How To Get Into Copywriting With No Experience

How To Get Into Copywriting With No Experience – Your copywriting portfolio is the difference between an excited, pay-in-full client and a lead that becomes a “maybe later.” Your copywriting portfolio is a collection of your best work and shows potential clients the type of work they can expect from you.

And, ideally, your portfolio leaves your potential client thinking about how good their copy is when they work with you.

How To Get Into Copywriting With No Experience

You know the saying: “You can’t get a job because you don’t have experience, and you can’t get experience because you can’t get a job.”

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Well, we’re here to smash that into a million pieces and throw it in the trash where it belongs. Because today, I will give you the solution:

If you’ve decided to launch your new career as a freelance copywriter, you already have an entrepreneurial mindset. And you know what’s cool about entrepreneurs? They are resourceful and they INNOVATE.

For the purpose of creating a copywriting portfolio with no experience, you will play the role of client AND copywriter.

For your portfolio pieces, you’ll create copy for a fictional business. Create a “copywriting business” from scratch:

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Create a document and go into detail. Not only can it be used to create portfolio pieces for your fictional business, you can use it as a portfolio piece! Copywriters are often hired to write brand guidelines.

Think: website copy, company bio, sales pages, service pages, email sequences, social media copy, digital ads, brochures––anything that appeals to you .

You can do this as many times as you want, in any industry. If you need prompts or want to fast-track your career with a portfolio builder.

Do you have a blog on Medium? Do you post articles on LinkedIn? It can count towards your portfolio, especially if you’re writing about your chosen niche.

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For example, let’s say you want to write in the renewable energy space. You can write an article about wind energy trends and include it in your portfolio.

Now, this is the only time you’ll hear me say you should write for free (ever), but if you’re just starting out and need to build a portfolio with no experience, reach out to a friend who owns a small business . Maybe they’re not in a position to pay you (yet), but you know their copy has to work. Offer to rewrite their sales pages, their email sequences, or anything else you really want to include in your portfolio. Not only will this give you real life experience, but you’ll have something live and published to direct potential clients to.

And, who knows, maybe your friend will see SO much that will feed back on your copywriting skills that will lead to your long-term acceptance!

But seriously, outside of creating a copywriting portfolio with no experience, never write for free. Ever. EVER.

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Now, this one is a little tricky, because it’s extremely unethical to claim that you wrote copy for popular brands that you didn’t write copy for. But, you can create ads, sales copy, or other portfolio pieces for national or international brands FOR PURPOSES ONLY.

If you do this, be very clear that you wrote the copy for illustrative purposes and that brand X is not one of your clients.

Unpopular opinion: For some reason, I’m not a fan of putting your copywriting portfolio on your website. First, because you can actually use your portfolio as a lead magnet, which means collecting data from potential clients. Second (and I hate to say this) copywriting portfolios are notoriously “stolen.” And third, SEO is a messy beast and publishing duplicate content makes all kinds of things messy.

So, how do you format your copywriting portfolio for the best experience? Let’s look at three types of portfolios: I call them Library Portfolios, Dream Client Portfolios and Custom Portfolios.

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This portfolio is a collection of ALL your best work, organized into subcategories. This will help you keep track of your favorite pieces AND the basis of your other two portfolios.

This type of portfolio is best for submission to agencies or to clients who demand a wide range of copy formats.

If you are a generalist, your portfolio library should include a top-level organization that is easy to navigate and divided into different industries.

Each folder within your industry folders needs to be sub-divided into copywriting formats like the example below:

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Note: You can do this in reverse, with copy formats as your main folders and your industry folders as subfolders.

My personal opinion on this is that for copywriting agencies or clients asking for a variety of work (like a marketing company) seeing a wide range of industries first is even more impressive.

Obviously, as a proper copywriter, all of your content is about a single topic, so your top-level folders can be copy formats.

When your potential client clicks on “Email Copy,” the subfolders are further organized to show the different types of email campaigns the writer has written. Potential clients can read each folder for whatever applies to them.

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Within the subfolder, files are organized and titled. The writer’s name is included. This is important if samples are shared between decision makers; you don’t want your samples mixed up with someone else’s if your samples are downloaded.

This type of portfolio is designed to attract ONLY your dream clients. Soulmate Client Portfolio is perfect for niche copywriters OR generalist copywriters who want to start their journey to niche down.

So, how do you decide what goes into your Soulmate Client Portfolio? You need to know who your Soulmate Client really is.

Identify ALL the types of copy your ideal client needs (and narrow that down to what you WANT to write).

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Structure your portfolio like a proper copywriter, but (and this is important) label your folders with the specific type of copywriter you are. YES, it matters. Even the smallest details show your ideal clients that you are aligned with them.

Be as specific as possible. The more specific you are, the more your dream clients will gravitate towards you.

If your Soulmate Client is a women’s business coach who specializes in women who are in the “launch” phase of their business, you will include samples of EXACTLY what this client will need.

For example, you could write a sample sales page for a group coaching program called “Ready to Launch Accelerator” that would appeal to your clients’ dream clients.

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When your ideal client reads your samples, they will see that YOU fully understand what they need and that you have become THEIR dream copywriter.

Instead of sending your Library Portfolio or your Soulmate Client portfolio, you will create a custom portfolio. This is where having your Library Portfolio up-to-date and organized is important: you can easily access samples relevant to the specific job or gig you’re applying for.

Tip: Include the name of the company or potential client in your portfolio file name. Remember that the details really do make the difference!

And, specifically give them what they ask for. Even though your Library Portfolio may have what they need (and more), decision makers looking for something highly defined don’t have time to sort through samples that don’t apply to them.

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For example, let’s say you have a discovery call with a potential client looking for email copywriters in the tech space. Your Custom Portfolio might look like this:

Remember, if you’re applying for a copywriting job, so are 50 other people. Make your portfolio stand out.

Include a folder with references, social proof, letters of recommendation, and when you start getting clients, add analytics reports showing web traffic and conversions.

You are a businessman. And you’re a copywriter. You have what it takes to innovate. Even if you have no experience, you CAN create a copywriting portfolio. So, break that “catch 22” and start your path by forging it yourself.

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To become a copywriter, you will need to develop proper skills. Having a bachelor’s degree in English, communications, or marketing is beneficial, but if this is not your case, you still have opportunities to become a good copywriter. It’s all about gaining experience and building your writing portfolio.

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It is the ability to make a common message magnetic, attracting the audience and convincing them to act. In other words, the goal