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My success as a writer is oddly shaped and continues to expand and grow but there are ways that it has shaped and reshaped my personal relationships for good and ill. And yes, there are times, pleasures that I take in my work that I don’t share with others. There are times when I have thought to myself that I simply don’t have the energy to produce and be present for minor, trifling, draining relationships. I’m lucky that I’ve come to understand that in the past decade and purposefully shifted my life, my career so that I can write. I have excluded a lot of relationships to favor writing, creating, my Art.Yes, my books sell. Not as well nor as perfectly nor as timely as I might want in my impulsive little way…but in my long term vision—-I look at sales over 125+ years (an author’s lifetime plus 70+ years of copyright outside of a trust/LLC) as a piece of what I’ll legacy to children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren so that hopefully the proceeds will ease their lives in the cost of education and home ownership. That’s one long vision.But additionally a current chunk of my work—-about 50+ books are around sex and sexuality, which was not my timing intentionality to the sense of now that I have a broader breadth of works to publish—-fiction, educational, critical studies, etc.. It happened as a confluence of my work with multiple non-profits around sex and sexuality/LGBTQSGL issues and counseling/workshops for a decade and the advice of teaching mentors at Columbia University, the additional confluence of my experimenting with having a local TV show for since 2009 (the book publishing happening in 2013) and the fact that I’ve been published in short story form, poetry, articles, etc for years literally around the world.I detail all of that because it outed me on a whole new level. I was already out, like I said working for LGBTQSGL agencies, doing television interviews for local and national news shows around LGBT issues, out to my whole family, friends, at all job/career steps regardless of if that pace was about sex & sexuality/identity issues.Often people talk about being out—-I’ll back up because of my interest/attachment to organization (I love the Container Store and Staples!) and say that there are Five Stages of Sexuality Identity “movement”—-including the final stage, which I’m at of Identity Integration (this is based upon the Cass Model of Sexuality Identity Formation). I’m so out that it literally never occurs to me to come out to people. You know how people have to tell you or you ask them or blah blah blah.. it never occurs to me because I don’t identity as gay or bisexual or heterosexual so I just mosey on along.Until…..I was swept up into the world of PR and marketing around my work. But by then for over a decade I’d been out and teaching classes and workshops and again, no big whoop though it massively increased my outness to thousands of people here in NYC.The TV show and then books/blogs changed that from 2009 to 2013.The TV Show’s audience can reach upwards of 500k here in NYC and then there’s the show being rebroadcast on Live Stream, YouTube, the blog, Vimeo Hi5, Sclipo, Metacafe—-there have been times when either videos or The Kyle Phoenix Show episodes have shown up back-linked to another website… in places as far away as Japan, Russia, the Ukraine, Africa, Australia… I’m big in Ireland!How did my family react?I would say it’s hard for me to completely estimate that because in order to be so out, I didn’t allow the privilege of my family negotiating into my lived life.I came out.They gave me the choice of not being out or not.I went into my room to pack.They realized I was serious and backed down and off.I’m not the one to play brinkmanship games with. I was 18 at the time. I then excitedly bought a Chippendale's calendar and put it on my bedroom wall. I’m a rebel! I then dated, my best friend was a transsexual and I went on with my life. Eventually moving from corporate America to non-profit world where the companies I worked for prominently had the words “gay” in them, including Gay Men’s Health Crisis.Perhaps, looking back, I can see now that I gave no space for mitigation to my family about my identity and my work/art. Once I was getting serious about dating a guy and thought it would be nice to invite him to my family’s home down South, where my mother and stepfather had moved. My mother, having become a pastor, suggested that my stepfather’s daughter and husband were welcome but not me and a serious boyfriend (this was a few years before legal same sex marriage)—-her reason being that my stepfather wouldn’t like it and would object.