The J.B. Writing Blog

All men dream; but not equally.
- T.E. Lawrence

We all envision some perfect lifestyle. Maybe we're rockstars, maybe we're CEOs, maybe we're pro sportspeople. When we're kids we eagerly tell the whole world about our dreams; one week we're going to be a fireman, the next week we're going to be a vet. When I was seven I wanted to be a pirate.

Somewhere along the line though our dreams get smaller. We start dreaming of how great it would be if we could quit our jobs, or get a new car, or be done with this boring meeting/class/seminar.

It's so easy to go with the status quo. No matter what you're doing all you have to do is look around, see how everyone else is doing it, then copy them. Maybe you add a touch of individualistic flair and tell yourself you're different, but you're not really different.

It's gotten so bad that “nothing is original” is pretty much an aphorism. Thank you Jim Jarmusch.

So, you're looking for a copywriter. Maybe it's for your corporate financial services company, maybe it's for the small jewellery business you run out of your bedroom – either way it would be better to hire a “specialised” copywriter, right? Surely a “financial services copywriter” can produce more suitable copy than “just a copywriter”, right? Surely a “small business copywriter” has expertise far beyond that of “just a copywriter” when it comes to writing for small businesses, right? Wrong.

When I tell people what I do I get a mixture of responses - some think I write the little copyright statements at the bottom of websites, others think I copy down what clients dictate to me and neither of those tasks are really anything like my actual job.

The trouble is that because a lot of people have never heard of copywriting they don't think to hire a copywriter when they end up writing their website or designing a poster for their business. After all, writing is easy, right?