Some advice when hiring a copywriter
Guys there are many and I mean many copywriters available to
write copy for you, and their prices are as varied as their
writing styles.
However the reason for this post is to give some input to
what you may wish to take into consideration when going
down the route of outsourcing your copy needs.
First – Ask around…. Ask in forums where you visit if
anyone can recommend someone,
Ask people you know on msn, even consider asking people
who’s list you may be on (if they’ve provided you with
good info and are available to ask)
Second – Have a look at some prices of those who made it
onto your list, and decide if you can comfortably budget to
professionally written copy?
I mention this because there are some HUGE differences in
prices for copywriting with the top guys charging in the
region of $25,000 plus a share of revenue!
It’s not uncommon to see prices of $3 – 5,000 quoted for a
salespage, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get a poor job at
less money….. the important thing to remember is how much
you think you’ll make from the sales of your product.
Third – following the last point – do your own feasibility
study, have you got people with large lists lined up to
promote your product?….. are you going to cover your
costs?
Fourth – consider other options if required, such as buying
software to help write your own, starting your own swipe
file of good salesletters to inspire you, even visiting
sites like mine to take inspiration from ‘examples or work
done’ – most good copywriters will have some.
Fifth – If you decide you need to have someone write the
copy, and you seen some examples of work…. CHECK with the
copywriter if it his/her own work of if the subcontract any
of it out, do they employ staff to write for them, do they
have students in training that write their copy?…. all
relevant questions as you’ll later see.
Sixth – Agree the ‘How Much’ and the ‘Deadlines’ before
paying your deposit
Seventh – Do check if tweaks and rewrites are part of the
deal before hand.
Eigth – IF you take any special offers – do read every bit
of small print before you make your decision.
Do check the Post Here for more Tips on Copywriting
AND some great Resources!
I hope that helps.
Randy
www.YourCopySmith.com
www.MonthlyBargains.co.uk
www.RandolfSmith.com
If you survived my Rambles, pop your details in the boxes and I will email whenever I update my blog as well as send you a heap of Useful Marketing Gifts
Not much to say about copy writing because if a product doesn’t come with a sales page – I don’t sell it.
My own products – weeeeeel, nobody is going to buy them, anyway, so the sales page doesn’t really matter.
This amuses me…..
I followed your ‘gravatar’ link.
Can you translate this into English?
How do I get gravatars on my blog?
Setting up gravatars on your blog is easy, you don’t even need an account! Plugins are available for leading blog software, and our tutorials will have you running gravatars in no time. To request a gravatar from our servers, you simply add an image to your comments area with an “src” attribute that points to our gravatar image generator and includes an MD5 hash of the commenter’s email address. Since all gravatars are rated with an MPAA style rating, you can restrict your site to show only gravatars whose content you are comfortable with.
In other words…..”No, you can’t have a gravatar”. LOL
Beachcomber
Randy–you raise some good points.
As a copywriter, I’d like to add a couple more.
Are you prepared to test the copy by using different versions of it on small segments of your list?
Copywriting is as much science as it is art. There are no miracles or magic. And sometimes copy fails…even the seasoned copywriters flunk big time.
Not testing puts you at risk of losing money.
Second, if you hire a copywriter for dirt cheap ( i.e., $1000 for a sales letter)–you generally get what you pay for. There is a reason the copywriter is charging that low. Usually because they don’t have the experience.
Thanks Suzanne,
Some excellent additions there
I appreciate your input (and I’m glad I don’t charge $1000 a page….lol)
Randy
Hey Randy,
Great tips, thanks.
There are lots of poor sales letters out there, it’s a shame because the product is probably not inferior but it gets let down by it’s sales page.
Your tip no4 is great for those people who can’t spend $10,000 to hire a top copywriter.
Beachcomber commented on not selling products that don’t have a sales page, I am the opposite, I LOVE to get my teeth into products without a sales page.
I always believe if you get the right message to the right market at the right time you will make sales effortlessly, a converting sales page is a must have.
Sally
Thanks for the comments Sally
You make a good point about selling products with no sales letter included, as many wont bother – so you’d have more chance that not many will have seen the offer
Randy