5 Ways To Get Your First Copywriting Client
The worst way to get your first copywriting client, in my opinion?
Cold pitching. I know that’s what the TikTok gurus are telling you to do, but it doesn’t have to be that hard.
Here are 5 easier ways to get clients that’ll pay you the big bucks.
How To Get Your First Copywriting Client as a Complete Beginner
Option #1: Upwork and Fiverr
This is how I got started (well, this and writing 20K words a week for $15 per article).
And if I’m being honest, I don’t 100% recommend this route.
But if you’re in the “I need income NOW” boat, here’s what you should do:
Set up your Upwork profile and Fiverr Gigs
Optimize your job listings or description for MULTIPLE niche jobs. Think: copywriter for real estate agents, blogs for coaches. The more you niche down, the faster you’ll get clients. It’s just the way it is.
Charge super low.
I’m talkin’ 50% less than what other people are charging (which means you need to do some market research here).
Double your prices after every 1-5 reviews you get.
This helps you get money now (even if it’s pennies) while allowing you to get the social proof (reviews) you need to increase those prices to real copywriting rates.
Option #2: LinkedIn
I’ve never done this, but I hear it works.
And it makes sense because LinkedIn is full of successful business owners and I-want-to-leave-my-9-5-ers who have the money to pay for copywriters.
This is where most people will tell you to cold pitch.
A better way to get your first client in my opinion?
Give value.
AKA create your own copywritten content that SHOWS people you know your way around a keyboard.
Option #3: Referrals
My first client came from Upwork, my next two came from Fiverr (oh, I forgot to mention: I 100% moved them off of those platforms and charged higher prices after our first round of working together).
And for the next 3 years, a lot of my clients came from referrals.
Specifically from a group called Babe Crafted.
Listen, I am NOT a fan of local networking groups. But this group (which is digital and local here in Tampa), not only gives you monthly courses and coworking sessions, but it’s SO easy to make a name for yourself in small groups like this.
This is the first place I became "known” for SEO copywriting, and it honestly kept my business afloat during many many slow months.
Option #4: Social media
Being active in Facebook groups (aka being social) has probably brought me $5K a year in sales.
Not a ton, but not nothing, either.
But what you really need to be doing (and you know it, too) is to market your services as a copywriter on social media.
Just show people what you’ve learned as a copywriter and let your words do the selling for you.
Option #5: SEO Website Copy
Speaking of, my website has brought me over 200 leads in 2023 from…
Doing absolutely nothing.
Okay, it wasn’t nothing at first.
But really, all I did was:
Write my own website copy
Add in an SEO keyword strategy
Collect emails through my free Service Pricing Guides and Contact forms
Make passive leads and sales.
Which is when I was finally able to start getting high-paying copywriting clients.
How To Get Copywriting Clients That’ll Pay You the Big Bucks
Now, if you know you’re a good writer, and you want to get high-paying copywriting clients right away, here’s what I recommend.
DISCLAIMER: This will take maybe a month longer than simply applying for job board.
Step #1: Get a website
If you want to sell website copywriting services, walk the walk.
Have a website and write your copy.
It’s the ultimate social proof (and how you can get passive leads and sales— but more on that in a sec).
Step #2: Stand out with a Signature Offer
If I could tell Beginner Copywriter Tiffani anything, it would be to stop trying to be anything and everything.
Don’t offer blogs and social media and email writing.
If you want to charge premium prices ($2K minimum), you have to be known for something.
I’m a go-to for SEO Copywriting. You can be the go-to copywriter for:
Relatable copywriting
Luxury copywriting
Launch copywriting
SEO real estate blog writing
I’m not saying to niche down your audience. You can be a luxury copywriter for a restaurant and a jewelry line.
I’m also not saying to niche down your services. You can be a copywriter for luxury brands and upsell your launch copy or down-sell your monthly email copy service.
But you do need to niche down for what you’re KNOWN for within the copywriting industry.
From there, create your signature offer charge at $2K to start.
Step #3: Write your website copy with SEO
Again: walk to the walk.
If you don’t have any copywriting experience, don’t waste time writing website copy for free.
Write website copy for yourself that you can use as your portfolio.
And if you write your website pages with SEO, that’s how you can start getting passive leads and sales for your copywriting services.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
Step #4: Write a Sales page with SEO for your
I have 3 main copywriting services:
Launch copy
SEO Copywriting for coaches
Content repurposing
Other than that, I have a list of other SEO packages people can choose from.
And I never promote them on social media.
The reason?
They’re already on the front page of Google.
People actively searching for words like “content repurposing service” are ready to hire someone for that job.
This is how you get passive copywriting clients.
Yes— even as a beginner.
Step #5: Automate
I’m not going to get all into this here since I already have an entire guide on it (and a social media post!).
The TLDR?
Use Dubsado, Honeybook, Calendly, or Acuity for automatic calls
Use Dubsado or Honeybook to automatically send your proposals, contracts (more on that in the FAQs below), and invoices. Trust me, it’ll save you SO MUCH TIME.
Use copywriting templates like these to make writing copy for your clients that much easier!
Here are 5 freakin’ sweet tools to automate your business.
Step #6: Create SEO Content
The final thing you have to do as a business owner is, of course, market yourself.
But how do you market yourself as a copywriter?
You create SEO and social media content.
SEO content = blogs, TikToks, YouTube videos with strategic keywords
Social media content = content that connects to your ideal client.
I recommend SEO content more than social media content because it’s passive marketing.
AKA you get leads and sales without posting every day.
But, again, if you need clients like yesterday, you’ll probably find copywriting clients more quickly through social media.
Here’s how to market yourself as a copywriter.
Beginner Copywriter FAQs
How much should I charge for copywriting?
Social media copy: $100 per post
Email copy: $150 per email
Blog copy: $100 per 500 words
Sales page copy: $1,000 per long-form page
Website copy: $2,000 for 3 pages
I definitely charged less than this as a beginner, but learn from my mistakes, okay?
Charge your worth (and if you’re still not sure, use this calculator!)
What do I need in my contracts?
Many people will tell you it’s worth it to hire a lawyer to write your contracts, but after I tried Legal Zoom and it was a complete waste of time, I decided
“Hey! I’m a writer! I got this!”
And I’ve never had an issue.
However, I will say that I did do a ton of research and asked other experienced copywriters what to include in my contracts. So basically, my Copywriting Contract Template is the accumulation of what to include from 10+ copywriters!
Do I need an LLC as a beginner copywriter?
Read my Copywriting Business Guide for more info on this!
