The Process

Talking, listening, learning, understanding – then working. Dealing with a copywriter is a pretty straightforward process.

A good copywriter is as keen as you are to get a great job done first time. I’m here to make your website text, homepage, landing pages, brochures, product descriptions and blog posts work harder for you. To make what you say on your website reach people and lead them in.

Think you can’t afford to work with a copywriter? When your competitors are using great headlines, hot copy and incisive calls-to-action, you can’t afford not to work with one. It’s an investment.

The first steps

How will you have found me? Online, by a search? Through a networking group, a freelancing site or a forum? Or maybe I was mentioned by a friend? Either way, you know you need a copywriter for your project. I’m here, we’re talking, and I can help you.

You can drop me an email, give me a quick call, connect on LinkedIn or send me a singing gorillagram if you like. But we’ll get the ball rolling.

The initial questions

The first stage in the process is always about talking and listening. Finding out more about you, your business and your goals for the project. I’ll ask you some initial questions that cover the basics, give me a broad understanding of what you need and an idea of the timescale.

We can go over things on the phone or, if you prefer, you can download my initial questions form to fill out and send back by email. Just click this link: Look Here Initial Questions (Word doc)

From this information, I will give you a rough quote for the job. Every business is different – pre-set packages and off-the-peg solutions very rarely fit properly, and your website is as important as a bespoke suit – but I do have a guide to general costs here.

If all feels good to you at this point, then we can agree and move forward.

What happens next may depend on the size of the job. If it’s just a straightforward, specific project we both understand, like a single landing page, article, case study, script, press release, or simple brochure, then we’ll likely proceed straight to an email to confirm the scope or proposal, and a deal memo.

If it’s a bigger project like a copy for a full website, and extended brochure, or copy for a suite of deliverables, then we’ll move to a discovery session where we work on the creative brief.

Working out your creative brief

I have a Creative Brief form that covers the relevant questions to understand you, your product or service, your market and your aims for the copy. I can send the form to you to complete in your own time, or we can go through it together on the phone. Either way, I’ll make sure I get all the information I need from you to do the job.

If you’d like to get a look at the Creative Brief form, you’re welcome to download one as a PDF at this link: Look Here Copywriting Brief PDF

Pretty much everything I do these days is handled over email, phone, Skype or online, and we won’t have a face-to-face meeting (unless you live up the road, in which case, why not!).

Nailing the basics and the details will really help to understand your aims and goals for the project, however simple or in-depth. And one question can lead to another. We might discover something that neither of us had thought of yet that could really help your project.

Know where you stand with the written proposal

We’ve gone over the project and I’ve got a good grasp of what you need. The next stage is for me to sum up what we’ve discussed and issue a contract or deal memo.

I’ll do this in an email, which will include:

• A summary of the work to be done and deliverables.
• Possible time line of work – start date, milestones or sections if applicable, and final completion.
• A quotation for the project.

I’ll also ask how you want the final finished copy (the deliverable), if you haven’t already let me know. Do you want it as a Word doc? Or in a Google doc? Or just plain text?

If all is good with you, I’ll then send over a contract, or an email deal memo if it’s a smaller job. Don’t worry, it’s not your soul you’re signing away. The contract outlines the schedule as discussed and goes over the terms to do with payment, copyright, revisions and cancellation.

I’ll need a 50% deposit to secure your start date and begin work. With a deposit, I can confidently decline other projects for that time period and concentrate on getting your job done. I’ll send an invoice with the contract or deal memo; the simplest and best way to pay is by online bank transfer.

Getting the best results by doing the research

Getting the content right is as much to do with the research and thought as it is about the actual writing.

Before writing anything, I’ll look at your company, your product or service, your background and your competitors. What problem do you solve and how do you solve it? What’s unique about you? What makes you different and stand out?

But even more important is looking into your customers, users or readers. What are they saying about your product or service, and how are they saying it? How do they feel about it?

There are many sources of information for this – from organic search results to forums, reviews, testimonials and customer feedback. There really is no substitute for digging into this goldmine of information. I like it so much, I wrote this blog post about it.

I study the words and language your audience is thinking and talking in themselves, and use it right back at them, to your advantage.

Getting down to work on your copy

So, now we’ve gone over your needs and worked out the goals for the project. I’ve outlined what I’ll do and done the research. Now I’ll get to work.

