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.