How Much Can You Make as a Copywriter in the UK?

Do you want to become a copywriter but you’re afraid of not generating enough income? Have you heard that copywriting is a saturated industry and you think you won’t find your place? Wondering what is a copywriter’s average salary UK? Let’s explore!

Copywriter Salary UK

Defining how much copywriters can earn in the UK is actually quite tricky. Rates are usually based on a copywriter's experience, the level of demand they’ll experience in their niche, what skills they have, and the type of job. Copywriters can set their own rates following the value they provide. That’s why copywriters who charge more often have greater experience, a track record of successful projects, or unique skills.

The beautiful thing about copywriting is that you can ultimately decide how much you charge. Do beware though, because you’ll only get repeat clients if your charge is justified. My advice is to never go higher than what you’d pay for your service.

Of course, this will increase over time. Whenever you learn a new relevant skill, or when you get too many clients at once, raise your rates. Finding opportunities to up your earnings regularly is how you get from a low-earning, beginner copywriter to juggling through a collection of high-ticket clients. 

How Does a Freelance Copywriter Generate Money?

If you’re not getting a regular wage, how do you generate a constant stream of income? Yep, I’ll admit it can be scary at first! But let’s think about it. 

Freelance copywriters function similarly to estate agents or lawyers. To work on a project, we are paid. We can also remain on retainer, which indicates that clients pay us a specific sum for a predetermined number of jobs or hours each month.

Just like estate agents or lawyers, we don’t know exactly how many jobs we’ll have each month. But we work on our reputation and quality of work provided so that we always have plenty of work. Sometimes we even have to turn down work. 

Yes, it takes time. It’s a work in progress. You’ll probably have to accept lower-paying jobs than what you’d ideally want at first. But if you keep your goals in mind, you’ll be able to get where you want within a year, tops. 

How Much Can You Charge as a Copywriter in the UK?

When determining your rate, you’ll have to keep in mind all of the following expenses which we deal with as copywriters:

• If your income exceeds your Personal Allowance rate, you will typically pay 20% tax plus National Insurance contributions. The normal personal allowance in the UK is £12,570 for the tax year 2022/23.

• Sick pay

• Vacation pay

• Contributions to a pension

• Office expenses, including power, heating, and furniture, even if you work from home - I drive my home energy bills up like crazy!

• a laptop, printer, printer ink, stationery, business cards, web design, web hosting

• A CRM (Client Relationship Management software)

• An invoicing system

• Payment platform fees (I use Stripe, which charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction to accept card payments online)

• event tickets for networking

So, what price should you set? Well, once you’ve taken into account all of these expenses and worked out a daily amount, you can look at your geographical average. Find out how much copywriters at your level of experience charge in your area, and look at the industry you’re targeting. 

The average day rate for copywriters is £387 in the UK, though typically, junior copywriters start with around £250 per day. In contrast, senior copywriters, content designers, and content strategists typically charge between £800 and $2000 a day. Yep, there’s loads of room for improvement. Copywriting is a constantly changing industry, so be prepared to tweak your rates often. 

The Advantage of Charging by the Project and Not the Hour

You probably had set hours as an employee. As a result, you'll approach work pricing similarly. Freelance work hours, however, are different. And if you’re billing by the day or by the hour, I’d advise you to keep a detailed time log that includes all meeting, phone, and email times. I use Hectic, a CRM for freelancers which is excellent at time tracking. 

You'll have a better sense of how long things take once you've completed a few jobs. Switch to project-based pricing at that point. It will allow you to generate more income per project. You can also charge per word if you do a lot of blog posts, but be careful that you’re examining your costs properly or you’ll end up losing out. 

Another suggestion: during your workweek, you’ll typically spend 60–70% on projects and 30–40% on admin, invoices, networking, self-promotion, and website maintenance. Don't overdo things. Try and focus on tasks that are actually making you money, even though it’s tempting to be a perfectionist. At first, focus on the writing. 

The Bottom Line

£2000 a day sounds delicious, I’ll agree. But you can’t get there overnight. We all have to start by charging rates that are lower than our goals. Build trust with your clients, and slowly increase your rates. Some clients won’t be happy, and you’ll lose them, and some others will hopefully have seen how valuable you are to their business. And that’s how you’ll win.

A quick note: your most precious asset is you. The work cannot be done without you. So take a break whenever you need one. Go out and buy yourself a coffee and a sweet treat. Take the time you need to make yourself a proper lunch. You’re in this for the long run.