How to build a successful copywriting business?

Career Spotlight: Hannah Macready, Freelance Copywriter

Hannah Macready is a freelance copywriter in Vancouver who was kind enough to talk with me about her experience in the industry and her path to this point in her career.

“This is the worst idea I’ve ever had,” thought Hannah Macready, as she began her freelance copywriting business at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At that point, Hannah had already been passionate about writing for many years. After majoring in creative writing in university, she worked in the literary community and marketing before ultimately transitioning to a career in copywriting. Many copywriters, Hannah noted, come from an educational background of creative writing, English literature, or communications.

Hannah’s risk paid off, and she soon built a successful copywriting business. “It was actually the best idea I’ve ever had,” she said. “You just never know, right?” However, being a freelancer is not easy. “It takes hustle,” Hannah explained, “to do well and to show clients that you're the one that they should work with over other people.” The biggest challenge in building a successful copywriting business was (and remains) finding work and marketing herself: Early on, referrals and her existing connections in the industry meant that she began with plenty of clients. However, the key to expanding her business has been learning how to refine her messaging and market herself to bigger and better clients. This takes courage and confidence: “you really have to put yourself out there and you have to be okay with getting rejected sometimes . . . you’ve just got to just keep pushing.”

Hannah started out by taking on a wide range of projects and clients, but she was soon able to narrow her focus to specialize in what she does best. “As I started doing more and more, there were things that. . . came easy for [me] and that people liked. And so that was just where I gravitated.” Hannah mainly writes for technology apps and Silicon Valley companies, such as Hootsuite. “I have a better voice for technical business-to-business (B2B) writing (than for business-to-consumer [B2C] writing),” she explained, and she focuses on work in the B2B and technology space. She knew this sector was the right fit because “[the clients] were happy with the product and [she] was happy with the work.”

A day in Hannah’s life as a copywriter involves communicating with clients and creating, editing, and publishing drafts. She works both on a contract basis and on retainer for a variety of companies. Deadlines structure her work, and she typically works on a project-by-project basis–this is all on top of also running a separate marketing business. While she, of course, does a lot of writing, her work involves a substantial research component, since she engages in a lot of search-engine-optimization (SEO) copywriting.

What keeps Hannah engaged in and excited about her work is being able to choose what she does - this is her favourite part of her job. Being a freelance copywriter “is a pretty all-encompassing career,” according to Hannah, since it involves not just research and writing, but also business management. However, being self-employed also comes with more freedom than working for agencies and as an in-house copywriter. She is able to turn down work when the fit is not right and pursue clients with whom she really wants to work. “I just have a lot more creative power and so I enjoy the work more because of that.”

As a tenacious and driven business owner, Hannah is dedicated to continually developing her skills. How does she do it? She is always reading. “If you want to get better, you have to be reading what other people are writing and improving your work all the time.” Hannah shared that structure and dedication are also important drivers of her success: “you have to have a bit of tenacity and a willingness to get up every day and do the work, [as well as] research on your off time.”

Hannah relishes the research required for her job. In addition to their expert writing skills, copywriters must also be strong close readers and excellent researchers. Through her daily work, Hannah gets to learn about a wide variety of interesting topics, including some that she never imagined she would know about, such as aerospace engineering and lithium extraction. The more complicated a project is, the more invested she gets: “it feeds my brain and makes my work exciting.”

One thing Hannah is always doing is networking, which is essential for any freelance copywriter. “You never know where you’re going to meet your next client,” Hannah said. Whether she is travelling during her time off or attending an event at her coworking space, Hannah makes an effort to meet other people and to learn more about what they do. Keeping up with a network of other copywriters is also an important part of her work. Maintaining these professional connections is not only important for staving off the possible isolation of working remotely, but also for staying on top of industry standards. Hannah connects with other copywriters in a LinkedIn message group, where members discuss everything from rates to how to approach unique or unusual requests from clients.

Hannah is persistent, curious, and successful; she has learned a lot on her journey to this place in her career. What advice does she wish she had early on? “Charge what you’re worth.” While it’s easy enough to get a lot of clients when you set your rate too low, “having the right pay at your back really expands your ability to do your best work,” she explained. “I wish I had wasted less time doing cheap projects because I was scared I wouldn’t have enough, and instead charged what I knew I needed to charge to produce better work at the beginning.” If you think you have what it takes to make a bold move into freelance copywriting like Hannah, know your worth and remember to always be reading.