Copywriting Classes vs. Self-Taught: Which Builds a Portfolio

If this article caught your attention, you may be someone who enjoys writing and is curious about how you could get paid more for your skill. Maybe you write sketches, stand-up, short stories, screenplays, or even books. 

Writing is an art form that has been around since the dawn of time. Copywriting however, is like the much younger sibling – similar, yet different in many ways. 

If you’re already a talented writer, chances are you have the potential to be a talented copywriter in the advertising industry. The question is: Should you learn copywriting on your own or enroll in copywriting-specific classes? 

While it’s possible to learn the craft of copywriting on your own, you might not end up with a strong advertising portfolio – and like it or not, a portfolio is what gets you hired in this industry. 

Recruiters, Creative Directors, or anyone that’s a hiring manager at an Advertising agency rarely ask – or care – how someone learned how to become a copywriter. Instead, they focus more on the examples shown in your portfolio. 

So, keep on reading – because in this article, we’re giving you a practical comparison of self-taught copywriting vs. structured copywriting programs that focus on building a portfolio that gets you hired. 

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Self-Taught vs. Structured Learning

There’s nothing wrong with learning a craft all on your own, but even the greats had some form of structured guidance when honing their craft. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of both. 

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Common ways people learn copywriting independently: 

• Online tutorials and blogs
• Advertising and Marketing books 
• YouTube and Podcasts 
• Reverse-engineering existing ads

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Advantages to learning independently: 

• Flexibility with schedules 
• Low cost 
• Learn at your own pace

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Challenges to learning independently: 

• No structured progression 
• Limited feedback 
• Not knowing what types of projects to create a portfolio 
• Limited ability to practice presenting work 
• Requires designing things yourself 

Learning to be a copywriter on your own does cost less, but it lacks the structure of what programs like book180 can offer. When creating a portfolio, you don’t just want to show your writing skills.

It’s important to showcase your strategic and creative thinking, how your words look alongside visuals, and how your copy could solve a brand’s problem. Let’s go over the pros and cons of taking actual copywriting classes. 

Common copywriting classes both online & in-person: 

• Structured Portfolio School programs
• Copywriting-focused classes or workshops

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Advantages to taking copywriting classes: 

• Guided curriculum 
• Industry-relevant assignments
• Feedback from professionals
• Learning how to come up with a campaign concept and distill the idea into a strong tagline
• Understanding how to write a good headline
• Collaboration with other creatives 

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Challenges to taking copywriting classes: 

• More time consuming
• Costs more than learning independently 
• Location constraints (depending on the program) 

When deciding if Copywriting classes or a Portfolio School program is the right move for you, it’s important to remember that structured classes don’t just focus on theory and basics, they focus on overall portfolio development, which is hard to do when you’re on your own. 

“But can you even tell the difference between a self-taught Copywriter’s portfolio and a portfolio of someone who attended classes or a specific program?” We’re glad you asked! Almost 100% of the time, recruiters and hiring managers can tell the difference. 

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The Differences

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Common characteristics of a self-taught Copywriter portfolio: 

• Minimal structure or strategy 
• Random writing samples 
• Blog posts or generic content pieces 
• Recreated ads without strategic explanation 
• Lack of cohesive campaign thinking 
• Poorly designed executions 

Recruiters have approximately 3 to 5 minutes to scan a creative’s portfolio. If they click on your website and see disjointed examples, lengthy blog posts or writing samples, or poorly designed pages that have no strategic explanations, they’ll move on to the next one. It’s the creative’s job to make their book fun, strategic, and easy to evaluate. 

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Characteristics of a portfolio made through Copywriting programs: 

• Structured home page that features various brand campaigns
• Strong campaign concepts
• Strategic insights that carry the campaign
• Multiple executions across mediums (social, Out of Home, digital, video, radio, print) 
• Well-designed executions with cohesive Art Direction 
• Ability to write in different tones of voice for different brands

Structured programs are known to help students produce portfolio-ready campaigns, not isolated writing samples. It’s not just your writing that gets you hired, it’s how you present it throughout your portfolio.

