Copy write away!
Copyright Henry Winter 2006
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Wanna be a copywriter?

There is lots of information available to you on the web and through books to to help you craft your sales messages.

For the best of reasons you may not want to do some or all the work yourself.

You have a business to run after all, so spending time to learn all the tricks of the trade may not be the best way to devote your time.

I will assume you come into the category of a business owner who knows exactly what your best at and have decided being a copywriter isn’t one of them.

So how do you choose one to help you?

First, there are two distinct sorts of copy writers.

There is the copy writer

These are the writers who just do copy.

That’s great but copywriting is not just about the “copy”.

Then there is the Copywriter

A true “Copywriter” knows that “copy” is not just about words but the way you use words to get people to do something, take action to contact your company and entice them into your sales funnel or buy straight from you.

That means they recognise the need to help you construct offers that work, and how sales funnels operate (or should).

Even better they help you analyse ways to make sure you extract every possible benefit from your sales process, meaning more money comes your way.

They understand strategy and tactics to achieve a goal.

Which means they also ask a lot of questions, often questions fundamental to a business that many business owners may not have had time to contemplate for a while.

A great copywriter is also a person of contradictive personalities.

Imagineers

They have to have imagination and a massive ability to empathise with your end customer.

Ruthless pursuit of the order

They need to be ruthless in their pursuit of injecting fear, worry and agitation to your prospects to make them take action.

Strategic Tacticians

If that is not much of a contradiction!

They need the ability to look at the bigger picture of your business yet possess attention to detail to make sure every little component, from the written word to entice readers to read, the thread of the copy that will take them by the hand to the order form, and walk them through it without them noticing. They also need to create subtle touches that deal with buyer remorse and immediate post sales follow up.

Insatiable

They are also insatiable, insatiable for every little piece of information about your company, your market, your product or service, buyer profile, habits, motivations and much more. If your copywriter does not ask you for information, does not quiz you about what you have done, who you are trying to sell to, fact up on fact, layer on layer of detail----get another copywriter, because what you get will be average copy at best and rubbish at worst.

Positioning

A great copywriter should have a good understanding of positioning too.

Time after time I have had discussions on USP’s - or the lack of them.

It does not mean something cannot be sold but you have to review how it may be positioned to a market, to your end user. Something a great copywriter will help you achieve.

After all, if they get it wrong they get poor response. A great copywriter will fight with you tooth and nail to button down keys things that will make the offer work and persuade you to eject anything that stops you getting the best possible response. Average copy writers don't fight so hard.

They also need to be contemplative.

They know the use of just one word instead of another can make a massive difference to the success of the offer. From the headline, the sub heads, bullets, body copy, and of course, on the order form or lead generator.

Bluntness

They are also blunt. Sorry, but we need to be.

If the route you want to go down, the approach you or your marketers want to take, “gets in the way” of the sale, you need to be told.

It is sometimes why, for the poorer marketer, they don’t want outside copywriters used because we ask the questions they don’t.

Great marketers have every confidence in what they do and know a great copywriter can only enhance the whole creative and business process. The process that will greatly benefit you, the business owner.

Critical

Great copywriters also need to be scathingly critical of their own work, willing to write, re-write and re-write again until they have sweated every best benefit, analysed every thought, and channelled the readers actions to do just one thing and one thing only, surrender their name or credit card details to your business.

Then what?

Once you have found the right copywriter for you, establish ground rules.

Will the copywriter do all the research and everything else, or will you be able to undertake the research function for them (that helps keep the costs down).

What time frames are you going to work to?

Agree how disputes, creative or otherwise, will be resolved, how much will be paid and when.

A great copywriter will have a solid set of terms for you to review.

Finally are there lots of Copywriters around?

Yes and no.

There are lots of average copy writers.

There are many good ones.

Great Copywriters are harder to find.

They are often even harder to get to work for you because great copywriters make their clients money. Lots of money.

That’s why clients hold on to them, book their time way in advance and why they are in high demand but with limited availability.

So, if in your search, you find a great new copywriter, hang onto them for dear life!

They could just help you make your business reach the heights you seek.

Best regards,

Henry