Saturday, April 26, 2008

Hello World

Why, and How I Started my Copywriting Career.

When I first strayed into advertising from teaching, I honestly did not know what copywriting is, I only had one intention then: to get acquainted with learning, reading and write the beautiful English language. Had it not for my deep passion for learning and reading English from childhood, I would not dare to take the plunge. Making a career switch at this point of time with a family plus an extended family to feed and support is very nerve wrecking

Call it divine intervention or sheer luck, I decided to go with my heart. I knew that a career in writing will give me immense pleasure. I can satiate my reading thirst and still be able to earn a living by it. And I do make a living by writing!. I never felt happier reseaching and reading a book, an article or a blog post every day. My job is now a hobby and a job fused together.

Learning the art by reading ads.

In my early days of learning, I started by reading the copy of other ads. Some were pedestrian while some were extremely good. I spent most of my time by referring to the dictionary, and trying to figure out the concept behind the ad. Nice words don’t sell. I got to know how to sell the advertisers’ products and services by using the correct words. I knew that only through strenuous and arduous efforts - by reading and understanding others copy and ideation, will I learn the craft of copywriting.


First tryst to write an ad.

There was an recruitment ad to be done for a noted publication and I was lucky to get the job because it’s senior writer was sick. The copy came out well, and both the client and my agency like the way I wrote it. I gained lots of confidence with the success of my first advertisement copy. I started writing boldly to further garner more confidence.

Mentorship; or lack of it.

Now, I have a few people I can look up to and learn to improve myself. This is good because mentors are wings beneath my wind. However, I did not have any mentor then. I did not know any one who was into copywriting, or work in the creative industry. Thanks to my humble upbringing, I followed my heart to learn the art of copywriting all by myself. As good advertising books and copywriting books were very costly and scarce in Bangalore, I relied a lot on newspapers. I read lots of press advertisements

I want this about myself – I am a self-learner and want to stand as a radiant example to those who wish to take up writing as a career but have doubts haunting them:

Can I make it?

Should I look for a mentor? But I don’t have enough money to finance a coaching programme?

Can I become a successful copywriter?

All I can say is: Crave for it strongly and believe in yourself; and it’ll be done to you! You’re just one great ad-campaign away from success!

If you are really serious, God and the universe will send you help when you least expected. I did not expect making friends and receiving so much support from my blogosphere friends. I like to take this opportunity to thank two friends who are instrumental in creating this blog, and for being a great source of inspiration: Vivienne Quek, from Versa Creations Pte Ltd, writes a wonderful marketing and advertising blog at http://www.versacreations.net. Without her friendship and constant encouragement, this blog will not be created so soon. Vivienne introduced me to Bokjae, who writes a personal blog at http://www.jangbokjae.blogspot.com/. He is a warm-hearted retiree who believe in lending a hand where help is greatly appreciated. In fact, He is the one who helped design this blog!

I trust myself that I can learn to write better. I trust God and the universe will support me.

3 comments:

Solomon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bokjae said...

Congratulations! and a Warm Welcome to the Blogging World. Looking forward to your posts and thanks for the mention!

Solomon said...

Hi Bokjae,

Thank you so much for designing this blog for me. It wouldn't be a reality if not for your help and Vivienne's guidance.
I know there are many people like you in this world who help people so overwhelmingly.

I wish you and your family a Happy and Prosperous New Year!