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How to Be a Successful Copywriter -- Advice from John Forde

John Forde is the publisher of the e-newsletter, "The Copywriter's Roundtable," a public speaker, consultant, and a "freelancer on retainer" with a major publishing company. He also writes highly profitable direct mail packages. But his success didn't happen overnight.

Says John, "I got my start mostly due to luck. I had graduated from college into a recession, traveled some, then on a whim sank what was left of my bank account into a graduate degree in the classics. This proved directly lucrative because the company I'm now working for had posted a notice in the student services center looking for interns. I needed to pay for rent, beer, and tuna fish, so I took the job.

"Naturally, that first year involved a lot of reading, a lot of notes on index cards, and more than a few late nights. Plus a healthy heaping of blunders, missed opportunities, and just wrong-headed ideas about how the market worked."

But his big break came once he wrote his first control package -- and his career took off from there.

When I asked John, "What makes a good copywriter?" he replied, "It starts with the bottom line, especially in my job as a direct mail writer. Results are directly measurable; you know to the penny how much you're bringing in for the company.

"But it's not just the money. Good copywriters, where they can, influence what their clients are offering and can directly improve the sales message. And, good copywriters are honest, meaning they refuse to write copy that deceives the customer.

"Ogilvy said that curiosity was one of the key markers of a good prospect for copy positions in his agency. I think he's right. I've never met a good copywriter who wasn't curious about the world, full of opinions, and almost obsessed by small details.

"And finally, good copywriters are willing to work and share with other copywriting colleagues. I'm surprised by how generous people have been in this business."

So you want to be a freelance copywriter? Or, you're already a professional corporate or marcom writer and you want to improve your writing skills? John has three pieces of advice: "Read, write, and work. A lot. Read other people's best copy. Actually take a pen and copy out that copy over and over again, until the nuance of what they've done sinks in.

"Developing a successful writing career can and does happen instantly for a few. But for others, it takes time, patience, and work -- and more than a few mistakes. But if you stick with it, write the assignments one at a time, add the clients one at a time, in hindsight the great copywriters really do look like they happened overnight."