2 Rules You Should Follow (Literally) to the Letter
I’ve said it many times before: no one knows your voice or your customer better than you do. This, however, can be both a blessing as well as a curse.
From a marketing perspective, it’s a blessing because you are able to fine-tune your efforts to fall more in line with what your particular market wants. It’s a curse because when it comes to creating content for that market, you probably don’t have anywhere near the time you’d like to spend on it.
So what is the next logical step? It involves hiring either a freelance copywriter or copywriting company, of course. My guess is that you’ve either done that before or are thinking about doing it if you’re reading this blog.
I’d like to speak directly to the ones who have been there and let you know that I get how nerve-racking it can be hiring a copywriter. Ideally, you want someone who can be your voice and deliver your brand message with authority. The problem, however, goes back to the foundational truth that there is no writer out there who understands your brand better than you do (at least not on a first assignment).
So, for those who have been down this road before: How high do you set the bar with your copywriters? What is your overall expectation of what he or she is going to deliver? Yes, you are entitled to quality (after all, you are paying for this), but there’s a huge difference between “low quality” and “doesn’t meet my expectations.” What do you do to ensure that your writer gets as close to the mark as possible every time?
Rule #1: Hire a Professional Writer
There are loads of writers out there who treat copywriting like a hobby. What you want is to work with one who treats it like a career. I’ll be brutally honest here and tell you that those are difficult to find.
I actually had a marketer friend tell me once that he’d settle for mediocre copy delivered on time over great copy he has to chase for a week. I can see his point. I also think it’s reasonable to demand the best of both worlds. You want a writer who is both talented and dependable, but here’s the thing: those writers don’t churn out web copy at $1 per 500 words. They cost money. This is a lesson you need to learn early on. You can get an article written for $5 and have it be just OK and 3 days late, or you can spend $30 on it and hire a writer who will in turn put the time into research and ultimately deliver a quality product on time.
So how do you find that kind of writer? I’ll be honest: You’re likely to go through a few before you do. It might be more than a few, come to that. That brings me to the other half of this equation, which, if you follow it, should at least increase the odds of you developing a good mutually beneficial working relationship with a good writer sooner.
Rule #2: When You Find a Truly Professional Writer, Treat Him or Her Like a Professional
Your copywriter is a member of your team and should be treated as such. You can’t be too vague about various aspects of your business and expect clarity in the copy. The best way to achieve this, I’ve found, is to commit to being as thorough as possible from day one about several key things.
First, know what you want before you hire a writer. There is nothing more frustrating on either side of the table than when a client offers a one- or two-sentence synopsis about a project and then expects the writer to develop something impressive from it. Your copywriter is not a mind reader, so you need to take what’s in your brain and put it on paper.
This really is the most important step: Provide a detailed brief that outlines all the key elements of your project, not just “I need an article on how to buy a used car.” Who is going to read the article? To what website is it going to be posted? Are you personally trying to sell cars, or are you a consumer watchdog site that wants to educate people on the process? There are so many variables with that subject, it is imperative that you be detailed and specific about your expectations.
Second, know what you’re willing to pay. Decide ahead of time what you think would be a fair amount given the conversion potential there is in a really good article or blog. On average, good copy starts at about 3¢ per word when you hire direct — that’s $30 for a 1,000-word article. Going through a copywriting company will cost more because we act as a broker and provide access to writers with a proven success record and, quite often, experience in writing on the subject you bring to the table.
Next, you need to let your writer write. One of our writers once told me about an auto-responder client who was so nitpicky about the language in the emails that he actually started writing the vast majority of the copy himself and turned his writer into a high-priced editor. Hiring someone to be your voice involves a certain degree of faith. If you can’t afford that to your writer, you should probably either hire someone else or commit to doing your own writing. Copywriting companies offer editing services, too.
Finally, always pay on time. This is especially important when you’re working with a freelancer. Those people don’t have set paydays, but they do have due dates on their rent and car payments, and most supermarkets like to be paid upfront. The easiest way to lose a good writer is to play fast and loose with his or her livelihood. Just like you want your work delivered on time, the writer wants to be paid on time, and it is a reasonable expectation. Don’t disappoint him or her. When you take care of your writer, he or she will develop a strong commitment to your success. After all, maintaining a steady stream of work means making sure you stay successful, right?
A Note to the Newcomers
As a parting shot, I’m going to address those who have never hired a copywriter and give you some good news. If you’ve read this blog to the very end, you have all the info you need to save yourself (and the writer you hire) a whole world of frustration and get straight to the business of making money together as a team. The next step is to take the information here and put it to good, practical, and profitable use.