SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL OF COPYWRITING
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    • Learn How To Write Conversationally To Engage Your Audience
    • Top Skills for a Copywriter
    • Launch A Career In Advertising With These Top Portfolio Schools
    • UX Copywriting and Short Copy ​
    • Discover How To Write Killer Copy That Converts
    • What is Copywriting?
    • 10 Great Headlines from Classic Ads
    • Why Tone Can Make or Break Your Copy
    • How to Use Statistics, Facts and Quotes to Craft Compelling Copy
    • Great Copywriters Use Verbal Imagery to Tell a Story
    • Master the Art of Headline Writing!
    • Here’s How to Get Portfolio-Building Copywriting Gigs
    • What Volkswagen’s ’Think Small’ Teaches Copywriters
    • 5 Brands with Amazing Copywriting Teams
    • Master Hard and Soft CTAs for Superior Sales Writing
    • The Ultimate Checklist for Blog Copywriters
    • 10 Mistakes Even Experienced Copywriters Make
    • Read These 4 Books to Become a Better Copywriter
    • Sales Writing: How to Create Attention Grabbing Headlines
    • How to Create Persuasive Sales Copy
    • Proven Copywriting Methods Emotional Advertising
    • How to Write Good Copy : Preparation Techniques
    • Copywriting Secrets: 8 Powerful Ways to Add Proof and Credibility
    • Copywriting Cheat Sheet: Write Powerful Copy Quickly and Easily
    • Copywriting Insights: How to Test Ad Copy for Best Results
    • Write Effective Ad Copy: No Fail Secrets and Tips
    • What Never to Do When Writing Compelling Copy for Sales
    • How to Write Copy That Sells – Use Benefits
    • 6 Ways to Improve Your Copy Immediately
    • A Day in the Life of a Copywriter
    • Coffee, Copywriting, and Freedom
    • Copy is Everywhere
    • Direct Response Copy Sells
    • The Pros and Cons of Copywriting Part–Time
    • Three Tips to Write Copy that Converts
    • Two of the Biggest Mistakes Beginning Copywriters Make
    • Why Copywriting Makes a Great Second Career
    • Why I Love Being a Copywriter
    • Landing Pages that Work - Copy that Converts

A Day in the Life of a Copywriter

Working as a copywriter, especially if you’re a freelancer and own your own business is full of the multitude of tasks that running a successful business takes.

If you’re good at what you do – and you will become good at what you do if you stay at it and learn from your mistakes (!) – then you’ll find what works best for you and allot your time accordingly.


Let’s take a peek at what those tasks are and what a typical days looks like. Anyone in business must make room in their schedule for attracting and bringing in new business.

Marketing is not a sometimes activity, it’s an ongoing activity. If you make a plan, you can follow that plan and like anything else, it becomes simple to do, almost rote. Whatever method you choose for building a client base, you must systematize and be at it all the time – when you have plenty of work and when you have ‘slack’ windows as well. Over time, it will all even out.


You need to know how long projects take you and account for the occasional minor (or major!) underestimation where you’ll have to eat the time as well as the income from other projects you’ll miss because one is taking longer than planned. Trust me, it all evens out in the end and you often learn a ton from the mistakes!

You also have to make sure you’re billing and collecting money, which doesn’t take much time, but it’s and activity to consider and plan for. 

Taking all that into consideration, here’s what a relaxed week looks like for me. Monday: 9-9:30, respond to emails, check out sites where I’m a member and might contribute a word or two. Write client copy until 11:00. 11-noon, take my daily walk. Noon-1: write copy. Take a quick lunch break. Write copy from 1-4. Call it day.

Tuesday: check email quickly and write until about 10:30 Take an hour walk break. Come back, write for 1.5, take a longer lunch, then come back and write for about 3 hours. 

The rest of the week looks pretty much the same. To take it a step further, the writing time is sometimes creating copy or editing copy, but it’s sometimes laying out ideas on index cards and putting them together while doing research.

