Why I’m Not Cheap and Why That’s a Good Thing
I’ve about had my fill of the cheap copy debate. In truth, there isn’t one. If you’ve got a complaint about copywriters charging too much, you’ve got other issues besides the cost. With copywriters, you get what you pay for, just like a doctor, lawyer, or even a school.
So, if you aren’t trying to screw writers over by trying to get everything for nothing, which most people aren’t, there’s something else behind it.
I’m not cheap, and after a series of recent events, I’ve re-evaluated my pricing structure yet again. My time and my copy are an investment, and it’s not something that should be taken lightly.
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Cheap Copy Makes You Look Cheap
Enough is enough, and I’m not the only one who’s had it with this type of thinking either. A number of writers have already had their say:
Web Content — You Get What You Pay For! (Oh, and that video on the end? Watch it.)
Why I Charge $1,200+ Per Page For Copywriting
My Thoughts On ‘Sausage-Factory’ Content: Let’s Set Something Straight
Google Says Quality Is Dirt Cheap, Don’t Hire Copywriters
Is Quality Copywriting Worth the Expense?
Here’s from the client’s perspective:
Debating the Value (and Meaning) of “Great Content” for SEO (Comments are great)
When To Pay Top Dollar For Copy
How Much To Pay a Copywriter from the Warrior Forum
Search Engine Optimization and the Importance of Copy
There are literally thousands and thousands of pages on the topic.
Copywriting is an investment equal in importance to the design, development, usability, and marketing strategy. Throwing a hastily written piece of web copy on a design you’ve spent thousands on is like shoving a $10K stereo in a 1983 Tercel. And in a business where your only interaction with most customers is your website, the existance of this plague is truly a mystery.
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I’m More Than Just a Durn Good Spellur
So, how do you define a ‘good writer’ anyway? Is this someone who can spell and knows the rules of grammar? Someone who can fit enough drivel between your keywords to satisfy your keyword requirements? Well, if that’s the case, then you’re right. Any idiot can do that…hmm, well no, that’s not true. I guess for some, the ability to speak and read English is enough.
Did you know that when you hire a copywriter, a good copywriter, you get more than just someone who can bang a bunch of crap onto a page. Yes, a good copywriter has to understand the rules before he or she can break them, but great copywriting, and indeed, great websites don’t become great by breaking the rules. They become great by breaking them the right way, and there’s much more to it than just that.
My Copywriting Is Creative
Tell me, how do you define your brand when it comes to creating your website? If you say simply your logo and tagline, you deserve a good swift smack. Your brand is the image you present to visitors.
Knowing that, what kind of an image do you project when your site looks great, but no one can understand a damn word you’re saying? Exactly. You may say you have high quality with an attention to detail, but do you really? Or are you more interested in making a quick buck? If it’s the latter, I can guarantee you that people can sniff that out a mile away. It reeks like a skunk and spreads about as far.
What sort of image do you project if someone arrives on your site and they can’t figure out what it is you do or what you have to offer them? Either it looks like you aren’t too interested in sharing that information, or you’re trying to hide something. People aren’t going to fight to give you money or attention.
What if your site just feels bland and uninspiring? How do you think people see companies like that?
When I write a piece of copy, I think about it long before I ever start writing. The imagery, feel, and tone for the copy absolutely perfect, meaning it needs to match you, your brand, and your target audience. If it doesn’t, you may as well be speaking alien because it’s going to be about as effective. In fact, my best ideas come to me at night when I’m supposed to be sleeping, in the truck, or while I’m in the shower.
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I Don’t Bully Your Buyers. With Me, They WANT To Buy
Some segments of your audience need pushes at different times and to varying degrees. Do you address that adequately? Or do you just toss the standard format onto a page and hope for the best?
While most copywriters follow a standard formula, I know that nothing is ever standard. Your business, your market, your website, and even how you plan to communicate different ideas enter into this equation. I charge more because I take time to figure out to get familiar with your target audience and learn how to push the right buttons at just the right time.
