6 Easy Ways to Land Your First Clients as a Freelance Copywriter

Start landing freelance clients to build your portfolio and grow your biz.

How do you land your first clients as a newbie freelance copywriter? What if you have little or no experience or work samples? Don’t fret, it might feel scary at first, but it’s not as challenging as you might think.  

When I was first starting out, I was side-hustling the hell out of my business. I was still working full-time, but it helped me build the work samples and street cred I needed to eventually break off on my own. 

By the end of this post, you’ll have ideas of where to start, where to post ads, and how to create your own writing samples without any active clients. If you still need a little more push in your step and confidence booster check out my post, “How to Become a Freelance Copywriter with No Experience.”

If you don’t have any writing samples…Start writing! Create a blog and write about the things you want people to pay you for one day. Write about what you are passionate about, write to your niche market, write what you love. Anything and everything goes, don’t be afraid. 

You can also create mock emails, ads, and even social media posts! I am sure you have seen quite long captions on Instagram, that could be considered a blog! Whatever space you want to be writing in, just start. Canva has great templates you can fill in with your own copy. Export them as a PDF and you’ve got a mini portfolio.

Post an Ad on Craiglist

Yep, Craigslist is still a thing and a great way to get new clients. Plus, at only five dollars for the whole month, it’s cheap as heck. You are going to get some creepers, so obviously don’t put your phone number just your email. Also, don’t ever feel bad about ghosting people. 

Here is my very first ad on Craigslist: 

Need a blogger???

“Do you have a website that you wish would rank better on Google? One of the best ways to rank on Google is to have regularly updated content, and one of the best ways to do that is to post regularly to your blog. I have experience blogging for clients across all kinds of industries – real estate, hospitality, home services, tech startups, luxury brands, and the list goes on. I have also written editorial articles for OC Weekly and Dance Lifestyle Magazine.

All of my blogs are at least 500 words long, following SEO best practices, and include interlinking. I always follow the voice and tone of your brand, and I do the research necessary to write as an “expert” in your specific industry.

Does this sound like something you might be interested in? I offer flexible pricing and can work with any budget. Contact me and I’m happy to discuss pricing and send over some samples of my work.

I promise you will be pleasantly surprised what an impact even posting one blog per week to your site will have. I look forward to hearing from you!”

Plus, at only five dollars for the whole month., it’s cheap as heck. You are going to get some creepers, so obviously don’t put your phone number just email. Also, don’t ever feel bad about ghosting people. 

Update Your Portfolio on LinkedIn

Optimize your LinkedIn profile as a freelance writer – get active on the platform – join groups and discussions – set alerts for jobs you’re looking for – post your resume and that portfolio you made.

Be complementary and shout out the brands and businesses you love and admire. That is always one of my strategies is to creep on their social media and do some light stalking. I like to compliment them so my name will pop up on their alerts. 

Speaking of alerts, set alerts in LinkedIn when freelance copywriter work comes up in your area. 

Join Copywriter Groups on Facebook

Search “copywriter” and join some groups on Facebook. A lot of them post jobs or give great tricks of the trade. They also share learning tools and maybe even a dash of inspiration you needed to fuel your fire. There are more job specific ones you can join as well. Some of them do get a little spammy, so buyer beware.

I recommend groups like “The Copywriter Club,” “Business Babe Community,” “Boss-Moms,” “Women Helping Women Entrepreneurs,” and, of course, my favorite (shameless plug) “The Copywriter Girls Club.” Search the key term “copywriter” for opportunities and more groups that are more in your niche network. 

Another keyword tip: When you are posting on social media (Facebook specifically) throw that word “copywriter” in your responses to people as much as possible. The algorithms are going to recognize you as a copywriter. It will show you more opportunities that come up and it is also going to establish you as the go-to copywriter expert in your network. 

Tap Into Your Network

Before I was a copywriter, I would always ask the people I worked for if I could write for them, take over their blog and/or social media. I would ask to help write flyers or newsletters for their next event coming up and they would almost always say yes. I would just tack on a few hours and they would oblige. If they don’t want to pay, it will still give you great work samples. 

Put the word out to family and friends if they might have businesses or people they may know. Don’t be shy! You will have to price a little low to begin with, but it will be worth it. 

Another helpful tip: Give yourself a cutoff cushion when it is no longer in your best interest to give the “bro deal” to family and friends. 

Nurture

Last but definitely not least, do a really really good job and nurture the clients you get – word of mouth is the most powerful form of marketing – spoil them, shout them out, over-deliver, give them little freebies. Business owners are a small community, especially in your niche market, they will tell their friends about you!

My final recommendation and great listening for some amazing advice and tips this week is “The Goal Digger podcast with Jenna Kutcher.” 

Now get on out there! You have work to do now that you know these six easy ways to land your first clients as a freelance copywriter:)

If you want even more helpful tips every week I suggest subscribing to my podcast, “The Copywriter Show.”

Having a Mentor is Helpful Too

Not to toot my own horn, but I’m good at helping people with this stuff. I have a successful freelance copywriting business so I can help you build yours too! There are a couple of ways to work with me – either 1:1 or in my group mentoring program “Freelance Flow” that I offer a few times throughout the year. Contact me if you want to talk and decide if we’d be a good fit to work together. 

And just one more thing – I’m a strong “repurpose your content” advocate. It saves SO MUCH time and effort when creating all the social media posts, emails, landing pages, email funnels, etc. for your business. I made this “Spread Your Magic” Free Guide that gives you 20+ Ways to Repurpose Your Soul-Driven Content. YOUR words deserve to be read by more people, on more places and platforms. Grab your copy HERE. 

And just one more thing – I’m a strong “repurpose your content” advocate. It saves SO MUCH time and effort when creating all the social media posts, emails, landing pages, email funnels, etc. for your business. I made this “Spread Your Magic” Free Guide that gives you 20+ Ways to Repurpose Your Soul-Driven Content. YOUR words deserve to be read by more people, on more places and platforms. Grab your copy HERE.