One Reader's Email

I received an email recently from a newbie in the catalog copywriting industry. She read one of my articles and had a few questions for me. And for your reading pleasure I am posting the email and my responses below. I changed the name to protect her identity.


Hello Mr. Washington,

My name is Karen K. and I am new to catalog copywriting. I saw your excellent article on ezinearticles.com and I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me:
 
1. Should I buy AWAI's catalog copywriting course, or is that mostly a scam?
2. Do cold-calling and/or cold-emailing tactics work with catalogs?
3. Is it truly possible to make a living from writing solely for catalogs, or is that just hype? Can I focus on print catalogs and still make a good living from it?
 
If you could please take a couple of minutes to answer these questions for me, I would be truly grateful. Thank you.
 
-Karen K.

Karen,

1. I have not bought the course from AWAI but I was thinking about it. It does not seem like a scam, I believe the course is everything they say it is but it is just a tool to get you started. As for you, I think you have to access how much you know about the industry and your confidence that you know enough to take action without spending the $400.

I did all my research online and by reading a few books. I put together a couple of strategies to find new clients. For instance, I ordered catalogs I was interested in writing for and rewrote some of the copy I knew could be better. Then I query the catalog and provide the copy I rewrote if they request it. Maybe AWAI’s course can show you a better way, I don’t know.

2. I have not cold called catalog companies. I do send them a cold email and I get about a 3% response. I am currently looking to improve that percentage.

3. As for making a living, I am not a full time writer which means I have a day job. But yes it is possible to support yourself writing exclusively for print catalogs. That is what I do. Also don’t be so quick to dismiss writing for online catalogs because they represent a huge market.

I hope you found the answers you were looking for.

Sincerely,

Garren