Creative Copywriter

Blogging is important nowadays. And stress-free blogging is the key to a successful blog. What I mean by this is – don’t stress out when you write your blog! Don’t chew over what words to use, or worry how you’re gonna sort those sentences into the cleverest possible order. As a creative copywriter, or anyone else with a blog, your ideas should flow onto the webpage naturally and easily. Us readers want your genuine thoughts and ideas about that given topic – not a brilliantly-crafted piece of copy. If you write it naturally and cheerfully – we’ll read it like that.

So here are 3 invaluable tips to good stress-free blogging…

1. Talk to your readers. I mean really talk them, as though they were just one person sitting there with you in the room. Be personal. Address them personally by using the word ‘you’ and talk about things they can relate to. If you  write like you’re talking to a friend, then your readers will feel like a friend. They’ll absorb everything you’re saying, feel completely comfortable reading your ideas and will come visit again. They’ll trust you.

2. Don’t think, just write. This is how you can blog naturally. Once you start to think before every word then you start to worry. You’ll worry about the best way to word the sentence and what the best words to use might be. As a creative copywriter you’ll probably feel like you should represent your talent with every piece of writing, but trust me, fluidity is the key to blogging. Write down your thoughts as they come to you and your readers will appreciate your honesty and genuine-ness. (And even if you end up writing words that you aren’t  sure really exist – like genuine-ness – just go for it!)

3. Know your topic. If you don’t, then how can you teach others in a natural way? Knowing your stuff is crucial. If you’re blogging for someone else on a theme which is new to you, then do some reading! Learn about it and get interested in it. Otherwise your readers won’t be interested in what you have to say. A truly creative copywriter will be able to learn any topic speedily and write about it fluidly.

Here are a few other blogs I’ve created and written lately…

www.urbantshirt.net

www.unusualdresses.net  

www.handmadepurse.net    

www.marilynmonroeart.net

www.popart-paintings.com

Check them out… And if you like what you see and you need a creative copywriter to write your blog, then feel free to contact me today!

Cheers guys. See you soon. Have a nice, stress-free week!

Technorati Tags: blogging, blogging tips, business copywriting, copywriter online, creative copywriter, how to blog, stress-free blogging

So I’m a creative copywriter, we know this much. But why have I set out on this risky and lonesome journey to be a freelance copywriter online? Surely it would be safer and much more glamorous working for some big fancy advertising agency? Well the answer to this is… maybe. But let me give you my 5 main reasons for choosing the path of a self-employed copywriter online. Then you can make up your own mind.

1. Flexibility is awesome…

Being employed by me makes this profession very flexible. I get up when I want, work whatever hours suit me and accept whichever jobs look interesting. Don’t get this muddled up with being lazy. If you wanna mope around all day drinking cans of Heineken, eating natchos and watching Big Brother Live – then go ahead – but don’t expect to earn an income from it.

Working for yourself as a creative copywriter online requires great responsibility, self-discipline and hard work. But the flexibility – to choose my hours, my clients, my holidays and my location – is fantastic. An ad agency works differently. You’re bounded by the restrictions of normal office working hours. These tend to be much longer for a copywriter and there’s a big bad boss making sure that this happens.

2. The comfort of my PJs and a pair of slippers…

As a self-employed copywriter online the office I go to everyday is my house. Therefore I don’t regularly go anywhere – apart from the nearest corner shop to re-stock on milk for those all-important cups of tea (yes I’m British). This trusty laptop is my tool and the web is my channel to the outside world. This is extremely comfortable and convenient. Even if I wanted to come to work dressed up in a shoulder-padded blazer, a mullet-shaped wig and girls’ make-up like one of the band members of Spandau Ballet – not saying that I do – then I could!

Don’t take advantage of this too much though. Lack of social interaction can send you crazy – well, me anyway. Make sure you get out and about a bit. That initial face-to-face contact with clients can also be really useful for sealing the deal, building up some rapport and for truly understanding what they really want from you.

