Steven Lewis's Blog, page 15

Copywriting’s rocket fuel. Are you using it?

Desire is to copywriting what oxygen is to rocket fuel

No one walks into a car dealership and asks which model will make them look the most successful — let alone the most virile. But no one spends $90,000 on a car because a Mazda wouldn’t hold the road well enough on the way to Woolies.

Copywriter’s copywriter Eugene Schwartz knew better than most that true desire is generally unspoken (sometimes even to ourselves) because it would mean owning up to our most human qualities.

But when you focus your copywriting on your client’s real desires, you’ll quickly see the difference in conversions.

And that’s true in every business.

What CEO would admit to bringing in the most expensive consultants because the CEO likes telling people they’re working with…? They might not even know it, but I’ll bet you’ve seen it.

Focusing your copywriting on your clients’ desires isn’t always about calling those desires out; it’s about your tone, your examples, your choice of words.

The level up from Uber X is “Uber Select”. It’s not “Uber You’ll Feel Better About Yourself Than You Will in a Yaris”.

Subtle but powerful.

So is desire something you thought about when writing the copy for your website?

The post Copywriting’s rocket fuel. Are you using it? appeared first on Taleist Agency.

How to write a press release [Infographic]

This “how to write a press release” infographic accompanies the second edition of my book How to Write Perfect Press Releases, which is available on Amazon.

Although Taleist no longer offers public relations advice, we’re making the infographic available here to celebrate the impending release of the Russian edition of the book.

If it helps you with writing a press release, I’d love to hear how you go.

(NB The flowchart is a companion to the book. If some parts of it make you say “what?”, the book fleshes out each of these steps in writing a winning media release.)

Click to download a higher-res version

The post How to write a press release [Infographic] appeared first on Taleist Agency.

The accident-prone copywriter and how to tell if you have one in your business

There’s a sign in the window of my local dry cleaners.

“These premises are occupied 24 hours a day by armed guards and dogs”

It’s not a jokey sign; it’s one of those issued by security companies.

Presumably, the copywriting here is supposed to persuade passing criminals that the day’s takings are not worth a bite, a bullet or both.

The problem is that the claim is absurd. What dry cleaner in Sydney employs 24-hour armed security guards and pays for attack dogs to keep them company? Money launderers, maybe. Dry cleaners, definitely not.

So what’s the problem? Isn’t the worst thing that could happen that a criminal doesn’t believe you and breaks in anyway?

The problem is that the sign accidentally sets a tone.

Its claim might be ludicrous, but the dry cleaner still felt the claim was worth making. That sends an unintentional message to the reader that they’re standing in a high-crime area. It suggests this dry cleaner has been a particular target. It suggests the reader and their clothes might be safer going elsewhere.

I know, I know. You think I’m overthinking.

Copywriters aren’t normal people, which is handy for you…

I might be over-articulating because this isn’t something normal (not copywriters) people would see, think about and say. But the vibe is something your subconscious will pick up — whether it sends your conscious mind an email about it or not.

When you walk down Manly Corso on a Friday night and there are five police cars in the usually pedestrianised area, do you feel safe or do you wonder why the police think it’s necessary?

When you walk into a shop sprayed with aggressive notices — no food and drink, no dogs, no touching the goods — do you feel welcome — even if you have no food, no drink, no dog and no plans to touch? Or do you feel that you might be walking into a minefield?

Writing is words + tone

Tone and perception are essential parts of copywriting.

If you promise speed and efficiency to “time poor professionals”, your copywriting is hurting your case if it takes you 1,000 words and a dozen flavours of jargon to make a point. That’s not fast. It’s not efficient.

If you promise decades of expertise, you’re hurting yourself if your blog posts offer all the insight of a paraphrased Wikipedia entry.

The other day, I reviewed the website of a doctor with a ritzy address. The promise was life-changing surgery for people with a particularly socially embarrassing condition. The words and the quality of the website generally suggested you’d be less likely to have your life changed than to be found dumped in an alley if things go wrong.

In this case, the doctor is a dedicated and genuine expert, but that didn’t stop his copywriting and web design accidentally sending an entirely different impression.

And the impression won — it was reflected in the website’s conversion rate scraping the bottom of the graph.

There’s something you want your readers to believe and there’s something you want them to do.

Copywriting is about using words to achieve both things. But an accident-prone copywriter can do the opposite. They can persuade your readers to believe the wrong thing and do the opposite of what you want.

Are you the victim of an accident-prone copywriter?

