Wall of Fame
AWAI Member Since: 2004
Age: 51
What's your current occupation?
Copywriter & Marketing Consultant
What's your former occupation?
Retail business owner (Chesapeake City Gift & Gourmet)
What was the first project you landed?
My first paid project was a tri-fold brochure for a local business back in 2000.
What are your current projects?
My current projects are mostly web copy, such as landing pages, sales letters and blog articles. I developed a specialty niche in Health and Wellness copy, and also do some direct response agency work.
However, I recently landed a white paper apprenticeship with Michael A. Stelzner. Marketing Sherpa calls Michael the "grandfather of white papers," and working with him on projects is very exciting.
In conjunction with the new white paper specialty, I'm also becoming certified by the International Social Media Association as a Social Media Strategist – and I conduct workshops and seminars for business groups on how to use Social Media correctly to grow business.
What has been your proudest copywriting moment?
My proudest moment was finding out this spring that I won a competition with over 100 other writers to become Mike Stelzner's apprentice. I had some very stiff competition from great writers … so winning that spot was a thrilling (and humbling) experience.
What's your favorite niche to write for?
Health and Wellness
What's your income goal for this year?
To double my income from last year – and I'm on track!
What's your writing routine?
I generally start after getting my son off to school around 8:00am by scanning social media platforms and email for response items, commenting on blogs, and posting interesting articles or re-tweets on my Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn accounts. I have an "accountability email" partner in France, and we take the early morning to go over our schedules for the day with each other and exchange ideas for keeping on track with goals.
Late morning is usually spent either on a marketing item, such as sending out promotional material or making cold calls, and taking care of other business items.
My best creative time is early afternoon to evening, so I save my writing projects for that time period. It really works best if I can lock the door, turn off the phone, email and other distractions. If not, I sometimes have to work late into the evening! But it's almost like reading a good book – once you're on a roll, you have a hard time stopping.
In between, I schedule client interviews for white paper projects, take care of agency work, and swiss-cheese listening to podcasts or scheduled webinars on industry topics. One day a week I keep a morning slot open for physical networking to get out of the basement and interact with people.
Please give us an example of how your life has changed since becoming a copywriter.
I love the fact that I have a 10-second commute to my basement office, and I have the flexibility to work around the family schedule. I can take a vacation when I want to – or a mental health day, even – and not feel too guilty.
I've owned and operated several small businesses before, but didn't like the fixed schedule and other limitations (not to mention having to work every holiday). I feel much less restrained and free to create.
What success tip would you like to share with your fellow writers?
The best tip I can give is to have a written plan for your day, week, month and year, and schedule your writing time in your calendar every day. You can get much more done if you prioritize your work, schedule no more than 4-5 MUST DOs each day, and don't beat yourself up too much if you don't get all of them all done.
When did you realize you were living the copywriter's life?
Once I developed a niche specialty and was able to charge more for my work, it began to be less of a struggle and much more fun. It took a few years to build up a decent portfolio. However, once that milestone was reached, I felt confident that I was delivering real value to my clients and getting paid to do something I don't just like but LOVE. That was it!
