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For Specialists: What Do You Tell Clients Are the Benefits to Specialist Copywriters?

by Cam Connor
10 replies
I was just thinking about this, and was wondering what some of you other guys and gals tell your clients as the benefits to going with a specialist (if you are one).

I try to not to repeat the same threads here: Emotions sell, stories sell, so on and so forth, and don't think this has really been talked about specifically.

So, if you're a specialist freelance copywriter, what do you tell your clients are the benefits of hiring a specialist?

So, some examples I use to start us off (these are all true btw):

- You need a Copywriter who understands your business/industry, and the challenges that people face in it.

- You need a Copywriter who understands your clients (or customers), what their fears are, what their desires are, etc.

- Plain and simple: a specialist in your field knows what works and what doesn't work because they've tried and failed in the past, whereas a generalist may not have experience in that niche, and so you could be their "guinea pig" while they figure out what works and what doesn't with (their type of clients or customers).

I have a few others, but I thought those would get us started. What do you guys mention?

Also, this is a thread for specialist to talk about what they pitch as the benefits to using a specialist, not for generalists to talk about why using a specialist isn't all that important.
#benefits #clients #copywriters #specialist #specialist copywriter #specialists
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Use the same research and persuasion skills with potential clients that you use to write effective copy.

    So ask yourself, what does the prospect already believe... and align your explanation with it.

    In your list, #3 is congruent with what the potential client is thinking. He or she wants to know if YOU can produce results.

    Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    If you can demonstrate you understand the subtleties of the in-house jargon, then you have somethin' to offer.

    Standard dictionaries an' thesauri are only for starters, an' so much about meanin' is kinda invisibly ring-fenced.

    Words or phrases that seem alike to the casual ear may sit on opposite sides of an arbitrary divide, with a whole list of reasons an' history to back up their idiosyncratic mis-link.

    This is insider knowledge, so you can cosy easier.
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    Lightin' fuses is for blowin' stuff togethah.

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  • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
    Although not a copywriter in a pure sense I do work in specific areas and do end up producing copy for clients in a narrow band.

    The specialist approach as suggested by Cam is one that yields a higher success rate when talking with prospects and also when actually getting down to delivering results.

    Outside of my main business and personal interests my specialisation has largely been driven by clients acquired in niches that at first I only had a broad understanding of.

    Over time the language specific to the market has been learned and reformed into what works in my client's local market.

    The majority of my clients are in the alternative health, surgical weight-loss and restorative plastic surgery areas.

    Some of the wordage I may have come across in my markets, although partly transferable to other countries and markets, is very localised due to the language of the prospects that are the ideal targets of my clients.

    "Swilling down a Dagwood Dog with Pot of Fourex" would not mean the same thing to someone even a few hundred miles away.

    The language...things like the difference between a "Chip Butty" a "Chip Sottie" and a "Chip Barm".

    All the same thing but one resonates with one target and another resonates with the same target demographic a mere stone's throw away.

    The understanding of the loquacity of the client's market is where my discussions tend to end up and involving the client in discussing those nuances is what had resulted in working for what could be considered a selective but profitable picky bunch.
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  • Profile picture of the author RonGold
    Honestly... it's all a placebo effect.

    It's like asking why people pay $200 more for an iPhone, as opposed to an Android - it's what in trend and also what happens to look nice.

    Put on a suit, build up a social network and you can essentially charge whatever the hell you want for content.
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    $2/100 words for REGULAR CONTENT
    $4/100 words for TOP NOTCH MONEY CONTENT
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    • Profile picture of the author 1Bryan
      Originally Posted by RonGold View Post

      Honestly... it's all a placebo effect.

      It's like asking why people pay $200 more for an iPhone, as opposed to an Android - it's what in trend and also what happens to look nice.

      Put on a suit, build up a social network and you can essentially charge whatever the hell you want for content.
      Let me ask you this. Your sig is trying to sell yourself as being "high-end" and yet you are charging $ 4 for 100 words. So a 1,000 word article would be $ 40.

      Which is FAR BELOW what a good entry level writer can get all day, every day.

      Maybe you don't know what you think you know?
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  • Profile picture of the author Cam Connor
    PB & Ozi - You guys make a good point, knowing the jargon and being able to "talk the talk" is a huge upside, and it's one that you can convey simply by TALKING with the prospect, without having to brag about this accomplishment or that accomplishment, or having to convince/persuade them of the value you can provide.

    You can simply ask them questions and say things that show them you know what's what in their industry and you can speak their language. That's a big deal for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author 1Bryan
    The right clients don't have to be "sold" on working with a specialist. Target better and your problem will no longer be a problem. Having to "sell" them is a symptom of bad targeting. Successful business people don't think like Warriors looking to make $ 1,000 on their next $ 7 report. They hire specialists all the time. They're pre-sold on the premise before you even talk to them.
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    • Profile picture of the author Cam Connor
      Originally Posted by 1Bryan View Post

      The right clients don't have to be "sold" on working with a specialist. Target better and your problem will no longer be a problem.
      It always cracks me up how every single time someone wants to create a discussion on these forums, there's always at least one person who comes along and puts them into the frame of "you're having a problem and I'm here to help because I'm an authority on the subject". This was a DISCUSSION on how Copywriters can position themselves well as specialists, not a personal problem I'm having, get a grip.

