300 Product Descriptions- 30 day deadline

20 replies
Hey Guys,
So I just got a fiverr gig to write 300 product descriptions (literally 300 bags that look alike) in 1 month. The pay was good-quite unlike fiverr- so I accepted right away without thinking about the amount of work that would have to be done. I've never had such a huge project so I assumed it would be a challenge and help me write faster.

Right now, I'm falling behind. Its day 7 and 30 products in and I've run out of ideas. It doesn't help that the client wants each description to be 150 words or more.

So the question: Have you had such a big project before? And if yes, how did you handle it? Thanks for your help
#300 #day #deadline #descriptions #product
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    I accepted right away without thinking about the amount of work that would have to be done
    I don't understand that. Did you at least consider the word count and your writing speed to arrive at an estimate of time required or pay/hr?

    I have done something similar years ago - descriptions for a large halloween costume site. Only about 100 words each but there were almost a thousand of them. You can't write something like that as you would an article where you start fresh each time.

    When you are writing descriptions that are not all that different - you need to spend 2-3 hours coming up with a list of points and phrases/adjectives you can easily pull from.

    Put the number of words into context....if you've done only 30 descriptions in 7 days...that's a total of 4500 words....only about one 600 word article per day.

    If it were me I would assume 15 minutes per description plus about 30 minutes additional per day as a 'buffer'. Don't know your writing speed but most writers can easily do 1000 words an hour...15 minutes each only aims at 600 words per hour. A total of 300 descriptions is about 75 hrs at 4/hr....round that up to 80 and it is 20 hrs/ per week.


    I know that sounds like 'blah de blah blah' but it will get the timing into your head. You have to turn these suckers out rather than agonize over each one. Either you have written very slowly (which can happen when you get stuck) or you are not spending enough time working on this project.

    As you still have 270 to do - and only 23 days to get them done...that will be about 25 hrs a week WORK at 4 descriptions/hr.

    Time your self - keep track of where you are - aim for 4 blurbs per hour and adjust your time accordingly.

    I don't know if this will help you - but you have put yourself in a fish or cut bait situation. It's not an unusual 'project' and if you break it down into word count it's not so huge. Speed up, settle in, and write like crazy.


    Let us know how it goes.
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  • Profile picture of the author briankj
    What are you doing here on the internet. GET BACK TO WORK SLACKER!
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    You should be using factual data in an HTML bullet list optimized with schema code for SEO.

    Writing long handbag descriptions is ridiculous.




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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Writing long handbag descriptions is ridiculous.
    Unless that is what you were hired to do....150 words is a LONG description.
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    Sometimes I just want someone to hug me and say...
    "It's going to be OK - here's a horse and two million dollars."
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
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      Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

      Unless that is what you were hired to do....150 words is a LONG description.

      I get that but sometimes a little buyer/seller communication and explaining more logical alternatives makes the job easier with the same pay.

      I bet a bullet list with the facts sells better, better customer experience and it's easier to optimize for SEO (win x 3).

      Who wants to read a book while shopping when they can glance at the product details neatly organized and presentable? Not me.
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      • Profile picture of the author twranks
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        I get that but sometimes a little buyer/seller communication and explaining more logical alternatives makes the job easier with the same pay.

        I bet a bullet list with the facts sells better, better customer experience and it's easier to optimize for SEO (win x 3).

        Who wants to read a book while shopping when they can glance at the product details neatly organized and presentable? Not me.
        Oh trust me I tired reasoning with him on that, but he "had his reasons" and I needed the money so I took it. Now I wish I charged more
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      • Profile picture of the author OptedIn
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        I get that but sometimes a little buyer/seller communication and explaining more logical alternatives makes the job easier with the same pay.
        You say that as if most clients are willing to compromise, as well as admit that you might actually know more than they do. This has not been my experience.

        The most successful way that I have found to get a client to alter their intransigence is to use the phrase, "I think it would be better if you found someone else to handle this for you."

        When they ask why that is, I respond with, "You called me about this work because I have never let you down on any past projects. There's no way that I am going to possibly disappoint you, going forward. Not for any amount of money."

        Putty in your hands, unless you are dealing with an arrogant S.O.B.

