After Bozell laid me off in 2001, I wandered around for bit looking for a foothold. It came when Dave Markes introduced me to Cathy Solarana. Cathy had a solid design business going in Omaha and her clients were increasingly asking for ads, not just design. That meant someone had to help concept the ads and write them, as well. Thankfully, that someone was me for a time (before I went back to Integer for round two).
Now that I’m on my own again, I’d love to find some collaborators and I believe small design shops are a terrific place to look. They don’t employ writers for the most part, yet consistently need content. The reality is small business owners and designers themselves often manage to produce the copy, but access to a QWERTY keyboard does not a copywriter make. Designers and writers who respect one another and know how to work well together are capable of great things.
[ARCHIVE] Self-Promo Ad #1
I’ve had some good freelance gigs come out of that. As you note, copywriting is something many small business owners often think they can do themselves, whereas design is something they immediately seek professional assistance for.