9 essential tools to run my copywriting business

Happy Wednesday! Welcome back to The Copywriting Gig.

I'm Jim Hamilton. Over the past 7 years, my copy has contributed to 10m+ in sales for clients across health, biz opp, and B2B.

Each week, I send out 1 short-form copywriting tip to grow your business.

I’ve been writing copy for 7 years.

When I got started in 2016, I used:

+ Pen & paper for note-taking
+ Google Docs to write
+ PayPal to invoice

That’s it.

But the tools of the trade have evolved a lot since then.

These days, I’m 10x more productive and professional…

I’ve designed a system to reliably engineer creativity anytime I need it…

And I get to keep much more of what I make.

So today, I’m revealing the 9 essential tools I use to run my copywriting business.

Let’s dive in.

Read time: 2 minutes and 9 seconds

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1) Evernote

Capturing information and ideas on the fly is crucial.

With Evernote, I categorize everything for easy access using:

+ Notebooks
+ Search
+ Tags

Plus I use it to build my swipe file.

And to write on my phone when I’m traveling.

2) Fireflies

Meetings are a necessary evil in any client business.

With Fireflies, I get:

+ Recording of the call
+ Searchable transcript
+ Concise summary
+ Shareable link

Clients love it.

Plus it saves me having to take notes on the call.

No more forgetting to press record.

3) Krisp

Background noise makes you look unprofessional.

Krisp uses AI to eliminate it.

So I can take calls and record screencast videos from anywhere in the world without having to worry about background noise.

4) Asana

Rule Number One: never miss deadlines.

Asana makes it super easy to stay organized with:

+ Tasks & subtasks
+ File uploads
+ Comments
+ Deadlines
+ Projects
+ Boards

I’ve found it to be the most intuitive project management software out there.

5) Obsidian

Great copywriters make connections between unrelated ideas.

With Obsidian, I’ve built a Wikipedia of my own:

+ Ideas
+ Notes
+ Thoughts
+ Observations

The secret is a feature called “bi-directional linking.”

NOTE: Watch this 6-part YouTube series to learn more about how to use it.

6) Google Drive

Cloud-based productivity tools are a must for anyone working remotely.

Call me old fashioned, but Google Drive is my go-to.

It’s clean, simple, and easy to use.

7) Wise

If you live outside the US, exchange rates influence your income.

But PayPal & local banks will gouge you.

Wise gives me a US-based bank account so I can accept wires + direct deposits.

Plus I get the live exchange rate with minimal markups.

This has saved me 6 figures in fees.

8) TextExpander

Repetitive tasks are productivity killers.

With TextExpander, I can create simple shortcodes that save me from having to copy-paste:

+ Email replies
+ Passwords
+ Templates
+ DMs
+ Etc

This creates more time to focus on needle-movers inside my business.

9) ChatGPT

Becoming AI-literate is no longer optional.

I’m amazed at what ChatGPT can do.

Right now, I use it for:

+ Ideation
+ Outlining
+ Customer avatars
+ Writing in different styles & voices

It doesn’t replace the need to be able to write great copy…

But it opens a lot of doors.

Putting It All Together

9 essential tools I use to run my copywriting business:

+ Evernote
+ Fireflies
+ Krisp
+ Asana
+ Obsidian
+ Google Drive
+ Wise
+ TextExpander
+ ChatGPT

That’s it.

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Jim Hamilton