2 Questions I Have For Professional Copywriters

This title is so misleading. I mean, 2 questions...fair enough. But then three!?!? Psht.



Just kidding.


1.) Find better clients. Obviously it depends on what youre asking for your copy, but if you're asking for 200-300 dollars (a standard rate for any beginner) and they're still worrying, then avoid these people like the plague.
They expect to get rich, but don't want to pay to get there. A waste of your time and effort.

2.) You can't guarantee results; you can't say "yeah, you'll get a 5% conversion rate, guaranteed." It doesn't work like that. You could say "I'll revise my sales page until you DO get a 5% conversion rate." but that's up to you. 5% in one niche is bad, while in another it's incredible. Your call.

3.) Write your copy first. THEN edit. Your copy will come out better this way. If you try and work and edit as you go along, your copy comes out all disjointed and messy. Write first; edit later.


Hope this helps!

Okay, I have a sincere question for you. Yesterday I read your thread about your startup. I've pasted the questions you were asking in that post below along with the new questions you're asking today.

Tell me, what makes you want to start a business offering a service you admittedly know little or nothing about? I mean, if I understand your model, you're going to be contracting with copywriters and acting as an agent, right? With the questions you're asking how are you going to even recognize who's qualified to write copy?

Not trying to be a smartass here. I'm really wondering what you're thinking.


- How do I position my firm? (Or you can share with me some ideas on how you position yours when you start?)

- Where do I get good copywriters on a long term basis? (Native English Speaking writers)

- Is there any copy writing house I can work with? (Native English Speaking writers)

- How do you market your service as a copy writer?

- How do you price your service?

1) How do you handle the price objections?

2) How do you guarantee results?

3) Do you tweak the copy along the way? If so when do you stop?

Visit the Offline subforum for answer to the price objection-handling question. Here's a post of mine about it.

What you need to do is uncover the prospect's true budget, and determine if this is a match with what you want.

Nobody can guarantee results. Even the very best copywriters strike out far more often than they hit home runs.

Before I accept a client, I explain that they get three 'rounds' of revision: I send them a draft, they return it with any edits; that's one round.

Very few clients have ever made any changes. Usually they're so darn happy a real writer has done something about their project, they accept the first draft.


As far as writing process goes, my first drafts are always way too long. That's OK. I take a walk, then come back later (maybe days later) and trim it down to size.

I was going to try to answer these but then I noticed you asked for professional copywriters.

I guess I'll take a back seat and see the pros do their thang.

Fated...

I saw your other thread too and given your latest questions and the rather absurd assumptions you raise in the above post, it's perfectly clear you haven't got the faintest idea what you're talking about.

A restaurant owner doesn't need to know how to cook? Oh really? Well... I'd love to see you try and explain that one to Gordon Ramsay. You'd be treated with absolute derision and deservedly so in my opinion.

What I'm gleaning from your threads and posts is that you're trying to ride on the coattails of other more successful copywriters knowing full well you haven't got the goods personally yourself.

You're going to be positioning yourself in the marketplace as a credible source for other business owners to approach when they need sales copy acting in essence as a broker, a go-between between said business owner and said copywriter / copywriters. No doubt thinking, for helping to get these clients (?) you can take a cut somewhere for the work the copywriter produces on behalf of the business owner. Correct?

Tell me...

Without any credibility, without any basic copywriting skills yourself, clearly without any marketing skills to call your own - what do you think you've got in your possession which brings any value at all to the pro copywriters position?

Please explain below what your intended precise business model entails.

For by hell or high water, I cannot fathom out in the slightest what the dickens you're asking these questions for when it's patently obvious you haven't the foggiest faintest idea what you're talking about to begin with.

So precisely... what is your business model?

What can you do for other professional copywriters that they don't know already and what is the benefit to the business owner concerned?

What is your cut?

Where is your profit?

What do you get out of this arrangement?

What is your strategy?

What is your marketing position?

What is your point of difference that the professional copywriter isn't already employing?

They sell shovels btw for $19.95 on eBay just in case you feel like digging yourself a deep hole.

Anyway, point aside... please answer the above questions below.

Do be my guest.


Mark Andrews

I don't. I quote a price and they meet it or hit the road. Most people coming to me have an expectation of what I'm going to charge.

The same way Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads does.

When they say, "When I give you this money, what guarantees do you give me?"

I respond, "I guarantee you will never see this money again."

I seldom tweak it, though I deliver it with multiple headlines to test.

Actually, most successful restaurant-eurs do indeed know how to cook. They may not have the speed or consistency of a Michelin Star head chef, but they're almost always superb critics of food.

A good food critic can judge if something is over or undercooked, over or under seasoned, or when flavors are clashing horribly. They usually also have a great eye for presentation.

To add to this, the analogy you presented doesn't make a lot of sense because while the restaurant-eur may not necessarily know the ins and outs of organizing a brigade or how to make the perfect creme brulee, he DOES know the business side of things.

He knows how to choose a good head chef (and what qualities they need to have)...

He knows where to get fresh, well-priced ingredients...

And he knows how to price things on the menu, how to market the restaurant, and how to deal with irritating or unhappy customers.

You, on the other hand, neither know anything about copy nor the business of copy.

You can go into any business you want, of course. But it seems strange that you'd want to jump into something you have absolutely no idea about.

-Daniel