Learning how to craft a compelling advertising campaign requires guidance from someone who does it every day. Portfolio School programs and Copywriting-focused classes provide students with opportunities to get feedback and mentorship from real, working professionals. 

The Role of Feedback and Mentorship

When you’re self-taught, you might be able to get feedback and mentorship from industry creatives if you know them personally or reach out to them on LinkedIn. However, feedback and mentorship require time, energy, and sometimes money. If you’re learning independently, you may be limited in this area. 

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Feedback sources for independent learners are often limited to:

• Online forums
• Peers
• Personal self-editing
• Cross-comparison to other Copywriter’s portfolios. 

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Getting feedback from the above sources present other challenges:

• Difficulty identifying weaknesses and where you can improve 
• Subjective opinions from strangers who might not even work in the industry
• Limited exposure to professional critique
• Unhelpful advice that won’t make your work better 

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Feedback in Copywriting Classes and Mentorship from professionals: 

• Industry leaders are paid to teach you how to make the best work 
• Guided lessons that go beyond just the basics
• Useful and strategic critiques from experienced creatives 
• Portfolio review sessions 
• Exposure to real expectations in the industry
• Collaborative and creative brainstorming environments 

Portfolio School programs ensure that every student will have helpful mentorship and creative feedback that will ultimately refine your ideas and teach you how to develop strong creative thinking – which is what recruiters care about. 

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Industry Perspective: What Recruiters Care About

Your writing craft is important – but just because you know how to write a great blog post or short story doesn’t mean you know how to condense a strategic message into a short tagline or punchy headline. 

Recruiters rarely ask whether someone has a copywriting certification or where they studied. 

Instead they evaluate:

• Quality of ideas 
• Campaign thinking 
• Strategic executions
• Clarity of communication
• Ability to explain creative decisions

The strength of your portfolio matters more than the learning path you took. 

So, Which Path Is Right for You?

Self-taught learning may work well if:

• You’re highly disciplined
• You already have marketing or copywriting experience
• You actively seek feedback from professionals on your own 
• You’re better at learning from books, videos, or online instead of by doing or listening to lectures. 

Copywriting classes or Portfolio School programs may be better if:

• You value and want structured guidance
• You’re interested in learning from professionals 
• You want briefs that create portfolio-ready projects
• You want mentorship and critique 
• You prefer collaborative learning environments 

You don’t just have to pick one or the other. Many successful creatives have been known to combine both methods. You can’t hone a craft after taking one single class. 

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The Real Goal: A Portfolio That Shows Creative Thinking

Whether you learn the art of Copywriting by self-teaching or through copywriting classes, the ultimate goal is to build a portfolio that will get you hired. 

Your portfolio should: 

• Demonstrate creative thinking through campaign ideas
• Show strategic thinking through strong insights and executions
• Reflect real advertising work 

As you build your portfolio, we recommend you focus on developing projects that demonstrate creative problem-solving instead of showcasing random writing samples or headlines without supporting visuals. 

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The Best Path Is the One That Builds Better Work 

Self-taught learning offers flexibility while structured copywriting programs provide guidance and feedback. What matters most is that whichever path you take, you will produce quality spec work agencies want to see, so you can ultimately get hired as a Copywriter in advertising. 

Learning on your own is great when you need flexibility and want to save money – we get it! Traditional Portfolio School programs often require relocation, a year or two of your time, and cost way too much money. That’s why book180 was created. 

book180 is a 6-month, 100% virtual Portfolio School designed to break the barriers of entry to creative advertising. Our students and alumni consist of recent high school and college graduates, parents, career-switchers, full-time workers, and caregivers from all across the globe.

We also offer a range of scholarships and payment plans that ease the financial burden traditional programs often ignore. 

Whatever route you choose, we hope you pick the one that gives you the most opportunity to learn, grow, and build real campaign work that lands you a job. Apply now!