How I got my start copywriting

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My first copywriting job? Writing print ads for a car dealership in my hometown on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I was 17 years old.

After college, I moved to Ottawa, Canada’s capital and landed a spot writing radio commercials at the city’s #1 station. That meant writing in different styles for a wide variety of clients, on short deadlines, and creating copy that answered a few ‘must ask' questions: what is the essential point to convey? How can I do that compellingly? And what storyline will engage the consumer, moving them to action in 30 seconds, or less? 

From writing print ads to crafting multi-year marketing strategies

More than 35 years have ticked by since I wrote my first print ad. And I've journeyed deep into the marketing jungle since then!

I’ve held senior marketing positions at federal government departments, founded and ran my own ad agency for 10 years, led the Direct Marketing team at a major software company and jumped into the deep end of the marketing analytics pool — building out a band of researchers and analysts who supported Marketing & Sales Teams — at the prestigious Royal Canadian Mint. 

I’ve also taught Marketing Communications at a local college and developed custom marketing courses to educate other marketers. 

For the love of writing

At every step along the way, however, I've written copy whenever I could, despite my senior roles — selectively writing emails, direct mail packages, print ads, landing page copy, telemarketing scripts, video scripts, product descriptions, market research surveys and much more. 

Why? Because I love writing. 

I love how words can engage, connect and persuade. How words can move people to action. How action can lead to change. And how change can improve lives.

But I also know copywriting is only truly effective when the marketing, or sales, goal is well defined and equally well understood.

And that means doing research, searching for insights, digging through campaign performance data, sizing up competitors, understanding the target consumer and grasping what the primary business objective is. These are the vital skills I'll bring to your writing projects. 

So if you’re looking to work with a seasoned marketer who understands the big picture and can translate that into powerful, impactful and compelling copy, let’s chat. I'd love to know more about what you're trying to achieve.

Bernie Schroeder

Founder & Lead Writer

CopyThatSells4u.com