“Fuck you.” I told her.And proceeded to curse her out so badly for another hour (hilariously a teacher, in his 80s that I was suppose to be having a meeting with at my office that Saturday came in, heard my angry invectives and went and politely sat in the lobby until I hung up.)My vehemence at my mother was that I had been out for well over 10 years by that time and was a Youth Coordinator for LGBT youth, therefore designing and exampling character and morals and such to a authentic and proud identity/life. I would sooner cut them off then in anyway live or perpetuate silence or lack of equality. I further pointed out that both my mother and stepfather had been alcoholics and drug abusers for years, were in AA/NA and I’d never ostracized them. He hadn’t worked for 7 year, she buying him as her slave, their having pissed away millions of dollars and I’d paid for college myself and been a contributor to the mortgage and bills since I was 14, moving out when I was 21.I will in no way be marginalized nor will I allow hypocritical judgment of me which having to stand behind my work, my art has made me even more ardent about.And I told her that for such bigotry they were on pause for at least 9 months—-and I hung up the phone.I’d rather have no family than bigots.Within 6 months they pulled their shit together. I will in no way minimize myself, my relationships nor my Art for anyone, ever. Ever.Romantic RelationshipsI’m sort of famous, closer to extremely popular or “known” in NYC, throughout the tri-state area; some parts of the West Coast, where I’ve been and done conferences/seminars; in the South where I’ve partnered with a bookstore chain—-in regards to LGBTSGL issues, etc.. So this affects and effects my dating life for the past 5–15 years. The previous effects came from working for LGBTSGL organizations as a matter of personal ethics and to some, legal agreement, I did not and could not, date clients/workshop participants.By having the TV show here, a variety of people and issues on the show, being Black AND out on TV and it being rebroadcast, I’m further out. Like way out. Like Elton John out. Like there have been times where people I don’t know stop me to discuss my media work, I’ve autographed lots of books at signings and workshops and I’ve had men (I don’t know) yell my name across busy streets in Harlem. And they were flamboyantly gay. I don’t mind or care because I had nearly a decade of work at agencies to prepare me for “identity attention” but there are times when I’m with someone who's out, along a spectrum not out to completely out, or they’re an introvert or I haven’t divulged my PR resume/CV to them—-that they are surprised and I’m sure hesitant, and turned off.Yes, there are times where I don’t go into full disclosure the breadth and depth of my work because I don’t want to. Because sometimes I just want to be Kyle or sometimes I don’t see a huge future or sometimes I really don’t want people to go into Dear Abby mode with me where I’m bombarded with lots of questions, where I don’t mind answering, but the academic, learned tone I take on is a mood killer.That can be hard for men to understand because of the reason why I’ve produced media: they need/want answers. Which is why I had years and years of packed workshops. But that softens at the expense of someone connecting with me personally. That’s the trade off from people TO me. Then there’s the other bit, the Phoenix in the room.Men often find it hard to understand that I don’t want to give the Grade A relationship advice…on date. or a bus. Or in the middle of a non-related class.I once had a classmate take me out to dinner from Columbia on a specific day—-I was thrilled, I’d been standing there thinking I would have to go to the supermarket—-we get to the restaurant across from campus and order. He’d timed it so that a guy he had a crush on was there and wanted me to “fix their love”.The PhoenixI’ve been writing stories since I was about 6 year sold, drew and wrote hundreds of pages of stick figure comic books; started a national amateur comic book company at 14; wrote and filmed my first screenplay by 16; been published since middle school; written multiple manuscripts/novels since middle school; I was doing paid readings by 23.I am a writer. I love it more than anything I think I ever have in my life. I will marry and have a spouse and children, and that will be a different kind of love but until then, it is the love of my life.I’ve gotten better and better at it through the stewardship of mentors in high school, college and post-grad. This ain’t no fad or “hobby”, I’ve been doing it for over 30 years and making money at it for 20+ years.Teaching came along at 14 years old occidentally as President and editor of the comic book company and then undergrad where I was a TA. It is not an aside but it is an offshoot of the fertile writing garden.I filmed my first screenplay while attending high school film classes and then a special filmmakers class at a local college for several years. The current TV show is a natural offshoot of both that and several works/screenplays I intend to film.To that amalgamation, I will do this with my hands, toes, teeth or rapid blinking for the next 50 years. I know that I am at a phase of my creative work.I have an extensive book collection—-about 5000 books in the famous storage room (not as famous as Prince’s music vault but my students (who have helped me move from smaller ones to larger ones)) tease me about it. One side are books/CDs, winter/summer clothes and the other my Art, my writing, a few paintings, and now storage for books that are either drafts or storage. As a publisher I act as my own warehouse for some products.All of this, that I sum with the word Phoenix—-Voltaire called his a “daemon”—-is like a lover I’ve had for decades that presses at me, my consciousness, in my dreams, as I’m traveling along, as I’m teaching, as I’m talking—-it demands externalization—-hence literally 5000+ blogs spread throughout four platforms and a website.My Phoenix demands that I keep writing, trying new things, reading, taking classes, thinking, producing, making, trying again, reading other emerging writers, workshopping. It demands, it demands so much that I’ve had to put a cap on my production