So you want to be a copywriter with Bernadette Schwerdt

Discover how copywriting can help you turn your passion into profit.   Donna Webeck’s dream was to earn money by writing about real estate but with no experience in the sector, no background in writing, no contacts in the real estate industry, that dream seemed just that.  Until she took the plunge, did a short course in copywriting and now here she is 6 years later with a flourishing, thriving business writing real estate copy for some of the country’s top real estate agents, earning a six-figure income and having the flexibility and freedom to be there for her family and see them grow up.  In her own words, she now has her dream job. Today I talk to Donna about how she did it and how you can do it too.  In this episode, we talked about: How she got started in the real estate copywriting industry How long it takes to write up a real estate listing How much you can earn as a real estate copywriter What the future of real estate copywriting holds Tips on how to write copy for real estate What to do when the property you’re promoting is less than exciting How to leverage contacts and strategic partnerships to easily find new clients How she overcame shyness and introversion to become a successful and confident networker Why you only need to find one client to kick start your copywriting business Where to find clients and what to say (Donna found a new client at a funeral!) Why it’s not always necessary to visit the property How to leverage Google to help you write your listings quickly Why ‘show, don’t tell’ formula for writing copy helped her become Australia’s ‘go to’ real estate copywriter How she used a short course in copywriting to launch her career Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity that turned toxic was the catalyst for leading journalist Kate Halfpenny to turn her hand to content writing. And what a journey she’s been on ever since. She shares the highs and lows and lessons learnt here. Bad mothers. Boogie boarding. Bad jobs that make us question our worth and ability.  Making a sea change. Life. Death.  Empty nesting.What’s all this got to do with copywriting? Well, a lot actually because my guest today is Kate Halfpenny, one of Australia’s most successful journalists. As the executive editor of  Who magazine for 24 years, chief of staff for The New Daily newspaper for many years, and a writer for The Age and other leading publications, Kate moved from journalism into a marketing  communications role – and absolutely hated it! That experience forced her to confront what she really wanted to do, where she really wanted to live, who she really wanted to spend time with, and part of that reinvention was to become a content writer and a highly sought after one, at that. That’s what it’s got to do with copywriting. In this episode, Kate and I discuss: What’s being a ‘bad mother’ really mean and why it might actually be a good thing Why she took a communications role and why it ended so badly How to pitch to the media and get your stories picked up How to ‘bug’ journalists without being annoying How to come up with great ideas How to navigate transitioning from motherhood to empty nesting Why life is too short to be anything less than honest How to deal with rejection  How to know when the copy you write is good or not The 7 step structure for writing content  How to make a sea change Why we love Guy Pearce Mentioned in this episode: Kate Halfpenny on LinkedIn Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emily Osmond, Instagram expert and founder of the Modern Marketing Collective program, shares tips on using Instagram to gain clients, creating great content, building an authentic brand, showcasing values, and generating leads. Find the balance between sharing and selling, feature testimonials, and write a trust-building Insta bio. Learn how to use the feed, reel, and Instag 'live' effectively.

If you’re interested in learning how to set up, structure and launch your brand spanking new copywriting business, this is the episode for you. I have trained over 9000 people in the art of copywriting and I know that the one thing that trips most people up when starting out, is how to set up the copywriting business in the first place.  Whether you want to launch your side hustle or maybe take it to the next step and give your  current job the flick and become a full time copywriting, there are lots of little things you need to think about, but they can become big things if you don’t have the insights and expertise to set them up correctly in the first place. And that’s what this podcast is all about.  Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get one copywriting client and turn that one job into an ongoing series of jobs without any extra effort? If you’re interested in learning how to secure monthly retainers so that you don’t have to constantly seek new work, this is the podcast for you.  In this episode we talk to Ami-Leigh O’Donnell. Ami is a leading digital marketer, social media manager and copywriter. Her superpower is turning one off copywriting jobs into long term retainer contracts. Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Bernadette chats to Matthew Farmer. He is the Content Team Manager at StudioHawk SEO agency. His firm was named as ‘Best Global SEO Agency’ in 2021 and count blue chip companies like Envato, Officeworks, Amart, Petstock and New Balance as their clients. Matthew manages a team of 15 SEO copywriters and works closely with the clients to create SEO content that gets them on page one of Google. In this episode, Bernadette talks to Matthew about: how he got started as a copywriter and why the impostor syndrome and lack of confidence set him back why the hard, early years of working in a call centre helped him become a better copywriter what he looks for when hiring an SEO copywriting freelancer what not to do when applying for copywriting jobs how to get your resume noticed (for all the right reasons) the 3 key pillars of SEO success and how you can leverage them for your business his process for writing SEO content for his clients how to create a portfolio if you don’t have any clients the best free keyword planning tools how to get backlinks to create more authority the best blog length for getting on page one of (and how often you should post a blog) the top 7 hotspots for keywords the importance of understanding ‘search intent’ when writing SEO copy why Google loves content that’s phrased as a question how his novel writing informs his copywriting and why the process is similar About Matthew: He is the Content Team Manager with StudioHawk, a boutique SEO Marketing company, and a Global Search Awards winner for Best SEO Agency, Globally. He leads a team of remote-working Freelancers, giving