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MenuI have $400 to start an online product/service/business. Where do I start?
-- I have worked in several agencies as a copywriter.
-- I can pay $100 per month for site maintenance and whatnot.
I am in urgent need of starting a business to help my family and further my education. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Answers
The worst motivation for starting a business is the need for income. A business has to be built over time based on meeting a market need. Of course a business must make money to be successful, but this can take a bit of time.
So, the real need is to use the online world to make money. Based on your copywriter skills, here are some ideas to get you started:
1) Start a blog. You can do this for free with platforms such as Blogger and WordPress. This will provide you a chance to show case your writing talent. Writing articles about copywriting can both demonstrate your writing ability and be used to market your approach.
2) Join job markets. There are several freelance sites you can use to make extra money without little to no cost, such as Upwork and elance. You will find jobs on these that will help you earn money and build your portfolio. The pay can be low as the markets tend to be aggressive but a few good contacts can lead to a better source of work.
3) Build your network. Connect with people who provide web marketing services. They need guest bloggers, ghost writers and ad copywriters. Over time you can build a steady source of freelance work.
Once you have a good portfolio and practice, you should consider building a branded web site. But first, build your freelance brand. This approach works with other skills too.
Let me know how else I can help.
I have hired many copywriters over the years...
Your best bet with your skills is to write some killer sales copy for your own copywriting service and promote on Warrior Forum as WSO, and actively engage other agencies and marketers in related forums, subreddits, etc... Post an offer on reddit.com/r/forhire
Just promote yourself as a copywriter... Once you have a basic income coming in you can start finding ways to scale your expertise. (i.e. finding a whitelabel or drop ship provider and list those items as new items on amazon and write better sales copy for your listings.
Shoemoney, one of the best at making money online started off with Ebay arbitrage where we found price discrepencies on electronis on ebay from country to country, bought a cheap item, relisted it as a much better listing with a higher price and sold it before he ever paid for the one he was buying.
A less risky version would be to visit slickdeals and fatwallet. Buy great deals, and list them on craiglist locally for sale. People on craigslist wont really comparison shop and they will assume its cheaper on craigslist than from a store.
IF you need to make real money to support a family... You can find lots of work from home jobs like being a usertester for usertesting.com , writing on textbroker.com copypress.com and the many other writer marketplaces. Post gigs on fiverr. etc... None of these will make you rich, but it will make you a living. Drive from Uber on the weekends, become a task rabbit worker, etc... lots of ways to find work online for offline odd jobs...
Good Luck.
Don't start. Asking "where do I start?" is a bad sign when your only goal is to make money.
There's nothing wrong with making money, of course. But any project must solve a problem or create something of value. Right now you haven't identified anything to do worth doing.
A startup isn't going to succeed unless the person founding it knows what he's starting and why. Wanting money may be your justification, but why would any customer care about that?
Continue working in areas where your work is valued. If possible, convert those jobs as an employee or freelancer into your own ongoing client base. Later you can build a brand for yourself around that ... as your actual business grows.
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Kudos to you for seeing the value in great copy. I love that you mentioned 37signals, which is an organization that's made copywriting part of almost everyone's jobs (or so they've shared on their blog). MailChimp and Zendesk are two others that people often point to re: great copy that builds a brand and differentiates; Groupon is another awesome example of really, really tonal copy that people actually read (which is more than half the battle). MailChimp has in-house copywriters, including Kate Kiefer (https://twitter.com/katekiefer), and so does Groupon. I'm not sure who writes for Dropbox or Zendesk, though searching companies on LinkedIn can often reveal little-known in-house geniuses. The startups you mention have a certain style and tone that I have to say is different from what you'll normally get with a "direct response" copywriter, though by all means check out the link David Berman submitted to you because you never know. I recommend that, to achieve the slightly funky, funny-ish copy you're looking for, you seek out a conversion-focused copywriter with a creative and UX background. You need someone who's totally at ease adopting a new voice / tone and using it appropriately across your site and in your emails; less experienced copywriters might be heavy-handed with the tone, which often gets in the way of the user experience (e.g., button copy that's tonal can lead to confusion). Be careful, of course, not to push your writer to be exceptionally creative -- because a little touch of tone goes a loooong way for busy, scanning eyes. Here are some great freelance copywriters you could consider: http://copyhackers.com/freelance-copywriters-for-hire/ The link to Neville's Kopywriting peeps is also great. Before hiring, ask to see a portfolio or get a) links to websites they've written and b) a zip of emails they've written; if a writer is accepting clients, they'll usually showcase their work on their website. Check out their blog and tweets to see if their voice comes through in their own writing. Don't hire bloggers or content creators for a job a copywriter should do. Don't hire print copywriters for web work unless they do both. And when you find a great copywriter, trust them... and don't let them go - because 10 bucks says, they're in demand or about to be.JW
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Starting two businesses at once. Is it recommended for a new entrepreneur?
I think as a first-time entrepreneur who is non-technical, you should focus 100% of your energy on your clothing business with your buddy. There is far less required to make a clothing business a success than a startup run by a non-technical founder. I don't mean to trivialize the challenges of running an apparel company (there are many) but comparatively, there is a greater chance of you having success with the apparel business than a startup. But you *reduce* your chances of success by diluting your focus with other ideas. Happy to talk to you in a call about starting off on the right foot with a cofounder.TW
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