But think of it like this: if you’re just getting your professional copywriter service off the ground, offering freemiums could get the ball rolling more rigorously than a chicken who just wandered into KFC.

Professional copywriter jobs

Even though you’re not getting paid to write yet, building up a portfolio, contacts, leads and referrals will really help when it comes to selling your professional copywriter services. So one option is to write for companies for free with a mind to getting paid for future projects.

It’s not rocket science, it’s simple mathematics – thats what the Colonel would say.

Since turning my hand to professional copywriting, it’s always amazed me how referrals work.

If you do a great professional copywriting job, people are only too happy to make referrals – in fact, they’ll want to.

Professional copywriting jobs

If you’re feeling fancy, why not incentivise the process by offering commission or prizes to those who send work your way? You could create a ‘referrals’ page on your professional copywriting website to capture this traffic in a designed net.

So, sure enough, referrals are a tip top way of getting paid for your professional copywriting services.

That’s right. Now you can use the power of grab words to turn heads.

This amazing revelation is brought to you free-of-charge by Matthew Pattinson, professional UK copywriter at CreativePen.

Free professional copywriter tips

Okay, I’ll stop there. But hopefully you catch my drift. As a professional copywriter, when writing content for web and blog pages, try sprinkling in a few grab words to illicit an intended response on the part of your reader.

‘Free sex’, for instance, will always sell. You might not want to use this grab phrase if you are a florist, though.

And don’t sour the broth with too many grab words. This’ll leave your content bumpier than a ride on a drunken pony. Adopt the mentality of a chess player and strategically place your grab words in a way which really helps sell your copy.

Grab Words That Grab Attention

• Hot off the press
• Coming soon
• Too good to ignore
• Free
• For a limited time only
• Breaking news
• Limited edition
• One of it’s kind
• How to
• Best deal
• Discount
• Sale
• Amazing deal
• You have to see it to believe it
• Sex
• Money
• Cheap

How to use Grab Words

One great way to deploy grab words/grab phrases is to talk direct to the reader. So ask them a question. Instead of saying “here’s a great deal”, say, “have I got a great deal for you”.

The nature of the subject in your crosshairs should dictate the tone and tense of your copy. But like I always say: if a government’s first mandate is to protect its citizens, then a professional copywriter’s first task is to grab the readers’ attention.

If your copy isn’t being read, then it isn’t going to be successful.

Grab Words and Web Copy

Grab words are just one device we copywriters turn to when attempting to hook and hold our readership. Used correctly, grab words can evolve web copy into a well-oiled sales machine.

As we come to a close, let me add a quick disclaimer: no animals were hurt in the making of this blog piece.

Life is full of conundrums: what came first, the chicken or the egg? If God made man, who made God? And perhaps the biggest of them all: “How do I get professional copywriting jobs?”

It’s a time-served question and one that echoes throughout the ages. Here’s another little professional copywriter secret when it comes to getting paid writing jobs.

Professional copywriter jobs

If you’ve already worked for a client ask yourself: what can I do for them now? Keep your professional copywriting service fresh and up-to-date and thrash out a proposal which will specifically benefit the business prospects of your client. Perhaps you could offer them a blog writing service or maybe a business tagline would help build their brand?

So touch base with past and current clients and offer them a professional copywriting service that’ll get them more frisky than a wine taster in a vineyard.

For your content to succeed, it needs a strategy. Content isn’t a nuisance. It isn’t an afterthought when it comes to web design. Content is the heartbeat of any successful business website. After all, customers don’t come to your website to admire the design. They are there for the content; they are there for answers to their questions.

Content, believe it or not, is your most valuable strategic business asset.

Web is content, content is web

Like bread and butter, content and web design go hand in hand. If you want customers and search engines to pay attention to your website, you need to pay attention to your content.

As such, your website should be designed to support your content and your content should be designed to support your website. So now is the time to get your content right, now’s the time to get a strategy in place…

Playing ‘squeal like a pig’ for a couple of hours with Mr One-Eye would have been more enjoyable than what followed.

