Lou Schuyler

AWAI Member Since: 2004
Age: 63

What’s your current occupation?

Copywriter

What’s your former occupation?

Salesman

What was the first project you landed?

Writing copy for a website promoting a book on tax exemptions for weight-loss.

What are your current projects?

I write a monthly newsletter as well as press releases and website articles for one client, and I’m doing a marketing campaign for another client. I’m also doing a series of fundraising letters for an agency, and there are some smaller projects in between. I’ve just started a partnership with an alternative health product company.

What has been your proudest copywriting moment?

A fundraising letter I wrote got a 3% response to an untried list, and I got recognized by the leader of the charity. He brought me up on stage and blessed me (he is a priest) on Colombian national TV.

What’s your favorite niche to write for?

Alternative health and non-profit

What’s your writing routine?

I write in the morning (with breaks), then edit in the afternoon and maybe write some more. Some is done on client sites at their scheduling. You have to be flexible.

Please give us an example of how your life has changed since becoming a copywriter.

I have more control of my time and my life. I enjoy (make that “love”) what I do. My business is growing. Life doesn’t get much sweeter than this!

What success tip would you like to share with your fellow writers?

Never stop marketing. Be passionate about what you do and convey that to everyone you meet. Network, network, network.

When did you realize you were living the copywriter’s life?

When I decided to take my wife back to where we met in Key West for our 20th anniversary. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and we just up and went.