If you think you might want to work as a freelance copywriter...or you already are but want to make more money or have more fun, you need...

The Copywriting Sourcebook: How to Write Better Copy, Faster - For Everything from Ads to Websites

I set up Sunfish – my copywriting agency – with my fellow copywriter Jo Kelly, in 1996. We have written copy for every type of client, from large multinational companies and institutions to start-ups,nternet businesses, charities and government departments.

In this book I draw on my own experience, and that of other freelance copywriters, to share the secrets of running your own successful copywriting business. Everything from choosing what to call yourself to pricing your services – the freelancer’s number one headache. But before you buy it, here’s a (little) warning...

If you want to learn how to write copy, this is not the book for you. I have written three other books that will teach you the skills of the craft, from headlines to emotional copywriting.

But if you’re making the move into freelancing, and you want to know how to get it right – or you're already there but want to do it better, have more fun or make more money – buy this book.

Packed with stories, practical tips, advice, exercises, a survey of freelance pay scales and example marketing letters, emails and telephone scripts – and featuring interviews with 16 freelance copywriters – this is the book that will turbo-charge your copywriting business.

Contents

Foreward
Introduction
Section 1: Taking the plunge
1	The demand for copy
2	Learning your trade
3	Why freelance works
4	No more nine-to-five
5	Achieving work/life balance
6	Are you cut out to be a freelance copywriter?
7	Five things you need to be a successful copywriter
8	Seven things you need to be a successful freelance copywriter
9	Exercise 1 - freelance copywriter personality quiz
Section 2: Setting up in business as a copywriter
10	What kind of business are you going to be?
11	Sole trader
12	Limited company
13	Where are you going to work?
14	What equipment do you need?
15	Your phone
16	Your desk
17	Your chair
18	Your computer
19	Your stationery
20	What are you going to call yourself?
21	Are you going to specialise?
22	No more water-cooler: building your network
23	Time management
24	Copyright, contracts and terms of business
25	Conflicts of interest, what are they and do they matter?
Section 3: Dealing with money
26	What role does money play in your life?
27	Who’s going to look after the books?
28	Billing isn’t banking
29	Tax
Section 4: Winning your first copywriting job
30	Exercise 2 – The elevator pitch
31	How are you going to decide who to write for?
32	Whom to approach
33	What if you don’t have any contacts?
34	How to build up your portfolio from scratch
35	What are direct clients looking for?
36	Exercise 3 – 25 client expectations
37	What are agencies looking for?
38	Deadlines
Section 5: Pricing your services
39	Self-confidence/self-doubt
40	Experience
41	Reputation
42	How much money you need
43	How much money you want
44	Salesmanship
45	Poker skills
46	Getting to £100,000
47	The single biggest mistake you can make...
48	...and what to do instead
49	Where do you pitch your prices?
50	Are you giving it away?
51	Ballparks, estimates, and quotes
52	Discounting
53	Price-quote confidence booster
54	Exercise 4 – gaining confidence in quoting prices
Section 6: What is a marketing strategy, and do you really need one?
55	Literature
56	Promotion channels – picking the ones that work for you
57	Word of mouth/referrals
58	PR
59	E-zine
60	Website
61	SEO
62	Direct mail
63	Seminars/training
64	Networking
65	Public speaking
66	Social media
67	Advertising
68	Blog
Section 7: Selling yourself and your business, and why it’s different to marketing
69	Exercise 5 – Learning to sell yourself
70	Sales meetings: what clients want to hear (and what they don’t)
71	To cold call or not to cold call?
72	Building relationships
73	Favours
74	Where’s the brief? Get it in writing…or take the consequences
75	Testimonials…uncovering your best sales people
76	Making yourself look and sound good
Section 8: Design and what to do about it
77	Why you need to know about design
78	Do you need a partner?
Section 9: Interviews with freelance copywriters
79	Analysis of our interview sample
80	The interviews
81	Tom Albrighton
82	Matt Ambrose
83	Relly Annett-Baker
84	Caroline Gibson
85	Caroline Hampstead
86	Richard Harrison
87	Anthony Hewson
88	Jane Kingsmill
89	Vince Love
90	Claire McCarthy
91	Abbe Opher
92	Sally Ormond
93	Jill Tomlinson
94	Johnny Thomson
95	Sarah Turner
96	Peter Wise
PS
97	About the author

About Andy Maslen

I have spent 23 years in the business communications and information industry. I began my marketing career at Euromonitor, a leading research publisher, as a marketing assistant.

At 27 I was promoted to Marketing Director, leading teams in London and Chicago. During my ten years there, I created and managed over 2,000 marketing and sales campaigns.

After six years heading the marketing function, I resigned to return to my first love—writing—and to set up my own creative agency, Sunfish. I now divide my time between copywriting, training and writing books.

As a specialist independent copywriter and writing coach, I work with organisations of all sizes and across widely differing sectors, helping them build sales and profits using the written word.

I write articles regularly for InCirculation—a best-practice magazine for magazine and newspaper publishers—and have also contributed to B2B Marketing magazine and Direct Marketing International. I also publish my own monthly e-zine—Maslen on Marketing.

I have spoken at workshops, seminars and conferences organised by The Data Publishers’ Association, the UK Newsletter and Electronic Publishers’ Association and the Independent Publishers’ Guild; as well as in-house events for The Economist Intelligence Unit, Euromoney and T&F Informa.

My clients

• Large global businesses:
  The Economist Group, Euromoney Institutional Investor, Pitney Bowes, Dun & Bradstreet, News International, PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Charities and the public sector:
  The Landscape Trust, the Small Business Service
• Smaller national companies:
  A a night nanny agency, a transport company, a restaurant, a TV production company, a sporting social club for well-heeled singles.

My training business, Write for Results, which I co-own with a business partner, is the preferred supplier to The Economist Group and works with managers at AstraZeneca, Bank of America, BP, Emap, Nationwide Building Society and PricewaterhouseCoopers, among others.

What Andy's clients say about his copy

My copy works—you can tell from the number of clients who come back to me for project after project. Their opinions speak volumes:

Praise for Andy Maslen's first book on copywriting -Write to Sell

“If I were starting out as a writer tomorrow, I would definitely want to read this book. I pretty much taught myself most of the tricks all those years ago - and it took me far too long. Had I read it, it would have saved me years of trial and, for the most part, error.”

Drayton Bird, the godfather of direct marketing

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“Hi Andy,

I just wanted to say a big thank you for your 'Write to Sell' book which I bought recently. I set up my own business a year ago and have regularly purchased books and self-help guides to help me through the process.

Your book is exceptional - not only is it terrific to read (obvious I know but worth saying), it has helped guide me like no other.

And even more importantly it will help me to help my clients. It has made me want to sign up to your newsletter, which I'll now do. Thank you - please keep your great advice coming!”

Best wishes,
Fiona Barker
barker pr

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"This book is a gem. Not only enjoyable to read but packed full of useful and practical tips for better copywriting. Andy has a talent for making the subject of good writing lively and fun as well as hugely educational."

Sally Bibb, Group Sales Development Director
The Economist Group