3. Professional Bodies

The main professional bodies in the creative, media and marketing sectors, such as the Advertising Association (AA), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) or the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), tend to be geared towards agencies rather than individuals. As a result, membership of one or another of them is unlikely to be very worthwhile unless you are running a substantial business and/or have strong links with a particular sector, such as advertising.

There are exceptions to this. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Institute of Copywriting, for example, both have more to offer freelances, probably in recognition of the greater number of people who go it alone in these fields. Even so, this does not necessarily mean that it will benefit you much to join them. The points to weigh up when considering membership of a professional body are:

• How much does it cost?
• Are you likely to get work, through referrals or introductions, if you join?
• Will clients be more likely to take you on if you are a member, or refuse your services if you are not?
• Does the organisation offer fringe benefits, such as reduced insurance cover, that offset the membership fee?
• Will the organisation’s events help you network or give you access to expertise that you can draw on in your line of business?
• Will membership give you access to training or information that will be of benefit to you?

If in doubt, it might be worth talking to members to find out whether they think it is worthwhile. Some further points to bear in mind are:

• Membership of a professional body is not essential for running a successful copywriting business.
• Some professional bodies can be little more than old boys’ clubs.
• If most of your copywriting work is within a particular industry, such as technology, you might get better value, both in terms of contacts and access to knowledge, from joining a relevant body in that industry.
• Many of the larger professional bodies will provide free information and advice to non-members.

Is it worth becoming a member of a union?

The only properly unionised industry related to copywriting is journalism. If you do a lot of journalistic writing, it may well be worth becoming a member of the NUJ or a similar union, if for no other reason than your membership card will act as valid press identification and enable you to get into events and briefings you might not be admitted to otherwise. You will also, of course, have access to many other services, such as legal advice.