We love the world wide web, especially when it leads us to marketing professionals who inspire us.  We were struck by the minimalist style and confident message on JulieCarroll.com, the home on the web for Julie Carroll Copywriting & Marketing, located in Brighton, UK.

We found ourselves wanting to learn more about the company and the woman behind it.  So, we were delighted when Julie Carroll agreed to sit down with us to discuss her career.

FMM: What initially drew you to the field of communications?

JC: From a really early age I’ve always loved words. Devoured them. After a media degree, I spent my twenties trying my hand at a bit of everything, including stints in internal comms, PR and marketing.  But to be honest, I just drifted from opportunity to opportunity. Never one for the grand plan, I’ve always done a bit of writing on the side and had a column in a magazine about my life for a year or so, then about 6 years ago a friend of mine asked me to write an article on dating for a magazine she was editing. At the time I was an unhappily employed marketing exec at a global brand and was spending increasing amounts of time sitting there, staring at my co-workers in horror at the things they were saying, the toxic environment we were involved with and simply just wracking my brains figuring out what to do next.

I’m fiercely independent at the best of times so didn’t like being managed, and especially not in a corporate environment. I used to receive copywriting in from agencies who were charging a fortune and always thought, I could do better than this. So, prompted by the dating article and fuelled by a cheeky afternoon off work in a bar with a friend, we started a dinner dating business on a part-time basis called Love in the Kitchen. It was like a lightbulb had gone off. Writing all the PR and marketing for that and enjoying a modicum of success was amazing. As was writing for something I was passionate about, rather than something I wasn’t, or paying for other people’s words that simply didn’t work.

FMM: What are a few career related accomplishments you are most proud of?

JC: Taking that leap to go freelance was the best feeling, launching out on my own with all the trepidation, knee-trembling fear and excitement that went with it. My first client was an art gallery in Brighton, and although the first year was undeniably hard, I’m still proud of every client I get to work with, knowing that I do it each and every day on my own. Nailing my first big fashion client who found me on my website www.juliecarroll.com, was a particularly great moment and I’m still writing for them now, seven seasons on.

FMM: What are you working on now?

JC: At the moment I’m training a marketing manager of a 3D agency in London to write compelling copy, I’m also training an ex-lawyer to be a copywriter, I’m working on the AW11 collections for a British fashion house and in talks with a major global fashion brand to write their online SEO copy which I’m hugely excited about. I’m also starting two new companies, one that is going back to my dining club roots, and the other on cool country living. Life now is all about having lots of fingers in lots of pies, as the saying goes.

FMM: What role does social media play in your work?

JC: It’s huge. Everything is about integration, the right exposure and getting the message out on more channels that move and change constantly. Our conversations are changing, and the relationships that the written word has with its audience. It’s instant and it’s more impactful than ever.

FMM: What are a few bits of advice you could offer someone wanting to freelance as a copywriter?

JC: Know your audience. Target your offering and try and offer something a bit different than the next person. Whether that’s price or how you position yourself, it’s all about the competition. Also know that the first year can be quite hard if you’re used to a regular salary and income and perks.