phase for the coming decade so that I can start a family, have a life beyond this.Family & WorkI was timely and fortunate enough to have several books in print to dedicate and acknowledge my mother before she died and to even include my stepfather in (he was present, loyal is a stretch of the word).They had no context for it.I was all excited, got fresh copies from the printer and they were…..impressed, proud, jealous, meh, didn't read them. I think my mother read a manuscript that I was sending to a publish a decade before my Phoenix, my work, all those years was something, she was instructed to stay out of the way of it, by a family therapist we went to in my teens when my father and mother broke up.Klyde Hunter, a progressive social worker who taught us a lot about meditation and biofeedback work did a lot of work with my mother about raising a prodigy, especially a Black one, especially a male one and especially, she proposed, one that might not be heterosexual.Klyde also told my mother things about me and the potentiality of my talents that she was instructed not to tell me until I reached adulthood. Even some things concerning the kind of relationship I would have to have with my mother in order to be successful.She said that I would have to get past my mother issue. What that manifested to be was that I had to get past my mother’s issues. My mother's dysfunction, her dysfunctional relationships and not, as my mother wanted and took away my trust fund to try and control—-stay glued to her hip—-which is why I left at 21.My mother wanted me to be her gay bestie out of some bad 1970s film, I would have none of it. She was not pleased and tried to play my stepfather and I against one another—-actually she bought/controlled him because I left—-but I’d left, happily and would not allow such mind games.In many ways my writing, my talents, my work, my Art, my Phoenix, cost me portions of a relationship with not just my mother but there’s been abuse from cousins at a young age, stepparents, aunts, uncles because there is no one like me in my family.I had one cousin, probably one of my two or three favorite, Kory, who’s obituary said she wrote books but I think that was more hyperbolic-—though she, a few years younger than me, was one of a handful of the smartest people in my family. I have no doubt of her talent, she just didn’t get to publish. And by age and circumstance, we weren’t close.My mother and uncle pitted myself and his son Chris against each other in boxing, chess, in general, and many of my other like aged cousins are either ne’er do wells, criminals, pedophiles, Welfare whores.To be advanced educated, an only child, my mother creating a Middle Class/Upper class lifestyle AND talented, has cost me all of my family from two generations because I am so alien to them in content as a person.I was at a birthday party for my mother when she was in the hospital several years ago and a mass of relatives made an effort to attend (no one quite sure when her last year would be) and anyone who has been a prodigy or the One or special for some talent or success or even money, knows the special aura of attention family can pay to you in a backhanded way. Where they all try to question/suss you out in benign and antagonistic ways.I was sitting there trying to eat and one cousin, 10–15 years older, from across the room would holler questions at me—-about the TV show, the books, teaching at Columbia—-then he, a pedophile who at 49 was making the big career move of being hired at Family Dollar that week, would remind me of the singing group he was in—-30 years ago.Another yelled questions across the room about—-sexuality. How did I know? was I single? Could I lay on the floor so he could take out his microscope to examine my DNA? Did I think sexuality was DNA influenced? What about the Bible? What about the Qu’ran?(Did I mention I was trying to chew food?)Success and Being “The One”They also relentlessly talked about money—-how much did I have? Their bills! They needed money. They needed money. They needed money. They needed money. Gimme gimme gimme.(I just watched a David Letterman interview of Oprah Winfrey and she talked about how when you’re The One in the family, you become an ATM—-and from my mother to my stepfather to cousins—-they have treated me so. There have been scams, lawyers, tricks, traps, mind games, lies, you name it those related to me have tried it.)Yes, I have given money, outright hired family members into teaching positions, given references or the full recommendation to solid hook up. But I have learned that my success means I have to be analytical about the person’s ask and the potentiality of the give. It’s a very weird analysis to have to do about people and know that you’ll have to do it for the rest of your life in ever graduating ways.The Future, Death, Legacy, Children/GrandchildrenI’m not Byron Allen. I’m not Oprah Winfrey. But they are excellent templates and vanguards for my work.But I have a lot of media—-books, articles, blogs, magazines, newsletters, videos, TV shows to release over the next company Phases.That means copyrights, licensing and royalties galore. I literally have binders on each media endeavor tracking it and separate accounts that I have to manage. But I've got great advisers so I’m building well from the ground up.But I will die in 50 years, how to pass this on?My descendants may not want to be in the media content distribution business—-yeah, a few years ago I was disabused of the notion that I was “just” on TV or “just” publishing. That has meant that the successful and resources the media brings I have to shepherd, teach others and children how to shepherd and design systems that outlive me to insure that my children, spouses and grandchildren, are provided for in enhancing ways.#KylePhoenix#TheKylePhoenixShow