      Look, I don't know what you're talking about because here because the REALITY is that no matter how well you target your prospects, they're not just going to INSTANTLY be sold on you and hand you money because you "targeted them well".

      Your advice is delivered quite confidently yet not based in reality.

      What you said to Ron was clearly true, but it was so obvious that I didn't even bother pointing it out. That guy was "low-hanging fruit".
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      • Profile picture of the author 1Bryan
        Originally Posted by Cam Connor View Post

        It always cracks me up how every single time someone wants to create a discussion on these forums, there's always at least one person who comes along and puts them into the frame of "you're having a problem and I'm here to help because I'm an authority on the subject". This was a DISCUSSION on how Copywriters can position themselves well as specialists, not a personal problem I'm having, get a grip.

        Look, I don't know what you're talking about because here because the REALITY is that no matter how well you target your prospects, they're not just going to INSTANTLY be sold on you and hand you money because you "targeted them well".

        Your advice is delivered quite confidently yet not based in reality.

        What you said to Ron was clearly true, but it was so obvious that I didn't even bother pointing it out. That guy was "low-hanging fruit".
        Hi Cam,

        2 things first.

        1) You don't get to control the conversation on this thread. That's not how it works. Sorry.

        2) Until you personally experience the difference of targeting the right clients and building yourself up to where folks go to you without you having to search for them ...

        You'll think it's bullshit.

        When you wake up to a phone call and you haven't had to say word one and they are already ready to throw money your way because they KNOW you specialize in what it is they are selling ...

        You'll know.

        If you understand sports at all, you know that teams on the cusp of a championship look for specialists. The Bulls that won 6 titles in 8 years brought in Rodman strictly for rebounding and Steve Kerr strictly for 3 point shooting.

        Successful business people operate the same way. Sports is big business. They are business people. But all business people at the top of their game look for specialists first and foremost.

        When they find one, they are already sold.

        It just becomes a case of negotiating the price and the project. If you are selling the PREMISE of hiring a specialist, the prospect is at an early stage. Too early.

        You may not like that.

        But it is how it is.

        I'd rather target only clients who are already sold on the premise of working with a specialist ahead of time. They usually have better businesses and more work down the line and they usually pay far better.

        But to each their own.

        I'm not really a "coach" or a "mentor" of any kind. But I have coached a couple of writers I have met over the years.

        One recently went from $ 20 an article to a 5 article/$ 1200 gig in the first week. That's a 12-fold increase. Don't ya think their life is about to change financially for the better?

        Especially because they got to experience firsthand that it was actually easier to land the more lucrative deal than it was their bottom dollar ones.

        We changed 2 things.

        1) We made her a specialist.
        2) We targeted better clients.

        It's that easy.

        But if you want to continue the conversation like this:

        Smoker: I keep coughing in the morning, Doc.

        Doctor: Stop smoking.

        Smoker: I don't want to hear that. Just make the cough go away.

        Doctor: Stop smoking.

        Smoker: It always cracks me up how you doctors think you have all the answers.

        Doctor: Stop smoking.

        ...

        I'll bow out.

        P.S. I was under the impression that having experienced people chime in was the point of this forum. You are setting up a premise in the OP where a problem is being misdiagnosed. That has to be pointed out. The simple solution is to target better clients and the "problem" goes away. Much like the cough goes away when someone stops smoking.
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    • Profile picture of the author Len Bailey
      Originally Posted by 1Bryan View Post

      The right clients don't have to be "sold" on working with a specialist. Target better and your problem will no longer be a problem. Having to "sell" them is a symptom of bad targeting. Successful business people don't think like Warriors looking to make $ 1,000 on their next $ 7 report. They hire specialists all the time. They're pre-sold on the premise before you even talk to them.
      Right on the money, Bryan. I've never had to sell a potential client on the benefits of working with a specialist. Quite the contrary! They usually come to me because I'm a specialist. What's more, I've occasionally had to overcome the "niche specialist" mentality a few times to pick up a gig I really wanted. Early in my career, I wrote tons of catalog copy and loved it. But once I became known for writing financial copy, clients in other industries were less apt to approach me.

      If I were to start over, I'd probably build separate "satellite" sites for each niche I work in -- Financial, Health, Catalog, Direct Mail, etc. -- so I could really zero in on that niche without sacrificing other opportunities. But since I'm booked for the foreseeable future, that's probably not gonna happen anytime soon. Heck, I didn't even have a website until last year.
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      Len Bailey
      Copywriter/Consultant
      Feel free to connect on LinkedIn or Twitter

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