To do your best work, you have to like your client’s products.

This is true whether you are writing copy or writing content.

The more you like the product you’re writing about, the better the job you will do.

Conversely, if your next gig is on a product, service or topic you don’t like, you’ll find it impossible to do your best work.

In other words, if you think the product is cr*p, you’ll be hard pressed to do a good job promoting it.

Sure, you’ll be professional about it. You’ll put in the hours and apply all your skills the best you can. But I bet your writing won’t shine as brightly as when you are writing about something you think has real value.

If what I say is true – and it is – what does this mean for your work as a freelancer?

It means that you should always seek out assignments you’ll really enjoy working on. It means you should be picky about the companies you work with. It means you should deliberately target only those clients that enable you to write about products and services worthy of respect.

At this point you might be thinking, “Sure Nick, sounds good in principle. But I have bills to pay and I can’t be that choosy.”

But here is the thing…

Your reputation will always be based on the quality of your work.

The more often you do less than your best, writing about products or services you don’t believe in, the faster your reputation will fall.

But if you always write about things you feel you can wholeheartedly support, your work will improve and your reputation will grow faster.

As I have written elsewhere, you can build a life-long reputation as a copywriter on the back of a single, outstanding piece of work. But you can’t do the same with 1,000 pieces of mediocre work.

Think about that for a moment.

If you love writing about consumer goods, for example, stick with that. And look for companies that make products you really believe in.

If you enjoy writing about office equipment, find the companies that make what you consider to be the best office equipment.

If health food is your thing, seek out the companies that sell the very best health food.

I know several A-list copywriters who have basically built their careers on one or two big successes. Not everything they do is as good. Nor does it need to be. Everyone remembers that great job they did on those one or two projects.

But nobody remembers the 1,000 so-so jobs the B-list copywriter did.

As a result, it makes sense to seek out clients for whom you can do your very best work. And a big part of that process is to make sure that the client is selling products or services you feel comfortable with.

This is a strategic choice. Your choice of the niche, clients and products you work on will determine your future success.

In other words, being a successful copywriter is not about vacuuming in every decent-paying gig you can get your hands on.

It’s about being highly selective. Working on jobs that give you the best chance to shine at your brightest. Picking clients that are good to work with.

Most copywriters don’t take this strategic route. They take the vacuuming route.

My advice to you is to build a brighter and more lucrative career by focusing on work you like and enjoy.

Always.

 

 

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