Okay, I might have ruffled up some feathers with that statement up there, but at least I’ve got your attention. I don’t mean any disrespect to anybody out there, making an honest living doing copywriting. But the truth is that the job scope of copywriters have slowly become overhyped of late.
Who Are Copywriters, And What Exactly Do They Do?
“Copywriters Paint Pictures With Words.”
~ Author Unknown
I was first exposed to the world of advertising back in the early 2000’s, through photography, of course. And advertising, in general, uses two major pathways to convey the messages across to the audience. The first being visual (graphics, photography, colours, typography, etc.), while the second, nothing more than mere words… And this new pathway, this… tool, intrigued me… I could remember wondering how mere words can affect how people make purchase decisions… Yes, back then, advertising was merely a megaphone to convey “Buy me!…” At least to me it was…
I learnt how a simple “I ate an apple” can be transformed into “As I sank my teeth into the glossy red peel, my incisors puncture through into the juicy pulp beneath with a sharp crunch, squirting the sweet nectar all over the insides of my mouth. Ahh!… What a refreshing sensation it was!…” Yup… I learnt how to “paint” pretty pictures with nothing more than mere words!… Noticed that I never even used the word “apple” in that sentence?
Yes, a copywriter’s job is indeed important in painting a comprehensive big picture. Words and visual images complemented each other. Just like how captions help to “explain” the images that it accompanies.
Copywriters In The Advertising Industry
Words play important roles in media that are non-visual, like radio. Words help the audience visualise the image in their minds. They listen to the words, the adjectives, the descriptions, and fires up a visual imagination in their minds. Hence the description, painting pictures with words.
Anybody with a reasonably good command in the language can call themselves copywriters. But really good copywriters, are truly difficult to find. These highly skilled specialists can bridge the gap between higher level complex communications (words, numbers, language, etc.) with the basic, non-verbal cues. That’s not a feat that many can claim to be able to do… No, I take that back… Many claim to be able to do, but few are able to carry it out effectively.
So you can see that copywriting has evolved into a very unique skill. One that’s in demand in the mass communications industry.
Copywriting is a skillset that’s closely linked to the advertising industry. Unfortunately, the advertising industry in general has been experiencing a decline of late. Well, not exactly the industry itself, but how the receiving end has evolved to simply ignore advertisements. So while the industry is still chugging along at full steam, it’s literally going nowhere. And together with the industry as a whole, so is copywriting too.
What Exactly Is Copywriting Anyway?
You know the situation, when you have a list of key points that you need to convey? And you don’t know how to string a sentence to relay across effectively? Well, that’s where copywriters come in. They play with words to form sentences that convey all your key points across. They make it very visual and exciting, so much so that audience relate easily to the words used.
They’re the best when it comes to forming short and sweet sentences that deliver the punch across. They know how to use words and sentences to touch the emotions of the audience. They literally are word wizards.
If You Say They’re So Good, Then Why Do You Call Them “Cheap”?
The issue isn’t because they’re “cheap”, or that their services are “cheap”. The issue is that in a world where advertising is dying, or already dead, so too are the copywriters. The demand for such skills is getting lesser by the day. So to supplement their income, they start venturing into non-advertising jobs. The only “problem” is that they go around selling their services as “copywriting”. So much so that the general public assumes that any sort of professional writing is “copywriting”.
Recently I started looking around for, and recruiting writers for a newly launched project. Everybody I interacted with simply asked, “So you’re looking for copywriters?” And when I told them “No” they all became confused… “But aren’t you looking for professional writers?” I replied “Yes, but not copywriters” and they became even more confused…
You see, copywriters are good at what they do… Very good I might add. But they work best when provided with preconceived information. They are, however, not very good, when it comes to seeking out stories where there is none. They’re not very good at composing exciting stories with all the abstract information that they have to extract on their own.
Unlike the advertising industry, content creation doesn’t revolve around expanding keywords, and making them into sentences and taglines. It revolves around sourcing for interesting facts, and making exciting stories out of them.
Content… What?…
Content creation is all about story telling. Telling exciting stories that appeal to the audience. And people who excel in telling stories are, unfortunately, not copywriters. In fact, a better match for this job scope would be journalists and authors. These are the experts who can write exciting short stories. Stories exciting and intriguing enough to keep the audience coming back for more. Exciting enough to effectively deliver the brand message across to the audience, without them even realising it.
Content creation is all about writing short stories. Ten, maybe fifteen paragraphs of text, accompanied with suitable media too. It’s not about expanding four or five points into a short paragraph, or conjuring up catchy taglines. It’s literally about telling stories…
Are You A Story Teller?… A Content Creator?…
If you are, then congratulations, we’re looking for people like you. We have an online lifestyle journal, and we’re looking for people to write stories, and have them published there.
No clocking in or out of the office. Heck, there’s no office for you to work out of anyway. You write where you want, and when you want. You also get full credit for all works published too. Plus, you get paid by the number of articles that you publish. The more you publish, the more you’re paid, no questions asked. Only you get to determine how much you earn. Part-time, full-time, day-time, night-time, any-time. If you love writing, and you’re really good at what you do, you can actually earn a living, doing what you love best.
Pingback: Advertising On Facebook Is Cheap... Or Is It Really? - Solarex Imaging