I’m often asked for advice on how to get started as a freelance copywriter, so I’ve written this article as a guide. If you’re thinking about getting into copywriting, this post should answer many of your questions.Please bear in mind, though, that this only reflects my own knowledge and experience, based on 10 years as a freelance copywriter in the UK. Your own experience may vary, and other copywriters might give different advice. I welcome all alternative views in the comments.What is a freelance copywriter?A freelance copywriter is anyone who writes words (or ‘copy’) for commercial use on a contract basis.Freelance copywriters can work directly with clients, or through intermediaries such as agencies or online work exchanges.The text produced by a freelance copywriter can be used in advertisements, websites, and digital media, printed marketing, or anywhere else, but it always has some sort of practical aim, whether it’s persuading people to buy a product or just giving them information.In the advertising industry, ‘copywriter’ is used specifically to mean people who come up with concepts and copy for advertisements (see below). In marketing more widely, it denotes anybody who writes commercially or produces content for online use. So there are situations where it’s important to know what someone means when they say ‘copywriter’.Online, the rise of content marketing and native advertising has blurred the line between ‘copywriters’ and ‘journalists’. In general, journalists write editorial content and are paid by publishers (even if the content they produce is about a brand), whereas copywriters write marketing copy about a brand and are paid by the brand’s owner. Native advertising muddies the waters by incorporating paid-for mentions of a brand into editorial content (in effect, journalists acting as copywriters), or presenting paid-for coverage as editorial (copywriters acting as journalists).Why become a freelance copywriter?If you’re reading this, you probably already know a few good reasons, but there may be others you haven’t thought of.Accessibility. The barriers to entry in copywriting are practically non-existent. You don’t need qualifications, specialized equipment or even any software apart from Word. A phone and a computer and you’re good to go.Flexibility. Even as a free agent, you still have to do what clients say and get the money in. But the freelance life does offer a lot of scope for flexible working, allowing you to balance work, leisure, and family the way you want. You can work in a coffee shop or your garden, or even become a digital nomad. Finances permitting, you don’t have to take any job you really don’t want, and if you’ve hit your target for the month, you can take off for the beach.Range. You can work with clients of any size, in any industry, anywhere in the world, dealing with them via email and Skype. That means you can put your writing skills at the service of non-native speakers who need the quality text in English, which is a huge market.Impact. The copy you write can make a big difference to marketing campaigns and, for smaller clients particularly, may even affect the fate of an entire company. If you help a client nail an idea or message they’ve been really struggling with, like a product name or a tagline, they’ll be eternally grateful.Variety. A freelance copywriting career can include a huge range of clients, projects and styles. You might be writing about oven chips for a multinational in the morning, deep-sea diving lessons for a sole trader in the afternoon. You’ll talk to entrepreneurs, managers and marketers at all levels, each with their own unique communication problem to solve. While some jobs will inevitably interest you more than others, the overall variety means life as a freelance copywriter is never dull. And there’s always more to learn.Creativity. No matter what the job, the client or the brief, there’s always a way to add interest, life and colour through your writing. Finding new and memorable ways to express ideas never gets old, and is one of the most rewarding things about the freelance copywriter’s life.What do freelance copywriters work on?They write whatever needs writing! For example, you might be asked to write advertisements (print and broadcast), brochures, leaflets, press releases, product manuals, product packaging, online product descriptions, websites, articles, social media content, sales letters, emails, telephone scripts, video scripts, interviews, FAQs, how-to guides and more.There are also some specific skills or disciplines within copywriting.Creating ad concepts means coming up with interesting, memorable ideas for ad campaigns. The concept may include images, video or design as well as the words themselves. For some ads there may be no words at all, just an idea. Many ad copywriters link up with a designer or art director in a two-person creative team, using their complementary visual and verbal skills to develop ideas in partnership.Business-to-consumer (B2C) copywriting is work on materials aimed at general consumers (as opposed to businesspeople). You need to be able to get inside people’s