Finding the right copywriter

Sounds like you want a good writer at the start of their career.

You need to look at writers' portfolios and make the judgment.

If writers don't have a good number of real jobs and results you can judge by, then it's about your skill in recognizing what makes good copy. To judge well, I'd say that really, you need to be a pretty good writer yourself.

I don't think there's any harm in posting looking for someone:

What you've heard about good copywriters not looking for work doesn't sound like it will apply to the person you're looking for:

You're looking for someone at the start of their career, who isn't booked up. That person will be looking for work.

Bear in mind that experience helps build talent. The person you find, at the start of their career, won't be as good as they will be some time down the line. Though they may be talented, they still won't produce work to the standard of someone with equal talent plus experience.

You roll the dice and hope to hell you get lucky.

Good copywriters learn pretty quickly they can charge a lot of money. And since the more money you charge, (generally) the better quality of client you attract, no one artificially keeps prices down (despite what some will tell you).

What you're looking for is someone with low confidence who hasn't figured out what they're worth yet. The problem is that most people don't stay in that zone very long, so you've got a pretty small window of opportunity.

It's going to take you a LOT of time and legwork. You could try reaching out to experienced guys and asking if they know of anyone, but we're usually the first to tell someone who's new but good to charge more.

I guess at the end of the day it comes down to spending a lot of time and energy finding the right guy or gal, and a fair bit of luck to ensure they actually do have their shit together and aren't just good at BSing.

If you don't have the connections, good luck. I guess Odesk is as good a place as any to start looking.

-Daniel

You're right, good copywriters don't search for work. So your question needs to be "HOW does work come to them?" It comes through referrals. At least that's how it works for me these days. That said, find a few IMers who you trust and ask them to recommend someone. You'll have much more success that way than looking on osdesk or Elance.

Good luck.

Who built that house? I love it! I would like to
get one built like it. So who do you look for?
The builder of course!

One of the easiest ways to find a suitable copywriter
is find an already successful sales letter in your
industry and find out who wrote it. If you cannot
hire them, then they may have a recommendation
for you.

-Ray Edwards

Finding the right copywriter, for you, means taking the time to become aware of what you want out of the collaboration.

Everyone works together differently.

For instance...

Just because Suzie and I had a great collaboration together that resulted in converting copy - doesn't mean you and I will find the same kind of resonance.

Have you taken the time to go through the copywriter directory in the Stickies?

Have you visited various copywriter's websites to get a feel for how they market themselves?

Are you writing down specific questions that you're realizing are important to get answered?

Ultimately...

You need to get crystal clear about what you want and what you're willing to invest to get it.

In other words...

If you've got a $5000 budget, you've got a lot of options to reveal the results you want.

However...

If you're dealing with a limited budget of $2,000 or less...

...the kind of quality you're searching for becomes more and more elusive.

Get clear on what you bring to the table.

Decide what kind of collaboration you want (i.e. someone who works closely with you to get the tone and approach for your copy RIGHT - or someone who takes the project by the reigns and does what he or she sees fit.)

Mark

P.S. Obviously, referrals are the best way to go.

Ask him/her "Have you written copy that has converted cold traffic into sales? If so, how many sales did it generate? What was the price point? Is the campaign still running?"

It also helps if you know what good copy looks like... then it's not nearly as hard to find that person. Actually, he/she stands out like a soar thumb.