The 3 Biggest Reasons Why Email Copywriting Is a Big Opportunity for Making Six-Figures as a Writer in 2020

Male writer typing on laptop while a puppy dog licks his face

I hear it all the time …

“But Jay, isn’t the market flooded with email copywriters now? Would anybody even want my services in this area?”

And I always chuckle a little under my breath. But I also get it …

Because I’ve been teaching copywriters how to write better emails for over a decade now, and you would think that with the thousands of students who have gone through my program, we’d be making a serious dent in the email copywriting marketplace.

But we aren’t.

In fact, just the OPPOSITE is true.

Email marketing continues to grow at a mind-boggling rate, even with all the social media distractions. The ROI continues to blow away virtually everything else out there. And every year, more and more businesses divert billions of dollars from other marketing resources into their email funnels.

And with that massive growth comes an ever-increasing demand for those who know how to craft an email that gets opened, gets read, and gets click-throughs. Which means this is an absolutely PERFECT time to launch your email copywriting career to ensure huge success in 2020.

In fact, it’s the best time I’ve ever seen in my 20+ years in this business. The fruit is ripe for the picking, folks, and there’s plenty to go around.

Massive Opportunity

Consider this number: 11,023 …

That’s the total number of job listings I just found for the search term “email copywriter” on 10 different online job sites. And that’s no typo folks — over ELEVEN THOUSAND gigs are listed right now, from people searching high and low for talented and well-trained email copywriters.

ELEVEN. THOUSAND.

But the best part is this — that’s just in the Reactive Market space, where people are raising their hand and saying, “Hey, I need an email copywriter over here!” There are literally thousands of additional businesses in every niche imaginable who need more and better emails written. And they need them NOW.

Not long after I started freelancing, I took the advice of a mentor and started specializing in emails and autoresponders (a series of emails set up to mail automatically depending on the action of a subscriber). Once I did, I never wanted for clients. EVER. And that was over 14 years ago!

So, the pie is big enough for all of us to take a big, juicy slice from. And then another. And then another …

So why jump on board the email gravy train now? Here are three more reasons …

1. Easy and Fun to Write

If I had a nickel for every time somebody told me, “But I don’t WANNA write all that long copy, Jay!” I’d be buried neck-deep in nickels right now …

And it’s true. Many copywriters look at the length and breadth of some copywriting assignments and cringe. Just the thought of working on a sales letter for days (or WEEKS) on end makes them shudder.

That’s why email copywriting is so immensely popular. A typical email is usually just a few hundred words long. Of course, this always depends on the product, service, market, etc., but it’s certainly nothing like the long, drawn-out copy you’d find in a sales letter.

And once you have a template to plug in (like I hand you in Email Copy Made Easy), you can literally whip these things out in an hour or so. The more you do it, the easier it gets — and the better YOU get at writing these emails.

That’s probably the thing I love to hear most from students — how much fun they’re having in their career now. And emails can help make that happen.

2. No Experience? No Problem

One of the coolest things about being an email copywriter is this: you don’t have to have a ton of experience to get gigs quickly. In fact, you don’t have to have ANY experience. And here’s why …

Truth is, most clients don’t give a rip if you’ve been writing for 10 years or 10 minutes. Yeah, I know. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. What they really value is experience in their NICHE. They really want somebody who can step in immediately with knowledge of their products, services, customers, lingo, etc. … somebody who can take that project off their desk and hit the ground running immediately, without having to be trained in their business.

For example, say you and I are both in the office of someone who wants to hire a copywriter for their woodworking business …

They would ask me, “So Jay, tell me about yourself.” And I would regale them with my years of experience and a long list of clients and seven-figures in earning and blah blah blah. Then they would ask me what I know about woodworking and I would reply, “Uhhhh … well that big heavy thing is a hammer. And the long skinny pointy thing? That’s called a nail, right?”

Now they turn to you and say, “Tell me about yourself.” And you might reply with something along the lines of, “Well, I don’t have Jay’s experience. But I’ve been working with wood since I was a boy. My Grandfather had a shop and he taught me about the tools and the craft and the different grains and what woods work best for what projects and which stains to use for what wood and a lot more.”

Now, you tell me: Which writer is he going to march out the door and which one is he going to start talking about rates and availability with? No-brainer here.

THAT’s how you can turn zero writing experience into instant income — by leveraging what you already know to get more jobs faster.

3. Big-Time Income Potential

While opportunity and fun and ease of creation are all important, they don’t mean anything unless we can add some serious cash to the bank account. And that’s where email copywriting REALLY stands out from among other types of copywriting specialties …

A good email writer can make anywhere from $100 to a $1,000 — or more — for a single message. In fact, I know people who charge as much for one email as most copywriters might charge for an entire website. And they GET it — without reservation — from client after client. (They're ready to pay big, because they know how incredibly powerful email marketing can be.)

Consider this math: The average physician in the U.S. makes around $100 an hour. If you charge a low-end fee of $250 for an email and it takes you two hours to write that email, you just made $125 an hour.

Congratulations! You are now making MORE than the average doctor — WITHOUT spending eight years in college and taking on hundreds of thousands in student loan debt!

But it gets even better …

Clients don’t usually need just “one” email. They need emails for promos and emails for autoresponders and emails for content and emails for notifications and emails for buyers and emails for prospects …

Get what I’m saying here? Do you hear a cash register ringing in the distance?

Okay, now let’s review:

  • There’s a huge opportunity to get jobs.
  • There’s a huge opportunity for a great income.
  • They’re easy to write.
  • And they’re TONS of fun.

So tell me again why you’re not jumping all over this?

Because the time is NOW to get onboard. I don’t know of any other copywriting opportunity that has an easier barrier-to-entry — while also delivering the high level of satisfaction and enjoyment (not to mention a steady stream of nice fat paychecks) that email copywriting does.

Are you ready?

Love to hear your thoughts on this one — please feel free to comment.

The AWAI Method™

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Published: January 22, 2020

4 Responses to “The 3 Biggest Reasons Why Email Copywriting Is a Big Opportunity for Making Six-Figures as a Writer in 2020”

  1. I have already registered for the Badges Course and email writing is one of the topics I believe. Why should I spend more money? I'm not saying learning from Jay wouldn't be helpful; there's no doubt his experience is valuable in my mind. But, will I not be as prepared through Badges?
    Thank you, Bob

    Bob Mitchell

  2. @Bob - you're all set then! While I agree you can always learn something new from other teachers, Badges has a comprehensive email writing module. Best wishes, Rebecca (Note - Badges is no longer offered. Jay's program is our current comprehensive training on writing emails.)

    Rebecca Matter

  3. Hi Jay, thanks for your article. I took your course and learned a LOT. I know there is more I can access on the site, which I plan to do. You said you had looked at 10 different online job sites and found 11,000+ queries about email copywriters. Is there someplace you have those sites posted? If not, I'll bet people would love to have that info. Thanks. Looking forward to gleaning some more wisdom from you on the site.

    Warren E


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