The 29 Skills You Need To Succeed As A Copywriter
So, you’ve decided you want to be a copywriter. Amazing! Welcome to the best job EVER. Or maybe you’ve been doing this for a while now, and you’ve decided you want to switch it up a gear or learn some new copywriting skills. Whatever brought you here, you want to make your copywriting career a success.
But when you Google ‘copywriting skills - what you need to succeed’, it comes up with arbitrary statements like ‘Love of Writing’, and ‘Research Skills’.
Well, obviously.
Telling someone you need a love of writing to be a copywriting is like saying you need to love space to be an astronaut. It goes with the territory. If you don’t love to write and you don’t want to do robust research for your content, you’re in the wrong job.
But there are a whole host of skills and traits that have nothing to do with the craft of writing - but that will help you succeed as a copywriter. You can write the most excellent content in the world, but if you want to grow a sustainable, fulfilling long-term career out of it - a career where your brain and heart are thriving, you’re surrounded by awesome clients and team-members, and you’re free on the weekends to spend time with your family/go jet-skiiing/cultivate your worm farm - you’re going to need to grow your skills in other areas.
I’ve been running The Contented Copywriter for 7 years. In copywriting and small business years, that’s like dog years.
I’ve also been writing - in editorial, comms and brand disciplines - and even more recently as a published book author - for 23 years. I’ve written for over 289 brands, and created literally thousands and thousands of pieces of content.
I think it’s safe to say, I know a thing or two about what it takes to succeed as a copywriter. I’m still standing - and business is thriving - after all these years.
So I’ve compiled a list of the traits and skills you need to have to succeed as a copywriter. And - spoiler alert - not one of them has a jot to do with the craft of copywriting.
The 29 Skills You Need To Succeed As A Copywriter
Resilience.
You’re going to get knocked back for pitches. Stakeholders and clients are going to critique your work. It’s inevitable. You’re going to have to pick yourself up and keep moving.
Courage.
You’re going to have to step out of your comfort zone, every single day. You’re going to have to say yes to things, even when you don’t feel you’re ready. Confidence only comes with time and experience. Courage can start today.
Patience.
Clients don’t get back to you by your deadlines. They just don’t. You’re going to need to wait it out.
Flexibility.
See above. You’re going to have to be flexible when the client or your boss has been waylaid by a huge project/sickness/their kids illness/their team member’s illness.
Firmness.
But you’re not going to be a pushover. There are no excuses for not paying invoices or ghosting you.
A boundary-keeper.
You love what you do, and you’ll love your clients, so it’s going to be tempting to work all hours of night and day. Don’t. You’ll burn out.
A time-keeper.
You’re going to need to set and run timelines on complex projects, and sometimes multiple projects at once. You’re also going to need to track your time, so that you can manage expectations with your boss or clients about how long things realistically take.
Be an organisational ninja.
Your day isn’t made up of dreamily writing endless sparkly words; your day is filled with receiving briefs, chasing invoices, giving timelines, sending quotes, responding to client or stakeholder questions. You need to get really organised, really fast.
Empathy.
You need to know how to step into someone else’s shoes. So that you can step into the customer’s shoes, but also so you can empathise with, and build rapport with your clients and stakeholders.
Vision.
I get it, goal-setting isn’t for everyone. But you’re 33% more likely to achieve your goal if you write it down. So it can’t hurt, right?
Tenacity.
You’re going to have to keep working towards your goals, no matter the setbacks. You’re in this for the long game.
Faith.
When a pandemic or recession hits, you’re going to have to just trust that things will turn around again. You’ll need to double-down, maybe trim some costs and increase your sales strategies, but things will turn around again.
Self-awareness.
You need to know your strengths and weaknesses, and what motivates and drives you. You also need to know how you like to work. If you’re a pressure prompter (i.e. you leave things until the last minute), you better make darn sure that you check the brief thoroughly as soon as you get it, so that you don’t leave it until the last day to ask the client to clarify something you weren’t sure about.
Discipline.
Don’t wait for motivation. It may never come. Aim for discipline instead. Doing small things consistently - like following up with your clients once a week - is far better than big bursts and burning out.
Growth mindset.
If you’re not failing, you’re not learning. If you’re not learning, you’re not growing.
Sales.
If you’re like I was seven years ago, you associate salespeople with sleazy car salesmen, ready to prey on you and sell you a dud. Well, I quickly learned that to grow a thriving business, you need to work on your sales skills. And selling doesn’t have to be icky. You’re offering a service, you can help people - selling helps you do just that.
Stakeholder management.
You’re going to have to navigate clients, stakeholders and the dynamics between them. I ran a masterclass on this very topic for my clients, which you can access a recording of, here.
Book-keeping.
I’m all for outsourcing, but if you’re freelancing, you’re going to need to learn - at least at first - how to raise an invoice, and keep track of your ingoings and outgoings.
Social media content creation.
Whether you like being present on social media or the idea makes your introverted self want to duck under the duvet (I am the latter), you’re going to have to do it. Because number 20.
Brand-building.
You’re going to need to learn how to build your own brand, whether that’s your personal brand, your business brand, or both.
Brand strategy.
You’re going to need to know how the right words can propel a brand forward. Do a course if you need to.
Content strategy.
You’re going to need to learn how to craft a content strategy and a plan so that you can help your clients not only create awesome content, but create it with purpose, focus, and measurable outcomes. If you’re not doing this now, this is the next step in your career or business offering. Skill up.
SEO keyword research.
Even if you don’t do it yourself, you’re going to need to understand how SEO keyword research works, so that you can better optimise your copy.
Project management skills.
What happens when the day comes and you’re asked to write website copy for a 118-page website? It will happen sooner than you think. You need to know how to run that project.
Analytics.
You’re going to be exposed to a lot of data - from SEO data, to things like open rates and dwell time - and you’re going to need to learn how to interpret what’s important, and set aside what’s not.
Bridge-building.
You’re going to need to be able to connect the dots between two different things. You’re going to need to see a bridge between two different possibilities, and build it.
A head for detail.
This isn’t just about being meticulous in your research and writing; that goes without saying. But you’ll need to remember when your client is due to have her baby (so you can wish her all the best and send her a gift), or how many kids/dogs/guinea pigs your boss has, so that you can demonstrate that you genuinely care about them. Details matter when you’re building genuine relationships
Juggling.
You’re going to have a lot of very different types of jobs - whether they are short social media posts or long website projects - and you’re going to need to keep track of every single one (this is where software like Asana or Monday become saviours)
And finally…
Support.
This isn’t a trait or a skill, but you’re going to need the support of family, friends, team members, early learning educators, babysitters, teachers, coaches, mentors, ex-colleagues, neighbours, baristas, and the guy that makes excellent burritos down the street. They are your heroes, and they will keep you going.
I’ll finish with a quote from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits:
"Asking what makes someone successful is like asking which ingredient makes a recipe taste good. It’s not any single ingredient. It is the combination of many ingredients in the right proportions and in the right order—and the absence of anything that would ruin the mixture."
You’ll find your own combination of these skills. You’ll figure out which one is your superpower, which ones are your strengths, and which ones you can be aware of, but outsource. It’s your own unique combination of these skills, which will make you succeed.
Do you have any more you’d like to see added to this list? Email me at brooke@thecontentedcopywriter.com.au and let me know.
To learn more from me and hone your copywriting skills (expected and unexpected), check out my courses and masterclasses, here.