What to do when clients wants you to provide graphics along with copy?

Just tell them you're not a graphic designer. Real copywriters generally aren't graphic designers. Graphics are cheap and time-consuming considering how much you earn from them.

Never change your business to suit one client... they'll be plenty of others.

You just charge more for your service and then outsource it to a place like

-odesk
-freelancer
-peopleperhour
-elance
-fiverr

If they want stock images for an article or something like that, then I'll go to Dreamstime, select a $1 photo that fits the project and then bill them $25 for it. And then I'll tell them, I bought this from Dreamstime if you'd rather select your own art from this point forward...and they usually do.

For graphics, logos and custom images, I have a graphic designer that can handle this stuff but it's always a pain in the butt. So once again, I tell the client that I don't do that kind of stuff and I'll send them directly to my contact, which earns me cool points for whenever I want a logo or something made. I basically do the same thing with graphic designers, web builders or anything I'm not good at....I'd prefer the favor down the road to the actual cash.

You can certainly bill for this stuff though and play middleman, or you can ask for a percentage on the back end for everything you refer. I just don't waste my time with it since I end up losing more money in productivity than I would gain in profit.

I would tell them that you can refer them to a graphic designer for their graphic needs while you focus on writing their copy. Unless you are a great graphic designer then I would not offer design as part of your professional services.

Yes, establish a relationship with a reliable web designer. You refer work to him, and he refers work to you.

Alex

A tale of caution...

It can be easier to trip over a sack of long lost gold coins and bump into a hidden treasure chest full of antiquities than it is to find a great graphics person who really "gets" direct response.

The "killer" ones can stun the client senseless when they hear the fee.

Forcing the copywriter to ferret out the best possible "stock" pics that absolutely hit the mark (not easy and sometimes you'll only get very close).

If a client has a designer you need to give a full and detailed diplomatic explanation on exactly what you need to enhance your epic masterpiece.

And don't ever "accept" stuff that you know will plummet the response (even if the client, and of course the designer think it's brilliant).

A picture can paint a 1000 words or it can lose any possible interest in a nano second.


Steve

There's a lesson to be learned here:

Work with clients who have their infrastructure in place.

In other words...

You give them sales letter copy or a VSL script... and they have the people to produce it... right.

That gives you a better chance of looking like a rock star.

When you write copy for people who don't have the ability to produce what you've written, you're putting your reputation is a precarious position.

Botton line...

Work with people who have their stuff figured out. (Especially if you're in it for backend.)

Mark