Copywriting Makes me Feel Sick

[emind]

I've been trying to set out a career as a freelance copywriter for the past few months (with some limited success), and had been incredibly hyped about it over the past few weeks. But then something happened... and I want to know what you think about it.

I started noticing how copywriting and sales in general made feel, and it was nothing but (I legitimately can't describe it differently) disgust. The idea of superficially pitching to clients, getting to know some random, potentially useless product they sell, and then trying to coax people into buying it through the power of the written word. 

I mean seriously... how hypocritical of me!

I was feeling really excited about it a few weeks ago and thought I might just go all the way with it but I hadn't stopped to realize how disingenuous it is!

Pretending to like and care about some crappy vacuum cleaner I'm helping sell, or the package options for some  greedy insurance company, I mean this is fundamentally against my values. 

To be fair, there are actual useful products and services out there which merit being marketed and sold because they are really going to help people. But copywriting in general has an air of duplicity. 

I'm considering shifting my work focus towards something  that has more tangible and verifiable value (don't know what yet). 

Copywriting seems like a fancy word for the art of bullshitting. - Yes I know that statement is unfair and overgeneralizing, but you get where I'm coming from.

Am I wrong? Am I trying to rationalize away my failures? 

I mean I hope not...

[Hello from Russia]

You are right only if you yourself make it this way. Why do you choose clients with shit products? Why do you do superficial pitching instead of going deep? 

You compromise your ethics and morale yourself, my man, by choosing to work with such a clientele. I bet you realize there is a bunch of companies who need the copywriting talent to sell way higher consciousness stuff (like Vegan health products or good legit education programs), or, at least they sell something fairly neutral and appear fairly neutral, like some software companies that solve problems that make people's lives easier - like some mapping software or the accounting software. They all need marketing and they don't generally sell you crap and try to make it appear like a candy. They solve true problems that annoy people.

With freelance business and business in general, one of the most important things is your positioning and your niche. You typically benefit a ton from going more niche, by specializing on certain services and serving a certain segment of the market, instead of doing "everything for everybody". I suggest you to think about what you want to do and for whom and then, make a decision.

Edited February 2, 2020 by Hello from Russia

[Girzo]

2 hours ago, Hello from Russia said:

You are right only if you yourself make it this way. Why do you choose clients with shit products? Why do you do superficial pitching instead of going deep? 

Because clients with shit products are easy to find and pay well, heh.

It's possible to work with conscious companies as a copywriter. Hard to do as a freelancer, but a little bit easier as a full-time worker.

I had had the same issue as you @emind and I actually quit freelancing after doing it for two years. Now I am doing a degree, working in a simple 9-5 job with friends and trying to figure out my life purpose. It was easy for me to sacrifice 30% of my earnings for having peace of mind. It may be not so easy for you if you need money.