3. The UK, Europe, America, Israel or a small tropical island off the coast of Thailand…

Reason 3 is location, location, location. As my own boss and as a copywriter who works mostly online, I can pretty much live wherever I like. Although I mentioned face-to-face interaction, lots of jobs these days can be done entirely through the use of Skype, emails and internet technology in general. So essentially you could be copy-writing for a company based in your local district, whilst chilling in a beach bar on a tropical island, sipping Rum & Coke through a colourful straw.

You can also target customers from any country in the world. Advertising in English is in growing demand within most nations. A copywriter online can snap up jobs from all over the globe…and if you’re feeling adventurous, why not jump on a flight right over there to the homeland of your client and live there for a while?

Having an Israeli wife, who’s family and friends still live in the Holy Land, makes this perk a vital asset to my lifestyle. I also lived in Australia and am a traveling fanatic, so kinda deem myself to be a man of the world…perhaps even an international man of mystery, if we wanna go all Austin Powers on the matter. Anyhow, the Creative Copywriter likes to travel, and being a freelance copywriter online allows me to do so.

4. You ain’t the boss o’ me!

In fact, no one is…apart from myself. And aside from the  flexibility and the ‘frolicking around the globe’ part, there is another huge perk to this. It is the feeling you get from being your own boss – from running your own company, dealing with all these responsibilities, from overcoming obstacles and from having your very own clients. It’s all very exciting and self-rewarding I must say.

A freelancer may not get close to writing for national brands by themself, but their clients are their own. They have the satisfaction of choosing which clients and projects they want, working with clientele on a personal level and accomplishing those goals set alone. Freelance copywriters will also get hired by ad agencies when they’re in need of extra talent – so don’t rule out the possibility of writing the jingle for the new Coca Cola campaign!

5. An unlimited income…

How much you earn as an ad agency copywriter fluctuates, depending on where you live and the size of the agency. Level I copywriters usually get between the low $30Ks and the low $50Ks (or 20 Pound Sterling – 40 Pound Sterling if you’re a fellow Brit!). Level III copywriters can earn up to the $80K mark (65Pound Sterling).

This fluctuation is even larger when it comes to the world of freelance copy-writing. A self-employed full time copywriter online can earn anything from the meager teens up to a massive 6 figure yearly sum. So if you’re an optimistic, high-goal-setting, creative copywriter like me – and are aiming to be the Opera of the copy-writing market – then freelancing will give you that opportunity!

Technorati Tags: ad agency, business copywriting, copywriter editor, copywriter online, copywriting tips, creative copywriter, freelance

Did I learn how to be a creative copywriter at uni?

Well no, not exactly. I studied Philosophy at Nottingham University. I loved the subject and came out with flying colours -  a 2 , 1 BA Hons Degree in Philosophy from a top uni. But once I’d finished, the question dawned on me - OK what do I do now?

Philosophy doesn’t really give you much direction. It doesn’t lead you down any specific career path. So I lived with regret for a while after, wishing that I’d chosen some kind of business/marketing-related subject instead…

But as I ventured into the world of work, and developed strong selling and leadership skills while downunder in the fabulous land of Australia, I began to understand the use and importance of my degree. Philosophy teaches you to think. It stretches the boundaries of your mind. I realised that philosophy had equipped me with the skill to take on any task or dilemma and process it logically and easily in my mind. It gave me an analytical way of looking at things, which is proving to be pretty darn useful… So maybe it didn’t specifically teach me how to succeed as a creative copywriter, but it gave my brain a kick in the right direction.

So was ‘thinking’ the only thing I did at uni?

No. I also drank pints at the student union, played 5-aside football in the local park with mates, watched  “Mighty Boosh” and “Family Guy” episodes, went to parties dressed as a pirate, learnt basic Spanish, and took salsa classes in order to pick up chicks (not so successfully). But those things aren’t relevant now!

