Business Copywriting Basics - How to Become a Business Copywriter

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Business copywriting couldn’t be more important in today’s digital world. This umbrella term can be used to describe any type of copywriting done for business purposes. As you can imagine, this encompasses many different disciplines that all center around the written word intended to sell a product or service.

Business copywriters come in all shapes and sizes and work in many different niches. They may be employed by a large company or they could be freelancers working for themselves and the clients they choose.

Getting started as a business copywriter can be tough for a beginner. However, those that can break into this field stand to make a lot of money and can potentially work from anywhere on their own schedule without being tied down to an office or reporting to a boss.

Do you want to know what it takes to be a business copywriter? This article discusses business copywriting, the pros and cons of being a business copywriter, and how you can get your career started in this lucrative field.

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What is business copywriting?

Business copywriting encompasses all written content that intends to sell a product or service. 

It differs from content marketing or content writing since not all content writing is for business purposes. Some content writers only write to inform an audience about their personal lives without the intention of selling anything to them.

Business copywriting can be in the form of blogs, articles, social media posts, YouTube scripts, podcasting, and much more. Since business copywriting is so broad, there are plenty of different niches you can break into as a business copywriter.

Below are some of the most popular business copywriting niches you can break into this year:

• Ecommerce

• Real estate

• Finance

• Digital marketing

• Sports and gambling

• Health and fitness

• Beauty

• Cannabis and CBD

• Camping and outdoors

• Cooking

• …and much more

As you can see, there is so much opportunity in many different fields of business copywriting that it shouldn’t be too hard to find a niche that suits you and your skills. 

Find Your Copywriting Niche

Why is business copywriting important?

Believe it or not, business copywriting is everywhere. It’s on billboards, websites, magazine articles, and television commercials. Any written word created by a business is considered business copywriting.

Without business copywriting, companies wouldn’t be able to sell their products or services and convince an audience to buy from them. Just think, there would be no website content, no articles online, and no YouTube videos.

Business copywriting is so important that most companies have an entire department whose sole purpose is to write the words that the company uses for its advertisements. Some companies, like Investopedia, hire freelance copywriters from around the world to create content that informs their audience and pushes them to inquire about the products they have to offer.

Brands that produce the best business copywriting are the ones that can sell their products and services better than others. Companies with effective business copywriters can acquire customers for less than others and retain them for a long period of time.

The importance of business copywriting cannot be understated. Copywriting makes the world go round, and those that can produce effective business copy are often sought after by some of the largest brands in the world and are paid very well.

What do business copywriters do?

Depending on your industry or vertical, business copywriters may do a variety of different things. 

However, nearly all business copywriters spend most of their time writing and brainstorming new ideas. Business copywriters may also spend their time designing advertisements for social media, TV, billboards, and radio stations. 

Business copywriters typically have a basic understanding of search engine optimization (SEO) and its best practices. This means business copywriters should know how to get their business on the first page of Google for relevant search terms by doing SEO.

A key component in SEO is performing keyword research to find out what people are searching for on Google and how to craft content that ranks on Google’s search engine results page (SERP). Thus, business copywriters spend a lot of time doing keyword research to ensure they write content that people actually want to read.

Lastly, business copywriters working as freelancers spend a portion of their day prospecting for new clients. The harsh reality is that most business copywriters don’t make much money, and they have to fight to keep money coming in from their various clients. 

Business copywriters who master client acquisition are the ones that can often lead successful careers as freelance writers. Those looking to start a freelance business this year may want to consider starting a copywriting agency due to the low barriers to entry and high earning potential.

Benefits of being a business copywriter

Business copywriting is becoming more popular due to the number of benefits that business copywriters enjoy. Below are some of the top benefits you’ll get when you pursue a career in business copywriting.

• High earning potential. Those that can prove their skills and establish themselves in business copywriting can often charge high rates for their services. Professional business copywriters easily make over $100 per hour and get consistent work from their clients that help to cultivate a sustainable career as a copywriter.

• Location independence. Freelance business copywriters can work from anywhere and aren’t tied down to an office. This is typically one of the top benefits that attract new freelancers to the profession.

• Time freedom. Most business copywriters can work on their own schedule and are excellent at time management. This means that night owls can get their work done at night and take care of other chores during the day, or morning people can do the bulk of their work in the morning.

• Choosing who you work with. In most business settings, we don’t have the luxury of choosing who we work with unless you’re the CEO. As a freelance business copywriter, you can choose who you work with and have the ability to drop clients who you don’t enjoy working with.

• Let your creative spirit shine. Most business copywriters are required to come up with new ideas that they can use to sell their products and services. This may also include creating social media graphics, YouTube videos, and television ads that requirenew ideas and can influence an audience.

Drawbacks of being a business copywriter

While being a business copywriter has its perks, the job certainly isn’t meant for everyone. Below are the downsides of being a business copywriter that you should consider before you get started.

• Low pay. Most business copywriters just getting started tend to make a small income as they hone their skills and start to acquire new clients. Unless you have an advanced English degree or large social media following, you’ll probably need to charge under market rate for your services just starting out. However, this is a small price to pay if you want to start making over $100 per hour in the future.