        I will generally still win this argument as I have yet to meet the business owner, who can out 'arrogant S.O.B.' me. If you can't train your clients to completely trust you, working for them can be a very tough slog. Once they learn that you do know more than they do and that you have their best interests at heart - they generally cave. Secondly, when you deliver the work, your way, that meets their expectations, they rarely will question you on future projects. After a while you will start to hear the refrain, "Just give me a quote on how you feel the best way to handle this would be."

        If they don't acquiesce and you have to walk away, the only things you will have given up is wasted time, under-appreciated effort and more aggravation than you will ever be compensated for. The only thing worse that losing a really bad client, is trying to work for one and believing that you can make them happy. Good luck with that. You can view your attitude as it pertains to clients in one of two ways - either quantity or quality. I don't view a client offering me work as them doing something for me. I believe that my accepting their work is doing something that benefits them.

        Sometimes, less really is, more.

        Cheers.
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        • Profile picture of the author yukon
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          Originally Posted by OptedIn View Post

          You say that as if most clients are willing to compromise, as well as admit that you might actually know more than they do. This has not been my experience.


          No, I say it as If you don't ask, you don't get.

          You have no idea If a client is aware of anything else except what they think they want.
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          • Profile picture of the author OptedIn
            Originally Posted by yukon View Post

            No, I say it as If you don't ask, you don't get.
            And what I'm saying is, in my experience, if you ask, all you get is resistance.

            You have no idea If a client is aware of anything else except what they think they want.
            Usually, what they think they want, is what they know they want. Ever heard the term, 'pulling teeth?' :-)
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            "He not busy being born, is busy dying." - Bob Dylan • "I vibe with the light-dark point. Heavy." - Words that Bob Dylan wishes he had written.

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  • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
    I actually wrote a report exactly for people like you on how to never run out of ideas in product descriptions. I analyzed product descriptions in a wide variety of excellent catalogs and named 77 different angles you can use on the very same products. This would vastly speed up your writing because you could just go down the list instead of racking your brains.

    I don't know of any other resource like it:
    Catalog Copywriting: Write Effective Product Descriptions or Catalog Copy With Ease

    Good luck,
    Marcia Yudkin
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    Check out Marcia Yudkin's No-Hype Marketing Academy for courses on copywriting, publicity, infomarketing, marketing plans, naming, and branding - not to mention the popular "Marketing for Introverts" course.
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  • Profile picture of the author affmarketer101
    1. Create description template like:
    Product name + details + shape + colour + material
    2. Apply it to each product
    I think by this way, you won't be running out of ideas.
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  • Profile picture of the author oppyeaunome
    Well, you better get started now because that's a lot of descriptions.

    My first piece of advice would be to stay off these forums because you're wasting time by being here. Get some coffee in your system and just put your head down and WORK!

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Ray
    Not sure how much they paid you, but there are some machine learning solutions that can help you automate content writing. Not fully automate it, but like 80%.


    Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Generation (NLG), it's possible to generate marketing content that is almost indistinguishable from human written text. You just have to proof read it and correct it if something sounds funny.



    But, it's not cheap.
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  • Profile picture of the author dedaivcid
    Wow, that is massive Bro
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  • Profile picture of the author SDJ74
    One thing you could do is search for people who´re in the same niche as your client. Just search on Google and see what kind of products they are selling. Look at the product descriptions of those products and see if you get some more ideas.

    I don´t currently know what area the ideas have to be in or if they all have to be in the same niche.

    But this is what I would do for starters. And then work forward with the inspiration I get from there.
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  • Profile picture of the author ialmostcare
    What style of description are you writing? Are you pulling in some storytelling elements, or are you just trying to hit the target word count with the specs?

    If you post a sample of your work, I'll see if I can give you some tips.

    P.S. When it comes to product description writing, I'm elite. I've written thousands upon thousands. What you're facing here is doable. No worries!
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    If the job was posted on Fiverr, and the products are almost identical, the buyer likely isn't looking for A-level copy.

    Even then, many catalogs have descriptions that are pretty repetitive. For example, I get a clothing catalog which offers t-shirts in multiple styles -- regular neck, v-neck, etc.) and the biggest difference is calling out the style. The rest of the description is very similar (cloth weight, seams, with or without pocket, and so on).

    If you come up with a good template and use it for multiple items, it becomes more a job of editing than writing. Crafting the template might take a bit, but each additional description may only take a few minutes.
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  • This is a pretty big project that needs a lot of ideas. I never received wish you success
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