You’ll be glad to know I don’t sit around waiting for inspiration to strike. I work to deadlines and costs just like you do, and sit at the keyboard making it happen. My favourite part is always creating the initial elements: headings that hook people in, and the perfect opening sentences on each page.

After I’ve worked on the opening sections, and before going too far down the line, I’ll send it over to you to make sure I’m on the right track. You might love how it’s looking, in which case that’s great! But if you have any reservations, then we can deal with it at this stage in the process and save us both a lot of time and hassle.

First draft

Quite often, my first draft is also the final draft! Happily, most clients like what I’ve written for them and we move forward to tying things up.

But a first draft is always a first draft, and it’s common to spot something worth changing after leaving it alone for a day or so.

They key point is first draft is your opportunity to give feedback and suggest any changes. I aim to get things spot-on first time, but it’s normal for a copywriter to make a few amendments and edits on the initial piece.

I allow for two rounds of revisions as part of the deal. But here’s a big tip: hold back one of those revisions for after the copy has gone into the design. There is often something that needs tweaking once you’ve had a chance to see it in place.

Again, we’d do this via email, Skype or on the phone. All revisions should be advised within 14 days of your receipt of the first draft of copy, to keep it all within the project. After that, additional rewrites may be made for an additional charge.

Signing off

I write my copy with mark-ups (indicating h1, h2, body text, sections and notes), but can also draft a quick wire-frame of how I see the copy’s presentation. Your designer or website developer will be free to apply their talents, and your web pages will soon be good to go.

If you and your team are happy, then we can call the job complete! We’ll exchange quick mutual back-patting emails and you’ll settle the final 50% of the invoice. Once paid, all copyright on the material reverts to you and you can use it and distribute it as you wish.

Because I’m proud of my work, I only have one favour to ask – that I can include the project as part of my online portfolio. This would include a screenshot of the most suitable page and a reproduction of the text as delivered, plus usually a link to your site. An extra backlink for your website is always useful when it comes to SEO!

So, drop me a line by email, or call me for a quick chat, and we’ll see what can be done. Once I’ve got a handle on it, I’ll be able to give you a quote for the job by email and then, if you’re happy, we can start the process.

Any questions?

“What are your rates?”

I price projects by the job or project, so that you and me both know where we stand regarding cost.

No two projects are exactly the same, and so neither are many quotes. Feel free to drop me an email about your project and I’ll do a beer-mat estimate.

I generally don’t work on an hourly rate, as it often leads to fears that costs will spiral out of control and/or a desire to control the writer’s time to a minimum. Both of which will lead to a bad job and a poor working relationship. This said, I do believe in horses for courses and we can talk about what works best for both of us.

I definitely don’t charge by the word. That would be an incentive for a less-competent copywriter to needlessly pack out their copy with words. And a less-ethical client would try to make their copywriter keep it as brief as possible, no matter how much time they’ve spent on research, planning and editing. It’s just wrong.

In the end, I’m being paid to think, not to type.

“How much notice do you need? When are you available?”

Generally, I can get onto a brief pretty quickly. I would aim to get back to you with a first draft, or a general outline for a longer project, a few days after we’ve gone over the brief. Sometimes, I’m already busy on projects and will need a week or two before beginning yours. Check in with me to find out a current time-scale. Obviously, if time is an issue for either of us, we can flag it up.

“How many re-writes can we expect?”

You get two rounds of re-writes or amendments (if they’re needed!) as part of the deal.

“Can we meet up to discuss?”

If you’re not far away, absolutely. But let’s have a quick call or email first, to get a handle on the job.

Anything else?

Do you need a new website or an upgrade? I work closely with a talented web designer/developer, specialising in responsive websites, WordPress and logo design. They’ll be able to give you a favourable quote for a high-quality job.

Working on your website content hand-in-hand with the design will result in a more unified website and a better experience for your users. You’ll make people feel like you knew what they wanted before they got there. A quick chat with me could result in a 360-degree solution for your company’s online presence.

In the end, you need to stand out from the crowd in a world where people send over 205 billion emails and businesses or individuals launch around 50,000 WordPress sites every day.

For a quick insight into how I can work with your website text to make it better and appeal to people more, check out my blog post on the subject.

Any decent copywriter will have a document for their terms & conditions, and I’m no different. You can read through them here.

Do you prefer hiring freelancers through Upwork? Sometimes it’s good for greater security and easy payments. My profile there is: https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~013634cad936aa29df/

Any more questions? Feel free to drop me a line at doug@lookherewriting.com