I don’t mind if people stare blankly when I introduce myself at business events, after they’ve politely yet invariably asked the question, “So what does a copywriter do, Jo?”

A copywriter’s job is seemingly unremarkable to detail to those who have to ask, and nobody every truly ‘gets’ it when we explain it, anyway. If they did, they likely wouldn’t have needed to ask in the first place. I salute you, people who already know the person spec and power of a copywriter.

I silently sigh as my fellow networkers stare as blankly at my response to their question as I do to their response when they give me a ten minute spiel about what they do. Ten minutes, a whole lot of words, and still none of us any the wiser about what they do, how they do it, or who they do it for. Ironically, those people need a copywriter.

What I do mind on these occasions is when people go right ahead and answer the question they’ve just asked me before I’ve even drawn breath to answer it myself.

“So you pretty much copy things that other people have written, then?”

“You’ll be working with trademarks and stuff, I’m guessing?”

“You check people’s capital letters, full stops and spelling, don’t you?”

My response to all of these people – who seemingly only ask the question, “What does a copywriter do?‘, just so they can go ahead and answer it themselves for reasons of snark, small talk, or ‘humour’ – is always the same.

“Yep. That’s right.”

I then use my wonderful wordsmithing skills to think up a creative and irreproachable excuse to leave the conversation. Those people aren’t interested in me, so I pray we can all spare ourselves the small talk as they pretend otherwise, by allowing them the space to have a conversation with someone infinitely more alluring, like an astrophysicist, or a Love Island contestant.

Just to address the elephant at the coffee station at this point… I’m sure that if you’ve ever met me or read any of my stuff previously, you were as confused as anyone when you read that I have at some point experienced being present at a business event. Yes, it does happen, but you might want to check out the following blog – Rules for inviting me to your networking event – if you’re ever tempted to DM me with any deets for dates.

Where was I?

Oh, yeah. So I don’t mind answering the question, “What does a copywriter do?“, if I think the person asking actually gives two shits about the answer (courtesy, genuine interest, morbid curiosity, etc). That should go without saying. But even in those cases, it’s never the most dynamic of conversations that ensues. There’s nowhere to really go with the answer, and I think we sadly live in a world where copywriting is still massively undervalued. As a profession, we’re currently somewhere between ChatGPT and “my sister’s brother’s son with a GCSE can do that“.

If you do genuinely want to know the answer to the question, however, my response will be to encourage you to…

Visit my website,

Hang around on my LinkedIn profile.

Check out the rest of my blogs and articles.

Now, that feeling you get when you read something in one of those places and it makes you laugh, think, question, reflect, nod in agreement, shake your head in disbelief, feel compelled to take an action, learn more, or do something as a direct response of how you’re feeling…

That’s what a copywriter does.

You are so welcome.

Thank me by never inviting me to a business networking event.

Like this blog? See also: What is a copywriter? (asked nobody, ever)