When should you start advertising your copywriting services business?

The best time to start is when you have some money coming in. That is, when you have several clients, and they are sending you work on a regular basis. This means that your business is itself funding your business.

If you start earlier, you'll need to fund your business out of another source of income, like a fulltime or part-time job. This can become a problem, simply because your advertising may not pay off immediately, and so you (or your partner) will start to worry about the lack of an immediate return on your investment.

The opposite scenario is also a problem. If you get flooded with work, which you don't yet have the experience or sub-contractors to handle, it can be a absolute nightmare.

=> Start with your local paper

The best place to test the advertising waters is with a small ad in the Classifieds section of your local paper. A small, four to six line ad is inexpensive, and it gets people used to seeing your business name. You can often buy a monthly or quarterly package at a discount, with elements like stars, dots, or bold lines to draw people's attention to your tiny ad.

If you have a Web page, a two or three line ad, just your business name and URL, is a great investment. People will visit your Web page in response to the ad, and you can post details of your copywriting services business on the Web page. Of course, you can also post your portfolio, or your writing samples if you're just starting out.

=> Local industry publications

All local, state and national associations have newsletters, as do all industries. You can buy advertising in association and industry newsletters cheaply, especially if you offer to help them out with some free content.

Which industries? The ones you write for, or would like to write for.

For example, I write for several heavy construction equipment manufacturers and hiring companies. I'm not looking to take on any more clients, but if I were, I'd advertise in the magazines these people read --- magazines for civil engineering, mining, and transportation.

If you wanted to collect more clients in the fields of managed health care, technology, or insurance, the process is the same. Find out what organizations these people belong to, and the names of the newsletters and magazines they read. Then call the publications to find out what their advertising rates are. (Don