heads and understand what makes them tick, so you can make products and services sound interesting, attractive and relevant to their lives. You also need to write in different tones of voice for different brands – for example, an ad for a chocolate bar sounds different from an ad for a car. (See How to define your brand’s tone of voice.)Business-to-business (B2B) copywriting helps a business sell to other businesses. You need to be able to explain product and service features clearly and effectively, and communicate the benefits they offer. But business buyers are still people, so you also need to convey the personality of the business and make an emotional connection with the reader.Online copywriting means writing for websites and other digital channels. It can include companies’ own corporate websites, as well as articles, white papers and anything produced under the banner of ‘content marketing’. You need to be able to hold readers’ interest in a medium that encourages skim-reading and rapid navigation. You also need to be able to structure content so it’s easy for visitors to use a site (user experience, or UX) and encourage them to take a particular action, such as buying a product (conversion optimisation).Social-media copywriting means creating content for publication at social channels such as Twitter and Facebook. Social content needs to be attention-grabbing, memorable, sharable and often very short. It often needs to use humour to increase its appeal without causing offence. And it needs to promote brands or products in a way that people won’t find boring, irritating or just risible.SEO copywriting is a specific form of online copywriting aimed at maximising the visibility of web pages at search engines. You need to understand how web pages are coded and how search engines analyse their content. Since this changes all the time, principally as Google updates its algorithm, specialising as an SEO copywriter means staying up to speed with the latest trends. Some knowledge of SEO is really a requirement for any sort of online writing, but you can partner with an SEO consultant or agency to tap into deeper knowledge. (See SEO in 5 minutes for an intro to SEO, and In defence of SEO copywriting for more on why the writer’s skills are important.)Content marketing is a catch-all term for material that brands produce to inform, guide or entertain customers without directly selling to them. The idea is that people read the content, find it valuable and form a positive opinion of the brand that provided it. You need skills in researching and organising information, making it relevant to readers and gently orienting it towards a brand or product without overt selling. Since content often needs to be found online, and can help to attract visitors to a site, content marketing is closely linked with SEO.Technical writing is any type of writing that requires knowledge of a particular area of science or technology. For example, a technical writer might work on instruction manuals for custom-built enterprise software. Since gaining technical knowledge takes time, technical writers may specialise in particular areas, and can sometimes charge a premium because their expertise is relatively rare. Technical writers need the ability to explain complex subjects clearly and concisely, and structure content for readability and navigability.Academic writing is similar to technical writing, and is simply working on text that relates to a specialised academic subject, whether in the humanities (literature, art history) or the sciences (physics, mathematics). If you have enough knowledge of a particular topic, and the ability to explain its finer points in writing, you could turn it into a copywriting specialization. You could help academics prepare or edit journal articles, or worth with research organizations, journals, book publishers or anyone else who needs well-written academic content.This list is not exhaustive. Some copywriters focus on one or more of these areas, and others are generalists who will turn their hand to anything. Some present as generalists but still point to one or two specializations. What work you go for depends on your own skills and temperament.People come to copywriting from many different backgrounds (see Tinker, tailor, soldier, copywriter) and knowledge gained in a previous job may suggest a specialization. For example, I started out in non-fiction publishing, which made me naturally suited to long-form work and B2B clients; broadcast ads for B2C are further from my comfort zone. Or you may find that a specialization emerges naturally over time from the type of work you get given, particularly if people refer you to their friends or colleagues within a particular sector.Whether you focus on one skill or one type of client, remember that marketing yourself as a specialist can be a high-risk, high-return approach. It makes you more appealing to a certain group of clients, but completely irrelevant to others. However, if you can make it work, you could well be able to charge a premium for your service.Who can be a freelance copywriter?The short answer is ‘anyone’. The copywriting industry is unregulated, and you don’t need any qualifications or certifications to work in it. If you call yourself a copywriter and clients pay you for copywriting, you’re a copywriter.However, if you want to succeed as a freelance copywriter, you’ll need the following.Proven writing ability. It’s good to believe in