I Focus On What Really Matters — Those Who Buy From You
I don’t know how many times I hear people complain that they’ve got too many time wasters. Or, they complain that they’ve got a low conversion rate. Did you ever stop to think that maybe your copy is attracting the wrong segment of people? Many times, site owners are building a site and they can’t even define who their most profitable market is. I don’t just mean stay at home mom’s over 40 either. I mean putting names to that market.
When I work on a project, however, I do my best to work with that company to define that audience, or I attempt to narrow it down as much as possible before I can even start. Why? Because that’s what makes my writing better and different than almost all other copywriters in the industry.
It’s not just identifying this market. It’s using various methods to become familiar with the people who will be giving you their money, enough that you can use the same language, have the same problems, desires and fears. Why? So you know how to offer them the solution.
This doesn’t just come from analyzing the data either. You need to understand exactly what it is you’re looking at. Is it guaranteed? Of course not, but it’s sure a lot more accurate than the wild stab in the dark a lot of other copywriters make, if they account for this at all.
I Get the Right Message Out There
A large majority of website owners want to talk about how wonderful their product is, how wonderful they are, and then ask consumers for money. This is so common, this is all a large number of copywriters produce. Sorry, but this just isn’t very effective. It’s been proven over and over and over again. In fact, the best copywriters in the business have been preaching this for decades.
When I craft copy, I get the attention of your target audience, I create an internal need, and convince them that buying whatever it is from you is the best they could do for themselves. To do this, I make a direct connection between you and them. Think of me like a translator. It has nothing to do with features and telling them how wonderful you are. This desire is far stronger than just bragging yourself up and asking someone to buy from you.
Well, I lied. This does work if you’re a girl guide, and sorry, but you’re far from a girl guide. Unless you’re a girl guide. Then, you have my apologies.
I Know How To Incorporate Social Media
Want to know what your target market is really talking about? Want to know what they really need or enjoy? Trying to hit a particular social media site? If your copywriter doesn’t know what he or she is doing, or doesn’t know what to look for (or how to look for it), you’re likely not going to get there, especially if you haven’t had time to do your homework. Things like this are easily skewed.
I charge more because I do know where to look and know how to interpret what I’m looking at. I charge more because I generate ideas that help you get the attention of your target market. Is it guaranteed? Nope. Sorry. Stuff like that is never a guarantee, but I guarantee you’ll get a heck of a lot closer with a copywriter that knows what she’s doing compared to one who doesn’t.
And Let’s Not Forget Search Engine Optimization
I’d like to think I have a pretty darn good understanding of SEO and how content fits into that equation. This gives me a distinct advantage over most copywriter, not only because I know how to create your content, but I also know how to structure it to satisfy the search engines and create sales funnels that are customized to match each of the different visitors who land on your site. In fact, I know how to create entire content strategies that will help you build links and all that kind of stuff.
A large number of other writers don’t even know where to begin. Oh, they can plug keywords into a bunch of text all right, but that’s pretty much the extent of it. What about working in difficult keywords or instances where the keywords chosen aren’t exactly a good match for the topic? I guarantee that if you’re only paying them a couple bucks an article, they aren’t going to care.
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I’m Good To You Too
What happens when you forgot about a project or you’ve discovered you’re falling in the SERPs? Maybe you’ve got a product that’s not going to meet the month’s goals? While most other copywriters only work business hours Monday to Friday and no holidays, I’m usually willing to make myself available and do everything humanly possible to get it done.
I don’t limit the number of revisions you’re allowed. I don’t give you obscene turnover times, and you know it’ll be done when you give it to me. There’s always a friendly voice on the phone and friendly hellos in your email. You can’t say the same about a lot of the writers out there, and anyone who has fought with crap writers before knows how important this is.
You see? If I was just writing, I could warrant working for a couple of dollars an hour, but there’s much more to it.
I Have Expenses Too
Would you pay someone to work for them? Good. Me either. If it’s going to cost me to do your work, I’m not too interested in doing it, and I think that’s only fair. So what else is included in my costs? The same things that are included in every other service or product you buy:
- Marketing
- Administrative costs
- Advertising/donations
- Emails, phone calls and chats (I don’t charge when we spend an hour on the phone!)
