Why did you choose a career in copywriting and how did you get into it?

I got into copywriting as a means to connect my two resounding skillsets. I’m passionate about the experiences we can create for others, and I love the psychology that influences how people make decisions.

Business owners are like popcorn machines. They have thousands of quality ideas flying around, but they don’t always know how to present them. Oftentimes, my clients lack clarity and can’t see the enormous value in their own stories.

Copywriting is my ikigai (the reason why I get up in the morning) because it empowers me to help people see the value in everything they do, and it lets me reverse engineer human psychology to persuade the ‘yes!’ response in their dream clients!

What work are you most proud of?

I take the most pride in the work I do for small business owners. I ask all of my clients for feedback, and one of the questions I ask is, “which problem have I best solved for you?”. Nearly always, the answer is some variation of, “you’ve given me the confidence to believe in my own business.”

There’s no greater satisfaction than seeing a client open their freshly-prepared brand story, and say, “wow, look how incredible my business really is!”

What piece of copy do you really wish you’d written?

I wish I was old enough to have worked with Claude Hopkins  (an American advertising pioneer). I’m a complete geek when it comes to analysing things, so I would have loved to have been part of the scientific roots of the sales copywriting we use today.

What do you do if you hit a bit of writer’s block?

I go back to the old days and work with a ballpoint pen on paper. It warms the mood and lets me have a bit of fun with it.

What are your favourite and least and favourite writing-related tasks?

I love the creation process, and I love going back through my work to play around with the nuances in structure and tone. My least favourite part of writing is juggling too many clients at once. I prefer to focus on one project at a time to give it my full attention.

Any copywriting pet hates?

I’m a structure fanatic, so I get frustrated when I read confused content that jumps around between concepts but never really gets anywhere worth going to.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given?

My dad once told me that no matter which industry I choose to work in, I should always make sure that I have a fully-developed skill within myself that I can always fall back on.

I took a course in freelance journalism and travel writing to develop my natural writing skills, and now I run my entire copywriting business on the inherent skills I’ve developed over the years. If the internet disappears tomorrow, my copywriting skills work just as well without it. Thanks, Dad!

What advice would you give to people starting out on a copywriting career?

Steer clear of the shiny social media trends and instead learn as much as you can about human psychology. Writing is storytelling, but more importantly, copywriting is the creation of deep psychological journeys and for that, you need to understand people, not stories.

Why do you find ProCopywriters membership useful?

I like being part of a professional community. Copywriters are naturally generous with their knowledge, so I’ve enjoyed seeing how others work and learning from other copywriting businesses.

Where can people find out more about you?

You can visit my website writtenbynatalie.co.uk or follow me on social media @copywriternatalie. I also have an app that’s available in the App Store and Play Store, which is called Brand Story. My LinkedIn profile can be found at linkedin.com/in/copywriternatalie.