The best way to become a copywriter is to have it in your heart from an early age. Combine that creative urge with a solid education in language, and an interest in details, and you could be on your way to becoming a copywriter. Of course, you can take some writing courses, especially radio, television and advertising studies, and go from there. The hardest part of becoming a copywriter is getting your first paid assignment.
Today, there are new avenues for aspiring copywriters who have access to the internet. There are many websites where writers can look to find assignments. Writing and copywriting are different, in that copywriting has more of a commercial element to it. Most copywriting involves promotion in some manner, either straight out sales writing, or a public relations aspect for informative and image writing.
If you are in a smaller town, you may be able to find employment at a local radio or television station as a commercial copywriter. From there, the path is open as you can move around to bigger markets and different jobs, just as disc jockeys move around in their careers. Larger towns offer more stations, newspapers or ad agencies. Employment at college or public stations is sometimes easier to obtain. Once you have the first job, you begin to assemble your portfolio of samples, from which you can expand to other businesses, such as advertising agency copywriting.
Effective copywriting can mean taking clear and concise marketing language and putting it into short time segments or small print ads, and that is not as easy as it may sound. The copywriter needs to be able to zero in and pinpoint the message, which is both a skill and an art. Natural talent is easier to hone than learned, but both are possible.