5. Training

Do you need training to be a copywriter? It is difficult to say. Good copywriters tend to hone their skills in one of two major industries: advertising, where there is rarely any formal training to speak of, and journalism, where training is considered very important and is usually a key part of an apprenticeship. These two industries produce very different styles of writing, but with some fundamental similarities that are crucial to all types of copy, as we shall see later.

Ultimately, no amount of qualifications will outdo a strong client list and brilliant portfolio, so it is probably safe to say that training is not absolutely vital to being able to run a successful copywriting business. But when you are starting out some form of tuition, even if it is a one-day course or an evening class, can be immensely beneficial, if only in helping give you the confidence of knowing that your skills are up to scratch.

Sources of training are numerous and will depend on how much time and money you have to spend and what kind of writing you are interested in learning about. From personal experience, I can recommend the Periodical Publishing Association’s courses to those who want to brush up on their journalistic skills. Other courses may be less useful; if possible, I would advise trying to speak to someone who has been on the course before you commit to going on it yourself.

Also bear in mind that it is not just training in writing skills that can benefit your business. A one day course on Microsoft Excel, for example, might pay dividends in helping you improve your ability to do your accounts. It is important to weigh up, however, the benefits of training yourself up to do new tasks compared with simply buying in the skills you need to do the job. Going on a web design course, for example, might be great fun, but in the long run you might find that it is quicker and cheaper to get someone else to build the websites for which you are writing copy.