If I asked you to write 35 words advertising a brand of soap, could you do it? If you can, you've got a great future as a copywriter.



But what do copywriters write? Here are five forms to get you started.

1. Businesses love brochures

Whenever a new product is created, a brochure is developed for it. The brochure may just be flyer - think junk mail - or it can be a glossy publication.

2. White papers - popular with businesses selling to other businesses

In some of the business to business markets, especially for high-priced items, executive overviews or white papers are primary sales tools. These are information-packed documents, and copywriters write them.

White papers vary in length, from five to many pages, depending on the information they provide; they're a subtle form of selling.

3. Businesses need press releases to get free publicity

Businesses small and large hire copywriters to write press releases, with the hope of getting coverage in major newspapers and magazines, and even on television. So if you get some practice writing press releases, you can become a PR copywriter.

There's a strict format for a press release; you can find this format in a book on PR at your library, as well as online.

4. Radio spots - audio copywriting

Writing for performance, for radio, TV, and speeches, is highly paid. You can break in with radio "spots" as radio ads are known.

It's easy to break into radio copywriting, because usually DJs are left to write these ads, and they hate it. So get some experience in writing samples, and then ask for an interview at a local radio station.

You'll find that you will easily get hired: most radio stations aren't set up to write spots, and they love to farm them out to freelancers.

5. Ultra short copywriting with taglines and slogans

Taglines and slogans are usually very short, they're a brief bite which encapsulates a service or products.

I know one new copywriter who launched a whole career when he wrote a tagline for a store. The store owner loved the tagline so much he introduced the copywriter to the head of an advertising agency.