- Education, resources and learning
In the end, a single piece of web copy can take me days, not an hour or two. Besides, if you think it’s important enough to seek out the best copywriter to do it, don’t you think I should put as much time, care, consideration, and thought into it as you would?
You’ll notice I didn’t mention all the free SEO, site structure, usability, social media and marketing questions I often get asked while working on these projects. These questions sometimes eat up hours of my time…hours I could be getting paid for or spending with my kid.
Does this mean everyone should buy expensive copy? Of course not. Does this mean I’m the right copywriter in every situation? Of course not, but the rest of this discussion will have to wait for the next post!
Copywriting | 8 comments
Promotional VS Informative Marketing Content: Which Is Better?
Many of my clients ask about what they should and shouldn’t publish when marketing their websites. If they want to sell, they should write content that directly promotes the company or a specific product, right? Or maybe they should they offer readers information that’s more… well… informative.
Companies want to advertise their products and services while creating a buzz around their business. Unfortunately, some get so caught up in the idea of getting conversions, they forget readers have to have a desire to read the piece in the first place or they’re just going to ignore it. (Think banner blindness!) It’s sort of like failing to see the forest for the trees.
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Now, while I’m a firm believer in the idea that there’s a time and place for everything, and am aware of the huge advantages promotional content can have, I strongly believe in using informative content in a blog, article marketing strategy, or to otherwise market a website, product, or service.
Why Promotional Content Is Often Ineffective For Marketing
On the Web, people are constantly bombarded with advertising. So it’s only natural that the last thing they want to spend time reading is
more advertising when dealing with an overflowing newsreader or inbox. When this happens, I find readers ignore this type of content and see it as having no value to them.
It’s important to introduce a new product, but promoting products too often can cause you to lose readership. They don’t want to read about you all the time. They want to find out how to solve problems, and the way I see it, if you have a properly crafted website, you don’t need to highlight something different every day.
Your readers should already know what you offer. This doesn’t mean promotional content is useless, but you need to be cautious about how you incorporate it into social spaces. (Mention sales, news and publish the odd post, but don’t consistently use entire blog posts to talk about you and your offerings.)
If you really want to sell the products or services you have on offer, you need to forget about advertising them. Instead, demonstrate to your audience how the items or services you have for sale can make their lives better, easier, or more enjoyable.
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Readers Want To Learn From You, So Give ‘em What They Want
By the time a reader gets to you, they have one of two goals:
1. They want to know how to solve a problem or issue by themselves. They want to leave your site and come away with something they can use, even if it’s hot news topics or industry changes.
2. They are too busy, or too inexperienced to handle an issue themselves, and want to hire you to look after it. In this instance, they don’t want to be educated. They expect you to know everything and use this knowledge to help them achieve a goal.
Your job as a website and business owner is to decide what goal your readers have and how you’ll address them. Depending on your niche, you may even need to address the needs of both types of readers.
From here, you can create topics that address these needs while still getting your message across in a subtle way. The idea is to make your audience go ‘Oh hey! I bet their product/service can help me do that.’ Or, ‘if I bought the product or service, I could do all this too…’
How Each Reader Type Converts:
You’ll find those who want to solve an issue themselves still may need some of the complimentary services you offer. Or, they’ll discover how much work or experience is required to do the job they have in mind and change their minds about doing it themselves. In this instance, who better to do the work than the expert they chose to learn from initially? Others may simply respect you for helping them and improve your authority. No matter which way it goes, you essentially lose nothing.
The group of readers who know they don’t have the time, experience, or expertise to do something are the ones who directly convert. They are already looking for the things you offer, so you just need to show them why you are better than your competition.
Lastly, if you’re guest posting or working on a content placement program, you’ll find the site owners are a lot less reserved when it comes to informational content. Promotional content, on the other hand, could cost you to get up there.
So, the next time you create a piece of content to publish on a blog, for example, which type will you use? Why? Do you feel promotional advertising can take a leading role in blogs, for example?