Your business is brilliant; your clients are thrilled; but you’ve got a lot on your plate, and reviewing your copywriting is just part of it. Put those things together and it’s easy to have a few accidents.

Sometimes all it takes is to have an external pair of eyes review your copywriting from the point of view of your ideal client. If you’d like a review of your website by a professional copywriter…

The post The accident-prone copywriter and how to tell if you have one in your business appeared first on Taleist Agency.

How Future Pacing Turns Prospects Into Clients

Feel the warm breeze coming off the Andaman Sea while you sip Bacardi from a coconut… Think how you’ll spring out of bed when you’re 15kgs lighter…

Inviting your prospect to imagine themselves in the shoes of your clients is called future pacing. It’s copywriting’s version of trying before you buy. It works, but many businesses don’t even tell their prospects what will happen after they say yes, let alone to get them to feel it.

Here are two good reasons to future pace in the copywriting on your website and in your other marketing.

Your visitors definitely have questions about what would happen next. If you’re not answering them, they might keep surfing until a competitor’s website tells them. Sometimes it’s just about detail — how long will it take to arrive, how often will I use it, how long will it take to start working…
Sometimes it is about feeling. As your visitors mentally walk through your show home, tracing their fingers over the marble benchtops, they’re imagining your product in their lives. On some level they already own it; now they just need to make it happen in real life.

Tell a prospect what the process looks like and you calm nerves that might be stopping them from buying.

Take a moment to make your prospects feel like your clients, and you’ll know what it feels like to have a higher-converting website.

The post How Future Pacing Turns Prospects Into Clients appeared first on Taleist Agency.

How future pacing in your copywriting turns prospects into clients

Feel the warm breeze coming off the Andaman Sea while you sip Bacardi from a coconut… Think how you’ll spring out of bed when you’re 15kgs lighter…

Inviting your prospect to imagine themselves in the shoes of your clients is called future pacing. It’s copywriting’s version of trying before you buy. It works, but many businesses don’t even tell their prospects what will happen after they say yes, let alone to get them to feel it.

Here are two good reasons to future pace in the copywriting on your website and in your other marketing.

Your visitors definitely have questions about what would happen next. If you’re not answering them, they might keep surfing until a competitor’s website tells them. Sometimes it’s just about detail — how long will it take to arrive, how often will I use it, how long will it take to start working…
Sometimes it is about feeling. As your visitors mentally walk through your show home, tracing their fingers over the marble benchtops, they’re imagining your product in their lives. On some level they already own it; now they just need to make it happen in real life.

Tell a prospect what the process looks like and you calm nerves that might be stopping them from buying.

Take a moment to make your prospects feel like your clients, and you’ll know what it feels like to have a higher-converting website.

The post How future pacing in your copywriting turns prospects into clients appeared first on Taleist Agency.

How Copywriting Can Make You More Likeable to Clients

Shock. Horror. Hardly believable.

People like people who are like them. Hang on, because that’s not the shocking part.

The shocking part is how few businesses use that everyday knowledge.

Want your clients to feel that you’re just like them? First thing: make sure you sound like them when you write to them.

But how many companies that want your business sound nothing like you?

You say “spade”; they “deploy a designated digging instrument”. You say “accountant”; their website advertises a “business solutions provider”.

Clients are more likely to buy from you if they like you.
Clients will like you quicker if you speak their language.

Here are some simple ways to see if you write like your clients speak — and to get you back on track if you don’t.

1. Look up your industry and what it does on Wikipedia

Fastidious editors pluck Wikipedia clean of jargon to keep its entries clear to anyone.

Here’s Wikipedia on copywriting, for instance:

“Copywriting is the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing… to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.”

And here it is on content marketing:

“A type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material… that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.”

Copywriting and content writing are frequently confused, but not by anyone who has read those two definitions. Copywriting on a website, for instance, drives action; content writing on a website (writing blog posts, for instance) stimulates interest without seeking an action.

How close is Wikipedia’s language about your industry and services to the way you talk about them?

2. Read your reviews

What words and phrases do clients use when they write about you or your services?

You’d be well advised to use those terms. (The purist in you might resist because the terms aren’t strictly correct, but do you want to be right or do you want more business?)

Australian builders have got this down. No Australian says they’re building a house; they’re building a “home”, even though the word “home” is broader than “house”. That’s why you won’t find websites for any “house builders” in Australia, only “home builders”.