• Long hours. As a new business copywriter, you’ll probably be working long hours–assuming you can acquire clients. Depending on your workload, you should expect to take on plenty of work as you get your business off the ground.

• Dealing with bad clients. New copywriters will most likely work with any client that is willing to give them a chance. Unfortunately, this means that it’s possible you’ll come across bad clients while being a copywriter. You’ll need to be prepared to deal with unreasonable clients and learn how to let go of them if they aren’t the right people to work with.

• Customer service. A lot of what new business copywriters do is customer service. It’s your job to ensure your clients are happy with your work and that you’re meeting their expectations as their copywriter. You’ll also need to spend a lot of time prospecting for new customers which requires customer service skills as well.

• Expensive software subscriptions. Most of the tools that professional business copywriters use are expensive. This may make it difficult for beginners to get started since money is probably tight. However, those who are serious about business copywriting should expect to budget at least $300 per month for software subscriptions.

Tools needed for business copywriting

Those who want to be professional business copywriters must use the same tools that the pros use. These tools mostly consist of search engine optimization tools and other software that can help write content faster and more efficiently.

SEO tools

Business copywriters intend to write content to sell a product or service. In order to do so, they need to be able to rank their content on Google so people actually find their business. 

Luckily, there are so many tools out there that make a business copywriter’s job easier. Below are some of the top tools that we use for our copywriting business.

Moz

Moz is the best SEO tool for keyword research that allows you to discover Google search volume and spot opportunities as a business copywriter. Some of the other key features of Moz include:

• Track your website and see how your Domain Authority (DA) improves over time

• Find new and emerging keywords to target with your copywriting efforts

• Research competitors and find new opportunities

• Improve your on-page SEO and optimize your website 

• Receive keyword suggestions to find more ideas for keywords to target

Moz is the best in the business, and you shouldn’t be surprised that the price tag reflects it. Moz Pro starts at $179 per month, however they have a great 30-day free trial that allows you to do your keyword research and then cancel the subscription before you’re charged $179.

Get started with Moz Free Trial

Ahrefs

While Moz wins in keyword research, Ahrefs is superior for tracking backlinks and domain authority of your website. Ahrefs is often seen as the creme de la creme in the world of SEO and copywriting, but we tend to think that it has different strengths and should be used differently than Moz

Ahrefs has a very helpful blog and YouTube channel with tons of free information on how you can use SEO to improve your writing and get discovered on search engines. 

Ahrefs starts at $199 per month and is certainly a premium product in business copywriting. However, those that want to get professional results, again, need to use the tools the pros use.

Get started with Ahrefs

Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is another tool that helps business copywriters with SEO and ensures that they include all the right keywords in their content. Surfer SEO helps identify “semantic keywords,” which are supporting keywords in addition to the keywords in your title that help to increase search engine positioning.

Surfer SEO will increase your organic search traffic, visibility, and rankings to help you generate more revenue for yourself or your clients. Whether you’re a freelance copywriter or working for an established company, Surfer SEO is essential if you want to write the best content that’s optimized for search engines. 

Surfer SEO has a free tool that you can use to get a feel for the features of this powerful service. However, if you want to get the most out of Surfer SEO, you’ll need to sign up for one of their paid plans.

Try Surfer SEO for Free

Jasper.ai

Artificial intelligence is changing the game for copywriters. These tools can help you write up to 5 times as fast and produce more content for your website.

For those that struggle with writers block or get burntout easily, Jasper.ai is the solution for you.

Jasper is an AI writing tool that can help you write more content faster than ever before. All you need to do is input a few sentences about the topic you want to write about, and then the AI spits out paragraphs of content you can use for your website.

However, it’s important to know that AI writing tools can’t write entire blog posts for you. You’ll need to spend some time editing the writing to personalize it and make it sound like yours. 

AI writing tools can be very effective for those that struggle with writing long form content. Be sure to check out Jasper.ai to see how these AI writing tools can help you get started as a business copywriter.

Sign Up for Jasper.ai

Canva

Believe it or not, most business copywriters also have graphic design skills since they often need to create social media posts, infographics, and other advertising materials that must be visually appealing.

That’s why we highly recommend using Canva for all your graphic design needs. We like to think of Canva as a more intuitive version of Photoshop. They have so many different stunning designs that you can customize with your own logo and branding and use in your marketing efforts.

Canva has an incredible free version where you can access nearly all their templates and customization options. However, those that want access to Canva’s entire library of designs will need to upgrade to the paid plan which starts at $12.99 per month.

Get Started with Canva

The bottom line

Breaking into the field of business copywriting may be difficult to do for someone without any experience. However, we’ve all had to start somewhere, and now couldn’t be a better time to get started as a business copywriter.

While the competition in this field is certainly higher than ever, there are also so many different tools you can use to make your life easier as a copywriter. Be sure to check out all the tools we mentioned to get your career as a business copywriter off the ground.

Interested in learning more about partnering with us to grow your business? Contact us today to find out how to advertise with us and grow your business organically with the power of SEO.