Is There Money To Be Had In Writing Advertorials?
A reader recently forwarded me an advertisement looking for advertorial writers. He asked what, exactly, an advertorial was, and if it's a decent niche area for freelance writers.
An advertorial is, basically, advertising written in the form of editorial content. This is a form of copywriting, and so, yes, there is a market for it.
Writers hoping to get into this niche work may want to look in two different directions. You may want to start on the originating end- many advertorials are likely a piece of a bigger ad campaign, and are therefore generated by ad agencies and PR firms. These potential employers are contacts that any copywriter worth their salt already has on the rolodex, anyway.
You might want to go in another direction, though, and consider offering your services to the final publications. Newspapers, magazines, and especially trade journals are all prime outlets for advertorials.
Comments
I paid for a large chunck of my family’s summer vacation with an advertorial job last spring. It was for a local “Best Of” publication, in which local businesses bought a page of advertising and a team of writers and photographers filled the pages with copy and pictures, specifically designed to act as an ad for the place. It was an involved project - hours of interviews had to be done, but the copy was fairly easy to write, and it paid well enough. And it’s always possible that in some of these interviews, a valuable new contact can be made.
If anyone is looking to try out some advertorial writing, do a little digging and see if your city has a “Best of “Boston” (or wherever) guide or website and send them an email. It’s not hard work - time consuming, but not terribly taxing. Good luck!
I’ve written advertorials, too. Sometimes it’s worthwhile; sometimes not. Here’s a tip: make sure the pay scale is higher than what you’d get for a feature story. Here’s why; In advertorials, clients get to sign off on what you write before it’s published, which may result in a lot of back and forth (ie time). Even if you write something that’s 100% accurate, the clients may want some changes. (Sometimes the requests are not in their best interest, either, so you need the skill of a seasoned diplomat.) Also, clients may not return your phone calls/emails as quickly as they would with feature articles because they’re paying for it and you are supposed to be at their beck and call - which is fine, as long as you’re paid sufficiently for the extra time involved.
I always wondered how to make money with adverts. This kind of work doesn’t always make it on the bid sites! Seems like the reason why is that I need to go out there and solicit for it.
Here’s an advert I wrote for a local client. She loved it, it just printed so not sure yet if it generated sales. http://writer4rent.blogspot.com/2009/03/zoning-in.html
My question is, how do you all like it? And what should the pay scale be. This publication didn’t have any editorials in it and therefor no way to calculate. I just said $50 it went to 10,000 homes and no internet. And who owns it? Can the business use it again? I sold it through the publication.