yourself, but if you want to make a living from copywriting, you need other people to agree that you’re a good writer. If your writing has been commercially published, widely circulated at work or just praised by someone independent, you may have marketable copywriting skills, or the potential to develop them.Business skills. Freelance copywriting isn’t just writing. You’ll need to market and promote yourself, manage your money and set the direction of your freelance business (see Strategy for freelances). This is a big change if you’re used to a salaried position, where other people manage your work and your income is stable and predictable.Admin skills. You’ll need to manage your workload, projects and timescales, keep financial records and stay on top of correspondence. Again, if you’re used to other people scheduling or prioritizing your work, or helping you with admin, this can take some getting used to. (I’ve created a simple spreadsheet that you can use to track projects.)Personal qualities. Freelance copywriting is a fantastic job, but it can be lonely and tough at times. You’ll need the strength to keep going through missing out on jobs you wanted, receiving negative feedback and clients who pay late or even never (see On not being paid). You’ll need self-discipline and self-reliance to meet clients’ expectations, plus self-confidence to win business, believe in your ability and charge what you’re worth (see How to build freelance confidence). And you’ll probably need to like, or at least tolerate, independent solo working (see The joy of working alone.)Do I need qualifications?Not really. Although copywriting courses are available, there’s no ‘official’ qualification that allows you to become a copywriter.If you’re going to be writing long-form copy, English-language skills are obviously valuable, which you might have gained from an academic course such as an English A-level or degree, or equivalent. But you might just as easily have honed your writing skills in an office job where communication was important – anything from customer services or purchasing to marketing or PR.If you decide to take a course, bear in mind that it’s experience, rather than paper qualifications, that will impress clients most. So evaluate potential courses in terms of the actual skills you’ll gain, rather than impressive-sounding additions to your cv.Do I need to form a limited company?No, you can easily operate as a sole trader. To do this, you simply keep records of everything you spend and earn and complete a self-assessment tax return showing self-employed income at the end of the tax year (5 April).However, being a sole trader does limit your options in some ways. As a business, you can offset capital expenditure (equipment you buy for your business, such as computers) against earnings, which usually helps with your tax bill. It can also be helpful, psychologically, to separate ‘you’ from ‘your business’, so you can make decisions in a more rational, detached way.Should I register for VAT?You can register for VAT as either a sole trader or a business, and you must do so if your turnover (total sales) is more than £81,000 in a year (2014 data).Registering for VAT means you can claim back the VAT you’ve paid on purchases – which can be significant if you rent an office, or buy a lot of computer equipment.Basically, if the VAT you’re likely to reclaim comes to more than the cost of paying an accountant to sort out your VAT, it’s probably worth registering (regardless of your turnover).How can I gain freelance copywriting experience?The first few months as a freelance copywriter can feel like a Catch-22: you can’t get work until you have the experience, but you can’t build up experience unless people give you some work. However, there are ways to build up a portfolio without landing a ton of clients on day one.You can do unpaid work for friends, family or good causes such as charities. This is a great way to build up a portfolio without the hassles that go with gaining paid work. You’ll need to prevent ‘feature creep’ and also make sure the client values your work and is committed to working constructively with you, even though they’re not paying.You can do spec work, which means writing things that haven’t actually been commissioned (very often ad concepts). If you feature this sort of work in your portfolio, make it absolutely clear it was done on spec, or people will assume you really did work for the brand. (You can enter spec work for the Chip Shop Awards.)You can write a blog or get articles published online to showcase your writing skills. This isn’t the same as taking on a commercial project, but it still shows people you can write. Blogging about copywriting itself can be a good way to sharpen your thinking and demonstrate your insight to clients (see Seven reasons copywriters should blog).You can take assignments through ‘find a freelancer’ sites like Elance or content mills like Copify. The rate will probably be very low, making this a good way to build up a portfolio but not so good for long-term earnings potential. Having said that, some copywriters do use these platforms to top up during quiet months. (For my personal views on content mills and the service they offer to clients, see What copywriting clients won’t get from content mills and The real price of cheap content.)How can I find freelance copywriting work?Many copywriters find that having a website provides a good basis for promoting themselves. A site can