Attention: Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
How to Get The MOST Out of Your Freelance Copywriter
From The Desk of William Ballard
Dear Small Business Owner & Entrepreneurs,
First off, my personal belief is that the BEST person to write the marketing copy for a small business is the business owner him/herself.
You see, if you provide a quality product or service and can stand toe-to-toe with a prospect, clearly laying out -- with passion -- WHY they need your help, then I am persuaded you CAN write a compelling sales letter.
However, I do understand how busy life and business can get. And there are definitely times when it makes the most sense to outsource writing marketing copy for your business to someone else, so you can focus on other important matters.
With that said, I wrote this letter to show you how you can get the MOST value from any freelance copywriter you use (even if it is not with us).
You see, if you end up jumping the gun and hire a copywriter to handle a marketing project for your business to fast, you could easily wind up getting far worse results than desired -- and we certainly don't want that for you.
In fact, as a small business owner myself, I HATE to see other business owners and entrepreneurs wasting time, energy, and dollars on marketing campaigns that fail to deliver the results they expected and deserve.
Therefore, by following the guidelines in this letter it will help to ensure you have all your ducks in row before delegating one of the most important task you will ever outsource in your business. And that's a good a thing.
The sad fact is that moving ahead on that front, without first addressing these key principles will only waste more and more time, as well as money that could better be invested in EFFECTIVE DIRECT-RESPONSE marketing that fills your wallet, rather than emptying it.
So, I suggest you take the time to read this letter in its entirety as carefully as possible, as it lays out not only what to look for in a freelance copywriter, but it also address some key questions you need to ask yourself before even considering hiring one.
First and Foremost, You MUST Have A LIST
First off, no matter how great the copywriter, it's pretty clear you can't just create a sales letter or brochure or a landing and expect it to work like magic without having a LIST!
And, of course, I'm preaching to the choir on this one. In fact, I'm sure you're already aware that you need multiple LIST -- for instance:
- Prospects/Leads
- New Customers
- Repeat Customers
- BEST Customers -- those who spend the most with you.
And these lists can become limitless.
Now, I know this might sound hard, but the truth is you really shouldn't treat everyone the same. You see, the world is full of freebie seekers. Those who repeatedly demonstrate that they'll NEVER invest in your products or services. However, within every segment of customers (and freebie seekers), there is a smaller group -- perhaps 5 to 10% -- who feel they deserve premium service across the board and are willing to pay for it.
Which group do you think you should focus significant resources on?
Having a list that you can manage, refer to, and use is critical. Otherwise, it is like you are marketing in the dark. In other words, investing in any level of copywriter or marketer without even the barest of minimal lists is okay, but it's like firing blind.
Of course, having that list is just the first step -- you also need to consider ...
Secondly, You MUST Know Your Customer Inside and Out
If you are asking for a copywriter or marketer to write a sales letter for a product or service, but you haven't nailed down EXACTLY who that person is -- the type of person who will buy your product or service ...
... well, I'm sorry to say this, but you're nowhere near ready to start hiring a freelance copywriter, let alone have them start writing copy for you.
You see, any good copywriter or marketer (even the ones at the lowest level) will ask you this key question right out the gate, and you BEST be prepared to answer with a CLEAR customer profile (a.k.a. customer avatar) of the type of person you would determine as your BEST prospect.
It is only when you have a deep, crystal clear understanding of your PERFECT CUSTOMER that the freelance copywriter you hire will be able to craft the ideal message that connects on a deep and emotional level with your ideal prospect.
And when you can manage that, the selling part gets that MUCH easier.
However, there is more you need in place to get the MOST out of your freelance copywriter...
Thirdly, You MUST Have an Offer Your Ideal
Customer Can't Refuse
Truth be told, there is a real art to crafting a compelling offer. It involves, at the least these fives things:
- Truly knowing your CUSTOMER along with their emotional needs, their fears, their hopes and dreams, as well as what brings them pain and/or pleasure.
- Being able to change features into benefits, as well as a set of bonuses that will make one salivate (drool). that
- Being able to clearly identify the core TRANSFORMATION that takes place after buying your product/service. Understanding what their life is like before you product, and what it will be like after your product.
- Pricing that hits all the right notes at the right time -- in terms of unimaginable VALUE, flexible terms, and a bottom-line number that literally seems too good to be true. A good copywriter is skilled in the art of selling value over price.
- Removing any and all risk from the transaction with a GUARANTEE that makes this deal an absolute no-brainer.
