Stop positioning yourself as a "copyWRITER"

[BrandonLee]

This is my public service announcement for this week, maybe the rest of my life.

If your a great, or even good, copywriter you do so much more than just write copy.

I think the problem though is that most people actually only see the last part "writer" and writers are artists. Artists are starving and not all that well paid.

Like I said, if your even a half way decent copy writer you offer so much more, and you should IMHO zero in on that.

I'm not a copywriter, I'm the world's 3rd worst copywriter. Thankfully my partner is a very good copywriter though. Seriously though I think all of you guys should look at how you position yourself. I'm honestly probably not nearly as good of an overall marketer as a guy like Ray or Vin, to pick two examples, but I have clients giving me half of their business plus a healthy upfront fee because of the way I position what I do.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by BrandonLee

I think the problem though is that most people actually only see the last part "writer" and writers are artists. Artists are starving and not all that well paid.

I think they confuse it with "copyright" and think "he doesn't even know how to spell it".

[Anomaly1974]

Copy writing or Copywriting as we know it actually comes from back in the days of print media but it has taken on new meaning here on the Internet as so many other things have. Me? I never claimed to be a copywriter but I have had some successes and when people are willing to work with me, I am willing to work with them. For some of us that works well enough but I am certainly no Eric Louviere and do not claim to be.

If you are the third worst in the world, that would probably put me in the negative numbers but I am going to try not to think about that.

Now if you want to talk email campaigns ... I have surprised myself with my results there but sales pages ... I still need some work.

Content? Not a problem

[colmodwyer]

If your prospect doesn't know what a copywriter is, then there's a very good chance you'll be getting paid peanuts regardless of how you position yourself.

Colm

[BrandonLee]

Originally Posted by Anomaly1974

If you are the third worst in the world, that would probably put me in the negative numbers but I am going to try not to think about that.

According to my friend David Raybould I actually have some potential, but we wont let that get out to very many people.

[Jon Steel]

You know - i never really thought of it like that. That was powerful and very true. Copywriting is so much more that that. Great post -

js

[procopywriter]

Originally Posted by colmodwyer

If your prospect doesn't know what a copywriter is, then there's a very good chance you'll be getting paid peanuts regardless of how you position yourself.

Colm

Colm's right. It depends on who you're targeting. If you're targeting prospects who ALREADY know and appreciate the value of a good copywriter (the best market to go after), you're not just a "writer" to them. You're a magician. You have the power to turn mere words into cold, hard cash.

To someone who doesn't understand the value of copy--which is most business owners out there--you'll have to position yourself more as a Marketing Consultant, and offer your services as such. Problem is, it's more work. A Marketing Consultant is expected to do more than just "write stuff." If you don't mind doing all the extra stuff, then that's fine.

Personally, I really get a kick out of writing copy and would rather not mess with all the other details except in an advisory capacity. I'll stick with what I'm really good at. And because of that, I'd rather work with someone who already understands and appreciates my value than trying to educate them on why they should pay me several thousand dollars "just" to write a sales letter for them.

Aaron