What do you think of participating in copywriting contests?

[CopyShoppy]

How's it going everyone. I wanted your opinion on what you think of participating in copywriting contests, where you enter the contest and compete for a cash prize awarded by the client.

Personally I think it would be a good way for amateur copywriters to break into the industry and provide a nice side income to professional copywriters.

What do you think?

[vangogh]

I think contests like you describe are bad for the industry. They happen in design too and all they do is devalue the work of those entering the contests. Entering the contest is essentially working for free for most people. The prizes are always less than what the work is worth (even if you do win) and they set unrealistic expectations for clients about how the work should be priced. Professionals know better than to enter so the quality of writing is generally of lesser quality. What these contests ultimately do is drive both prices and quality down.

Amateurs looking to break into an industry have better ways to do that. One or two pro bono jobs for a charity they believe in or an internship are enough. Writers don't even need to do that as they can set up shop on a blog and start writing and easily show what they're capable of producing. You might argue that these things don't provide income, but neither do the contests for nearly all who enter them.

[Wozcreative]

NO NO NO AND ABSOLUTELY NO! Waste of your time, you won't learn a thing, and you won't get any recognition for it. If you do win, you can't add that winning to your resume because this type of free work is frowned upon in the creative industry!

[vangogh]

I think we agree. :)

These kind of contests are mainly a way for a business to take advantage of creatives. It's a way to get them to work for free and then have the customer pick from all the entries. The customer gets what they wanted, the business makes some money, and the creatives mostly get screwed.

[Harold Mansfield]

Contest like the one's you speak of, are just a way for people to take advantage of service providers and get free work or cheaper than it costs.

[vangogh]

Yeah, I'm generally not enamored with anything that devalues what I do for a living. Not that I'm a copywriter, but these contests exist only to prey on service providers who are new and aren't yet aware of the value they bring.

[KristineS]

No way on these sorts of contests. The only writing contests worth entering are contests offered by reputable publishing houses, magazines or agents and, even then, think seriously about the time you'll spend and the reward you'll get. Entering a competition to win a job from a client where you create the content for free and then submit it is a waste of time. Note: this should be distinguished from submitting a proposal or bid for a job which is a completely different thing.

[Dan Furman]

How's it going everyone. I wanted your opinion on what you think of participating in copywriting contests, where you enter the contest and compete for a cash prize awarded by the client.

Personally I think it would be a good way for amateur copywriters to break into the industry and provide a nice side income to professional copywriters.

What do you think?

I think contests and crowdsourcing suck.

[vangogh]

We seem to be unanimous in our dislike of the idea.

[dianecoleen]

The comments in here are an eye opener to those pro-copywriter who seems not aware of the scheme on that kind of contests. But I assume not all professional will bite this kind of bait.

[Dan Furman]

The comments in here are an eye opener to those pro-copywriter who seems not aware of the scheme on that kind of contests. But I assume not all professional will bite this kind of bait.

I have no idea what this means.