Fed up with low fees for freelance journalism?
Uncertain about your job security?
Planning for life beyond newspapers?
Wondering about adding copywriting as an income stream?
Do not fancy spending a day on Zoom or travelling to London?
The video course comprises over 60 bitesize lessons. We estimate it will take about four hours to work through. It’s followed by a one-hour group webinar where you can get feedback on the writing exercises and ask any questions. You will come away knowing how to run a successful freelance copywriting business.
Among other things, you will discover:
- How to transfer your journalism skills to copywriting
- Marketing basics to help promote your clients and yourself
- What you needto know about copywriting for websites
- How to find copywriting clients and decide what to charge
- And more!
Note that you don’t have to be a journalist to attend. The course also suits people who work in marketing or comms, as long as you can already write.
To get a flavour of this material (and meet your trainer), watch this free preview lesson.
The course begins on 6 November when you will be granted access to the course materials to work through at your own pace.
You will also be invited to join a small group of fellow trainees for an informal followup Q&A conversation with Jackie, on Zoom.
If you would prefer to attend Jackie's full-day course on Zoom, you will cover all the same content as part of a group. It’s highly interactive. You will also get personalised feedback about your answers to the writing exercises, and a month of email support. For more information about the live version of the course, go here.
What you will learn
"This course should be called how to get paid what you're worth and not be treated like sh*t" (Delegate quote)
The content of the pre-recorded course is based on what over 300 journalists have asked when they attended the live version.
Introduction (5 lessons)
- Getting started
- About this course
- Defining copywriting
- Writing v copywriting (part 1)
- Writing v copywriting (part 2)
Marketing basics (5 Lessons)
- Marketing funnel
- Referral schemes
- Marketing jargon
- AIDA sample
- AID-C-A
Grabbing attention (6 Lessons)
- Activity: Count the dots
- Activity: Writing headlines 1
- Activity: Writing headlines 2
- B2C and B2B copywriting
- AI and copywriting
- AI and research
Maintaining interest (3 Lessons)
- Top-down v bottom-up copywriting
- Turn it upside-down
- Summary: Maintaining interest
Generating desire (3 Lessons)
- FAB grid
- FAB grid: completed
- Selling to B2B customers
Prompting action (2 Lessons)
- Calls to action
- Eye tracking
Unique Selling Point (USP) (4 Lessons)
- USP: A story
- Activity: USP
- USP: Example
- Writing slogans
Print marketing (3 Lessons)
- Assessing print marketing
- Activity: Landscaper leaflet
- Landscaper leaflet: Commentary
Digital marketing (2 Lessons)
- Setting objectives
- Screen v print
Writing web copy (3 Lessons)
- Writing a homepage
- Activity: IFA homepage
- IFA homepage: Commentary
Beginner's guide to SEO (8 Lessons)
- Beginner's guide to SEO (part 1)
- Beginner's guide to SEO (part 2)
- Description tags
- H1 tags
- Alt tags
- Backlinks
- Beginner's guide to SEO (part 3)
- SEO summary
Managing your freelance copywriting business (3 Lessons)
- Working process
- Discovery process
- Project management process
Finding business relationships (2 Lessons)
- Finding clients
- Finding JV partners
Marketing your freelance copywriting business (6 Lessons)
- Packaging yourself
- Tips for startups
- Providing samples
- Gathering testimonials
- Your website
- 8 marketing ideas
Setting your fees (4 Lessons)
- How much to charge
- Covering your expenses
- Pricing tips
- Cross-selling and up-selling
What next? (1 Lesson)
- Next steps
Free book
At the end of the course, you can download a FREE PDF of Jackie’s book: Copywriting Q&A: 101 freelance copywriting questions answered. It contains answers to the most common questions Jackie has been asked during her training and mentoring sessions.
Getting there
This is a video course commencing on 6 November. On this date, you will receive access to the course to work through at your own pace. Access expires after 30 days.
You will also be invited to take part in a group Q&A Zoom session on 11 December.
Alternatively, book Jackie’s live course on Zoom.
About Jackie Barrie
Your tutor trained as a journalist but has been a copywriter all her working life. She has lots of fascinating stories and insights to share…
After qualifying as a journalist, the only writing job Jackie could get was as an in-house copywriter at Freemans catalogue. She worked her way up to senior manager level before going freelance in 2001.
This depth of experience means there’s not much she doesn’t know about selling off the page and screen. She generously shares how to run a successful freelance copywriting business so you can avoid the mistakes she made and get a shortcut to success.
As well as writing for her own clients and mentoring other copywriters, she also speaks and trains across the world. Her clients range from corporates and marketing teams to small businesses and aspiring copywriters.
She’s renowned for using interaction in her talks and training sessions, to engage attendees and help embed the learning, whether that’s live online, on video or offline.
Jackie has also published books on copywriting, marketing, networking, writing for the web, icebreakers and energisers for speakers and trainers.
Testimonials
"I thought it was terrific - very clear and practical and delivered with such enthusiasm.” - Darren Slade
"I’m thoroughly enjoying your course. I love working with words, and your course ticks all my boxes. I can do it at my own pace (I work f/t and have children, so this is invaluable), and your style is so easy to digest. It doesn’t really feel like training to be honest, more like an informal conversation, like we’re in the same room. That might sound daft, sorry, but it’s true." - Cath Akins
“I thought the course was brilliant! It really inspired me - I was asked for my rate by a new client the next day and you gave me the confidence to up it and they accepted!" - Amber
"I've just finished the 'Copywriting for freelance journalists' course and it's honestly the clearest, most helpful training I've done. Just before I finished the course, a local web designer asked whether I'd like to collaborate with him on some new packages he's setting up. I overcame my imposter syndrome and said yes!" - Anna Louise Whitehouse
“Jackie Barrie's knowledge about copywriting goes way beyond her 'writing without waffle' tagline - she trains without waffle too!
Her 'Copywriting for Freelance Journalists' course is comprehensive and packed with practical advice, and she delivers it with great enthusiasm - all under-pinned by her expertise and extensive experience.
I found it easy to follow the course and its multimedia materials at my own pace - the curriculum materials were even supported by an opportunity for a small group Q and A session where myself and fellow learners were able to learn even more from Jackie, as relevant to our context.
I can highly recommend this course. It's a great way to upskill and progress your career by building on your Journalism experience. It will give any Journalist a great start when it comes to pivoting into copywriting!” - Amanda Geary Pate
“As a journalist I was a bit hesitant about copywriting, so I’d been putting off doing the course for ages. I thought it would be all about SEO, but it’s much wider than that. It's about being simple and clear and engaging the reader. It is different from journalism, but there’s a big overlap. I’m so glad I did the course - there was a lot of really good content and it’s good value for money. I wish I’d done it ages ago. Jackie is great - a really relatable, engaging speaker. Her advice is sensible, down-to-earth and helpful. And she uses clear examples to illustrate each point.” - Stephanie Boxall
