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Copywriters, how do you handle graphics for customers?

by MikeyDreamboat
7 replies
Do you find that clients like to use their own graphic design team, or do they usually expect you to provide graphics?

When you give them a sales page for example, is it all the text colored and formatted with suggestions on what graphics should be added to it, do you submit it with graphics that you have already come up with, or do you just send them the formatted text and let their designers come up with graphics?

I ask because if you spend a week crafting what you think is the perfect sales page, and have no input on the graphics or even lack thereof, the client may add some that may add nothing to the copy, and in worse cases may detract from it altogether.

I would love to hear some responses from both copywriters and the clients who hire them.
#copywriters #customers #graphics #handle
  • Profile picture of the author Micah Medina
    That's all stuff you should handle in the opening consultation.

    Obviously, the images (even stuff as minor as the color choices) are going to have a serious impact on the way your words are absorbed. If the client wants images of hot chicks swimming in ferarri's full of hundos, your copy should at least somewhat meld with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author adammaxum
    I second Micah's comments. Establish everything prior to beginning work to ensure the end result satisfies the client.

    As far as images are concerned, I find that most of my clients enjoy when I bring in my own graphics and images to accompany the text. Some already have base images they'd like to use, and I either write my copy to support the images, or let them know they aren't helping the page any.
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  • Profile picture of the author SinSimon
    Personally, I would never let another person create graphic for my salesletter. It's so easy for another people to screw up all of your efforts!
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    • Profile picture of the author Centurian
      I agree with the above three comments.

      I would establish this up front. But remember this. The end result is what your client wants. You can write great copy, but some graphics fool can mess it up.

      Then whose fault is it. Yours.

      My business has been built by providing turn-key success. You're not a copywriter, you're a result provider.

      Find a good graphics guru on the WF you can work with. Then provide a complete success package.
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      • Profile picture of the author Lucy Writes
        It is definitely all about what the client wants. Most clients, I find, prefer to include their own graphics, because they know me to be a writer, not a graphics person. They are hiring me for my expertise in writing, so they feel more comfortable getting other people to do the graphics, if they want graphics.

        On the rare occasion that someone does ask me to provide graphics, I have many colleagues who are graphics freelancers, and I can always go to them to get the graphics done for a percentage of my profits. When I know up front that a client wants me to do graphics, I always add that extra charge into my fee so that I don't actually lose any money in outsourcing the graphics to my associates. And I make sure I use people for graphics who I know without doubt can do the job perfectly.
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        • Profile picture of the author MikeyDreamboat
          Originally Posted by Lucy Writes View Post

          It is definitely all about what the client wants. Most clients, I find, prefer to include their own graphics, because they know me to be a writer, not a graphics person. They are hiring me for my expertise in writing, so they feel more comfortable getting other people to do the graphics, if they want graphics.
          Do you write your copy with graphics in mind? For example would you put something like, "Man holding two guns staring at reader here.", or whatever the description would call for, so that the client has an understanding of what graphics would work best with the text?
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          • Profile picture of the author Lucy Writes
            Originally Posted by MikeyDreamboat View Post

            Do you write your copy with graphics in mind? For example would you put something like, "Man holding two guns staring at reader here.", or whatever the description would call for, so that the client has an understanding of what graphics would work best with the text?
            I only write the copy with graphics in mind if the client has requested graphics. I don't suggest graphics to them. I let the client be the one who determines if graphics are necessary. If they want graphics, they usually tell me what they have in mind, and I'll outsource it to someone who can create that vision. If they want graphics but have no idea what kind of graphics they want, they almost always just leave it up to me. In those rare cases, I'll write the copy and get ideas for graphics as I go. Usually, by the time I'm done writing, I'll have a good idea of what the best graphics would be for the piece, and I can then pass those ideas along to my graphics people to implement.
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