Every project I have in-house is on a white board with to-do items for the week; in my electronic calendar with time booked to work on that project and each client has a folder where anything relevant to a particular job is filed. 


I track the amount of time I work on every project so I know how long everything takes, that way I can bid on jobs and plan the work, because I actually how much time is required to get the job done.  

Over time, you’ll develop a rhythm and learn when to do which tasks. I’m not much good for creating after 3 or 4 in the afternoon, but the window between 9-2 is really fertile. I do marketing and admin in the hours when creativity is low.

Unless I’ve overcommitted – and I try hard not to do that – my days have a nice, relaxed flow and I’ve learned to be flexible and take advantage of other things that come my way – invitations to lunch or to go kayaking, or to the zoo – as long as I know I can reschedule the work and still get it done on time. Staying organized lets you sleep well at night, you know it will all get done, on time and for a great paycheck. 


If you want more specific ideas on interviewing your clients, get our Free Report TITLE here. If you want to improve your copywriting skills, check our comprehensive online course: Mastering Direct Response Copywriting.


“SFSC’s Boot Camp course delivers everything their ad promises. If you want to write better copy, learn more about marketing strategy, add fire to your business skills or just look for new freelance opportunities, this is positively the class for you. I will definitely consider another course with SFSC.”
Pamela Dyson Pierre – Oakland, CA (Author/ Writer)

​“I highly recommend the Copywriting Boot Camp 6-week intensive class offered by San Francisco School of Copywriting (SFSC)."
Karen Williams Macdonald (Marketing Consultant / Freelance Writer)

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  • Home
  • Courses
    • Copywriting 101 Online
    • Copywriting 201 Online
    • Direct Response Copywriting
    • 360 Copywriting Online
    • 360 Copywriting - Live Class
    • Comedy Writing
  • Free
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
    • Learn How To Write Conversationally To Engage Your Audience
    • Top Skills for a Copywriter
    • Launch A Career In Advertising With These Top Portfolio Schools
    • UX Copywriting and Short Copy ​
    • Discover How To Write Killer Copy That Converts
    • What is Copywriting?
    • 10 Great Headlines from Classic Ads
    • Why Tone Can Make or Break Your Copy
    • How to Use Statistics, Facts and Quotes to Craft Compelling Copy
    • Great Copywriters Use Verbal Imagery to Tell a Story
    • Master the Art of Headline Writing!
    • Here’s How to Get Portfolio-Building Copywriting Gigs
    • What Volkswagen’s ’Think Small’ Teaches Copywriters
    • 5 Brands with Amazing Copywriting Teams
    • Master Hard and Soft CTAs for Superior Sales Writing
    • The Ultimate Checklist for Blog Copywriters
    • 10 Mistakes Even Experienced Copywriters Make
    • Read These 4 Books to Become a Better Copywriter
    • Sales Writing: How to Create Attention Grabbing Headlines
    • How to Create Persuasive Sales Copy
    • Proven Copywriting Methods Emotional Advertising
    • How to Write Good Copy : Preparation Techniques
    • Copywriting Secrets: 8 Powerful Ways to Add Proof and Credibility
    • Copywriting Cheat Sheet: Write Powerful Copy Quickly and Easily
    • Copywriting Insights: How to Test Ad Copy for Best Results
    • Write Effective Ad Copy: No Fail Secrets and Tips
    • What Never to Do When Writing Compelling Copy for Sales
    • How to Write Copy That Sells – Use Benefits
    • 6 Ways to Improve Your Copy Immediately
    • A Day in the Life of a Copywriter
    • Coffee, Copywriting, and Freedom
    • Copy is Everywhere
    • Direct Response Copy Sells
    • The Pros and Cons of Copywriting Part–Time
    • Three Tips to Write Copy that Converts
    • Two of the Biggest Mistakes Beginning Copywriters Make
    • Why Copywriting Makes a Great Second Career
    • Why I Love Being a Copywriter
    • Landing Pages that Work - Copy that Converts