Peter Bowerman, freelance commercial writer and author of The Well-Fed WriterPeter Bowerman

Peter Bowerman, a veteran commercial copywriter (since 1994), popular speaker, workshop leader and coach, he is the self-published author of the four multiple-award-winning Well-Fed Writer titles (www.wellfedwriter.com), how-to standards on lucrative commercial freelance writing.

Got Some Examples of Clever Wordplay Like This?

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Let’s explore a lighter subject–clever wordplay–given that it’s still summer and I’m not feeling so serious today… That’s probably because I just back from vacation not long ago. Escaped to the blessed cool of New England for a few weeks—a nice respite from Atlanta’s “95s” dog days (i.e., both the average high temps and humidity—yuck). … Read more

Want More Work? Get Out And Ask For It (Guest Post)

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Cool guest post from Brett Stone, who sent me this last fall, when she was still a commercial freelancer (and commercial real-estate investor). She’s since moved into some new and exciting directions, leveraging her past experience and teaching women how to raise their wealth consciousness and create more of what they want in their lives. … Read more

What Do You Say to a Prospect Who Asks for This?

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I recently got an email from one of my sidecar-coaching clients—and a budding commercial writer. He’d made contact with an interested prospect who then sent him the following email: I’d like to get a quote for a first project with you – to try you out. If the first one goes well, we feel there’d … Read more

There IS No “Copywriting Industry”…

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Relax. No, our field hasn’t suddenly shut its proverbial doors. No, all companies haven’t suddenly stopped hiring folks like us. Nothing that earth-shattering (or ridiculous). Rather, the above semi-apocalyptic-sounding title springs from, shall we say, a semantic epiphany I recently had. Hang with me here. I think you’ll like this (or perhaps, indulgently, you’ll just … Read more

“Hire Other Writers! Make $25-50+ an Hour for Doing Almost Nothing!” (if you’re really lucky…)

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A month doesn’t go by that I don’t get an email or two from a (clearly marketing-averse) commercial writer proposing, in various and sundry versions, the following: “Since I’m sure you get plenty of overflow commercial freelancing work (not really, actually…), I’m wondering if you’ve ever thought about farming it out to others for a … Read more

How Long Did It Take You to Become a Profitable Commercial Writer?

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So, I recently got the following email – similar to many I’ve gotten over the years from what I affectionately refer to as “shortcut-hunters.” Can’t blame them – we all want the path of least resistance as we build our commercial writing practices. He wrote: I have been working as a freelancer now for a … Read more

Is Your Website Bio Creating Trust or Indifference? (Guest Post)

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Thanks, Stephanie, for a great post on a rarely-discussed component of our freelance copywriting web sites. It’s all about having everything on your site (yes, even the information about YOU) geared towards those things your visitors/prospects really care about—not just talking about ourselves. When your clients, or your clients’ clients, visit a page you’ve written, … Read more

What’s Your “Discomfort Threshold” for Growing Your Writing Business?

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During one of my commercial writing group-coaching series a few years back I had a candid email exchange with a participant about a question she’d submitted to be addressed in session. It was: What can I do to stay motivated during those periods when my business-building efforts yield nothing? She then analyzed her question—rather dispassionately, … Read more

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