If you want a copywriting career in 2025, you have to really want it

Hello Substack + why I started Copy THIS

A few months ago, I hired a junior copywriter.

I gave her some simple blogs to write - the kind I built my career on.

But when it came time to send them to the client, I’d deleted half of what she’d written 🙈

AI had done a better job.

Not because she wasn’t good. She was smart, eager, and reminded me of myself ten years ago.

But the entry-level role I was trying to give her doesn’t really exist anymore. The conveyor belt of copywriting - the grind that trained me - isn’t how it’s done now.

Clients know it, too. They know AI can handle the basics, so they don’t pay much for it.

It’s become a commodity.

If you want a career in copywriting today, you have to really fucking want it.

---

---

Copywriting is more than words on a page

You can’t just write well. You have to think well too.

You have to be sharper, more strategic, more self-directed than the copywriters who came before you.

Because the role has changed.

It’s not just writing.

And it’s definitely not “prompting.” 🙄

It’s seeing patterns others miss. Connecting dots no one else can. Being the voice of the customer - the bridge between brand and buyer.

It’s strategy. It’s empathy. It’s storytelling.

That’s the real work now. It honestly always was. The only difference is juniors used to have years to figure that out.

So, why am I sharing this?

Not long after I sent that AI-edited draft to the client, I went to the pub with my husband.

I told him what I’d done - and how shitty I felt about it. I said I’d show her what I changed and why, but part of me wondered if I was expecting too much.

It was easier to learn by doing when I was churning out hundreds of blogs a week in an agency. Easier to teach, too, when I had a full content team to mentor.

But now? As a solo operator? I don’t have that same volume of work.

And honestly, I doubt even the big agencies do anymore. SEO’s changed. AI’s changed it all.

He took a sip of his beer and asked, “Money aside, if there’s one thing you’d love to do in your business every day, what would it be?”

I didn’t answer right away. But when I did, it was obvious.

“I’d teach,” I said. “I love writing - but I loved teaching other writers even more. I love helping people connect the dots with strategy.”

He shrugged. “So do that.”

Copy THIS is a newsletter for copywriters who want to see the strategy behind every sentence

It’s about returning copywriting to its roots - the strategy, psychology, and storytelling beneath the words - and stepping away from what digital marketing turned it into.

You can expect:

• Frameworks for thinking like a strategist, not an order-taker

• Interviews with experienced writers who’ve evolved their craft

• Tools + guides to help you become the person clients call first, not last

As the platform grows, I’ll be sharing paid tools and trainings too - like my Mini-Manifesto, a DWY messaging sprint for founders - but mostly, this is a space to remind writers:

👉 We’re not just order-takers. We’re the best damn strategists in the room.

If that sounds like your kind of rebellion - welcome to Copy THIS.

---