Home Complete List of Side Hustle Ideas Copywriter
$20-$120 per hour
Write persuasive and engaging content, often for marketing and advertising.
| Time to First Earnings | 1 week | |
|---|---|---|
| Work Location | Remote | |
| Startup Costs |
$0–$500
|
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| Licenses & Certifications |
RequiredNone |
OptionalNone |
If you enjoy writing, have a background in marketing or sales, and are looking for a flexible and potentially lucrative side hustle, then copywriting might be a near-perfect fit.
Read on for an explanation of exactly what copywriting is and why businesses need it. We’ll also give you step-by-step instructions on how to set up a copywriting side hustle, even if you’re completely new to the field.
Copywriting is the process of crafting compelling text, or “copy,” for a brand. Copy can serve any of several purposes, including increasing the brand’s visibility or persuading readers to take a particular action (such as clicking a link, subscribing to a newsletter, or making a purchase).
Almost all types of businesses use copy to market their products or services in one way or another. You can find copywriters everywhere, working on both print and online materials.
For instance, the call-to-action buttons on web pages, such as “Follow Us,” “Sign Up,” and “Learn More,” are written by copywriters. Product descriptions, email newsletters, and advertisements are also all examples of copywriting.
The main difference between copywriting and content writing is that the former focuses on persuading and selling, whereas the latter aims to inform, educate, or entertain the reader.
Typically, the term “copy” refers to shorter-form text, whereas “content” refers to longer-form material. For example, as mentioned, email newsletters and ads are considered examples of copywriting. On the other hand, blog posts (like the one you’re reading) are considered content writing.
Content writing often makes up part of a brand’s marketing strategy, but it isn’t as direct about it as copywriting.
Many professional copywriters work for agencies, which provide copywriting services (and other related services, such as brand strategy consultation) to clients. Full-time copywriters at agencies earn highly variable rates. Early on in their careers, they often make $40,000–$50,000 per year, but highly experienced copywriters can make well into the six figures.
However, if you’re exploring this as a potential side hustle, you’re probably more interested in working as an online freelancer than getting a full-time job with an agency.
Freelance copywriters also earn variable rates. On the low end, they may earn $20 per hour or even less; on the high end, some set their rates as high as $120 per hour.
Freelance copywriting is an attractive side hustle because it has a very low barrier to entry; all you really need is a laptop, a word processor, and an internet connection. For this reason, there are a lot of self-professed marketing and writing gurus who claim they can teach you to make $1,000+ per week as a copywriter—if you purchase their online course or guide, of course.
Unfortunately, the reality is less idyllic than these guides claim. It’s possible to earn a lot of money from copywriting, but it takes hard work. Especially in the age of cheap and easily produced AI content, the market for freelance writers of all types is extremely competitive, and to succeed, you’ll need to convince clients that you’re worth the money.
This means you need to be a skilled and versatile writer. You also need a deep understanding of how sales, branding, and marketing work, and you must be good at marketing yourself—in other words, making sure that your skills are apparent to your potential clients.
The bottom line: If you have a knack for copywriting, you might be able to earn quite a bit of money from it. However, it isn’t a way to get rich quick. It will take a lot of time and effort (and potentially a bit of luck) to build a profitable copywriting side hustle, just like if you wanted to establish yourself in any other challenging industry.
To give you a few examples of what copywriters do and help you generate ideas for your own side hustle, we’ve curated a list of the most popular types of copywriting out there:
SEO is a set of strategies you can use to make your website more likely to rank well on search engines like Google.
As an SEO copywriter, you’ll research relevant keywords and insert them into web copy in a way that feels natural and unobtrusive. This means avoiding the outdated strategy of “keyword stuffing”—inserting keywords excessively—and staying up to date on a constantly evolving set of best practices, as the SEO industry changes on an almost-daily basis.
Social media copy is exactly what it sounds like: text that’s posted on social media channels for marketing purposes. It includes:
Social media copywriters need to be highly familiar with the conventions on major social platforms so that their copy performs well in the sites’ algorithms.
These days, most companies market their services via email. Effective email marketing copy is engaging and doesn’t make consumers feel like they’re reading blatant ads.
As a copywriter, achieving this often means creating email sequences that include interesting information related to the brand you’re writing for. For instance, an eco-friendly company might provide little-known environmental facts or stories about how they source local ingredients for their products. In this way, email copywriting and content writing have a certain amount of overlap—both include heavy elements of education and storytelling in addition to pure persuasion.
In a nutshell, sales pages are where businesses with online presences place their “purchase” buttons. A landing page is where users are directed after clicking a link.
Landing pages may double as sales pages, but that’s not always the case. They can also be used for a variety of other purposes, such as collecting information about users by prompting them to sign up for a mailing list (pages like this are also referred to as “lead generation pages”).
Writing effective sales and landing page copy requires being both concise and persuasive. It also often involves using SEO techniques.
Everybody’s familiar with ads. Advertising copywriters specialize in creating them.
As an ad copywriter, you may write for all sorts of advertisements, including web and email ads, mobile ads, flyers, and posters. You’ll need to come up with creative and engaging copy that’s targeted at your client’s customers and true to their brand.
