Ben Keenan is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists, creative directors and copywriters. He also happens to have got his start in advertising by completing my copywriting short course over 15 years ago! Which just goes to show what can happen if you hang in there and persist!

He called it ‘the gateway drug’ to a life in advertising. That’s one way of looking at it!

He is the former head of Award School Melbourne, the former Interactive Creative Director of Clemenger Advertising, the Digital Creative Director at M&C Saatchi, and now runs his own private freelance consultancy. He works in the big agency, big brands, and the big TVC space.

In this episode, Ben reveals:

• How he got started and top tips for getting work at a big-name advertising agency
• Hints and strategies on how freelance copywriters can find work quickly
• Why everyone needs to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and why so-called ‘secure’ jobs are no longer secure
• How to make working for free work for you
• Tips on managing impostor syndrome
• How to overcome overwhelm and crippling doubt (and why it’s part of the creative process)
• The role of constraints/failure/errors in the creative process
• Agency life versus freelance life – the pros and cons.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Thought Police
• D@AD: The Copy Book
• Ogilvy on Advertising.

Read the show notes

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