- Marisa Corcoran is a freelance writer and founder of the brand that bears her name.
- When he left acting to pursue freelance writing full time, he applied lessons from the stage.
- Bringing her experience to the fore and connecting with clients on a personal level helped her succeed.
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In January 2018, Marisa Corcoran, a freelance copywriter in Atlanta, took advantage of her five years of freelance copywriting experience (mixed with side jobs) and launched her brand Marisa Corcoran with $ 50,000 that year. In 2019, he quintupled his earnings to $ 250,000.
This is no ordinary success story for a freelance writer. Especially considering that the average amount this job title generates is just over $ 81,000 a year, according to Glassdoor. Corcoran’s background was also not standard for this line of work.
Corcoran trained as an actress and received a master of fine arts from Harvard University in 2013. After graduation, she settled in New York City with an agent.
“I needed to have a flexible schedule for the auditions,” Corcoran said. “A friend suggested that I could earn money writing for blogs, emails and websites. Since I had experience in writing since graduation, I thought it would be good.
To make ends meet, the self-employed young woman was also auditioning for acting roles, working as a babysitter, and had a job in a chiropractor’s office. It wasn’t until 2016 that she had enough work as a writer and repeat clients. Then, he was able to quit his other jobs and focus solely on copywriting and acting.
Then in 2018, immediately after moving to Atlanta and what she described as “a particularly unfortunate audition for ‘Winnie The Pooh'”; He stood in his kitchen and decided that he could no longer bear the constant roller coaster of emotions of acting. She was ready to pursue a career as a freelance writer.
Drawing on the spirit of her acting career, she realized that she still had the desire to be a leader and make a significant impact when working with clients.
“I didn’t just want to be someone’s copywriter behind the scenes,” Corcoran said. “I wanted to teach, talk about writing and stand out.”
Then she realized that everything she had learned at Harvard about being an actress could be applied to her business. Corcoran used the following three-step framework to put his learnings into practice.
Step # 1: Give yourself a stage as a brand
To stand out and escape what Corcoran described as “the typical life of a copywriter stuck making proposals and setting hourly rates”; She knew she needed to create her own original framework for her business and become what she calls a “copywriter mentor.”
“Most of my actor friends (before I hit it) created their own work in some way,” Corcoran said. “The TV show, ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’ is a great example of this. A group of friends created the show before it was noticed and catapulted these actors into movies, other TV shows and so on. ‘
This vision led Corcoran to develop The Copy Chat, a virtual summit that includes interviews with notable copywriters; business trainers and strategists online. They provide their copywriting clients with actionable advice; so they can create text that helps them attract more customers, comments, clicks and conversions.
By hosting her first two summits, the freelancer was able to grow her email list from 90 to over 4,500 people in just nine months. Their current email list is around 5,800; This brings a sea of ideal clients to your door. Thus, he quickly took on high-profile writing projects.
Then the third presentation of The Copy Chat had more than 3,000 listeners. He also started his own business as a freelancer. His company raised $ 13,000 for the charity Headstrong Project, which helps provide mental health to post-9/11 veterans and their families.
Due to the success of The Copy Chat, he later created a group show called The Copy Confidence Society which, according to Corcoran, helps coaches and online creatives “figure out what to say and how to say it to magnetically engage the clients of their dreams.”
Step # 2: Be honest about your brand
“When you walk into an audition, a casting director can smell desperation from a mile away. Instead, you have to enter the room with confidence and as a genuine human, ”Corcoran said. “I used to go in and connect on a personal level. There was a casting director calling me for commercials all the time because we bonded over our mutual love for [el programa de televisión] ‘Vanderpump Rules’».
Now, Corcoran takes a similar personalized approach to connecting with people to grow his freelance business.
For example, she shared that she once reached out to a high-profile online coach and bestselling author who wanted her to participate as an expert on The Copy Chat. When Corcoran was launched by the coach, her email was not the “I’m a huge fan of your work” type. Instead, she quoted parts of the coach’s book and shared how it had impacted her. Specifically how he had used it with his freelance clients.
“He responded right away saying he was on The Copy Chat because my request was incredibly detailed,” Corcoran said. “I’ve had other experts move their calendar to be in the talk because my presentation is so good; and then they hire me for copywriting projects after appearing as guests. “
As a recommendation to other copywriters, she suggested the following three tactics for connecting with stakeholders:
- Do you host a podcast? What is your favorite episode of that podcast? Get in touch with them and share the exact episode, even better, the exact moment.
- Did you hear them speak at an event? Send them a direct message on Instagram and talk about why their keynote had an impact on you.
- Did you read a blog or article in which they appeared? Tell them specifically why it seemed good to you and cite specific parts of the blog or article.
Step # 3: Do a ‘Beetlejuice’ to your brand
When it was time to create the Mark For his freelance copywriting business, Corcoran decided to put his personality first (and in all his copy); again applying everything she learned as an actress to copywriting.
She refers to this approach as “Beetlejuicing” her brand. It references the fact that Michael Keaton originally had no idea how to play the character, Beetlejuice, and director Tim Burton asked the actor to come up with the key character traits on your own.
“Michael went home and one night he decided he would have wild hair, ‘rotten’ skin, specific voice, he even wore a tattered suit,” Corcoran said. “When he appeared on set, Tim Burton was so impressed with how specific Michael had made the character, he gave the green light, and so this iconic character was born.”
Thus, the writer maintains that this is exactly what she does in her business: perfecting the unique twist that she brings to copywriting as a specialist, rather than a generalist, through her experience as an actress.
“This helps you stay in mind, remember and refer to it easily, making it the point of reference,” Corcoran said. “You always get paid more money as a specialist than as a generalist.”
He also suggested “narrowing down” your portfolio to a specific customer. For example, if you want to work in the online coaching space, what type of coaches do you want to work with? Financial Coaches or Health Coaches? It is important to be as specific as possible.
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