How I run my copywriting business
You think you need tons of apps. You think you need lots of subscriptions.
You might be right.
Then again, for what it’s worth, this is my way of running a copywriting business.
But first…
A 30 second tour of how I got here
I started way back in advertising as a Copywriter/Art Director.
Between full-time stints in agencies, I had several stabs at freelancing. My longest lasting 11 years.
Then I went from Creative Director on the P&O Ferries account to co-owning a creative agency.
And since 2017, I’ve been running my own one-man-band brand voice thing, ‘So What If Ltd.’
I’d muddled my way through the pre-Internet days. Struggled through the ‘have you tried switching it off and on’ days. Plodded through the ‘gizza job’ days.
Along the way, there’ve been many hard lessons, dead ends and uphill struggles. There’ve also been giddy highs, lasting friendships and enlightening mini disasters. But, I guess that’s what it takes to:
a) Hone your copywriting craft
b) Work out how to run a business
c) Grow-the-flip-up
Anyway…
How this particular copywriting machine works
I’ve already written about my copywriting process, which is worth a nosy, but this post is about the way I run the business. The nuts and bolts of keeping things ticking over, and the wolf from the door.
The basic setup
Back in the day, I used to operate as a sole trader (no, not a shoe salesman, silly). Now I run as a limited company. There are pros and cons to both, but now that I work with direct clients as well as agencies, that Ltd. status adds credibility/stability and opens doors that I don’t think being a sole trader can.
In fact, I’ve been asked on more than one occasion what my registered company number is, before getting the go-ahead on a project. A bit like a ‘no jeans or trainers’ policy, it’s old-school, but seems to be important for many of my bigger clients.
VAT registration
Last February I went VAT registered. I’d resisted it as long as I could, because I hate paperwork. I’m admin-lazy/allergic. But I’d had a particularly good year and I was legally obliged.
Turns out, it’s not that painful after all. Yes, it adds a few hours of admin every quarter, and yes, there are other things I’d rather be doing. But, it saves a few quid here and there on my tax bill. However, I have lost one small client who isn’t VAT registered, because the extra 20% pushed me out of their day rate comfort zone – and there are extra accountancy fees.
Gut feel (I’m no financial advisor), only do it if you have to, because of turnover, or if you’re making big purchases, or farming out to other service providers who charge VAT.
Accountant
Every time I’ve been freelance, I’ve had an Accountant. I’m crappy with numbers. Hate filling out forms. Get freaked out by brown envelopes arriving in the post.
Having an Accountant on my side saves time, hassle and quite possibly a spell in Wormwood Scrubs.
Unless you’re into number crunching, I’d advise you get one too. Someone who knows their stuff and gives off that ‘you can trust me’ vibe.
From new brief landing to invoice sending
If you’re working with several clients, you’ll need some kind of structure to keep track of it all.
I’m not into fancy apps, but I am at least digital nowadays. So this is my process when a new client lands:
1) Set up new client folder and project sub-folder in email. All communications are dragged into that folder; anything that’s particularly important (briefing docs attached, project green lights, PO numbers etc.) is flagged.
2) Set up new client folder on my hard drive. This will generally have a project sub-folder, and within that, sub-folders – ‘From Client’, ‘Copy’, ‘Feedback’ etc. All documents, from NDAs to final copy are sorted within this file structure.
3) Add the job to a Work in Progress Word doc. This spells out the project name, who it’s for, overview of job spec, deadlines and how many hours I need to dedicate to it. As the project unfolds, I record the hours I’ve used, when drafts have been sent and reminders to invoice the client. All colour-coded for me to get a grip on quickly.
My WiP doc also has other work-y things listed, like zoom meetings, networking and tax due dates.
4) When things are hectic, I have a ‘Thing List In Order’ word doc. Each project is colour-coded and I allot X amount of hours per day so that there’s no chance of going off script. Thankfully, I don’t have to get this prioritorically anal that often, but when I do, it minimises panic and time waste.
5) The project is added to an invoicing spreadsheet – one of the things my Accountant needs at year-end. It lists: invoice number (added only when the invoice is sent); client name; project detail; project type (for my benefit, to see what the majority of my work looks like – so far this year, ‘Brand language’ is beating ‘Copy for web’ and ‘Copy for design’, with ‘Brand naming’ limping in, in last place); PO number; notes; invoice date; invoice due date; and invoice paid date.
6) Now I’m VAT registered, I also add project details to a VAT spreadheet (with a second tab for expenses).
Briefing meetings and brand workshops
I take notes the old-fashioned way, with a retracting pencil and spiral-bound notebook.
Presentations are put together in InDesign (imagery primped and prodded in Photoshop) and exported to PDF.
The copywriting work itself
Again, pencil, notebook and Word. I generally won’t work in a client’s Google doc. If I do, I’ll do the actual writing/editing bit offline in Word, then upload to Google. The writing process can be messy. First drafts can be miles off. There’s no point a client looking over my virtual shoulder as I turn Schmilliance into Brilliance.
If we can have real, 3D face time that’s great, but otherwise we’ll have a zoom meeting or two and everything else is done via email.
There’s usually only one round of amends allowed for. If the feedback is tight and consolidated, that’s all it takes.
Hardware and software
The trend seems to be towards more is more, but I’ve found what works for me, and it’s pretty simple.
MacBook Pro
Solid, reliable and goes for ages (I’m going to get a new one later this year, but the current model’s been going steady since 2015).
WD Elements portable hard drives
Several terabytes to back everything up, on the regular.
Epson scanner
I don’t use it that often, but it’s handy when I really need it.
iPhone
Great for sending any photos straight to the laptop.
Microsoft Office
Word and Excel (used every day).
InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat
For any visual stuff, ‘cos I just can’t help myself.
Reliable broadband
Obvs.
(AND DEFINITELY NO FRIKKIN’ ChatGPT nonsense)
And that’s about it, besides the odd red pen and PostIt.
Not many things to go wrong. It ain’t that sophisticated, but it works.
And it needs to, because besides the main hardware/software combination of head and heart, my business and my clients rely on things running just as effortlessly as they do creatively.
Last year alone, I worked with 18 different direct and agency clients, on 47 projects. And from my side at least, everything ran as smoothly as a Brylcreamed skink on rollerblades.
If you’re starting out as a Freelance Copywriter, my advice would be to keep things as simple as possible. Enough to keep things flowing in the background. Not so much that it gets in the way of your thinking process and writing time.
And if you’ve been at it for a while now, maybe it’s worth stepping back and looking at how you do things. Is anything tripping you up? Is there unnecessary software sapping your energy and bleeding your bank account?
This writing thing’s supposed to be fun. But the ‘stuff’ of modern life gets in the way. Machines. Apps. Distractions. And if you stop and look, you can see it in the copy all around us. Tired and formulaic; written with cramped wrists and frazzled minds.
So, strip back the paraphernalia and let your writing shine.
Love and patience.
Jonathan x
Jonathan Wilcock (that’s me) is a Senior Freelance Copywriter.
You can drop me a line here, or email jonathan@sowhatif.co.uk