Many writers dream of publishing a book or having bylines in top publications, but there’s another viable path for a career in writing: copywriting.
A common conversation in writer’s circles is how we’re woefully underpaid for our craft. However, copywriters are an exception — this kind of writer is both paid well and in high demand.
Industry veteran Nicki Krawczyk still remembers how painful it was to figure everything out when she was getting into copywriting. She created Comprehensive Copywriting Academy, part of her brand Filthy Rich Writer, to take the guesswork out of breaking into the business. For more than 15 years, Nicki has been writing copy and working with top-tier clients including Hasbro, TripAdvisor, T.J.Maxx and Keurig. Impressive, right?
If you have the drive and desire to make a living from your writing, and you want to be a copywriter and are ready to do the work, then Comprehensive Copywriting Academy will be your guiding light.
What is copywriting?
In a nutshell, copywriting persuades or convinces people to take some sort of action. This could be making a purchase, signing up for a service or clicking on a link.
This writing is called “copy,” and it includes everything from emails, sales pages and banner ads to direct mail, advertisements, brochures and more. Copywriting is a careful combination of art and science — with some specific rules to write by.
This course covers two types of copywriting: direct response copywriting and branding copywriting.
- Direct response copywriting is the “hard sell” and seeks an immediate action from the audience.
- Branding copywriting is a “soft sell,” with the goal of affecting the way people think about a product or company and provoking an emotion.
In Comprehensive Copywriting Academy, Nicki teaches strategies that work for either copywriting style, explaining they have the same principles with different results.
Comprehensive Copywriting Academy course details
In this online self-paced course, Nicki teaches students how to turn writing talent into recurring income.
By following the step-by-step plans over six modules, you’ll learn how to write effective copy and how to build a successful copywriting career.
There are several options for finding work as a copywriter. Whether you’re looking for a full-time staff job, a part-time side hustle or a freelance position, the training you’ll receive in Comprehensive Copywriting Academy offers the foundation you need.
The lessons build on each other, starting with learning “the success mindset” in the first module and ending with discovering different ways to structure your career in the final module.
You’ll learn how to lead with the benefits to the consumer, work within specific parameters, and build your business.
The course also includes action sheets, in-depth bonus content and a Facebook Group filled with other students who you can turn to for support.
Video-based lessons on how to become a copywriter
While the course includes a few written slides, most of the lessons are video presentations with audio instructions.
Here’s a preview of what you’ll learn in the 20+ hours of foundational training:
- Get started: This module teaches three states of mind that are important for copywriters to embrace, how to plan for success, tactics for mastery and ways to fight internal resistance — and win.
- Copywriting fundamentals: Well-written copy is essential to selling, but it also needs to resonate with people. This module teaches the essential rules when crafting effective copy.
- Copywriting tactics: You’ll learn common terms, shady techniques to avoid, what makes copy work, how to be a strong self-editor and how to create drafts and copy docs.
- The project lifecycle: When you’re just getting started, running projects can seem overwhelming. This module reviews everything from the project kick-off to working with a designer to the creative review and more.
- Interactive/digital copywriting: This module is a practical look at copywriting for various digital media such as websites, emails and mobile. It also covers content writing and how to work content into a copywriting strategy.
- Print copywriting: While the fundamentals between digital and print copywriting are the same, the tactics are different. In this module, you’ll learn how to write newspaper and magazine ads, direct mail, sales letters and corporate pieces.
- Building your business: Once you learn how to be a top copywriter and have experience under your belt, it’s time to build your business. This module focuses on important basics like creating your portfolio, setting your prices and administration.
These modules are packed with valuable teaching and contain action sheets and examples for deeper self-study. To get the most out of this course, you’ll need to set aside time both for the videos and to complete the assignments.
Bonus material in this copywriting course
For those who want additional help or support, Nicki offers live, monthly coaching calls. Students can ask questions about copywriting, building a career and portfolio, finding clients and more. For those who can’t attend live, a recording is posted in the student portal along with years of archived calls.
Comprehensive Copywriting Academy also includes bonuses for no additional cost:
- Access to the student-only Facebook group
- Several surprise bonus courses
You’ll need internet access to watch the videos, but you can download the action sheets to print out and complete offline.
What does it take to be successful as a copywriter?
While having a natural ability for writing is an asset, launching a copywriting career still takes training and a plan.
Comprehensive Copywriting Academy provides a roadmap outlining the skills and experience you’ll need to build your portfolio and find clients.