Hindsight, of course, is a beautifully useless thing.

An insult to mankind

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha and Zach Galifianakis return as the Wolf Pack. A new member also joins the fold – but he’s so inconsequential to the ensuing shenanigans that I can’t even remember his name or face.

The movie stalks the shadow of its predecessor with the passion of a schizophrenic’s other self. Each and every beat riffs from the first installment, simply interchanging location to Thiland and comedic props with uninspired equivalents.

Director Todd Phillips seemingly dropped a bunch of objects into a box and asked a one-legged pony to pick them out. “Oh yeah guys, a smoking monkey, that’ll replace the tiger from the first film!”

“Sweet Jesus, it’s a picture of a tattoo, that’ll replace the tooth pulling scene, we are comedy geniuses, we’ve invented the best comedy formula ever, let’s exploit it”

The film is so plug and play that it may well have been written by a computer programme.

The Worst Hangover Ever

Playing out like some annoying guy in the pub who is licensed in the art of successively outdoing his drinking buddy’s story, The Hang Over 2 fails miserably in its battle of one-upmanship with it’s parent film. Needless to say, I was left more down and out than a cannery in a mine shaft.

As so many of us do after a heavy night’s drinking, I left the cinema vowing “never again”.

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

It seems simple really. But let’s face it: inspiration often strikes when you least expect it, so it’s best to be prepared.

Professional copywriter tips

As a professional copywriter, I’m never more than 10 feet away from a memo pad at any given time.

The only exception to this rule is when I go swimming. I have considered buying a waterproof pen – though that might be taking things too far.

Director James Cameron famously conceived the idea for The Terminator during a fevered night’s sleep. Had Cameron failed to place a notepad on his night stand, perhaps he’d be flipping burgers today.

So the moral of this story is simple: if you are a professional copywriter, make sure you are armed and dangerous at all times.

Sure, you take a financial hit in the meantime, but any chance to get your professional copywriting service off the ground has to be considered.

Professional copywriter jobs

Donkeys love carrots and business folks love money. So tempting them with an offer they can’t refuse is a great way to secure more professional copywriting gigs. On top of that, build your portfolio and further your reputation as the Don Juan DeMarco of the professional copywriting world.

Everyone wants your pen, just remember that.

Many moons ago, when I was but a grasshopper, my Old Momma would tell me though the crackle of broken dentures: “Why use two words when one will do?”

George Orwell pretty much said the same thing. So if Momma and George said it, it has to be true.

Sure enough, it’s best to keep things simple when approaching any web professional copywriting project.

Professional copywriter tips: Simplicity

As a professional copywriter, avoid the temptation of peppering your web copy with complicated jargon and overlong sentences. Big words might make us professional copywriters sound smart, but if your copy doesn’t function, it’ll fall down faster than a snowman in a heatwave.

If the project calls for it, get technical

But where possible, think about the audience, ring-fence the message you want to convey and deliver it in as straight-forward a manner as possible.

As a professional UK copywriter, I’m inundated with questions from budding copywriters  hoping to turn their passion for writing into a profession.

“At what temperature can bread be considered toast”, some ask. Others say, “Is it possible to drink milk whilst standing on your head?” But the question I get asked more than any other is this: “How do I go about getting professional copywriting jobs?”

It’s a fair enough question and one with more answers than a drugged up gameshow host. Given the size of the question, we’ll break the following weekly blog series down into small, easy to digest blurbs which explain how you can get paid to write. Let’s begin….

professional copywriting jobs

It seems obvious, but if you are considering becoming a professional copywriter, the best place to start your business is at home. Rally your family and friends around the cause and get them to spread the word about your professional copywriting services.

Word of mouth from loved ones is a great free marketing tool and marks the first step towards getting professional copywriting jobs. Apart from murderers, jugglers and N SYNC, people are generally nice and want to help.

To become hotter than a microwave in a drought, you need to let people know about your professional copywriting services. Bring the mountain to Mohammed people, it’s just that simple.