Your industry has developed phrases to capture concepts succinctly. Inside the business, they make discussion easier. Outside the business, you can endear yourself to clients by swapping to the phrases they use.

3. How do clients write when they recommend your services?

Similar to reading your reviews, ask your clients what they say to someone when they’re recommending your service. They won’t say that you leveraged long-term solutions to isolate their capital growth. They’ll say you made them more money in the long term. So that’s what you should say, too.

If you don’t want to ask your clients directly, look for relevant forums where people ask for help. What do the people answering queries say when giving recommendations?

4. Talk to the people who know your clients best

Who in your business talks to your clients? Salespeople? Account managers? Customer support staff? Ask them to take you through the questions they’re asked and their sales pitches. No one in the business will know better how your clients talk than the people who speak to them every day.

External language check

If you think your website might be liked better by people in your business than your clients, why not get a website review from a professional copywriter? You might find you’ve missed some simple ways to increase your conversion rate, especially if your competition is making the same mistake.

The post How Copywriting Can Make You More Likeable to Clients appeared first on Taleist Agency.

4 ways copywriting can make your clients like you more

Shock. Horror. Hardly believable.

People like people who are like them. Hang on, because that’s not the shocking part.

The shocking part is how few businesses use that everyday knowledge.

Want your clients to feel that you’re just like them? First thing: make sure you sound like them when you write to them.

But how many companies that want your business sound nothing like you?

You say “spade”; they “deploy a designated digging instrument”. You say “accountant”; their website advertises a “business solutions provider”.

Clients are more likely to buy from you if they like you.
Clients will like you quicker if you speak their language.

Here are some simple ways to see if you write like your clients speak — and to get you back on track if you don’t.

1. Look up your industry and what it does on Wikipedia

Fastidious editors pluck Wikipedia clean of jargon to keep its entries clear to anyone.

Here’s Wikipedia on copywriting, for instance:

“Copywriting is the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing… to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.”

And here it is on content marketing:

“A type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material… that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.”

Copywriting and content writing are frequently confused, but not by anyone who has read those two definitions. Copywriting on a website, for instance, drives action; content writing on a website (writing blog posts, for instance) stimulates interest without seeking an action.

How close is Wikipedia’s language about your industry and services to the way you talk about them?

2. Read your reviews

What words and phrases do clients use when they write about you or your services?

You’d be well advised to use those terms. (The purist in you might resist because the terms aren’t strictly correct, but do you want to be right or do you want more business?)

Australian builders have got this down. No Australian says they’re building a house; they’re building a “home”, even though the word “home” is broader than “house”. That’s why you won’t find websites for any “house builders” in Australia, only “home builders”.

Your industry has developed phrases to capture concepts succinctly. Inside the business, they make discussion easier. Outside the business, you can endear yourself to clients by swapping to the phrases they use.

3. How do clients write when they recommend your services?

Similar to reading your reviews, ask your clients what they say to someone when they’re recommending your service. They won’t say that you leveraged long-term solutions to isolate their capital growth. They’ll say you made them more money in the long term. So that’s what you should say, too.

If you don’t want to ask your clients directly, look for relevant forums where people ask for help. What do the people answering queries say when giving recommendations?

4. Talk to the people who know your clients best

Who in your business talks to your clients? Salespeople? Account managers? Customer support staff? Ask them to take you through the questions they’re asked and their sales pitches. No one in the business will know better how your clients talk than the people who speak to them every day.

External language check

If you think your website might be liked better by people in your business than your clients, why not get a website review from a professional copywriter? You might find you’ve missed some simple ways to increase your conversion rate, especially if your competition is making the same mistake.

The post 4 ways copywriting can make your clients like you more appeared first on Taleist Agency.

3 Crazy Exercises Guaranteed to Improve Copywriting

Want to write emails, blog posts and websites that grab attention and persuade readers to act? We’ve turned a business book, an old court case and a diplomatic incident into three crazy writing exercises.

1. E is for empathy

Writing is all about the reader. That means you’ll always write better when your first thought is for the reader.

But is that your natural inclination?

Let’s find out.

Grab a Post-It note and a marker pen.
Stick the Post-It to your forehead. Seriously. (We promised you some crazy techniques.)

Have you done it?

Good.

Now, grab your marker pen and write an “E” on the Post-It stuck to your forehead.

Don’t read on until you’ve drawn your “E”.

This exercise is adapted from Friend & Foe by Adam Galinsky and Maurice Schweitzer.

