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This article first appeared in Sharpe & Direct, the weekly direct mail marketing newsletter published by Alan Sharpe, direct mail copywriter to businesses large and small.

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Why You Should Become a Copywriter (12 reasons).

By Alan Sharpe

I've been selling on paper for 14 years and my job has yet to lose its allure. I support a wife and two boys, and pay a mortgage, on the income I make from persuading people to buy stuff. You should consider a career as a copywriter, too. Here's why.

1. Copywriters help the economy

Every product and service that turns a profit in today's economy has a copywriter to thank for its success somewhere along the way. Without print advertising, billboards, television commercials and radio commercials, without direct mail, brochures, flyers and other printed sales collateral, without product packaging, slogans, product names, jingles, coupons and retail point-of-purchase displays, without websites, multimedia presentations and interactive product demos, most products and services would either never get to market or would die soon after their arrival. Copywriters craft the words that drive the sales that keep our economy healthy. If you ate today, thank a copywriter.

2. Copywriters help the needy

Along with many others, I make part of my living by writing fundraising letters for non-profits. A recent package that I wrote generated two gifts totalling $30,000, the exact amount that my client (an evangelical adoption agency) needed to upgrade its office computers, deliver better service, and save children from being aborted. My copy saves lives and makes the world a better place. Yours can, too.

3. Copywriting furthers your career

If you want to reach the top as an executive, you must master the power of the pen. Persuasive writing skills are essential at every level of management in every organization, especially among executives who manage operations in global markets.

4. Copywriting is an investment that grows as you grow

Benjamin Franklin once said that "the man who empties his purse into his head makes a wise investment because no one can take it away from him." Whatever line of work you move into, your copywriting skills go with you. No one can take them away from you. Your ability to grab attention, stimulate interest, awaken desire and motivate action using the written word is valuable in just about every career field you care to enter.

5. Copywriting earns you the respect of your peers

The more creative and effective you are as a copywriter, the more likely you are to win awards for your achievements. Awards that draw the praise and admiration of your peers.

6. Be your own boss

I run my own business as a copywriter. I don't have a boss. I don't have to punch in. I don't have to fear being fired one day. No uniform. No glass ceiling. Become a freelance copywriter and you can also enjoy the freedom (and vicissitudes) of self-employment.

7. Work from home

My daily commute lasts 5.8 seconds (walking from the kitchen table to my office). I don't have to endure office politics because I work alone from home as a freelancer. I got started in this business from an attic apartment with nothing more than a computer, card table, homemade business card and plenty of prayer. Start-up costs are affordable. And you can work in your pyjamas.

8. Copywriters don't need a college education

I dropped out of high school. I failed almost every subject except English. Yet I make my living writing sales letters that are signed by chief executive officers and presidents of multinational firms. As a copywriter, you will almost never be asked for your educational credentials. All that matters to most clients is your ability to sell on paper affordably. You'll need to develop that skill, naturally, but you needn't attend university to do so.

9. Copywriting is a job you can do well into your old age

Do you see many road labourers or roofers in their 60s? Their bodies are worn out at that age. But you will meet plenty of freelance copywriters in their 60s who are still churning out profitable copy. If your mind is sharp, you can make a living sitting at a desk all day.

10. Copywriting is cool

When kids ask you what you do for a living, you can reply: "Well, you know all those ordinary words that you speak every day? I take those words and arrange them on paper in a row, and re-arrange them some more, and then sell them to someone who pays me thousands of dollars for doing that." Cool.

11. You get to meet princes and paupers (and everyone in between)

The copywriter who writes the fundraising letter for the Conservative Party might interview the Prime Minister one day and the next day interview a homeless drug addict for a fundraising letter for a homeless shelter. Writing for a business, you might interview the chairman of the board in the morning and the janitor in the afternoon. You get paid good money to meet interesting people at each end of the social spectrum, and tell their stories in your promotional copy.

12. Copywriting is personally rewarding

Friends of mine who are farmers and mechanics almost faint when I tell them that I start each day with a blank computer screen that must be filled with persuasive copy by noon. They dread the thought of making a living that way. But I enjoy hearing that my copy has helped my clients increase sales, attract new clients, generate sales meetings, enter new markets and raise funds. When my clients praise me for my effective copy, which happens on occasion, I feel good about being a copywriter. And I thank the Lord for any talent I have as a salesman in print.

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Alan Sharpe is a direct mail copywriter. Alan helps businesses generate sales and secure sales meetings with qualified prospects using cost-effective, compelling direct mail marketing. Subscribe to "Sharpe & Direct," his weekly direct mail marketing newsletter at www.sharpecopy.com. Discuss your next direct response marketing lead generation campaign during a free 30-minute telephone consultation with Alan. Book your consultation now by phoning 1 877 SHARPE COPY (742-7732).