Copywriting | No comments
Practical SEO Copywriting Review — The Easy Way To Learn SEO Copywriting
I provide SEO copywriting for a number of different businesses, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to help everyone. You see, a large number of the people who contact me are website owners with budgets that are simply too small for the amount of copy and content they need.
The other group is moms, dads and students who would like to earn some extra cash writing for a living. They want to do it, but they just can’t afford to pay me to teach them one on one and finding a decent course on it is like finding a needle in a haystack blindfolded!
While I do help some of these people on rare occasion, I simply can’t afford to help all of them. Now, with Practical SEO Copywriting by Glenn Murray, I can!
About Glenn…
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Glenn Murray of Divine Write for almost three years now. We met over a tweet about SEO of all things. I was looking for some good quality resources to learn more about SEO, and he was kind enough to offer me a copy of his book SEO Secrets.
Being a creative, writing-obsessed, information addicted, quirky soul with a passion for SEO like me, we hit it off instantly and spent a good chunk of time talking about…I don’t know…something. Anyway, despite the fact that we’re technically competitors, we’ve become colleagues, and most importantly, great friends. We’ve worked together and helped each other more times than I have fingers and toes. (Might explain why I don’t know how many times we’ve helped each other out!)
You’ll never find another copywriter more interested in talking about the industry and willing to help. He’s smart, knows what he’s talking about, and is certainly ahead of the game compared to most in the industry. Naturally, I was excited and flattered when I got a sneak peek at Practical SEO copywriting.
Glenn and Writing
Perhaps one reason Glenn and I get along so well is that we have the same methodologies, techniques, and ideas when it comes to SEO copywriting and running our businesses. (They say imitation is the best form of flattery 
)
Well, we do argue about one thing: I’m a firm believer in the idea that contractions should be used to improve the flow of the writing, but they should be mixed with the long form to add variety and emphasize various points. He doesn’t. As a result, it has become one of our favourite arguments that I poke him with just often enough to keep him on his toes. (I keep meaning to write a post about that…)
Ok, ok. He uses a lot of funny words that remind me of Crocodile Dundee, his spelling is a little off (who spells tire with a ‘y’ anyway? ) and he’s made me go digging through an Australian/Canadian dictionary for a translation more than once, but I digress.
In short, Glenn has written a book that contains the teachings I would have included in a book about SEO copywriting. He is an extremely talented copywriter, successful, and someone I look up to very much.
Practical SEO Copywriting
I absolutely loved the way Glenn formatted and set up the book. Not only was there lots of pretty pictures and tables to look at, but it also meant I could absorb more information by reading less. Who doesn’t like that?
The problem with writing about SEO copywriting is that it contains many problems you don’t encounter or think about until after you get going on it. This can make these situations a bit difficult to for someone new to the gig to understand. Glenn, however, handled it beautifully.
He explored each of the common issues in detail using simple and entertaining English. (I must say that ‘The sniff of an oily rag is the Honda ride-on mower’s equivalent of over-eating!’ is my favourite line in the whole book.) The problems, solutions, and examples included in the book made it easy to understand what he was getting at and how to solve them.
Glenn also covered a number of the dilemmas I was forced to learn through experience. I think this will give everyone wanting to know more about SEO copywriting a huge advantage that those of us who came before this book simply just didn’t have.
Everything you need to know about SEO copywriting is in this book and explained in a way everyone can understand! It’s far better than most of the multiple week training courses I’ve seen, and if you don’t think so, Glenn is more than happy to refund your money. (If it makes you feel better, I don’t remember Glenn ever having to give someone a refund on any of his books.)
What I’d Like To See In The Book…
Like the brain freeze that comes with ice cream, you have to take the good with the bad. On the bright side, the sugary sweet goodness more than makes up for the momentary discomfort.
First of all, Glenn doesn’t talk about himself or brag about himself near enough. I know him, so I know there’s much more to the story that I think others would have related to and found interesting. It would also have gotten readers to realize exactly how big of a deal he really is. (In case you’re wondering, he’s as big in the copywriting world as Oscar the Grouch is on Sesame Street. Wait…is Oscar still on Sesame Street? Never mind. You know where I’m heading with this. You definitely want to get to know him!)
