I've been drawn to content writing over the last two months as I transition to an additional element of my business. I decided that it was necessary to provide my existing, and any new clients, with added value. I thought long and hard and deliberated over what my existing skills sets are and how I could repurpose them.
I focused on my love of reading and writing and realised that my dual profession (law and education), placed me in position to explore work as an independent content writer.
Starting Off as a Content Writer
I ran to one of my favourite places, on earth; research and development. As I began to research some of the questions that came to me were:
What was copywriting?
Did anyone actually make a living from copywriting?
Did I require a website?
Did I have to be certified as an independent content writer?
Was there a course that I could register for?
As you will note, my thoughts were all over the place. In a good way. Here are some of the answers I have come up with so far, bearing in mind that I am still, very much at the start of the content writing journey.
Answers..
Definitions about copywriting are all over the place. I found the Content Marketing Institute rather helpful. There’s a plethora of information on that site for any newbie. Please note, however, that there is a lot to navigate. It’s a busy website.
When I searched for ‘copywriters’, I realised that, yes there are so many entrepreneurs making a living from writing content. Most of the people that I decided to research, had a chosen niche, but, of course they all started from somewhere before finding their niche.
For example, I thought that the back story of James Johnson, founder of The Freelance Writers School was somewhat interesting. He has succeeded despite having had a number of challenges such as starting “hundreds of projects and never finishing them”; and “being easily distracted”. This is encouraging, right? I realised that I didn’t need to have absolutely every single thing in place before starting out. Good news.
I have a website, obviously. That’s my personal choice, especially as I came across a business writer who has a one page online presence and is earning six figures and above.
I have signed up for a couple of courses that have been helpful. So far, I’m not certified. However, there are some certified courses out there that I’m willing to explore at a later date.
That’s it, for now. I will keep you all informed as I move on to the next stage.
Still, content with words.
Authe Parry is the founder of Content With Words.
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