Traits you’ll develop:
- How to work within limitations and constraints
- Humility (you’re writing for your client or boss, not for yourself)
- How to work on a team
- The ability to “kill your darlings”
- Conciseness
- The ability not to take things personally
Skills you’ll learn:
- The rules and tactics for creating on-brand and effective copy
- How to navigate the project process with clients, managers and designers
- How to write copy for interactive and print media
- Finding work and negotiating rates
- How to build your experience and portfolio
A chance to learn from industry veteran Nicki Krawczyk
In addition to writing copy for clients such as Marshalls, Harlequin, adidas and Reebok over the past 15 years, Nicki is also a copy coach. She believes there is plenty of work to go around and teaches people who love to write how to launch their own copywriting careers.
With experience working for agencies, as an in-house copywriter and as a freelancer, Nicki has the real-life skills and know-how to guide writers in the ways of copywriting.
She founded Filthy Rich Writer and created Comprehensive Copywriting Academy because she believes it doesn’t need to be hard to break into copywriting, it just takes training, practice and some guidance.
Comprehensive Copywriting Academy review
For more than a decade, I worked at a nonprofit as an in-house writer. Although my title was never “copywriter,” many of my tasks and responsibilities fit this category. While I knew I needed specialized skills and training to improve my copywriting, I hadn’t found a dedicated course until Comprehensive Copywriting Academy.
When I first logged into my account, I was amazed to see an entire section on print copywriting. While I have worked with print for a long time, I have never found training on it. Most courses focus on digital media, treating print as passe. Seeing this module gave me a lot of confidence in both the course and in Nicki as the instructor.
After taking a look around the site and making mental notes to come back to certain bonus courses that caught my interest, I began in Module 0, mindset. After a few videos, I became overwhelmed with how much there was to go through.
There’s a lesson counter on the right-hand sidebar of the site that said I had watched 0 of 125 lessons and I thought, I will never get through all of this material! There is so much to unpack and process, the “comprehensive” in Comprehensive Copywriting Academy is definitely the right word choice.
I realized I needed a plan to consume the training, so I created a schedule and set aside dedicated time to review the material. Once I was organized, I was able to continue with the course, taking slow, methodical steps forward.
The most comprehensive copywriting course I’ve ever seen
Each video has a goal and premise, outlines the outcomes and offers insight and action steps. The teaching is clear and gives a reasonable and realistic look at what launching a copywriting career will take.
What I love about the course as a whole is how all-encompassing it is. It covers every aspect of what a copywriter will experience in their career and gives you skills for anticipating and navigating challenges and opportunities.
For example, there’s an entire video on learning how to work with a designer. Understanding how important the partnership between copywriters and designers is to bring a project to life is key to having a successful project. If I had this training before I started collaborating with designers, I think it would have gone a lot smoother in the beginning!
This course is aimed at people who already know how to write, but may not have the skills required to earn a living as a copywriter. Although it teaches some basic business skills, the training is intended to help students launch copywriting careers rather than strictly businesses.
Nicki also encourages students to try all types of copywriting gigs, in-house agency work, part-time contracts and freelancing. Not only will it give you experience and insight, but you’ll become a more versatile writer.
There’s a lot of information to get through in this course, and the price point might deter those who are not serious about becoming copywriters. And the truth is, if you’re looking for a quick win or a business in a box, this is not the course for you.
But if you’re looking for a road map to help you build a sustainable career, Comprehensive Copywriting Academy is a solid resource to invest in.
How much does Comprehensive Copywriting Academy cost?
There are a few different price points and payment options, but you can get access for under $700, which is incredibly well-priced for the amount of content and attention you get. (Which also makes a great gift for writers you might know.)
We should add that there’s a free training, “How to Land Freelance Copywriting Work without Wasting Time on Frustrating Job Bidding Sites or Cold-Calling Strangers”, which is a worthwhile one-hour video that offers great training as well as a thorough overview of what’s inside Comprehensive Copywriting Academy from Nicki herself.
Here’s what’s included in the course:
- The Foundations Course — the Comprehensive Copywriting Academy Core Training
- 30+ video tutorials with companion action sheets
- Live monthly coaching calls
- Access to the student-only Facebook group
- Bonus courses, client calls bonus and surprise bonuses
Comprehensive Copywriting Academy is available on demand and is self-paced, so you can enroll and take the course whenever it works best for you.
Once you enroll, you’ll have access to the entire Comprehensive Copywriting Academy training library including deep dives into topics like how to create spec ads, how to write for solopreneurs and landing agency work.
The foundation coursework itself will take you about 20 hours to watch from beginning to end.
Copywriting takes skills, knowledge and practice, but with the right guidance, it’s absolutely possible to carve out a career in copywriting. If this course helps you do that, we’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Looking for other classes? Check out our guide to the best online writing courses.
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