October 22, 2004
how to get a writing job in advertising
I just got an e-mail from JS Westmoreland:
I sell advertising but I’d rather just write copy. Any advice?
I have very little advice at the moment. I think the ad biz is changing too fast for anybody to really have a clue. Y’know, “Branding is dead” and all that.
I wrote this list called “How To Be A Copywriter” a few months ago. Don’t know if it’s good advice or not.
I suppose if I was starting out from scratch, I’d just start writing as many ideas as I could, build myself a blog then start posting my ideas online. If they were any good it would be seen eventually. Besides, it’s much easier to ask a Creative Director to “Please click on this link” than “Please can I come round to your office and show you my work?”
Basically, the art of getting a job in advertising is:
1. Writing tons of ads on spec. Good ones.
2. Showing them to as many informed people as possible– the higher up the foodchain, the better.
3. Getting lots of feedback and then acting on it.
No, I have no definition of “good” to give you. If you’ve got any talent you already have your own definition of what “good” is, you don’t need mine.
But it’s not just about quality…
Say Tom and Jack are two young recent college grads, both quite talented, both having spent most of the last year trying to land their first professional gig.
And let’s say Tom just found a job in the last week, and Jack didn’t.
I would be willing to bet hard, cold cash that Tom had written far more ads in the last year– some good, some not so good– than Jack. By a factor of at least five to one.
Where kids get stuck is that they write 6 ads, get their uncle to get them an interview downtown, turn up wearing a Brooks Brothers suit, show the Creative Director their 6 and only ads, and then wonder why they didn’t get the job in the end.
Then they give up and go get their real estate license.
The more you churn, the more you learn.
Any advertising folk here have anything to add? Andreas?
Logging the hours is a good action plan for getting good at anything, really. I was a much better copywriter after doing it for 10 years than I was when I started. There’s a sharp, steep ascent to the learning curve with any craft. (Let’s not even talk about Photoshop…please.)
As for other advice, I’d just add to immerse yourself in ads. Read/watch/listen to everything. Try to figure out why the good ones work. Figure out how to make the bad ones good.
And if you can figure out how to make the un-sexy stuff sexy and compelling, you just might have something going for yourself.
“As for other advice, I’d just add to immerse yourself in ads. Read/watch/listen to everything. Try to figure out why the good ones work. Figure out how to make the bad ones good.”
That’s damn good advice, I would say =)
I did it for a couple of years, then got sick of it. If you do it to much you end up like the Buddhist snake, eating its own tail.
I suppose one of the hardest thing for any copwriter to figure out is how to stay engaged with the industry, while still being able to bring in fresh points of reference from other spheres. It’s too easy to lose yourself on Madison Avenue.
Funny, I had the very same conversation with somebody today, a budding designer rather than a writer, who read my blog and wanted to pick my brain on how to break into the business. As we’re both in Toronto we met up for a coffee rather than exchange mails.
My advice (added to Colleen’s comment):
1. Make sure you really, really, really want to do it. Because if you don’t, if this is just a way to impress the chicks at your local bar, then don’t even bother. There are simply too many dedicated people trying to break into the industry for anybody who doesn’t give 100% to succeed. (See Hugh’s post).
2. Ads are not art. Ads are not there to massage the creative team’s ego. Ads exist to sell the client’s stuff. If you want to be an artist, do it in your spare time.
3. “The customer isn’t stupid. The customer is your wife.”
4. “What you say is more important than how you say it.” Or my own personal take on that quote: The idea is king.
I’m 22. I wanted to be a copywriter. I wrote lots of ads. Good ones. Then I realized I hate ads. Especially the good ones. But I still love gapingvoid. Because it’s not biznass as use-you-all.
JS is in the best job in the world to practice writing ads. Want to get your clients’/prospects attention? Instead of calling them about buying space/time, etc., write good ads for them and take them over to show them. They’re more likely to return your call, and once you’ve given them good material, the space sells itself.
I’m a publisher, but really a frustrated writer. I get a lot of psychic salve from writing ads for our customers, and they really appreciate it.
In our last ad study, the customers with the best response were the ones who I’d written (defying traditional print size/color logic.) Not because I’m a great writer, but because I knew how to engage my readers in conversation. Do the same, and you’ll build a portfolio AND your commissions.
Great advice and not just on copywriting — I can’t think of any area of my life where I want to achieve something where I couldn’t apply it.
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