You see, you NEED at least these five elements working in harmony in order to create a KILLER OFFER.
Plus, your copywriter might receive extra credit if he or she can wrap the package up in a beautiful bow of a name that just screams "BUY NOW!"
In short, if you don't have this kind of OFFER in place before hiring a freelance copywriter, you're facing an uphill battle to get your sales pitch seriously considered.
However, if you do have such an offer identified, you're still at risk in hiring a copywriter right away because...
Fourth, The Copywriter You Hire MUST Speak
Fluent DIRECT-RESPONSE
You see, any copywriter you choose MUST speak fluent "Direct-Response" marketing copy. That said, I submit to you that you should NEVER accept any kind of imitation. You want the real deal!
So, by now you might be asking: "How can I tell from their samples if it is Direct-Response style marketing copy?" Well, it's actually pretty simple. In fact, you can tell just from how it looks.
Below you will find three examples -- a sales letter, a squeeze page or landing page (to gather opt-ins online) and an online sales letter/page. From these examples you will see some very clear similarities ...
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Whether it is a web page, squeeze page, or physical sales letter, Direct-Response style marketing copy always has a consistent look -- which includes a benefit driven headline, the use of testimonials, copy written directly to the prospect, a clear call to action, as well as several other key elements.
Fifth, That Same Copywriter MUST Understand
Marketing & Copywriting Are Two Different Things --
Albeit, Intimately Related
This is actually a very critical factor to bear in mind when looking to start any kind of relationship with a freelance copywriter or marketer, and it is one you must take serious consideration -- just like that of a potential spouse.
You see, copywriting does not equal marketing, AND marketing does NOT mean copywriting. Many people actually confuse these two more than you might think.
The fact of the matter is this: BOTH are entirely separate, and distinct. However, BOTH are very intimately related disciplines and competences.
Marketing encompasses everything a business does to set the stage for the sale -- which includes market research, crafting a compelling offer, choosing which media to use get the message out to your target market in the most effective way possible, honing in on the proper timing for the message, and many other details, such as branding.
Copywriting, on the other hand, more accurately falls under the category of sells and/or closing. In fact, it has often been rightly referred to as "salesmanship in print."
With that said, any Direct-Response copywriter you hire must be able to pinpoint the one specific action you want the prospect to take (often referred to as a "call to action") and then make it clear as possible how to accomplish that one key objective -- such as get the prospect to offer up his or her name and email address to an opt-in webform.
The BIG IDEA here is that the copy your freelance copywriter writes must operate within a framework of a carefully thought out Marketing campaign -- outside of which the marketing copy really has no meaning whatsoever.
This is the NUNBER ONE thing every copywriter must understand, and unless the copywriter you hire has a solid foundational understanding of Direct-Response marketing principles, any copy you receive from that copywriter almost certainly will fail to deliver the results you hope to see.
On to the next core point, which is:
Sixth, That Same Copywriter MUST Have a
SYSTEM for Capturing Marketing Information
Imagine this ... You're launching a brand new product or service. Several weeks back you hired a freelance copywriter to create the marketing copy to drive sales for this product/service, you did a ZOOM call to cover the details, and since then there has been some emails back and forth.
The deadline for delivery arrives, and as promised, you get a notice from the copywriter saying it is good-to-go. But even though the copy is decently written, it's still not right -- not even close. The offer is missing several of the elements we spoke about above, for instance the guarantee its "absolute no-brainer" appeal. And worst of all, it's clearly not written to anyone even close to your ideal customer.
What happened?
Here's the CORE problem with all this:
Your freelance copywriter didn't have a clear, effective system in place to capture ALL the marketing information that is necessary from you (the client) in order to produce the exact copy you needed for your product/service launch.
You see, too many copywriters and marketers don't really have an effective system -- that is, if they have one at all -- that is designed to capture all the information necessary to produce a quality sales letter or marketing campaign. In fact, there are many freelance copywriters that do this kind of thing haphazardly, essentially winging it.
That said, I want to make sure you know that, before you engage with any freelance copywriter, you find out whether or not they have a serious and effective marketing information capturing system in place, in order to provide them with ALL the marketing assets they need to be able to create your promotion or marketing campaign.
Bottom line: It needs to be able to nail down ALL the pertinent elements of the sales offer -- price, guarantee, shipping/handling, support, etc.
