You may be familiar with Peter Bowerman from his Well-Fed Writer book or blog. For years his book has been my top recommended reading material for new freelance writers. So I was thrilled to hear he was launching a new course on freelance commercial writing called Well-Fed Craft.
When Peter asked me to review Well-Fed Craft, of course I said "yes."
Is Well-Fed Craft your ticket to a profitable commercial writing business?
I hope to help you find out. In addition to my review of Well-Fed Craft below, you'll also find:
- Some course background so you know what you'll get.
- A podcast clip between Peter and me where you can learn more about his course.
- And, in that show, we don't just try to sell you on the course -- we dig a bit deeper into one of the project types you'll learn about in it. (I promise, Peter's not one of those smarmy marketer types I rail against here, so the whole episode is chock full of good, useful, stuff.)
Let's get to it, shall we? I was excited to see something new from Peter, and I hope you'll love it.
Just so you know, this review was originally published on December 28, 2016 before the initial limited-run release of this course. This post was updated on June 28, 2017 to reflect changes to the program for its wider release, and it was again updated June 19, 2020 to reflect the new bonus coaching session Peter generously offered for All Freelance Writing readers who sign up for the course.)
June 2020 Update
Peter Bowerman has generously offered to provide a bonus 30-minute one-on-one coaching session to any of you who sign up for his Well-Fed Craft course through All Freelance Writing (not a limited time offer; you can get this bonus any time). To claim your coaching session, just email Peter after you sign up for the course and let him know you learned about it here.
Get a Free Preview with a New Bonus Module
Curious how the Well-Fed Craft course works? Want a glimpse at the kind of things you'll learn? Peter's added a free bonus module to let potential students get a taste of the Well-Fed Craft format. It's a 10-minute video module where Peter will walk you through a sample brochure he wrote for one of his nonprofit clients.
Take me to the free bonus module.
About the Well-Fed Craft Program
If you're new to freelance commercial writing, you'll never be alone as you learn the ropes with Peter Bowerman's Well-Fed Craft.
The program consists of 11 modules, including an audio intro to the course. Then 10 video guides walk you through freelance project types and marketing-writing strategies with Peter.
Plus, you'll find .pdf real-world examples from Peter's own business as well as featured guest content from successful copywriters like Gordon Graham ("That White Paper Guy") and Casey Hibbard (author of Stories That Sell).
Here's What You'll Learn
- Brochure writing & basic copywriting structures;
- Case study and white paper writing;
- How to write sales letters & landing pages;
- Writing direct mail pieces and website copy;
- How to craft effective taglines, titles, and headlines;
- Using storytelling, themes, and humor in writing copy for clients.
More importantly, Peter helps you embrace not only the structure to succeed as a freelance commercial writer, but also the marketing mindset you'll need to help clients see real results (and keep coming back for more).
Find Out More in My Podcast Chat with Peter
If you'd like to learn more about the Well-Fed Craft course, who it's designed for, and how it might help you build or grow your freelance commercial writing business, check out the clip below from my recent All Freelance Writing podcast chat with Peter.
Review of The Well-Fed Craft
Now that you have a bit of background about the Well-Fed Craft program, let's get to the review.
I followed the standard review format I use here at All Freelance Writing. You get a general impression, highlights (the best parts), suggestions or problems (the worst parts -- I don't believe in writing "glowy" reviews; I want you to have the full picture before buying anything), and then a final verdict as to whether or not the product or service gets my recommendation.
Highlights
- Getting to see real-world examples of client-approved copy has to be the biggest benefit for new writers. Because so many of these project types are ghostwritten, it isn't often you get to see this from the writers behind the copy.
- I love that students are not only essentially given templates, but are also given some of the "why" behind projects -- understanding why clients need something is key to understanding how to sell them on hiring you.
- Another perk of this course is .pdf access to samples. It's great you have Peter walking you through them in the videos, but being able to refer back to them at your own pace when you need a refresher is quite handy.
Suggestions
When it comes to suggestions for Peter's Well-Fed Craft, I only have two:
In this instant gratification world, I think it would be nice to have a downloadable option available instead of only flash drive delivery. Large file sizes could be avoided by letting students download individual modules when they're ready.(Update: In the course's re-release Peter switched to a downloadable option. You'll now have access to a membership area on his website where you can download course materials.)- As Peter and I discussed for the podcast, there's still a lot of room to grow here. I mentioned to Peter that I thought press releases would have been a good, and popular, project to cover as well.
The Verdict
Here's who I would recommend this course to:
- New freelance writers who are interested in commercial / business writing
- Journalists or content writers looking to move into freelancing for corporate or even small business clients
- Existing copywriters who want to expand their service offerings and want to learn about new project types or get a better grasp of the fundamentals
Long story short, if you want to launch or grow a freelance commercial writing business, this course is an excellent place to start, and Peter Bowerman is one of very few people I'd personally trust and recommend to you when it comes to this area of freelancing.
About Peter Bowerman
Since 2000, Peter Bowerman has been helping freelance writers make a good living from their words.
A veteran commercial copywriter, popular speaker, and commercial writing coach, he is the self-published author of the three multiple-award-winning Well-Fed Writer titles (WellFedWriter.com), the how-to "standard" on lucrative commercial freelance writing.
A veteran commercial copywriter since 1994, his client roster features the likes of The Coca Cola Company, IBM, UPS, American Express, and Mercedes-Benz.
He chronicled his self-publishing success in the 2014 multiple-award-winning title: The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living. (WellFedSP.com)
Get Access to Well-Fed Craft Today
Remember, when you sign up for Well-Fed Craft through this site, you'll get a bonus 30-minute one-on-one coaching session with Peter. You choose a time and topic, and he'll chat with you about your personal business concerns. That's a $75 value for free just for mentioning you learned about his course from All Freelance Writing.
What are you waiting for? You can learn commercial writing from one of the best with nearly 5 hours of modules, a .pdf sample collection, and -- if you order before the deadline -- a bonus one-on-one coaching session with Peter himself! For just $297, Well-Fed Craft is a bargain that will pay for itself several times over!
