| Topic Name: |
Copywriting |
| Message Name: |
Getting into copywriting |
| Date Posted: |
01/29/2003 |
| In Reply To: |
Copywriting for advertising and PR firms. How do you get into this field? I'm a book editor in my early 30s considering a change.
I love writing. I love the world of marketing communications. I am fascinated by the idea of communications that affect people's behavior, that have an impact. In copywriting, every word has to count. And, I have read all of David Ogilvy's books.
I have some clips. I write marketing copy (e.g., catalog copy, jacket copy) as part of my current job. And I have published a few freelance magazine articles over the last two years, in addition to some shorter pieces I did for journalism internships. Maybe it's not enough for a whole portfolio, but it's a start.
What's my niche? Well, as I said, I currently work with books (editorial), so book publicity might be a good fit. I went into banking right out of college and I remain an active investor, so financial services might be appropriate too.
My main concern, however, is how to enter the field. Is it better to start freelancing, or to find a Junior Copywriter position somewhere? (I'm open to the idea of relocating).
I'm in the NYC area and as a start I was thinking of taking NYU's Advertising Copywriting course, primarily for clips but also to get a grounding in the field.
Any thoughts? I would be really grateful for feedback. Thanks!
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| Message: |
I am in marketing and it's always been 50% writing all the copy too. I've been Marketing Manager, Promotion Manager, and Marketing Communications Manager in several industries.
I took the NYU Ad Copy course back in 1992. It was a good course, I don't know that it helped me in terms of relevance to my career. It was basically write one of everything - print ad, radio spot, tv spot, local campaign etc. There were a lot of agency media people who wanted to break into creative there.
You could approach your company's marketing group and talk about either doing some writing for them on the side, how they got where they are, whether they may have an appropriate opening coming up at some point - you have an edge since you know the market and product there.
The freelance market is tough now, but you could send your portfolio to some agencies and see how it goes.
Another thing to do is look into professional organizations in the media field and attend an event or two to network and learn.
Your alumni office may have a networking database where you could contact people in the area you want to get into.
Hope this helps.
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