Galinsky and Schweitzer are business school professors. The E test gave them an insight into how businesspeople think. We’re using the same graffiti challenge for a vital insight into your writing.

(If you don’t have a Post-It, don’t worry: the professors had people write directly on their foreheads, so go nuts.)

You’ve done it?

Let’s see what you got.

Did you get an “E” or an “Ǝ?. And what does each mean?

The Ǝ-type

Galinsky and Schweitzer found that those who wrote an “Ǝ” were “self-orientated”. It’s a polite way of saying the writer thinks first of himself. That’s why he wrote his “E” in a way such that he could read it. (I chose to make this writer a “he” because the Ǝ-type is disproportionately male.)

The E-type

Those who wrote an “E” were thinking about someone looking at them. They considerately wrote their “E” such that it would be the right way round for a reader looking at them. This shows empathy to the reader.

Good writers need empathy, not power. If you’re an Ǝ-type, you should take care to focus on the reader when writing anything that matters.

Sure, the exercise isn’t rigorous enough to get you through a psychology PhD, but it should get you ready for the next exercise.

This one isn’t psychological, though.

It’s legal.

2. Write like it’s 1978

The last exercise was a one-off — now you know how it works, you can’t check in on yourself by doing it again. This second exercise applies to everything you write.

In 1978 The Morning Star newspaper took the Daily Star to court, demanding it change its name to stop readers buying the wrong one at the newsstand.

The case was heard by Mr Justice Foster. He dismissed the case. In doing so, he coined a phrase that has kept lawyers around the world engaged in colourful arguments for more than forty years.

Only “a moron in a hurry” would confuse the two newspapers, said the judge.

Our second exercise involves asking whether this moron in a hurry would be confused by your writing. Before I lose you, I’m not saying your readers are morons, they’re almost certainly in a hurry and not giving you their full brainpower. They’re flicking through their emails; they’re watching TV; they’re in a noisy office (yay, for open plan).

So they’re in a hurry, not using their full brainpower… “Moron in a hurry” starts to make sense as a crude analogy?

We all know this about our readers because we’re in the same boat as they are when we’re reading a website. But it’s easy to slip into writing as if our reader has all the time in the world and our reader is giving us their full attention because our website is worth it.

The “moron in a hurry” writing test

The copywriting exercise of thinking of your reader as a close relative of the moron in a hurry will remind you to:

Structure logically
Keep it simple
Make the benefit (to the reader, not you) clear throughout.

Now you’ve got a draft that does all of that, it’s time to hand your draft to an angry Russian.

3. Make it noisy

At a UN meeting in 1960, Nikita Krushchev banged his shoe on his desk to make an angry point. (That’s the version I learned at school, but it’s disputed.)

For our purposes, let’s say it happened because for this next exercise, you’re going to do a Kruschev while reading your draft aloud.

I picked the exercise up in Making Websites Win.

The authors of Making Websites Win remind us that the main point in every sentence should be positioned like a punchline — at the end of the sentence. To test whether you’ve done that, here’s what they want you to do:

Read your draft out loud and hammer your fist on the desk to emphasise the last words. If the words are in the wrong order, the hammering will sound silly:

Bad: “The hammer test reveals the words are in a suboptimal order in this sentence.”

Good: “This sentence has the words in a better order, so the hammer test works well.”

If the office didn’t give you some weird looks when you were drawing an “E” on your forehead, this should get them to pay attention.

Give any of these exercises a go

Writing on yourself, treating your readers as morons, banging your shoe on the table. Crazy exercises, yes, but they could be just the thing to get you out of your copywriting rut.

And of course, if you’d like an E-type to do it all for you…

The post 3 Crazy Exercises Guaranteed to Improve Copywriting appeared first on Taleist Agency.

3 crazy exercises guaranteed to improve your copywriting

Want to write emails, blog posts and websites that grab attention and persuade readers to act? We’ve turned a business book, an old court case and a diplomatic incident into three crazy writing exercises.

1. E is for empathy

Writing is all about the reader. That means you’ll always write better when your first thought is for the reader.

But is that your natural inclination?

Let’s find out.

Grab a Post-It note and a marker pen.
Stick the Post-It to your forehead. Seriously. (We promised you some crazy techniques.)

Have you done it?

Good.

Now, grab your marker pen and write an “E” on the Post-It stuck to your forehead.

Don’t read on until you’ve drawn your “E”.

This exercise is adapted from Friend & Foe by Adam Galinsky and Maurice Schweitzer.

