Today I want to share some useful copywriting tips with you. I’ve discovered them during 13+ years of practice. These are the tips on how much time per day a copywriter should spend on work and how to work efficiently and profitably. And also about how not to go crazy and not get neurosis or neurasthenia (if you know the difference between these two concepts, then you are just great!).
I won’t speak for all copywriters, because everything is individual. But there is still some sample for observations: since 2010, I have talked with hundreds of people and tried a lot of different approaches: from working 16 hours a day and sleepless nights to working 30 minutes a day. To make the post easier to understand, I divided it into short theses.
Tip #1. After 5-6 hours of work, productivity drops sharply
The brain of a copywriter can also be “tired”. This is due to metabolic processes in neurons and the movement of ions. If you work for a long time every day, then the ionic balance is disturbed and, hello, chronic fatigue syndrome! Yes, sometimes you have to work overtime, say, 10 hours in a row (no other way). Then the next day you need to take a rest. Burning out is easy, recovering is hard.
Tip #2. If you feel like a squirrel on a wheel – it’s time to raise prices
If you have to work every day for 10-14 hours, then it makes sense to increase prices by 2-3 times. Or, as an option, switch to another type of tasks in order to reduce the number of projects and the amount of work to 5-6 hours, while maintaining (and ideally increasing) income. There will still be clients, just a bit different ones and with other, often more interesting tasks.
Tip #3. Working at night is bad
Many copywriters say that at night they have the most productive time: no one interferes, no distractions, no pulls, everyone is sleeping – beauty! But in reality this is just an illusion. At first, indeed, it may seem that everything is fine. But at night, melatonin should be produced. And if you discount it, then it will very quickly remind you of itself with a whole bunch of consequences. Therefore, you need to sleep at night. No matter how hot the deadlines are.
Tip #4. Many tasks are bad, it is better to choose 1-2 per day
There are hyperactive specialists. They can do a bunch of tasks in parallel: communicate with customers, write a post for social networks, make a landing page wireframe. They spin around – and you just wonder: how do they all manage to do it?! But such activity ends, as a rule, with burnout and the question: “Where can I find a good psychotherapist?” Because the body’s resources are limited, switching takes a lot of energy, and it is impossible to work in this mode all the time. You can’t fool nature. Therefore, 1-2 tasks per day within 5-6 hours is optimal.
Tip #5. The brain needs oxygen and physical activity
There is nothing worse than working in a poorly ventilated area. Especially when you notice that the work seems to be going on, but the brain starts to “slow down” very strongly and gets tired many times faster. This, in general, is not surprising, because the brain consumes 20% of the energy and oxygen of the entire body. That is why ventilation during work is a must. And for the same reason, and also to reduce the impact of a sedentary lifestyle, daily walks and other physical activity are critically needed.
Tip #6. Copywriter needs his (or her) own projects
In addition to client projects, it is imperative to develop your own ones. Firstly, so that there is no “shoemaker without boots” situation. Secondly, to avoid demoralization. Still, client projects are a bottomless barrel: they come and go. And in order to feel your professional significance, a you needs to create something and see real progress.
If there is no project, try todevelop yourself as a specialist: portfolio site, case studies, personal brand, SMM, etc. Simply put, something of your own that always stays with you, regardless of whether there are clients or not. With such an approach, you can always develop professionally, and your own projects can bring additional income.
Tip #7. You need to clearly understand the value of your work and its purpose
In order to maintain mental health, you need to understand what contribution you make, and how your work helps people, how it makes their life better. If there is no way, or the work even harms people (for example, if copywriter has to write texts for scammed financial pyramids or rewrite texts for search robots only), then it may make sense to look at a different type of tasks.
Do you need more copywriting tips?
This was the first part of copywriting tips for beginners. If you are interested in this topic, write about it in the comments, and I will make another publication.
Best regards, Dan.
P.S. Do you want to improve your copywriting skills and knowledge without paying for expensive and dubious courses? Check out this free systemic course on Youtube.
