Each month we’re singling out one of our members for extra love! The lucky member this month is Matt Fenwick
Matt Fenwick | Bio
Tell us about life before you became a copywriter, what did you do?
Why did you decide that copywriting was the right career for you?
The vocation for me is content. So part of that’s writing it, but I’m also nerdishly fascinated by everything else around content – IA, branding, workflows, capability development.
I love being able to swing between really abstract strategy stuff and sitting down and smashing out some copy.
What challenges have you faced since becoming a copywriter?
Tell us about your favourite client so far?
Gosh. Carona would be one. They’re an Aussie manufacturing success story (they do industrial roller doors, freezer doors etc).
They’re very very good at what they do, but are confident in that, and open to advice. They’re grateful. Also, money has never been a problem.
Tell us about your worst client experience so far and the lessons you learned?
Ha! I had one last year – a referral from a marketing consultant. It was in the ‘wealth generation’ space.
My contract was with the client direct, but the marketing consultant inserted himself into the middle of conversations – so for example, when the client wasn’t happy with the first draft, they talked it over with the marketing consultant, not me.
They wanted a further meeting to discuss, which was outside of scope, so I was like ‘you need to pay more $$$’. It all went south after that – debt collection etc.
What did I learn?
1) Where there’s a third party involved (other than the client), be very clear on the lines of communication and what their role is
2) Be a bit flexible. I know you’ve talked about this on the Pod – so have a clear scope, but be prepared to bend that a little if it makes the difference between the project being derailed, and it shuffling along. I think if I’d had that meeting with the client, a lot of the guff could’ve been avoided.
3) Cut dickheads loose. The marketing consultant was zero help on the non-payment issue (and had referred a couple of other duds) – so I’m no longer doing business with him.
“I love being able to swing between really abstract strategy stuff and sitting down and smashing out some copy.“
How has becoming a copywriter changed your day to day life?
I don’t come home with a gnawing hole in my stomach.
What one tip would you pass on to someone looking to make the move into copywriting?
Loving??? Don’t be too much of a purist about following your niche in the early days. It’s absolutely fine to have a few ideas about the type of work you want to do, but…
1) It’s also fine to take some short-term contracts via a recruitment agency for cashflow and contacts (I didn’t do this because I was all about flying the freelancing flag, and chasing my own leads – but I could’ve done with the money.)
2) You may discover that what you love is very different to what you thought you’d love.
Over to you
Have you had any similar experiences to Matt? Please share in the comments below.