The other major skill that I developed at uni was of course my ability to write… If there’s one thing you have to do a lot of on a philosophy course, apart from pondering about deep stuff, it’s writing. I had to hammer out loads of lengthy essays on abstract and intricate subjects. Although very technical and logical in parts, my essays always included wit. Perhaps too much at times. I guess it was the creative copywriter inside trying to break out.

It was this growing hunger and talent for writing, combined with my sales training and experience, plus my love of media and advertising throughout the world, that led me to copywriting. And this magial formula would then eventually create the internationally adored copywriting superstar, ‘The Creative Copywriter’(me)!

Stay tuned for how to be a creative copywriter online, links to my work, information about ‘The Institute of Copywriting’, and all kinds of other hints, tips, stories and more…

Technorati Tags: copywriter online, creative copywriter

So how did I become such a creative copywriter? Where did it all begin?

I’ll take you back to the very beginning.

The first substantial thing I can remember writing was written by me aged 10. Infact I began at 10 and only finished the project as an awkward boy of 14, who still looked just like a 10-year old. It was a Fighting Fantasy book. The interactive kind, in which you (the reader) are the leading character – if you want to drink the old wizard’s potion turn to page 163, if you’d rather dive deep into the perilous pit of burning decay then turn to page 11 – that kinda thing!

It involved meticulous planning and a great big handful of creativity. I mapped out the entire plot beforehand – literally by drawing a chain of huge A3-sized maps (they seemed huge at the time) with all the possible twists and turns of the story. I crafted the book from coloured card and paper. Cellotape was my secret ingredient in this mix. Then I filled it not only with colourful language and inventive storylines, but with elaborate hand-drawn pictures of dragons, monsters, goblins and warriors. A lot of early teenage freetime and sweat went into it. It was named ‘The Forest of Fear’.

This fantasy book captured a growing adolescent’s 4-year long voyage of thought and literary development, on colourful paper…and then my brother lost it a year later! So that was the end of that.

You could say this was the first stepping stone on my path to becoming a creative copwriter.

What was school like for me? Did I always dream of becoming a creative copywriter?

The answer to this, frankly, is no. The thought of becoming a creative copywriter never occurred to me at that stage of my life. Probably because I didn’t know what one was. This isn’t to say that I lacked creativity however; I oozed creativity from every orifice… My top 2 subjects were Art and English Language. I consistently impressed teachers with my uniquely creative writing style. The secret to my success at that age was pretty much just throwing in really short sentences all over the place…

‘Moving. Moving slowly. One hand grips the bark, and then the next. The sloth moves along his sturdy branch, inch by inch. Climbing slowly. Gradually. Peacefully.’

This isn’t an extract, but I remember writing something like this. I thought it was very inventive at the time.

As a boy of that age who likes to write, you have dreams of becoming a famous author or maybe a Clark Kent-style journalist. Little did I know that these days were actually the making of a highly creative copywriter.

Technorati Tags: creative copywriter

Hi everyone, welcome to my blog!

My name is Konrad Sanders. I’m a young talented copywriter from the Big Smoke of London. If you haven’t guessed, the creative copywriter is me and I’m composing this blog for you with 3 main goals in mind…

Firstly, I want you all to follow my epic quest to become the most internationally renowned, outageously successful and wildly creative copywriter online.

My second goal is to share this eagerly growing fountain of knowledge with all you other aspiring copwriters. I’ll be posting hints, tips, links, articles and all kinds of cryptic copywriting tales.

This blog is here thirdly as a prequel to my official website. It will help develop an all-powerful online presence that’ll grow stronger and stronger as I flourish as a freelance creative copywriter online. It sounds kinda evil i know, but I’ll use this power purely for good, I promise.

Infact, in one year’s time, I expect I’ll be some kind of copywriting superhero…”If your business is in a twist and you need great copy fast… Do not fear… The Creative Copywriter is here!”

All I need to do now is work on a costume.

So enjoy the blog everyone. Feedback is welcomed with open arms!

Technorati Tags: creative copywriter