out briefs for blogs and web copy, and writing copy for their growing suite of SEO clients. He is also a published novelist. He is now, in his own words, ‘Sitting in what I consider my perfect job’. Mentioned in this episode:https://studiohawk.com.au/https://ahrefs.com/https://www.semrush.com/https://analytics.google.com/ Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Glenn Peters started out as a music journalist, turned to copywriting in his mid-thirties and has never looked back. He is now one of Australia’s busiest copywriters and is consistently rated by the top creative directors as their copywriter of choice. He’s worked with Jeep, Crikey, ANZ, Telstra, Coles and writes for almost every medium – long copy, short copy, online, print, TV, radio, direct response and more. There’s not much he hasn’t done in his long and illustrious copywriting career. In this episode he talks to us about: where he finds copywriting inspiration when he’s stuck for ideas or lost for words how he came into copywriting late in his career (and why starting late was an asset, not a liability) why he prefers copywriting to journalism (and why copywriters get paid so much more) when (and where) he found his ‘identity as a copywriter how to give ourselves permission to be a copywriter the ‘war’ between copywriters, ‘suits’ and clients and copywriters and how empathy can be the superpower that resolves the conflict the power of long walks to generate creative inspiration and why his ‘art walks’ fuel his creative energy how to make your copy more active (hint: get rid of words that end with ‘ing’) why clients are as scared of you (the copywriter) as you are of them how to inspire the client to be more honest with you and give you more helpful feedback why fear is a critical component of creativity why deadlines are a good thing tips on how to write long copy, create a ‘tone of voice’ and how to write copy that’s funny About Glenn Peters For over a decade Glenn has been entrusted by many Melbourne agencies including DDB, Ogilvy, Whippet, Cummins & Partners, Penso, TBWA, The Royals, Noisy Beast, The Brand Agency and Big Red to solve their clients’ problems. Digital, TV, Direct Marketing, Radio, Print, OOH, you name it, he’s written for it. Financial services, telcos, big retail, automotive, sports or FMCG, you name it, he’s sold it. His life passions are his family, music, being president of his local cricket club, and barracking for Collingwood Football Club. (We won’t hold that last one against you Glenn!) https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennpeterscopywriter/?originalSubdomain=auhttps://glennpeterscreative.com/meet-glenn-peters/ Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Presenting copywriting work to a client strikes fear into the hearts of even the most confident copywriters. Why? Because we’re afraid of the response we’re going to get back. Will they like it? What if they don’t? Will I get paid? Will I ever work again? The temptation is to just email it, hope they read it and pray that they like it. But is that the best way to present our copy to the client? Is that the best way to get our work approved? The best way to showcase our considered thinking that underpins what we wrote?  Are there other ways we can present our work and if so, what are they? This episode is all about how to present your work to the client so that you can increase your chances of getting it approved quickly, get more work and build a long standing, trusted relationship with the client.   You’ll learn how to: Use a Creative Rationale to present your work Use email, Zoom, or a hybrid approach to get best results Deal with objections to your copywriting work Manage client expectations Educate clients on how to give you a better brief Put clients at ease so they give you the best feedback Distance yourself from taking criticism personally Mark Farrelly, one of Australia’s most versatile copywriters. Mark began his long & successful advertising career at Ogilvy and Mather, working on well known brands like BMW, Shell, Hungry Jacks, Kit Kat, Smarties and Violet Crumble. He then moved to the iconic advertising agency, M&C Saatchi Senior Writer/Creative Group Head where he worked on brands including Morning Fresh, Cussons Imperial Leather & others. His work on The Age, Sportsgirl and Colonial First State assisted the agency to win the B&T Agency of the Year Award. Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can’t get a job without work experience - but you can’t get work experience without a job. This age-old chicken-or-the-egg scenario stops talented copywriters from getting started. But there is a way around it.  In this podcast Bernadette talks to us about: finding your first client creating the marketing collateral clients need to see to hire you starting small and use online events to start networking elegantly overcoming imposter syndrome believing that what you have is useful and of value following up without feeling nervous identifying your niche creating your copywriting pitch and deliver it with aplomb. Mentioned in this episode: Copywriting Essentials How to Build a Successful Freelance Copywriting Business SEO Copywriting Copy Club Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For many copywriters, finding paid work is problematic. You need to find the clients, do the negotiation, get the brief, do the invoicing, and much more. But what if you could have someone do it all for you?  Someone who could find the clients, place you in the role, take care of the negotiations, organise the finance, so that you just turn up and write! You’ll never have to source work for yourself again, and you’ll get to work with high profile clients too, which will look great on your portfolio. Wouldn’t that be great? Well, that service does exist and it’s called Creative Recruiters.  And the woman who runs it is called Vicki Anne Craigen, and I spoke with her to get the low down on how new, mid range and experienced copywriters can use recruiters to help them find paid work. In this episode, you’ll learn: What a copywriting recruiter looks for in a copywriter What copywriters are being paid    How to put your portfolio together, even if you don’t have any experience What kind of copywriting work is in high demand What the future of copywriting looks like (hint: it’s exciting!) What not to do when applying for work with a recruiter What to do on your first day in a new freelance job What skill sets you’ll need to get the copywriting work of the future Why trained copywriters will always outrank untrained copywriters Mentioned in this episode: Creative Recruiters Australian creative industry salary guide 2020-21 Read the show notes Join our community of copywriters at CopyClub.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.