Galinsky and Schweitzer are business school professors. The E test gave them an insight into how businesspeople think. We’re using the same graffiti challenge for a vital insight into your writing.

(If you don’t have a Post-It, don’t worry: the professors had people write directly on their foreheads, so go nuts.)

You’ve done it?

Let’s see what you got.

Did you get an “E” or an “Ǝ?. And what does each mean?

The Ǝ-type

Galinsky and Schweitzer found that those who wrote an “Ǝ” were “self-orientated”. It’s a polite way of saying the writer thinks first of himself. That’s why he wrote their “E” in a way such that they could read it. (I chose to make this writer a “he” because the Ǝ-type is disproportionately male.)

The E-type

Those who wrote an “E” were thinking about someone looking at them. They considerately wrote their “E” such that it would be the right way round for a reader looking at them. This shows empathy to the reader.

Good writers need empathy, not power. If you’re an Ǝ-type, you should take care to focus on the reader when writing anything that matters.

Sure, the exercise isn’t rigorous enough to get you through a psychology PhD, but it should get you ready for the next exercise.

This one isn’t psychological, though.

It’s legal.

2. Write like it’s 1978

The last exercise was a one-off — now you know how it works, you can’t check in on yourself by doing it again. This second exercise applies to everything you write.

In 1978 The Morning Star newspaper took the Daily Star to court, demanding it change its name to stop readers buying the wrong one at the newsstand.

The case was heard by Mr Justice Foster. He dismissed the case. In doing so, he coined a phrase that has kept lawyers around the world engaged in colourful arguments for more than forty years.

Only “a moron in a hurry” would confuse the two newspapers, said the judge.

Our second exercise involves asking whether this moron in a hurry would be confused by your writing. Before I lose you, I’m not saying your readers are morons, they’re almost certainly in a hurry and not giving you their full brainpower. They’re flicking through their emails; they’re watching TV; they’re in a noisy office (yay, for open plan).

So they’re in a hurry, not using their full brainpower… “Moron in a hurry” starts to make sense as a crude analogy?

We all know this about our readers because we’re in the same boat as they are when we’re reading a website. But it’s easy to slip into writing as if our reader has all the time in the world and our reader is giving us their full attention because our website is worth it.

The “moron in a hurry” writing test

The copywriting exercise of thinking of your reader as a close relative of the moron in a hurry will remind you to:

Structure logically
Keep it simple
Make the benefit (to the reader, not you) clear throughout.

Now you’ve got a draft that does all of that, it’s time to hand your draft to an angry Russian.

3. Make it noisy

At a UN meeting in 1960, Nikita Krushchev banged his shoe on his desk to make an angry point. (That’s the version I learned at school, but it’s disputed.)

For our purposes, let’s say it happened because for this next exercise, you’re going to do a Kruschev while reading your draft aloud.

I picked the exercise up in Making Websites Win.

The authors of Making Websites Win remind us that the main point in every sentence should be positioned like a punchline — at the end of the sentence. To test whether you’ve done that, here’s what they want you to do:

Read your draft out loud and hammer your fist on the desk to emphasise the last words. If the words are in the wrong order, the hammering will sound silly:

Bad: “The hammer test reveals the words are in a suboptimal order in this sentence.”

Good: “This sentence has the words in a better order, so the hammer test works well.”

If the office didn’t give you some weird looks when you were drawing an “E” on your forehead, this should get them to pay attention.

Give any of these exercises a go

Writing on yourself, treating your readers as morons, banging your shoe on the table. Crazy exercises, yes, but they could be just the thing to get you out of your copywriting rut.

And of course, if you’d like an E-type to do it all for you…

The post 3 crazy exercises guaranteed to improve your copywriting appeared first on Taleist Agency.

Six Tips for Choosing the Perfect Website Copywriter

There are thousands of copywriters in the market. They all have different levels of experience, ability, writing styles and ideas for your content. And their quotes will vary wildly and not always according to ability.

It can be confusing, especially if you’ve not hired a copywriter before (or you’ve had a bad experience and want to avoid making another mistake). But website content writing isn’t something you can afford to leave to an amateur.

Bad website content won’t turn visitors into clients
Even average content means you’re leaving money on the table because you’re not converting every lead you could

At the end of this guide, you’ll know:

Exactly what to ask a potential copywriter to sort the great from the average
How to be certain you’ve chosen a copywriter who will grow your business

1 . Finding a website content writer: The most important questions of all

Of course this process is about you asking questions. But the most important questions are the ones the copywriter asks. More accurately, it’s about how many questions they ask you.

