Which Copywriter Will They Hire In A Recession?

[Stephen Dean]

People are guarding their money these days, and I think that will only become more true as the economy stumbles along.

I've noticed a trend lately where clients are asking more questions and being more thorough when hiring a copywriter. They're not just throwing their money at projects. They're being more methodical while looking for a talented copywriter.

My guess is they've probably hired copywriters before without it paying off. And they want to make sure it doesn't happen again.

My tip for copywriters is to become at least proficient with multivariate and split testing software. Let them know you'll be paying attention to their conversion rate and running tests to improve it... maybe even as part of your main package.

This could go a long way to proving to the prospect that you're the copywriter to hire.

I typically use my own customized version of Muvar for multivariate testing for my clients. There's also Google Website Optimizer. And Mike Humphreys has his software as well: Easy Multi Tracking: Professional Copywriter Reveals His Proven Conversion Boosting Tool That You Can Use To Skyrocket Your Conversion Rates FAST!

There's also my free split test software: Free Split Test

Cheers!
Stephen Dean
Copywriting Dean|Copywriting And Internet Advertising Tactics By Copywriter Stephen Dean

[Paul Hancox]

Hi Stephen

That's a great tip and one way to add value to a copywriting service.

I should point out that it might also mean educating them on how to conduct a split test properly. You don't want them just changing your copy on a whim, or drawing conclusions after 7 sales

[Stephen Dean]

Originally Posted by Paul Hancox

I should point out that it might also mean educating them on how to conduct a split test properly. You don't want them just changing your copy on a whim, or drawing conclusions after 7 sales

Cheers to that. Muvar doesn't allow you to pick a winner, per se, it just shows the winning versions 99% of the time. And my Free Split Test shows how likely the results are to stay the same. So hopefully that'll help make the argument.

Stephen

[Loren Woirhaye]

Many clients I've worked with lack the ability
to drive adequate traffic for multivariate
testing of salesletters to be so relevant,
instead depending on list-building and
relentless email marketing. Ie. they're
doing internal "launches" of their own
offers, sometimes at price points that
make sending cold traffic to a sales
page a laughing matter, or at least
requiring the collection of a phone number
for the real sales process to happen.

I'm not arguing that multivariate testing
isn't a relevant skill, just that many clients
shopping for writers are struggling to get
a clue in other areas.

[Jo_Shua]

Aye, it is a good tip. Thanks, Stephen, for the insight...

[Stephen Dean]

That's true, Loren. Split testing can be better than multivariate for some clients. And testing a squeeze page (that gets higher conversion rates) might work better than testing the sales copy at first, because of the lack of traffic.

Either way, it's still a selling point that can relieve anxiety for the prospect.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Stephen Dean]

Decided to write a blog post showing how a copywriter could take advantage of this idea:

Hiring A Copywriter In A Recession|Copywriting Dean

Cheers,
Stephen Dean
Copywriting Dean|Copywriting And Internet Advertising Tactics By Copywriter Stephen Dean