Last updated on February 23rd, 2025 at 11:23 pm
Wondering what’s the difference between copywriting and copy editing?
Here’s what we are going to discuss today:
- What is copywriting, when should you hire a copywriter, and where to find one
- What is copy editing, when you should hire a copy editor, and where to find one
It’s time to put an end to the copywriting vs copy editing confusion once and for all!
Copywriting
What is Copywriting?
Copywriting is persuasion via the written word.
Any text that is designed to get the reader to take a specific action is copy.
That includes ads, emails, the text on your landing pages and sales pages, the text on your website, etc.
We would argue that as an entrepreneur, you should see everything that you write for business purposes as copy, even if it doesn’t look like it at first glance.
What do Copywriters do?
Copywriters write copy aka text that is designed to get the reader to take a specific action.
- Generalist copywriters have a broad range and can write anything from ad copy to email copy to landing page and sales page copy.
- Specialized copywriters have a narrow range and specialize in one form of copy. Say, email copywriters only write email copy.
You can expect to see a tradeoff between range and conversions.
Typically, the broader the copywriter’s range, the lower the conversions are likely to be.
That’s understandable because the “Jack of all trades” approach doesn’t allow them to truly master one specific form of copy.
Meanwhile, specialized copywriters will likely have higher conversions when it comes to their area of expertise, but since their range is narrow they won’t be able to help you with anything else.
Of course, this tradeoff between range and conversions is just a general principle, not some universal law.
A good generalist can outperform a bad specialist in the specialist’s area of expertise and a good specialist can outperform a bad generalist at everything.
However, if you are thinking about hiring a copywriter, you should consider what’s important to you.
Do you want a generalist that can help you improve your copy across the board or a specialist that can help you maximize the conversions of a specific piece of copy (e.g. your long-form sales page)?
When Should You Hire a Copywriter?
Our co-founder Russell Brunson has built a software company that generates more than $100M in annual revenue.
You’d think that he would say “Software is what made me rich”, right? Wrong.
“Copywriting is what made me rich…
It has more impact on how much money you make with your company than anything else”.
As an entrepreneur, you need to learn copywriting, that’s non-negotiable. There’s simply no way around it. That’s why you shouldn’t rush to hire a copywriter.
Become a decent generalist copywriter yourself, then start outsourcing copywriting to copywriters that are better than you.
We will talk more about how to learn copywriting FAST at the end of this article.
How Much do Copywriters Charge?
Freelance copywriter rates vary wildly.
Say, on Upwork, the pay range is between $19/hour and $45/hour.
Meanwhile, according to Glassdoor, the copywriter salary range in the US is between $33k and $80k per year, with the average salary being $47,478 per year.
Where to Find a Good Copywriter?
You can find copywriters on popular job boards such as:
Copy Editing
What is Copy Editing?
Copy editing is a part of the editing process that takes place after you are done with all the major edits and don’t intend to make any significant changes to the text but still need to polish it before publication.
What do Copy Editors do?
Copy editing primarily entails:
- Catching spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax errors.
- Improving clarity by shortening sentences, replacing ten-cent words with more common ones, and removing everything that interferes with the flow of the text.
- Ensuring consistency when it comes to the author’s or brand’s voice, language dialect, expressions, etc.
When Should You Hire a Copy Editor?
Hiring a copy editor might make sense if you:
Aren’t Confident in Your Writing Ability
You might have dyslexia, you might be writing in your second language, or you might simply feel that your spelling, grammar, and punctuation skills are rusty.
Whatever the case might be, hiring a copy editor can help you put your mind at ease.
Lack of Attention to Detail
Entrepreneurs tend to be creative people who are great at the big picture stuff: bold vision, big ideas, innovation, etc.
However, they often lack the attention to detail required to polish a project before shipping it – they will write a groundbreaking book but they won’t notice that there’s a missing comma on page 156.
Hiring a copy editor can help you catch all those small, inevitable errors before publication.
Need to Edit a Large Amount of Text
Pretty much anyone can whip a 500-word article into shape by running it through Grammarly and then proofreading it.
But polishing a 50,000-word book is another thing entirely and might prove to be too much for someone with no professional copy editing experience.
Hiring a copy editor might be a great investment in that case.
How Much do Copy Editors Charge?
On Upwork, freelance copy editor rates range from $20 to $40.
Meanwhile, according to Glassdoor, the estimated total pay for copy editors in the United States is $47,848 per year, with the average salary being $45,220 per year.
Where to Find a Good Copy Editor?
You can find copy editors on popular job boards such as:
Copywriting vs. Copy Editing
To summarize:
- Copywriting is persuasion via the written word – writing texts that are designed to get the reader to take a specific action (ads, emails, landing pages, sales pages, etc.).
- Copy editing is the process of polishing a text before publication in terms of spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax, consistency, and clarity.
Learn Copywriting FAST With “Copywriting Secrets”!
Copywriting is the most important skill that you need to acquire if you want to grow your online business.
But what if you already have too much on your plate and don’t have the time to devote yourself to mastering it?
“Copywriting Secrets” is a book that was designed to serve as a SHORTCUT for busy entrepreneurs that want to learn to write copy that converts.
Here’s how its author Jim Edwards explains it:
This is not a book about “how to get rich”… but, if you do what it says, you will definitely make more money than you’re making right now in your existing business. Why can I say that?
Because this IS a book about how everyone can use the power of words to get more clicks, make more sales, and get more subscribers… no matter what you sell or who you sell it to!
If you’ve ever been frustrated by lack of sales, lack of clicks, or lack of subscribers… This is the book you’ve been looking for!”
You don’t even have to finish “Copywriting Secrets” before you begin implementing Jim’s advice – you can start putting it into practice as you are reading the book.
And if you do it right then you should start seeing results ASAP.
You can get a paperback copy of “Copywriting Secrets” for FREE – all Jim asks is that you cover the shipping.
So what are you waiting for?
It’s time to start writing copy that CONVERTS!
