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Have You Slaved Away In the B2B Market?

by lchiles
8 replies
Hey, would love to grab your advice since you've been around the b2b market
longer than I have.

Which key differences, other than writing like a magazine article and not a hyped up sales letter, do you feel the copywriter needs to bring to the b2b market?

Thank you.

Lawton
#b2b #market #slaved
  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    Well, white paper skills are good to have.

    I haven't written a lot of B2B. I've found clients like to make
    you jump through lots of hoops s to get even small jobs. That's
    because middle managers interested in making themselves look
    competent get tasked with hiring a writer for something or
    other and then create busywork for you because they are
    terrified of the writer failing to perform because it makes them
    look incompetent.

    In dealing with such people you may have to submit all kinds
    of paperwork to land a small job, like writing the copy on a
    software box - and after the paperwork phone interviews
    and maybe even in-person interviews where they are talking
    to a dozen other writers.

    If you can get to decision-makers, it'll be easier for you I'll bet -
    either target mom-and-pop's or join rotary, lions and the
    country club, etc. so you can rub shoulders with the people
    who have the power to actually hire you on a handshake. It's
    a way to leapfrog over all the middle HR mucky-mucks.

    I'm trying to be a little funny here - but beware of selling your
    services to the wrong people in an organization if you value your time.
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    • Profile picture of the author CopyAcolyte
      Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye View Post

      Well, white paper skills are good to have.

      I haven't written a lot of B2B. I've found clients like to make
      you jump through lots of hoops s to get even small jobs. That's
      because middle managers interested in making themselves look
      competent get tasked with hiring a writer for something or
      other and then create busywork for you because they are
      terrified of the writer failing to perform because it makes them
      look incompetent.

      In dealing with such people you may have to submit all kinds
      of paperwork to land a small job, like writing the copy on a
      software box - and after the paperwork phone interviews
      and maybe even in-person interviews where they are talking
      to a dozen other writers.

      If you can get to decision-makers, it'll be easier for you I'll bet -
      either target mom-and-pop's or join rotary, lions and the
      country club, etc. so you can rub shoulders with the people
      who have the power to actually hire you on a handshake. It's
      a way to leapfrog over all the middle HR mucky-mucks.

      I'm trying to be a little funny here - but beware of selling your
      services to the wrong people in an organization if you value your time.
      I heard that it was actually much easier to get b2b writing assignments because the supply of b2b copywriters falls short of the demand. If that's the case, then why would they make you run through hoops when they simply need writers to take on their many goals.

      Or is that not the case, and b2b writing is elite and hard to get into?
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      • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
        Originally Posted by CopyAcolyte View Post

        I heard that it was actually much easier to get b2b writing assignments because the supply of b2b copywriters falls short of the demand. If that's the case, then why would they make you run through hoops when they simply need writers to take on their many goals.

        Or is that not the case, and b2b writing is elite and hard to get into?
        There's a lot of "yada yada" about freelance writing opportunities
        being plentiful and such-and-such a niche being "like shooting
        fish in a barrel", mostly by sellers of courses, like AWAI. You
        just have to pick your battles and find out for yourself what you
        like to do and what doors seem to be open to you.
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        • Profile picture of the author premiumonlinewriting
          There's not a lot of difference between the two. Businessmen buy on emotion, too. On the whole, I find B2B to be the easier sale. You're dealing with people who can make decisions and have the wherewithal to buy. I think it's an artificial distinction like tangibles and non-tangibles. If you can sell one, you can sell the other.
          I'd agree with this for the most part. I also find B2B to be the easier sell, and I think that's primarily because business people are quite focused on one thing: ROI. You convince them what you're selling is going to bring them a good return, they'll but it. That's pretty much it. So it's simpler than B2C in many ways. That said, I do think it's much more important to reinforce emotional motivations with logical arguments when it comes to B2B. Business people are going to be less likely to make a spur of the moment purchase without crunching the numbers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by lchiles View Post

    Hey, would love to grab your advice since you've been around the b2b market
    longer than I have.

    Which key differences, other than writing like a magazine article and not a hyped up sales letter, do you feel the copywriter needs to bring to the b2b market?

    Thank you.

    Lawton
    Bob Bly wrote a very good article on the subject, "The 7 Key Differences Between Business to Business and Consumer Marketing".

    You can view it here ...

    Consumer vs. B2B marketing | The Total Package

    Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author briancassingena
    Great article Alex, thanks for the link. As for B2B copywriting, remember that your prospects there are living breathing irrational human beings just like any other prospects, so don't think that businesses buy things, it's still people buying things. The article above has a lot of the answers you're looking for
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    • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
      Why do you use the expression "Slaved Away"?

      If you do not like and respect B2B clients, you are not going to be successful working for them.

      If you do like and respect them, and also like and respect yourself, then there is nothing slave-like about working for them.

      I apologize if it seems like I'm picking on wording you may have slapped into your subject line just to get attention. However, I have often seen that people's hasty word choices do often reveal their attitudes.

      Marcia Yudkin
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