Therefore, be sure to ask your potential freelance copywriter: "What kind of SYSTEM do you have in place to be able to gather all the information you need about my marketing project -- to make sure you are able to write as effectively as possible?"
The deadline for delivery arrives, and as promised, you get a notice from the copywriter saying it is good-to-go. But even though the copy is decently written, it's still not right -- not even close. The offer is missing several of the elements we spoke about above, for instance the guarantee its "absolute no-brainer" appeal. And worst of all, it's clearly not written to anyone even close to your ideal customer.
What happened?
Here's the CORE problem with all this:
Your freelance copywriter didn't have a clear, effective system in place to capture ALL the marketing information that is necessary from you (the client) in order to produce the exact copy you needed for your product/service launch.
You see, too many copywriters and marketers don't really have an effective system -- that is, if they have one at all -- that is designed to capture all the information necessary to produce a quality sales letter or marketing campaign. In fact, there are many freelance copywriters that do this kind of thing haphazardly, essentially winging it.
That said, I want to make sure you know that, before you engage with any freelance copywriter, you find out whether or not they have a serious and effective marketing information capturing system in place, in order to provide them with ALL the marketing assets they need to be able to create your promotion or marketing campaign.
Bottom line: It needs to be able to nail down ALL the pertinent elements of the sales offer -- price, guarantee, shipping/handling, support, etc.
Therefore, be sure to ask your potential freelance copywriter: "What kind of SYSTEM do you have in place to be able to gather all the information you need about my marketing project -- to make sure you are able to write as effectively as possible?"
Seventh, You MUST Have The Necessary Financial Resources
In addition to all of that, kicking off a marketing campaign without sufficient financial resources is like going to war without any ammo. In fact, one of the legendary copywriters, Dan Kennedy, is known for saying, "Ultimately, the business that is able to spend the most to acquire a customer wins."
Now, by saying that I am not implying that you must have 10s or even 100s of thousands of dollars set aside for your promotional campaign. Quite the contrary, actually... you see, it is true, great businesses have launched on a shoestring budget, through the value of hard work, savvy business smarts, as well as solid execution.
However, you do have to have SOME cash on hand in order to invest in a project like this because not only will you have to pay for the media you will be using to get your message out (i.e. Facebook, Google Adwords, YouTube, or even print advertising, etc.), and if you are not planning on writing the copy yourself, you will need to be able to provide the funds necessary to be able to hire a freelance copywriter and marketer.
That said, you have, essentially, two options here:
- 1) You could hire a freelance copywriter from Fiverr, E-Lance, or any other number of online agencies. And, depending on your needs, and/or current situation, this could be a good choice. Through this route, you could definitely get decent copy written, however, you are basically rolling the dice working with one of hundreds, if not thousands, of faceless scribes who may or may not produce the results you are looking for.
- 2) Or you could seek out a quality freelance copywriter that has proven credibility in this field ... rather than sift through a zillion resumes, online portfolios, and pitches from struggling writers, you could instead make the effort to choose from a source of established A-list copywriters who are currently servicing name brand companies on a retainer basis.
I'll leave it to you to decide which option suits your needs best.
Nevertheless, regardless of which direction you choose, there is one final point you will want to consider, and it can absolutely ruin your chances for success if you don't give it some serious thought.
Finally, You MUST Have a Plan for the Long Haul
The fact of the matter is this: it's a HUGE disservice to you and your business to simply opt to hire a freelance copywriter to handle a marketing piece when you don't have a MUCH broader and strategic plan in mind for how you intend to deal with the BIG picture.
You see, average marketers think about writing sales letters for this product or that service -- hoping to generate some sales here and there. However, professional marketers, instead, think about creating GREAT CUSTOMER VALUE GROWTH MACHINES that turn cold leads into warm prospects, or better yet, paying customers that then become raving fans, as well as repeat buyers.
You see, it's all about creating the infrastructure for a complete marketing and sales monetization strategy, rather than settling for grabbing a few sales here and there.
The truth is, you can find copywriters that are able to give you a decent sales letter, email promotion, or even (maybe) a fully developed lead generation magnet, but for the OPTIMAL Return on Your Investment, you want to bring on board someone you can partner with on a routine basis that can help build a systematic Sales and Marketing MACHINE for your business.
That kind of expertise is definitely hard to find, but certainly not impossible.
Bottom line: you can get by with a "fire and forget" approach to creating sales and marketing copy by hiring writers to do one-offs for you, but you are missing out on the MUCH BIGGER opportunities that are available to you when doing so.
