The ‘YOU’ Brand
by Marsha Maung

You’ve heard it said many times before but my question would be….did it sink in? Whether you’re a professional copywriter, an engineer or a HR manager, you’re selling yourself. In every aspect of your life, you’re selling either products, ideas, yourself, your company, services, your friendship, your leadership….and your own brand. In the business terms, you’re basically selling products and service via enhancing how people perceive your company. A good branding exercise will help your customers see you in the right light.

But does a professional copywriter need to sell himself or herself as a brand?

Well, technically, you don’t have to because you could very well market your professional copywriting services without having a logo or creating a lasting image. But if the ideal situation for you to be in is to have a stream of projects and make a steady income from your professional copywriting freelance business….you’ll need it.

The biggest obstacle for professional copywriters is that they may not know how best to market a company, product or service….but when it comes to marketing and branding themselves, it’s a little tougher than you’d anticipate….so anticipate that. If you’re a professional copywriter like me who is fighting in a very crowded battlefield, what I reckon is that you DO need to come up with your own personal brand or style. Are you the quirky writer with a quick witty tongue? Are you a serious no-nonsense business writer who writes to convince and nothing else? Are you a writer with an imagination so wild that you could literally make a write-up about a blank piece of paper come to life?

 

 

But one of the more important things is that you must know is this…. your audience….who your competitors are and how people see you and think of you not only as a writer but as a person. It’s very important because it also determines your total perceived value….which translates into how much are they willing to pay you for the work that you do.

The great thing about working from home as a professional copywriter is that personal appearance, clothing and attractiveness plays NO PART at all whenever you’re working or meeting up with someone ONLINE. But your personality counts for a lot. People who are going to hire you as their professional copywriter wants to know, the way an employee would like to know, your values, goals, behavior, discipline (if any – hee hee) and your professional commitment to your work. This, in short, is defined as competency, however,

The other thing is for you to brand yourself against your competitor. How different are you from your competitors? I am telling it to you straight to your face that you can throw three stone out of a high rise building’s window and hit at least one person who thinks he/she can write well enough to earn a decent living. So, what’s the differentiator?

At the end of the day, you’re a brand. The same way your products and services have to be branded, you have to brand yourself and make your personality and name a brand as well. There’s a cascading effect to what you present to others and the future of your career as a professional copywriter is defined purely by that.

So, in short, this is what you need to do….imagine yourself as a product, all wrapped up nice and neat, sitting right there on the shelves with millions of other branded copywriters in this world waiting for others to take you on. What makes you sand out?

Treat yourself as a product and sell it because this is the only way you’re going to make it as a professional copywriter….especially in this dim and dark economy.

Good luck!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marsha Maung is a Malaysian-based freelance web copywriter with two kids. She spends her time ferrying her kids around, watering her plants, writing web content, SEO stuff, ghostwriting books and also indulges in the occasional Facebook-ing. Visit her blog for more dirty details on the life and times of a mother, writer, designer, housekeeper, coffee-maker, poop-wiper, chef...and just about everything else under the sun.

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<b>Marsha Maung</b> is a Malaysian-based <a href="http://www.marshamaung.com" target="_blank">freelance writer</a> with two kids. She spends her time ferrying her kids around, watering her plants, writing web content, SEO stuff, ghostwriting books and also indulges in the occasional Facebook-ing. Visit her <a href="http://www.marshamaung.blogspot.com" target="_blank">blog</a> for more dirty details on the life and times of a mother, writer, designer, housekeeper, coffee-maker, poop-wiper, chef...and just about everything else under the sun.