Product descriptions, which are seen both on e-commerce websites and in print media (e.g., magazines), describe products’ features and highlight their benefits. Effective copy will convey each item’s value, explaining to the consumer why they should purchase it.
Here again, crafting product descriptions often involves some degree of SEO savvy. For example, if you’re writing descriptions for a client who’s selling on an online marketplace, such as Amazon or eBay, you’ll need to add relevant keywords to increase the listings’ visibility in search results.
If you want to turn copywriting into a profitable side hustle, you need to be a good writer, but by itself, that isn’t enough. You also need to know how to attract clients and build a strong professional network.
Follow these steps to get your copywriting side hustle up and running:
Often, the first step when you become a freelance writer of any sort is to identify a niche you want to specialize in. Doing so will allow you to build a reputation as an expert, attract higher-quality clients, and charge better rates.
When you pick a copywriting niche from the list above, make sure you have a strong understanding of what it entails, and remember that the lines between different types of copywriting sometimes blur. Look up lots of examples from well-respected writers in your specialty so that you have a firm grasp of the kind of copy you’ll be expected to turn out.
Being a good writer doesn’t automatically make you skilled at copywriting, which is very different from blogging, journalism, fiction writing, and technical writing (to name a few examples of other types of writing that are often produced on a freelance basis).
To be an effective copywriter, you need to be good at crafting persuasive messages in a concise and (ideally) relatively subtle way, so that readers don’t find them tacky or pushy. The best copywriters aren’t just competent writers—they’re also great salespeople.
There are a lot of resources you can use to learn the basics of copywriting. Many established professionals have good things to say about these sites:
Note that all three of these sites offer paid copywriting courses, most of which are fairly pricey—a subscription to Copyhackers’ “Copy School,” for instance, currently costs $97 per week. However, you don’t need to fork over that kind of money to learn copywriting.
All of those sites also have free articles that you can read to acquire an initial base of knowledge. If you decide that you want paid instruction further on down the line, their courses will still be there.
You should also spend some time browsing the Reddit community r/copywriting, which sees posts both from old hands and newbies. Their copywriting FAQ is another useful resource, and it’s a good next stop once you finish reading this guide (notably, it links out to several other posts that include copywriting practice exercises, which will help you when you move onto the next step).
When you dive into copywriting, you’ll need to create a writing portfolio. This will serve two purposes: sharpening your skills and showcasing them to potential clients.
You can create a website to host your work or upload it to a free portfolio service, such as:
If you’ve never completed a paid copywriting job before, create a few samples (e.g., if you want to be an ad copywriter, pick a product you identify with and write an example advertisement for it). Prioritize quality over quantity. Don’t include every project you’ve ever worked on—just your best work.
As you gain experience, keep your portfolio updated, and add concrete evidence of your copy’s effectiveness whenever possible. For example, if your chosen niche is sales and landing page copywriting, then in addition to displaying the copy you created, you should also add the conversion rates for the websites to your portfolio.
Setting your rates can be a delicate balancing act, particularly in the beginning. It’s important to charge rates that aren’t so low that your copywriting hustle won’t be viable, but also aren’t so high that they’ll scare away clients.
The easiest way to set a reasonable rate is to research how much your peers are charging and use the average as a benchmark. You can start by looking at Upwork’s list of copywriters for hire (Upwork is a very popular marketplace for freelancers, and it may be one of the main websites you use to find work).
When you do your research, be sure to look at copywriters with similar experience and skill levels as you to get an accurate estimate. You should also pay attention to where those copywriters and their clients are based, as location plays an important role in pricing (people in more expensive areas tend to charge more).
To start freelancing, you need to be comfortable taking the initiative and cold pitching to clients you want to work with. This means emailing or calling them and offering your services, explaining the value you can bring as quickly and convincingly as you can.
You’ll face a lot of rejections. Unfortunately, there’s no way around that; you’ll have to persevere and keep putting yourself out there if you want to succeed in this field.
In addition to cold pitching, create a profile on freelancing websites. These are notorious for having low-paying gigs and stiff competition, but they also have a lot of job opportunities for copywriters of all levels. They can be good places to hone your skills, although you’ll make more money if you move off of them eventually, once you’ve found your footing and built your reputation somewhat.
Below, we’ve listed some of the most popular general freelancing platforms and freelance writing websites for you to find work on:
Lastly, don’t forget to leverage your existing professional network to find clients. Reach out to former colleagues and bosses who may be interested in your services. Even if they aren’t currently in the market, they might refer you to someone else who’s looking for a copywriter, or contact you in the future if their circumstances change.
If you keep at this, you’ll eventually meet with a measure of success. When that day comes, pat yourself on the back, but don’t let yourself rest on your laurels—that isn’t a good idea when you’re trying to stay ahead in a competitive industry.
To stay on top of your game, it’s important to continuously engage with the copywriting field at large and always be on the lookout for self-improvement opportunities.
You can network with other industry professionals by connecting with them on social media, such as in the following Facebook groups:
Joining these groups will give you the chance to forge connections and get your name out there, as well as keep up with the latest copywriting trends. Contribute to them regularly so that you don’t find yourself losing your finger on the pulse of the industry.
