be upfront and say you are just starting and don’t have much experience but would love to help them market their business.
  5. Create a Portfolio. (2-3 pieces, depending on what you want to offer) 
  6. Create a professional email account (using google workspace)
  7. Make a simple logo using Canva (super easy + simple to use)
  8. Set up back end systems
    1. Set up Contracts (I LOVE Dubsado). Grab contract templates inside the Copywriter’s Academy. 
    2. Set up Cold Email Templates, making cold emailing a lot less time consuming
    3. Keep Track of clients + projects by organizing your files from the start before it gets all messy! (use Google Calendar, Google Drive & Google Docs)
  9. Create a Services + Investment Guide on Canva. This is a great idea if you haven’t created your website yet but want to look professional. If a potential client responds to your cold emails asking for more info, you can send this along with your portfolio. 
  10. Set up a payment system (How are you going to get paid as a freelance copywriter?) I use Paypal and it works great.
  11. Create an Excel Sheet on Google to track finances (keep up with these and pay quarterly taxes!)
  12. Create an excel sheet to collect potential client emails and keep track of responses
  13. Send out Emails to get clients + Keep Track of Responses
  14. Create a Website (like Squarespace) This ideally should be done before you send out emails but if you want to get clients asap, create a “services and investment” guide at a minimum and start cold emailing.
  15. Have a place where they can schedule a discovery call– I use Calendly and LOVE IT.
  16. Try out other ways to get clients (Instagram, Linkedin)
  17. Continue to invest in yourself and your Business (take business courses, copywriting courses)

I hope this blueprint gives you more of an idea of how to become a copywriter with no experience. My biggest advice is to stick with it! Keep doing mindset work and give it your all. The freedom that comes with being a freelance copywriter is incredible.

 

JOIN THE COPYWRITER’S ACADEMY for ONLY $37!

I highly recommend signing up for the Copywriter’s Academy. It teaches you EVERYTHING you need to know on how to become a copywriter and start your own online business. It includes 6 modules with 37+ lessons, expert guest speakers, templates, workbooks, and a Facebook community. AND IT’S ONLY $37! (grab it now because the price may increase in the future) Learn more about what’s all included HERE. 

You may also be interested in the following articles:

Must-Have Copywriting Tools

How to Brand Yourself As a Copywriter to Attract Clients

How to get clients as a copywriter with no experience

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  1. Rahul Dubey says:

    WOW! That’s an amazing guide to understand copywriting as a complete beginner. It’s easy to start earning money by simply learning copywriting with no experience.
    Thanks for this post to help people aware know about this.