I would have liked to see him dig a bit more into formatting text and the importance of bold, italics, colour, and underlining. On the Web, this can make or break your copy, as far as I’m concerned.
While making headlines and text scannable was mentioned in the book, I would have loved to have seen a section devoted to it. Other items such as studies, reports, statistics, etc that outline the habits of online readers (the first three words of a title, for example) would have been another great set of topics to consider, even if it was simply providing links to further reading.
The book doesn’t dig much into creating headlines, but at the same time, this is sort of a tough one to teach. You just need to practice. A pull file filled with great headlines you find along your travels can really help too.
I think those new to copywriting and websites would have benefited from a set of examples they could refer to. The book does have examples, but some people learn better when they can compare before and after samples in different styles. Perhaps it would have been even better to give some exercises at the end that we could work on and compare to the optimized version? That’s right, I need more dammit!
From now on, those who ask me about SEO copywriting will definitely be getting a link to this book.
So, if you haven’t already purchased Glenn Murray’s Practical SEO Copywriting, I strongly suggest you do so. You won’t be disappointed!
(Yes, these are affiliate links on an honest review.)
Copywriting | 2 comments
Business and Morals: Do You Take the Money Or Run?
I’ve written about the association between morals and business before. I even had an excellent guest post on the subject, so it’s no secret that my morals and values play an important role in my business decisions. However, I recently discovered these two things aren’t as cut and dried as I first thought.
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What Happens When You Know Too Much
Here’s the scenario: A client comes to you wanting to write a book on a subject you just happen to know a bit about. They give you the outline and main points for each chapter. Unfortunately, they’re wrong. And it isn’t a ‘I know I’m wrong but I just want to make money’. It’s a ‘I’m not wrong. I’m the expert’. Now, if you write this book, your name isn’t on it, but others will still be reading and learning from this book. Also, these mistruths aren’t glaringly obvious to anyone other than those who are familiar with the business, so it would be hard for anyone else to prove otherwise.
Do you write it, take the money, and shut up? Or do you turn away the cash and run with it?
The “Take the Money and Run Camp”
A lot of industry experts I’ve talked to about the subject say it depends on a number of things including whether or not their name is on it, how much money the project is worth, who it’s for, how big of a factual mistake it is, and many other variables.
The argument is that if it’s worth enough money, if the mistake isn’t that huge, and their name isn’t on it, they’d likely do it.
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“No Way In Hell Buddy Boy”
On the other side of the fence are those who say they wouldn’t take the job regardless. They don’t care who it’s for, what it could do to or for their career, or how much money they could make. They know what’s right and what’s wrong, and they refuse to allow something false like that from hitting the virtual shelves. They’d never be able to look at themselves in the mirror if they did.
“It’s Money. Duh”
The third opinion of this is that it’s a business transaction. This is doing a job for money. Nothing more. Nothing less. Their morals and values don’t enter into the picture because their morals and values aren’t for sale. They run a profitable business, and as such, they will do what keeps that business profitable.
Personally, I have to admit I’m torn. I really abhor the idea of writing the same garbage that I’ve argued against, but at the same time, I do have a family to support. From the client’s perspective, they may know I know about the subject, but they don’t know how much I know about. Also, they’re supposed to be the experts on the subject, not you. Why would they trust you?
I’m left in a position where I don’t want to touch the project because I know a portion of it is incorrect. The client won’t just change it because the writer said so either. There’s no real way to prove it, so what do we do?
Business | 3 comments
Angie’s Copywriting Gets Nominated for a SEMMY!
I was very pleasantly surprised yesterday. My piece, ‘Don’t Blame the Snake Oil Salesman‘, has been nominated for a SEMMY Award in the ‘industry’ category! Voting opens on January 20th.
I wanted to thank them very much for the nomination. Being ‘new’ to the industry (especially in comparison to many others on the list) and a copywriter, I’m honoured to know that my post is considered one of the year’s best.
Lighter Side | No comments
