Writing Copy On A Budget? Here Are 9 Tips To Help You Write Your Next Piece Of Copy That Won’t Cost You A Penny

If you’re a business owner, content writer or a part of a marketing team you may have found yourself tightening your purse strings over the past few months with the global pandemic, an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and general monotony of daily life that we currently find ourselves in. You might think that small budgets mean you can’t afford to write great copy… well that my friend, is where you’re wrong. In today’s blog, I’m going to be showing you some ways that you can write an amazing copy on a shoestring budget. These are things I’ve picked up during my time as Content Executive at Embryo Digital and in previous roles.

How To Write Great Copy On A Budget

Write what you think is interesting

No matter what you’re writing about, write about it because you’re genuinely interested in it. The passion that you exude when writing will show through and, without sounding too much like David Brent, passion doesn’t cost a penny. Don’t try and copy others or borrow topics that you think will get more attention but aren’t as fun to write, that’s one of the quickest ways to fail.

Don’t worry about what your competitors are doing

Focusing on other means you aren’t focusing on yourself. So when it comes to writing a copy on a shoestring budget, spend that precious time working on things you’re passionate about. You’re never going to successfully imitate a competitor and, if anything, it’s just going to make people realise that there is someone else out there doing what you’re attempting to do better. Instead, put the blinkers on and make original, fresh content that will be naturally unique because it has come from you.

Write authentically

Don’t fret about the tone of voice documents or style guides to start with. Just write as you speak and go back later to tidy it up. No matter how long you have to write something, spend at least the first third of it just typing your thoughts and ideas about the topics down. A far less charming word for this is ‘word vomit’. This is where your authentic writing will come from because you’re only focusing on the thoughts in your head and typing those out.

Feel confident in your own voice

The things you have to say do matter and that’s something you should instil in yourself. Regardless of budget, you will have something unique, fresh and original to say about a topic. Have faith in this, if you feel confident, you’ll write confidently and no amount of budget can change that. A confident voice will attract an audience.

Write loads

Write, publish, write, publish, write, publish, write, publi… you get the idea. Writing and posting content costs nothing. If you’re on a shoestring budget the best thing you can do is become a content machine that churns out blogs, posts, status updates, tweets every single day. Imagine you were given a megaphone to promote your service, you wouldn’t whisper into it like a mouse, you’d find the highest rooftop and shout about it! That’s how you should think about content. Get in peoples face, grab their attention and make it impossible for them not to see you on their social media feeds by creating a hurricane of content every single day.

Hack your way to success

There is a tonne of content hacks out there that cost next to nothing that can help you leapfrog the bigger boys. From creating long-form content (we’re talking 2500+ words), writing amazing calls to action buttons and guest blogging to more cryptic things like the Keyword Golden Ratio (click the link to read more). All these hacks are great, cheap, ways of earning quick wins and achieving long-term success.

There is a tonne of free stuff out there

A quick 30 minutes of ‘research’ (i.e. Googling things like “free content tools”) will unveil a range of free tools that you can use to help improve your content, for next to nothing. Tools like Hemmingway, Canva and Unsplash are out there and free for you to use. A combination of these tools will help you create content that looks like it had some money spent on it.

Have patience

Writing great content for no money is a skill and so is having the patience and foresight to know that it might take a while before it is seen by the right people. Giving yourself time will naturally improve your content because you won’t rush it and won’t feel the pressure to deliver. Patience plus volume will equal success.

Create a huge piece of copy and use segments of it across different channels

Focus on creating a mammoth piece of content, I’m talking 3000, 4000, 5000 words on a topic that is relevant to your industry. This kinda content doesn’t cost you anything other than time but once it is done you’ll have a piece of pillar content that you can chop up and use across every social media platform going. It’s a really handy, cost-effective way to create months worth of content.

Feeling Fired Up?! Go Forth And Create Incredible, Cost-effective Copy Today!

I hope some of these tips and tricks help you the next time you’re planning your budgets or creating a content plan. Remember, they are just words and as long as they are authentic and impactful you’ll be successful over time, no matter the budget.