Earning Money Online as a Copywriter

What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is the act of writing “copy” for a client, either for online or print media. The purpose of this copy is nearly always marketing and promotional and can range from an “About Us” page for a company’s website, through to an outright sales pitch for a product or service.
There are a few necessary skills you will need to make any kind of respectable income from copywriting;
Language Competency
Appropriate Tone
Working Knowledge of SEO
Language competency is simply the ability to write fluently in the language your client requires. If English is your only language there’s no sense in taking on a German copywriting gig.
While you can make a respectable amount copywriting in only one language, the tone is a different matter. You will soon find that various copywriting jobs require different tones in their copy such as casual, formal, technical, and more. Being unable to switch between these tones will severely limit the number of jobs you can take.
And, finally, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the dark art of writing content that is “search engine friendly”, a subject that is ever changing and deserves a hub of its own. Needless to say, there is plenty of information online about this. Or, if you prefer a more curated approach, try Adam Clarke's ludicrously long-titled SEO 2016 Learn Search Engine Optimization with Smart Internet Marketing Strategies...

How to get Copywriting Work

In the old days of the Internet, you would find copywriting work the same way you would find any work as a self-employed entity; you would advertise your services and pitch clients, almost certainly requiring you to set up a website and hope people view it. Fortunately, among the many advances, there have been in online money earning opportunities, many more ways to get copywriting work have emerged.

Freelancing Platforms

Pros:

• Potentially higher rates of pay
• Work as and when you want
• Jobs of all sizes available
• Nearly always work available

Cons:

• Must pitch for work
• Usually costs to get all features of service

Freelancing platforms are a middle ground between content mills and being completely freelance yourself. In a similar fashion to content mills, you sign up as a freelancer to provide a service, while clients sign up to request services. You can then browse those requests and, when you find one you like, make a pitch for it.

A pitch generally involves first convincing the potential client that you are capable of the task—something that gets easier if you build up a history of good feedback—then convincing them that you are right for this particular job and can deliver by their deadline, and finally, giving them a price that they are willing to pay for the work.

Pricing your job is a tricky prospect. Freelancing platforms firmly occupy the middle ground in copywriting rates of pay. Clients looking for the cheapest possible rate will tend to go to content mills, while clients wanting the best possible service regardless of cost will seek out respected copywriters or firms. Thus, if you price yourself too low the client will likely assume your quality of work will not be up to the task. Similarly, if you price yourself too high, the client simply won’t want to pay that amount.

As with content mills, there are many freelancing platforms out there. And, as with the content mills section, I’ll only name the one that I have used and can say with confidence that it works as advertised and pays out as promised, and that is Upwork, though it was called eLance when I used it.