For Freelance Copywriters, Success Comes Faster When You Ride the Biggest, Baddest Waves!
By Nick Usborne

This has been the secret of my own success as a freelance copywriter.

Find where the growth is going vertical.

Go where the energy is on fire.

Ride the biggest, baddest, and scariest waves into the future!

Makes sense, right?

If you’re poking about in still, stagnant water … well, don’t be surprised if you don’t come across any exciting opportunities.

But the big waves? That’s where the action is.

That’s where the best opportunities lie.

That’s where you get the chance to go from a standing start to six-figures in record time.

These high energy waves are lining up for digital copywriters right now.

A couple of years ago, I remember getting all excited when I saw the advertising spend on digital media had broken the $300 BILLION level. That’s a crazy huge number!

And last year was another historic year, in that companies spent $521 billion, which is more than ever before, on digital marketing.

And there’s no slowing down this year, with eMarketer reporting that companies are planning to spend $602 billion by the end of the year.

That’s what I mean by energy … and riding waves.

When money is pouring into the online marketing space at this speed, and growing by this much, year over year … that’s the signal you’re looking for.

That’s what tells you that you should be diving in and committing yourself to becoming a DIGITAL copywriter.

And yes, the pandemic gave this incredible rate of growth an extra boost!

Some in the industry say the pandemic accelerated change by as much as a decade.

That isn’t hard to believe.

With retail business locked down, millions of retailers had to get online as quickly as possible.

From food, to clothing, to household essentials … if you weren’t selling online, you were facing massive losses in revenue.

This was a wake-up call for businesses around the globe.

With or without the pandemic, the future is digital.

Every business needs to be online.

The opportunities for digital copywriters are both broad and deep. There’s something for everyone!

As business moves online, they need help from developers, designers, and copywriters.

And as a digital copywriter, you have a huge range of project types to choose from.

You can specialize and focus on writing …

• Editorial posts and pages
• Emails and e-newsletters
• Social media posts
• Full websites
• Video scripts for YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and more
• Chatbots
• Sales pages and sales funnels
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

And that’s not the full list. There are SO many different project types when you dive into the digital marketing space.

That broad range of project types massively increases your chances of success.

As writers, we’re not all drawn to the same kind of writing.

Some of us do our best when writing sales pages, or promotional emails.

Others excel in a more editorial role … writing blog posts, articles, buyer’s guides, and so on.

Or maybe you love the conversational, short-form writing style that suits social media.

The point is, you should always choose the kind of writing you love the most.

How come?

First, because you’ll enjoy your work more. You’ll sit down to work each day with a smile on your face.

Second, because you’ll only ever do your BEST work when you enjoy what you’re doing.

Clients LOVE to work with freelance copywriters who are passionate about the work they do.

And clients can FEEL the energy you bring to an engagement when you’re really into the kind of writing you’re being asked to do.

And that’s what so amazing about working in the digital marketing space.

There are so many project types, it shouldn’t be hard to find one that truly appeals to you.

A bonus option is to think mobile!

This is another step you can take … and it’s totally optional.

If you want to leapfrog ahead of the crowd … and ride a wave on top of a wave … think mobile. In other words, smartphones.

There are 6.64 billion people in the world using mobile phones.

For many of them, it’s the main or only way they access the Web.

If you have kids or grandkids with phones, you’ve probably seen this for yourself. They spend more time staring at their phones than they do their laptops.

Within a couple of years, it’s estimated that marketers will be spending over $150 BILLION a year on mobile marketing.

And over 90% of marketers plan on spending more of their budgets on mobile this year.

They also plan to spend way more on video … particularly on video for mobile.

This means they’ll need copywriters to help them come up with great ideas, and write outlines and scripts for those videos.

And if video isn’t your thing, there is a ton of other content that needs to be written or optimized for mobile … like chatbot scripts, copy for mobile apps, and other short-form content.

Like I say, if mobile isn’t for you, scroll back up and find that project type that makes YOUR heart sing.

The reason I mention mobile is to illustrate the point that there is always something new and dynamic happening in this space.

This is an amazing time to be a freelance copywriter.

Back when I started my career as a copywriter, the options were limited.

It was before the Web, and my choices were pretty much limited to writing for print, radio, TV, or outside display media, like billboards.

Today … what a difference! So many choices. So much growth and activity.

So many new ways for copywriters to succeed and shine!

Whatever you choose as your favorite project type … ride the wave and enjoy!

Do you have any questions about the opportunity for web writers? Share with us in the comments.