I’ll start this post by saying that I’m hugely grateful to all those people on social media who tag me or recommend me when somebody posts that they’re looking for a copywriter to help with their marketing.
Some of those instances have led to me meeting some great new clients and taking on some fantastic new copywriting projects. It’s a brilliant system.
With some posts, however, I don’t get my hopes up about the recommendations leading to anything. There tends to be a red flag or two, and the main one is that the search for a copywriter seems to be nothing more than an afterthought in a project that is otherwise done, dusted, and ready to be unleashed on the world.
‘Need a copywriter to work tomorrow on immediate project launch for a big name brand’.
(Posted at 7.42pm).
As well having to rule myself out almost instantly on the basis that I’m unlikely to be available at such short notice, the whole thing absolutely reeks of poor time management, a lack of planning, and a complete disregard for how important written content is in any project. It seems on too many an occasion – especially on LinkedIn – that copywriting is marketing’s little afterthought.
Did they ask the manufacturer of the product they’re flogging to get it made and mass-produced “by the morning”?
Doubt it.
And what about the websites they’re hoping to use to push all of their marketing in the first place? Did they approach a designer or tech team about those and say, “You’ve got 12 hours”?
Highly unlikely.
The announcement of such exciting projects being for a ‘big name brand’ or similar, does absolutely nothing to restore faith, either, because those are the kinds of companies and organisations that should know better than to get to such a late stage before thinking about copywriting. Shouldn’t they?
I admit, we’re all guilty of being human (ick) and finding ourselves in situations where, perhaps even through no fault of our own, we’ve had to get something sorted last minute. Usually this comes across in our pleas, though, and we’re keen to make serious compromise in order to get ourselves out of the hole we’re presently in. For me, if a good person is putting themselves forward to help me out, the cards are stacked in their favour. They can name their price, name their terms, and insist on me naming my firstborn after them, if they want. The posts I see on places like LinkedIn, though… they come across like they’re doing us the favour by bringing this ‘big brand’ opportunity into our lives…
If you swear that copywriting hasn’t been an afterthought in your marketing strategy in this case, then your approach is just one of plain arrogance.
A lot of the time, it’s not actually the brand or company in question that’s looking for the quick fix. It’s the agency they’ve appointed to take care of everything for them. In those cases, I’m even less willing to sign up, knowing that they’ll take all the credit (and a massive inflation on my day rate) after I’ve done all the work.
When I started writing this blog, it was aimed at those who ask for copywriters at the 11th hour. Copywriting for your business should not be a marketing afterthought. It’s the element that takes you from bland to brand. Without words, nobody knows what you’re doing, nobody knows how you’re doing it, and nobody has a reason to care why they should give a shit. A copywriter should be on your team from the start. Good copy is not a throwaway optional extra, and good copywriters deserve your respect for the time and talents they bring to the table.
As I got half way through writing this piece, though, I realised that the real people I’m aiming it at are my fellow freelancers. Work may be slow, money might be tight, and worries over the freelance life might be growing (I’ve been there), but please, please, please know your worth – and that of our industry. If the person posting the job is willing for you to name your price, and you genuinely have nothing on for the next 12 or 24 hours that is more deserving of your time, then go for it and take a hopeful win, but sadly, in my experience, if your new client doesn’t value the skill, time and effort that’s needed to create great content, they’re not going to be too happy about paying anything other than a minimum – and will likely make you wait for it, too.
Oh, and just as a side note to the fact that people seem to get shocked and annoyed that you’re not available right away to drop everything for their project, just remember that although we all have slow days and quiet periods, if we’re booked up, it’s because other people think we’re pretty damn good at what we do, and know that what we offer to them and their business is pretty damn important, too.
Those people might even be your competitors.
