Website copywriting is a tricky subject. Do you do it yourself or hire a freelance writer? A good question with a simple answer: always hire a professional. Think about it: your words are pretty much everything between you and your new customer. You spend a lot of money on other forms of advertising, so why skimp on copywriting? Hiring a good freelance copywriter will almost certainly save you money in the long run. Here’s a simple fact about your website: An invalid copy with grammatical or spelling errors can cause you to lose customers. doubtless. Chances are, losing a customer will cost more than a few pages of text written by a professional.
It doesn’t matter if your business website sells light bulbs or landscape gardens, it’s always worth having a professional freelance writer write your copy for you. Plus, many freelance writers offer flexible per-job rates, so you can rest assured that you’re only paying for what you need. Many freelance writers also offer other writing services such as blog copying, sales letter copying, and even copying entire brochures and ebooks, so your small investment is well worth it.
Remember – the pictures on the site can only do so much, it’s the words that speak. If you work closely with a web design company, you will find that they offer you copywriting services as part of the package, and even promise to take care of SEO as well. While they will provide functional copies, you can’t always be sure that they will do a comprehensive job.
After all, their concerns are by definition separated. A professional freelance SEO copywriter is the ideal solution, just get your web design company on board with the text provided by the copywriter – easy! Many freelance writers offer flexible rates based on working hours, and you can save some money too.
The last sentence is simple: your website is often the first point of contact with new customers. That means how you portray yourself really matters. A sloppy copy without the effort of actually selling your business will not be effective – meaning you will lose customers and therefore money. You can save a lot of money and bring in a lot of new clients by having your website reviewed by a professional freelance writer.
Freelance Copywriter – A Health and Wealth Warning
If anyone thinks that success as a freelance writer is an easy choice, expect a rough awakening! This article outlines some key points for building a sustainable and successful copywriting business.
We’ve all seen online copywriting “gurus” selling their CDs in the box. The deft use of deadly sales letters — including endless testimonials and tantalizing visions of an easy, prosperous future — will win them hundreds of dollars from hundreds of gullible buyers.
If you look closely, you will see that these gurus are either very smart online marketing experts or smart copywriters who decide to use their hands-on experience to make a fortune.
No one can blame them, but potential freelance writers need to realize that making it big — and making it easy — is everyone’s dream, except super-talents.
Copywriting certainly offers a good career, and for many, the financial and lifestyle rewards can be very good. However, before you try it, it’s also important to note that freelance writers need certain personal traits, skills, and not a bit of creative flair!
You should also remember that freelance writing is a business. You can be the best copywriter in the world – and excel at understanding complex business instructions – but if you can’t negotiate price or details regarding terms and conditions, your career is doomed.
As a young advertising copywriter, you can better master your craft at an advertising, design or PR agency. You can certainly work in the marketing department of a company, but this usually presents fewer opportunities to develop the broad skills needed to survive in business in the rest of the world.
By hiring as a copywriter, you’ll also quickly discover if your skills are up to scratch and if your temperament is suited to jobs that often require intellectual and mental exhaustion.
After you’ve taken the risk and decided to become “freelance”, the next step is to master key business skills such as negotiating the best price for a job, landing regular jobs to provide a realistic income stream and keeping customers happy to ensure at least some repeat business.
There is no doubt that copywriting is the work of young people and involves creative flair, great ideas and passion. Unfortunately, when young freelance writers meet experienced clients, they dig and ask for more than their flesh — and that’s where inexperience can come at a high price.
That’s assuming you were able to attract enough customers to keep your business running in the first place! We all know that most consultants – in any field – spend half their time finding new clients!
How to acquire new customers is beyond the scope of this article, but best practices include personal networking, advertising (including Google AdWords), SEO work on your website – you need a website! – Email shoots, telemarketing, PR and more.
First of all, you need to know what services you can offer. This may seem obvious, but it’s better to offer something that you’re confident can deliver a 5-star service, rather than a slew of temps.
Over time you will have to decide whether you want to specialize. It depends on many factors, such as whether there is enough business in a particular niche, the level of competition and whether you can live with doing the same type of work every day.
For the most part, as a freelance writer, you are in control of your own destiny. In reality, however, market forces and your own capabilities will determine the direction of the business.
Don’t be intimidated by the current economic environment. It’s worth remembering that if you can succeed now, you can really thrive in better times! And if you’re young and don’t have a lot of financial spending, now is the time to take action before the huge bills start rolling in.
Whatever your situation, to succeed in the world of freelance writing, you need determination, hard work and a strong business sense. With a natural talent for writing, curiosity and creativity, your future should be bright.