include information on your services, writing samples, client testimonials, and anything else relevant to potential clients.Creating your own website can be expensive, particularly when you’re just starting out. The Professional Copywriters’ Network offers a Pro membership package for £48pa inc VAT that lets you create a comprehensive online profile and a portfolio with up to 12 samples of your copywriting work. (Disclosure: I am a co-founder of PCN.)You’ll probably want to create profiles at social sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. These serve a triple purpose: promoting yourself to clients, showcasing your writing skills and networking with other writers.Some freelance copywriters separate their ‘work’ and ‘home’ profiles, but many (including me) don’t bother. If you want a mix of informal work-related chat, support and messing about, one account makes sense. If you’re used to having colleagues, or just find it difficult to work on your own, interaction on social media can be a lifeline.There are may ways to promote yourself offline too. Attending networking events can be a useful way to make contacts – just don’t expect to come home with a ton of work. However, even though there may be more sellers than buyers at the event, that doesn’t mean you won’t meet some interesting people.Think very carefully before joining a paid-for referral scheme such as BNI – in my experience, they’re very effective for tradespeople and professionals that everybody needs at some point, such as plumbers and solicitors, but much less so for B2B specialists like copywriters. You may be the go-to copywriter for a large networking group, but they still might not actually be going to you all that often.Don’t underestimate the power of your existing network. Put the word out among colleagues, friends and family that you’re looking for freelance copywriting work. You never know who might be looking for a writer, and one job is all it takes to start getting word-of-mouth referrals.Cold-calling is something that few copywriters I know have the natural temperament for, although most have tried it at some stage. The problem is that when people need a copywriter, they really need one – but when they don’t, they really don’t. A better approach might be to craft a really strong sales letter or piece of creative work and send it to potential clients. That way, even if they don’t need a copywriter now, they may hang on to your letter and remember you when they do.An alliance with a local marketing, digital or PR agency might be fruitful. Agencies often turn to freelances for help with writing. The upside is that you don’t have to deal directly with the client, which can save you time and make jobs run more smoothly. The downside is that you don’t ‘own’ the link with the client, and may even be forbidden to contact them directly. As a freelancer, relationships are your most valuable assets.How does freelance copywriting work, day to day?Clients usually get in touch via email or phone. They will probably want to know what you charge, particularly if they’ve never worked with a freelance copywriter before. A ballpark price will either put them at their ease, or show them they can’t afford you – in my view, either outcome is better than stringing them along and leaving it as late as possible to give a price, although some salespeople do recommend that approach. (See the next section for more on pricing.)Prospects may also want to discuss their project with you, which is fine up to a point, but has the potential to eat up an unlimited amount of your time for no return. The trick is to display the depth of your knowledge without providing too much solid guidance that the client can take away and use for free. Try to talk about what’s involved in the project, or what’s important to get right, without saying what you would actually do. If need be, don’t be afraid to say that any further questions would be answered once the project is confirmed – politely implying ‘show me the money’.Some clients may want to meet up before they commit to using you. Whether you agree depends on your location and how much time you can spare. Remember that all conversations and meetings have to be paid for, either as a project cost (clients pay per job) or as an overhead (cost shared between all your clients/projects). Charging for longer meetings shows your time is valuable, but if you really want the job, you may be happy to invest a few hours.If you’re working through an agency, it’s important to clarify who will be paying your invoice – them, or the end client.If the client uses purchase orders, that’s great, but an email explicitly confirming the scope and price is still legally binding. Some freelance copywriters ask their clients to sign an actual contract or letter of agreement that defines the scope, working process, price, payment terms, transfer of copyright (see Copyright for copywriters) and so on. It’s good practice, but it can be a bit onerous for smaller jobs. An alternative approach is to create a standard set of terms and conditions – you can publish them at your website, or attach them to your estimates – and make it clear that the client is agreeing to them by commissioning you.One way or another, you need to get source information from the client to inform your writing. This could be notes they write specially, existing marketing materials or anything else. Interviewing the client by phone can be very productive, and if you use this method – which I do all the time – you may find that recording calls is an invaluable way to capture all the information. There’s an app for Skype called Call Recorder (Mac), or if you’re on a landline you can buy a device to record your calls, with the other person’s persmission (see Recording phone conversations makes for better copywriting).Once the client is happy with the terms, you can start writing. Most copywriters simply work in Microsoft Word, and send the client the file for approval via email. For ad concepts, you may find it easier to hand-draw scamps (rough sketches) and scan/cameraphone them, while for online work, creating tables in Word is one way to approximate the layout of a web page.Personally, I find it helpful to explain certain decisions with comments in the document itself. This can help to manage expectations and forestall likely questions, helping the client to stay focused on the bigger picture instead of getting caught up in details.Copywriting drafts are most often submitted by email. Sometimes, the job sails through with no amends at all, but more often you’ll need to revise your work before it’s approved. Aim to agree up front how many rounds of changes are included in your price (two is usually enough) – if things drag on beyond that, at least you have the right to renegotiate, even if you opt not to use it.Once the client has accepted your final draft, you can submit your invoice, either by email (as a PDF, probably) or by post. Make sure you ask who to address it to, to avoid problems later. And remember to chase it up once it’s overdue – it’s a horrible job, but invoices very often get ‘missed somehow’, so it’s one you can’t afford to skip. Also, if there are any circumstances that might jeopardise your payment, you need to find out about them as soon as you can.How much should I charge?Freelance copywriting fees depend on your skills and experience and the demands of the project. In general, the more experience you have, and the more prestigious the brands you’ve worked for, the more you can charge. As I’ve said, you may also be able to charge more for a specialist service.Factors that might affect the price of a project include:How long the work will takeHow quickly the client wants the text deliveredThe number of revisions requiredThe quantity and/or nature of feedback (for example, review comments from lots of different people)The value of the content to the client’s businessThe importance or prominence of the content, which affects the level of quality required and therefore how much time needs to be put into editing and rewritingThe technical complexity of the subjectThe sensitivity of the content (for example, editing an internal document on proposed redundancies).Some freelance copywriters offer discounts for smaller businesses or sole traders, or work at a discount (or pro bono) for charities they want to help out.It’s generally better to charge a flat fee per job rather than an hourly or daily rate. It keeps things clear and simple, and stops you getting drawn into an awkward discussion of how long a job ‘should’ take. However, you may still want to set a daily rate, for three reasons:You can still use it as a rule of thumb for calculating prices, even if you then present the price to the client as a flat fee.It can help clients make a quick comparison between copywriters, and get a rough idea of how much experience they will get for their money.You can use it to quote for ‘taxi cab’ tasks, where you’re selling your time rather than delivering something tangible. For example, to attend a meeting at a remote location, you might charge for the time spent at the meeting plus travel time, plus travel expenses.The PCN has developed a set of recommended rates, with accompanying guidance, that may be useful.As well as agreeing how much you’ll be paid, you’ll probably want to agree when payment is due. Many freelance copywriters, including myself, simply ask for payment on completion, with terms of 30 days. Others like to get a proportion of the fee up front, particularly for new clients. It’s probably good practice, but I find it can create needless obstacles and delay – or even a feeling of distrust – when all the client wants to do is press on with the project.Some clients may request a free or discounted sample of your work – for example, asking you to write one page of a website before commissioning you to do the rest. Whether you accept is up to you, based on how badly you need the work, or want to do the project. Since I already have a fairly big portfolio online, covering lots of different industries, I can never really see why I should do a free sample. Also, the promise of ‘lots of work in the pipeline’, in my view, is not a basis to negotiate a discount – to get a bulk price, you need to actually order in bulk.A variation on free samples is payment on approval – in other words, the client only pays if they like what you write, or intend to actually use it. In my opinion, this simply gives them a financial incentive to reject your stuff and make you try again, instead of committing to a partnership where you work together for the best possible result. Basically, you gain nothing from the deal: the best you can hope for is a standard working process (writing, approval, payment), but if things go sideways, you can expect some very prickly discussions about whether your work is fit for purpose or not. But again, if you really want the job, you may be happy to make the deal.