How I Transitioned From Agency to Freelance Work

Dave Harland is our guest on the 339th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. After starting a career as a soccer (or should we say football) reporter in Manchester, Dave shifted to the world of copywriting where he’s known for coming up with big ideas and a method to execute them. In this episode, you’ll find out exactly how he makes it happen. You’ll also learn: How Dave improved his copy skills with limited technology capabilities. Why he branded himself using “word” rather than “copy.” How he organized his portfolio when he first started his business. A typical day in the life of Dave and how he balances client work with his own business goals. Why writers need time to simmer in their thoughts and why they shouldn’t rush the critical thinking process. How to get bigger brands to notice you. The 3 question test Dave uses when coming up with a big idea. How many projects are too many projects? His method for attracting clients and building his brand using LinkedIn. How to find your voice, break the rules, and connect with your audience. Dave’s path to becoming the “copywriting comedian.” Why you need to create a connection in anything you write. How he uses AI as a firestarter and as a means to eliminate the most common ideas. Why he believes ChatGPT won’t replace dedicated, skilled copywriters. Tune into the episode by hitting play or reading the transcript below. The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Join the AI Challenge  The Copywriter Think Tank Kira’s website Rob’s website Dave's website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground Free month of Brain.FM Full Transcript: Rob Marsh:  There's a saying among copywriters, especially online conversion copywriters that goes back to Eugene Schwartz. He put it like this: sales copy is not written, copy is assembled. And of course that's true. The messages that customers relate to best are assembled from interviews, surveys, and other research. But in subscribing to this idea, a lot of copywriters have inadvertently lost the connection to creativity and copy. After all, what's the point of being creative if the words are in the survey responses? Our guest for The Copywriter Club podcast today takes a more creative approach than many copywriters we know. Dave Harland, also known as the word man, walked us through his 10-step process for coming up with big, compelling ideas. And he shared three questions that he asks every time he comes up with a good headline or a good idea, to make sure that it is good. He also talked in-depth about his unconventional approach to posting on LinkedIn, one that has attracted a lot of great clients for his business. If you want to be more creative in your approach to copywriting, this episode is for you. Kira Hug:  But before we get to the interview, this podcast is sponsored by the Copywriter Think tank. That is our mastermind for copywriters, content writers and other marketers who want to figure out the next thing in their businesses. That could be anything from creating a new revenue stream or a couple new revenue streams to launching a new product or a subscription service or a membership or podcast book. You name it. Our members are doing incredible things and we actually have a retreat coming up in early June. It's a virtual retreat and in-person retreat in London in September. And so we are really excited to add a couple of new members to the Think Tank before the retreat in June. And if you think that could be you, visit copywriterthinktank.com to apply. Let's kick off our episode with Dave. Dave Harland:  Probably like most people fell into it completely by accident. My, no, my background is journalism, so I did a journalism degree. I mean, before that, I loved writing as a kid,