In the picture above, Steve Slaunwhite is sharing his expertise with an ASJA conference attendee. He was one of four copywriting experts who talked about this market, joining his fellow freelance copywriters Bob Bly and Deborah Gaines and Ogilvie & Mather partner Greg Ketchum.

Their biggest piece of advice is to get over it - copywriters make good money, and much of their work is interesting. "Being desired is sexy! Making money is sexy!" said Deborah Gaines.

A few more tips, after the jump.

To learn copywriting, the panelists recommended Bob Bly's book "The Copywriter's Handbook", which I will be buying after I finish posting this.

Steve Slaunwhite recommended avoiding small businesses, because they often do not understand copywriting and do not want to pay for it. Corporations do understand it, though. They need brochures, reports, Web content, and ads, and they will pay. He suggests finding people who have the word "marketing" in their title and approaching them.

Deborah Gaines recommended networking to find clients and also to get information on rates. For example, once she knew that New York City law firms billed their paralegals at $150 per hour, she knew that she could get at least that much for her legal copywriting services.