Copywriter of the Week : Lindsay

I became a copywriter out of necessity. Writing and English were always my strongest subjects both at school and university. Moving constantly back and forwards between the UK, Australia and Italy while raising a family made it tough to find a sustainable career path. When I finally settled in Italy, the country was in the middle of an economic crisis – a crisis that seems to be never-ending. With a young daughter to take care of, finding the right kind of work to suit my skills seemed like an impossible challenge.

I gradually began to take on ad hoc translating work – Italian to English – then moved on to copywriting.

After taking an online course I began to build up a client base and realised I could carve out a career for myself working from home.

Spoiler: working from home in one of the most beautiful and historically famous cities in the world has no impact whatsoever on my working life.  I’m not going to sugar-coat it. Any freelance copywriter will tell you, working on your own, stuck down the rabbit hole of research and writing for hours on end, is not glamourous. It requires hard work, self-discipline and flexibility. To be honest, I haven’t been to the Uffizi in years. And it’s certainly not easy being a freelancer in Italy. The tax system is complicated and not particularly lenient towards the self-employed.

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But I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I have a great relationship with my clients which isn’t hindered in the slightest by being remote. Want to see me in person? Hop on to Skype or Zoom. If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, smart, remote working is a possible and feasible alternative to the office just down the road. And the benefit of hiring a freelance copywriter? We work flexible hours. That means I’m probably already at my keyboard while you’re still sleeping.

Even though I am based in Italy my client base is global; primarily the UK and Dubai. Having said that, a notable client was Seeds & Chips, organisers of the world-renowned Global Food Summit-based in Milan. As well as translation work – Italian to English – I also wrote articles on food innovation and sustainability which featured in the Seeds & Chips Bytes weekly newsletter.

Today, my main specialisms are insurance and property, both of which I ‘fell into’ accidentally through client demand. I’ve been working for a major UK comparison site for almost 3 years and have built up an enormous amount of knowledge and experience in the personal insurance and financial services sectors. And you know what? I love it! Helping people understand and decipher insurance, finance and utility products is surprisingly rewarding. This provides valuable and clear insights into those mundane, yet necessary services needed for our everyday living.

I focus mainly on website copy, SEO-optimised blogs and thought-leadership articles, applying the EAT principle – Expertise – Authority – Trustworthiness. I also offer Transcreation from Italian into English. This requires a little more creativity than basic translation – crafting copy that appeals to an international market without losing the essence of the primary language.

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