Learn to Copywrite

Archive for December, 2009

i have no training or experience in this.i have a degree in education with a major in english and business management.

Here are two things you can explore:

1) Apply for copywriter positions. Search www.moster.com and you will find hundreds of open positions. With a business and English degree you are more than qualified.

2) Register with a freelance directory and begin taking on copy writing projects. This will give you the experience you lack as well as generate income.

Best of luck.

I want to be a freelance copywriter. What’s the best way to start? I know you’ll all say join an agency, but with the market and everything it’s not that easy. I believe it may be cheaper to solicit my own services and build a portfolio from there.

Any advice on how to go about this? what I need?

To convince people to hire you independently, you will need to show references from those who have used your services, and examples of professional work completed. Regardless of how easy you think it will be to go this alone, it will be much harder - first you have to find companies that would need the services of a copywriter, and them convince them to hire you without any professional experience, references, or professional submissions. Look on your own if you want to, but in the meantime, join an agency, build up a portfolio, and then strike out on your own.

I need a person with great design skills, ideally an art director. I don’t have a lot of money, so portfolio school is out of the question. I don’t want to take out any more loans, etc. Any idea how to find someone quickly? Is there a forum for copywriters trying to find art directors and vice versa? I also cannot pay them much, so hopefully they need my writing skills too! And it can be a trade of sorts!

you need some job experience. Which means that you’re going to need to work with an employment agency. Online Opportunities is the company that I worked with and had a wonderful experience with. They have all sorts of jobs in your field. Many of their jobs range from 12-20/hr. Most of their jobs have benefits and 401K. You should try them. i know they helped me.

I want to run my freelance copycopywriting business from Italy (miles better weather than Birmingham ;-), and am wondering:

Can I pay taxes to Italian authorities despite the fact this will still be a UK registered business? I’d rather leave the company name and "Ltd" alone, as I’m unsure how my customers would react to working with a company abroad…

Many thanks

Thomas
Yes, payments would be made into a UK bank. The intelectual property i.e. me!, will be moving to Italy. Does this help?

This is a complicated issue and you may be wise to ask your local tax office in the UK (they’re actually really helpful despite a bad press!).

I’ve had the same issue and my understanding is that the business is considered to be based wherever the money goes - in your case that would be into a UK bank and therefore tax is payable in the UK.

I have recently taken advice from an Italian lawyer as well. Her strong (very strong) advice was not to get mixed up in the Italian legal / tax system if you can possibly avoid it. She’s right - it’s a complete nightmare of bureaucracy and if there are any problems it can take years (literally) for Courts to sort it out.

In these days of online businesses it’s a question which is beginning to get more and more attention from the authorities in both Italy and the UK.

Good luck with your relocation - you’re absolutely right about the weather!

Study mass communication; public relations, journalism or ad if specifications are available. Write lots. Be concise.

Sir,

This is to inform you that I used yahoo since 2002 and I dont have any idea of online I can do simple and free online jobs like copywriting, data entry, simple typing, online form filling, programming, SEO and many other jobs how can I get with yahoo ?

You can only obtain legitimate work from home positions from brick and mortar companies.

You want to send your resume out to companies hiring for positions you are qualified for, but include in your resume that you have a home office and you wish to work remotely. Include how you have your home office set up and what equipment you already have in order for you to perform your job.

These jobs are just going to advertised as jobs, they would not promote them as "work at home" because they would hear from too many unqualified people

I want to start selling online I have a company name and logo drawn up

Company or brand names and logos don’t fall under copyright, they are trademarks issued by the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office). To register a trademark in the United States you must first use the trademark in commerce, meaning you have to produce and sell products/services with your trademark before you can apply. And its not just one sale, it has to be shown you trade at a consistent level of sales worthy or protection because you stand to lose a lot if somebody copied it. There are steps you can take before you have a "registered" trademark to show that you claim to be the sole creator and user of the mark in commerce. Products with the "tm" logo are in this category - unregistered trademark used to promote goods or a brand.

However, getting a registered trademark is a lengthy and expensive process, and even if you do get a registered trademark you still have to defend against copies and knock-offs. The government doesn’t go after them for you. Typically registration of trademarks is for big corporations with legal teams. For the small start-up, its better to just make a name for yourself with the unregistered "tm" logo next to your trademark until you see enough success to pursue the registration.

Unfortunately the same goes for patents. If any of you inventors think a patent is a golden road to money, you can pretty much forget it. Even if you get one, it doesn’t mean your patented item will sell. And if it does, there will always be some jerk out there who will copy your design right up until the day your lawyers serve a cease and desist letter.