Freelance copywriting can be a lonely business with strange contradictions. On the one hand, you can be frantically busy meeting deadlines, with the traffic in your head moving at breakneck speed. In your immediate vicinity, on the other hand, all is peaceful, silent even!
Like every type of freelance work where you’re not working directly with colleagues, life is lived inside your head. This may not be good for one’s sanity but it does have its compensations. Yes, you can go insane – but at least you do it in enviably quiet surroundings.
If you could do less of a frontal lobotomy and more of a vertical slice through the centre of a freelance copywriter’s head, you’d probably see lots of different rooms, not unlike a typical ad agency.
Busiest would be the Studio. There’d be some cursing going on that some ‘suit’ had the effrontery to ask about a deadline. And maybe some verbal jousting about which creative concept works best, or which freelance designer would do the best job.
Upstairs, you might find the Accounts Department. “Anyone know why that client invoice hasn’t been paid yet?” Or… ” Why is that client whingeing about price when they’ve already agreed to it and been over-serviced like crazy for the past 12 months?”
In the New Business Department, there’s lots of frantic debate going on about using social media in the integrated marketing mix; which markets should be targeted in the wake of public sector cuts; and how to balance servicing existing clients with the need to visit potential new ones.
That’s a lot of noise for one copywriter’s head. And it’s happening round the clock, not just in business hours. The freelance life is one of always being open for business, always developing new ideas and finding cool ways of maximising ROI (ie. time!).
The next time you’re at a party or networking event and you suspect that the person opposite you may be something in the freelance way, don’t be surprised if there’s a long wait before they give you an answer to your blindingly simple question: “What do you do?”
The reason for the delay is because the question’s being circulated around every department in the poor soul’s head before an appointed spokesperson from ‘New Business’ blurts out: “Freelance copywriter!”
Hey Mike mate…. After going through 3 re-reads at BBC radio commissioning and getting through to the final 20 from an original 800 submissions, my short story failed at the final fence…. I’m gutted to be honest.
Do you want to read it and let me know what you think?
Steve.