Looking to pick up copywriting gigs? Whether you’re a freelance writer looking for a full-time job, a full-time marketing department looking for a copywriter, or even a small business looking for someone to bring focus to a less-than-ideal campaign, you can be part of the wave. If you’ve ever had an inkling about it, then good news! Content marketing is on the rise, and you’ve got every reason to believe that it will go global. Here’s why.

Back in 2009, when you first considered becoming a business owner, you probably didn’t think about working in the field of content marketing (or maybe you did, but you kind of chalked it up to freelance writing or marketing help work, or maybe you thought that if you grew up reading magazines or TV, you could maybe make it at that kind of thing). Now, companies are seeing this value, but it’s not just small businesses who are making it. And there’s good reason for that: Content marketing is here to stay.

“In 2009, the first article I ever saw about Content Marketing was written by an executive VP at IBM. At the time, Content Marketing was a small niche focus, just an area of opportunity. They also wrote an article called ‘Leads by Example’ which was an extraordinarily informative and powerful description of how content marketing was already putting buyers into action. That article is still in use every day. Even today, it’s used by executives from large companies to help sell huge amounts of marketing content.” – Evangelique Gooraltin, founder and CEO of Lequser and senior member of Create Advertising.

Content Marketing is massive.

But it’s also an industry, and any industry with big growth is ripe for disruption. Some people are betting that the large and established industries aren’t going to stay in their current state; instead, their content marketing is going to be disrupted by the “pitch culture” of startups. So, they need to keep up with the game.

And even when you don’t see disruption on the near horizon, you should still keep an eye on content marketing companies. They’re the new face of the industry, and they’re going to provide new means for creating, packaging, and distributing content. In 2019, we will see the rise of a “lean and mean” organization that has savvy, quick communications. Here’s how you can do it.

Clear entry to content marketing is essential.

“Content is your ticket to the next level. Because you have to know where it all begins; you can’t become a content creator after you’ve become a writer. You can only build a career around content marketing if you know what that means in terms of daily tasks. As a student of the business, I had a tight focus, and I knew that I had to answer to people and get results. It’s all about the work, not the outcome, and it’s all about what you do with it: figuring out how to take your content from idea to action, or start a conversation with people at key inflection points.” – Jeffrey Hession, founder and CEO of Alpha Squared Strategy.

Invest in some more skill.

Professional content creators now need an array of skills in writing, web design, social media, writing copy, managing teams, and creating cross-functional teams. You have to have both strategic and tactical business acumen.

Build and nurture connections.

Collaboration is key to this. The more people you know in your field, the more opportunities you’ll get in your job. At the same time, there will be a shortage of people that are skilled and experienced enough to handle content marketing, and so you’ll also find that it will benefit those not quite ready to be professionals yet.

Take an outbound marketing approach.

Take the advice of Scott Bell, and we’ve already talked about the importance of including the user experience in your thought leadership. You can always create or curate content to help people find, use, enjoy, and share with others; but you’ll also want to take an outbound marketing approach with it. Tell them about your brand, product, and other distinctive capabilities to make sure that people know who you are and that they want to recommend you to others. You’ll also want to do the same with your ideas, as in, you want to make people want to click on your article. Make sure that you’re not just telling them what you think they want to hear, but also what you can do for them, and that you’re bringing a unique perspective to the conversation.