In this video: 00:15 3 Questions Every Copywriting Client
Asks 00:55 Question 1: Do You Have Any _____________________?
02:14 Question 2: How Much ___________________________?
03:29 Question 3: How Long Will It Take You To __________________?
Hi!
This is Jesse and in this video I’m going to cover the 3 questions that most potential
copywriting clients are likely to ask you.
3 Questions Every Copywriting Client Asks
I want you to be prepared.
Even if right now you’re not out there hunting for copywriting clients, you’re still kind
of learning copywriting, that’s fine but it’s better to be prepared.
Because you don’t want to be the guy or girl at a seminar, you meet someone that asked
you what you do, you say copywriter and then out comes these 3 questions you’re not prepared.
You look inexperienced because you fumble with your answers and therefore, they don’t
take you seriously.
Over the last 10 years as a freelance copywriter, I’ve been asked these questions probably
hundreds of times and now I want to give them to you so you’ll be prepared.
Question number 1: Do You Have Any Experience In Writing For My Industry?
How do you answer that?
And how do you answer that if you don’t have any experience?
Well, first of all, always be honest.
If you lie then they might eventually find out and that’s not going to be good for
you.
You may answer with “I actually haven’t worked for your industry before but I am someone
who’s very interested in your industry.
And I read a lot about your industry and I have knowledge in your industry.
I look forward to working in your industry and let me tell you, I’m prepared to do
the research necessary to find out all the things I need to know to write the best copy
possible.”
That’s really going to put them at ease and then you can move forward in the conversation.
This is why it’s better to start if you’re a beginner copywriter, it’s better to start
in industries that you have experience in already.
Maybe in a past career or a job you’re an employee in that particular industry.
You can leverage your - contacts
- experience - insider knowledge
...in that industry, to then write copy for that industry.
So that’s one way that you can leapfrog over the competition by using past experience
to get started in the industry.
Question number 2: How Much Do You Charge / How Much Will This Cost Me?
So, this is a logical question.
The client wants to know what your rates are.
Now, most of the time I answer with “it depends”.
And it really does depend.
If you’re meeting someone for the first time and you really don’t know a lot about
their needs and what this job entails then answering that question with a quote prematurely
can only get you into hot water.
Let’s take this scenario.
Let’s say you’re at a party and someone asks you what you do for a living, you answer
“copywriter” and they say “Great!
We’re looking for a copywriter at my work.
How much do you charge?”
How can you answer that question?
It really depends, doesn’t it?
Even if there were specifics saying they wanted website copy.
Well…
- How many pages?
- How many words?
- How much research are you going to have to do to find out about their website?
So never answer that question until you have all of the information necessary.
You want to know specifically how many hours you’re probably going to be working on this
project and also how much writing is required.
So never answer that question with a quote until you have all of the information.
Question number 3: How Long Will It Take You To Write My Copy?
Now, this is a tricky one because every job is different.
Someone wanting just a short amount of copy written obviously will take a lot shorter
time than someone wanting a very long sales page written.
So it really depends again on how long it’s going to take you.
Now, through practise and through experience, you will start to gauge how long it does take
you for certain types of projects.
Whenever you’re quoting, whenever you’re answering that question “How long will it
take you to write this copy?”
really try and estimate in your head how many hours it will take you.
Now, you want to factor in the research time that’s going to take you to
- read through their website - to research their competitors
- to research the market ...factor in those hours as well and bill
your client for those hours as well!
You also want to factor in the actual writing time itself.
Now, some clients will come to you with a deadline, they’ll say “We’re interested
in hiring you.
Our deadline is this date.”
Now before you agree to a certain deadline and some deadlines are super short, you do
want to calculate and estimate how many hours this particular job is going to take you.
Once you know that and you can meet their deadline comfortably then certainly agree
to the job.
But if there’s a super short deadline and there’s no way you can meet it around your
schedule, tell them that you believe this deadline is very short and ask them what the
reason for the deadline is.
Now, you might think that’s kind of inappropriate or rude to ask but it couldn’t be further
from the truth, you need to be able to enough research in order to write good copy.
If you rush a job and you skip over some of the important elements like research then
it’s not going to be good for them, it’s not going to be good for you.
So do ask them why their deadline is super short, and propose a longer deadline if necessary.
Of course if you really do want to work on this project, you may find yourself working
late nights and weekends in order to get it done.
But if the money’s really good then that’s okay as well.
So I’d love to know what you think about these 3 questions in the comments section
below.
Please take a moment to give me your feedback.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, I read all of the comments and I’ll see you in the
next video.