I’m a self-employed copywriter. Hopefully, you all know that by now. I’ve always enjoyed putting pen to paper/fingers to keyboard, but I never envisaged earning my living as a copywriter. An author, for sure, but never a copywriter.
So how did I end up here?
For years, I worked as a secretary/PA/office manager. I hated it, not the role specifically. I just wasn’t an ideal employee. I asked too many questions. Routine bored me. I wanted to set my own schedule and workload. I yearned for more creativity in my job.
And then I met my other half and had children. Several house moves later, when I’d given up work due to a bout of illness, moving around for my husband’s career, and to care for our children, I decided it was time to get a job again.
That was the plan, but employers now saw me as past my expiry date. My skills were outdated. My available hours were “hampered by children” (their words, not mine). My degree counted for next to nothing.
I’d already had a taste of self-employment through my murder mystery script writing business. Writing commissioned plays for fundraisers and small charities was a dream come true. But it didn’t earn me enough to really contribute to my family’s income. What running that side hustle had done for me was build my self-discipline and motivation, inform me on the rules and laws surrounding self-employment, and proved that my writing skills were good.
I contacted a local VA agency to see if they had any freelance vacancies. They did. They were even interested in my writing skills. So began my time working as a VA, including supporting their regular copywriter. I wrote blog posts, training materials, emails, and social media posts. All of a sudden, my skills mattered, not my age/family situation/years out of employment.
Freelancing for that VA agency helped me grow into my copywriting skills and build my confidence. So much so that about a year after starting out as a VA, I decided to commit to my role as a copywriter. I was already registered as self-employed, it was the element of working as a VA that I enjoyed the most, and I had a year’s worth of experience under my belt. Plus, I knew I could make a healthy contribution to my family’s income by running my own copywriting business.
Six years later and I’m still working as a freelance copywriter, happy running my own business, and feel lucky that I get to write for a living. I’ve narrowed my service down to blog posts and landing pages for small to medium businesses because that’s what I enjoy creating the most (and I’m not three bad at them either).
Self-employment isn’t for everyone, but I’m so glad that I jumped on the freelance path. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