Imagine you asked two companies how much it would cost to build a road. Would you trust the one who blurted out “$100 million” or the one who said, “I don’t know yet. I need to ask you some questions first. Where do you need the road to go? How wide? What sort of vehicles will be driving on it? How often do you want to maintain it?”

Great copywriters live for persuading people, so they want to know who they’ve got to persuade and what they’ve got to persuade them about. Without knowing that, they can’t know what will go into writing your website.

If they quote you to write a website without knowing much about you, you’re in for a cookie-cutter experience. Worse, so are your potential clients.

2. When it comes to copywriting, different is better than better

People won’t call you because you claim on your website to be the leading, biggest or fastest growing company in your industry. All of your competitors are saying the same thing

What will persuade people to call is your point of difference.

The right web copywriter will have proven processes in place to work with you to identify your difference, the one that matters to your ideal clients. A great copywriter won’t just ask you what you want to say. They won’t just look at a couple of your competitors’ websites then write you something similar.

3. Silence is golden

To be persuasive in writing your website, a copywriter has to understand your business, your goals, your clients and your competition. It’s going to help a lot if your writer is genuinely interested in you.

You can get a good idea of that interest if you wait a while after the first conversation. Do they follow up with a formal proposal? Do they call you to check in on the proposal?

If your prospective content writer isn’t interested in winning your business, how interested are they likely to be in you after they have the job?

4. What to ask a potential website copywriter

When it’s you asking the questions, here are some you should ask a copywriter:

Do they have testimonials?
What’s their experience?
What’s their process?
How long will it take?
How do they charge?

Website content writer experience

Every copywriter has a first client, and you can always make the decision to be someone’s first, especially if you can work out a favourable price as a result.

However, weigh the experience of the writer in terms of the importance of your website to your bottom line. If your website is the first impression your potential clients will have of your business, you need it to be as professional as you are.

Your website copy could be the difference between whether someone calls you or they click away to a competitor.

Copywriting examples

Don’t get too hung up on getting examples of a copywriter’s work.

A copywriter may never have written about your particular product or service or in your particular industry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have the skills to do the job.

Good copywriters know how to work to understand your business, your clients and your goals. They know how to bring all this research together into persuasive copywriting. You’’re employing a craftsman with the right tools, not someone who hammers out identical widgets.

Even if you can find a specialist in your industry, they might know too much about it. Specialists often lose sight of what non-experts don’t know and what they need to be told before they can be persuaded to call.

5. How to pay a website content writer

There are pros and cons to every way of paying for website content writing, but one is far better than the others.

Copywriters can charge by the word, by the hour, or by a fixed fee.

Charging by the word

The problem with paying somebody by the word is the incentive for the copywriter to write too much. You need someone who’s going to be succinct. This is especially important for any writing that will appear online.

If you’re paying by the word, there’s no incentive for the writer to distil their copy. Every word they cut costs them time and money.

Charging by the hour

The potential downside of paying a copywriter by the hour is the lack of incentive to be fast or efficient.

Charging a fixed fee

Paying a fixing a fee gives the copywriter an incentive to write faster, which is good, but potentially with less care, which is bad.

But this is the best of the three choices. It’s transparent and certain for content writer and client.

The trick is to protect yourself by making sure you’ve qualified the copywriter.

Does it seem like they care about you and your goals? (Have they at least asked what your goals are?)
Do their clients say they pride themselves on doing a good job?
Would those clients use the copywriter again or would they take their chances on blind Google searching rather than work with this copywriter again?

6. How much should it cost to get my website content written?

Copywriting is an investment. The first question you have to answer for yourself is what is the return on investment of having a professional write your website content?

Imagine your website brings in clients who spend $500 a time. In that case, every client who isn’t impressed by your website and goes to a competitor has cost you $500 (and made your competitor $500). When you include lost business, the “cost” of a lesser copywriter quickly adds up.

Summary

When hiring a copywriter for your website, decide first how you want to pay: hourly, by the word or fixed
Prepare questions to ask
Listen for the questions you’re asked. Does it sound like the content writer will take the time to understand your business or are they going to stamp out something generic?

Ultimately, what you invest in copywriting for your website comes down to how effective you want your website to be in getting people to call you. The cost of a great copywriter will look insignificant next to what an average competitor will cost you in lost business.

The post Six Tips for Choosing the Perfect Website Copywriter appeared first on Taleist Agency.