Reddit mentions of Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising

I'm a copywriter. And nobody can explain what I do better than Luke Sullivan. Every copywriter has at least two editions of his book on his desk. Start here.

http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Advertising/dp/0470190736

EDIT: I can't spell. that's probably not a good sign.

You need to make good fake work. No one should care at the jr/intern level that your book is all spec work.

The Creative Ham has a good build a book resource for you. http://www.thecreativeham.com/resources/portfoliolaunch/

Try to find a creative you like to judge the student work you're making. Even better if they work somewhere you'd like to end up.

Some other great resources to check out:

[Hey Whipple] (http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Advertising/dp/0470190736/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420589603&sr=8-2&keywords=hey+whipple+squeeze+this)

[Advertising Concept Book] (http://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Concept-Book-Second-Barry/dp/0500290318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420589650&sr=8-1&keywords=advertising+concept+book)

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This is pretty much required reading. As is Ogilvy on Advertising, in my opinion. Sort of old school versus new school insight. Both are advertising legends, and Luke Sullivan is/was a copywriter, so I found his stuff to be particularly helpful. There's a ton of stuff out there to read, but these two are a good place to start.

I can't believe I'm the first to suggest this:

Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising

Also, fuck you.

I have a few questions for you. Do you want to be a creative or an account exec? Are you based in the UK or US? Remember all my advice is based on being in the UK.

You only need to make a portfolio if you want to be a creative, account people don't need to do this. Creatives work in pairs, so you'll need to get a partner too, either an art director or copywriter. Although these days it's common for both creatives to do a bit of each job.

But in answer to you question, yes, you do random stuff. Think of a brand and write some ads for them. Do about 6 to 8 campaigns, put them in a portfolio and then ask some creatives in agencies to have a look and crit your work.

Money, it's not great, especially if you've gone to Oxbridge and all your mates are starting on 50k. Generally account execs and creatives will start on about £22k-£24k.

How long does it take to work your way? That depends largely on your performance. If you're a creative who makes an ad like Sony Balls then you can expect to be on 6 figures fairly quickly. However, most creatives have a fairly steady climb. In "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This", Luke Sullivan says that creatives get under-paid for the first half of their career and over-paid for the second half.

Promotions. Creatives don't really get promoted officially until they become creative directors, getting a pay rise is roughly the equivalent of getting a promotion. There's a more rigid structure for account people and they seem to get promoted fairly regularly, once every few years but they are performance based, if your clients like you the agency will like you.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Everything I did for my coffee shop had to be free or very very cheap. They were very emotionally supportive but not all that financially supportive. Mostly I did stuff like offering free drinks on Twitter and Facebook to anyone who could recite Ice Ice Baby by heart or who brought in a baby Jesus stolen from a manger scene. I made funny signs encouraging people to sit together. Just tried to be creative and make myself laugh.

As far as breaking into the industry, I would say the best thing you can do is make interesting stuff. If you have an idea for a blog, do it. I have a copywriter friend who has a blog of pictures of people first thing in the morning. So simple but also kind of brilliant. Creative directors love stuff like that. One of the coolest things about this industry is that it really does not matter how much experience or training you have. If you can demonstrate an ability to consistently have good ideas and carry them out, you will absolutely get a job.

If I was just starting out (and not married) I would apply for WK12 through Wieden+Kennedy. People who get accepted don't have to apply for jobs ever again, jobs apply for them. I would also recommend reading up on the industry, Hey Whipple Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan is the classic place to start. And The Idea Writers by Teressa Iezzi is excellent and a little more up to date.

I'm going to PM you a link to my personal portfolio, which I made specifically to get my current job. I'd never done anything like this before and had zero training/experience. I really just pulled it all out of my ass in about a week and a half but I've gotten really positive feedback about it. I hope this helps. Keep me updated, if you feel like it. And please feel free to ask as many questions as you can think of.