This is a cautionary business tale to potentially save a little bit of money for anyone who hires a copywriter in the future… And by no means am I angry or upset at all. It’s more like I see an issue, so I felt obligated to talk about it.
The title is in reference to a few situations I’ve had with different clients.
Most recently, I had this solid client who sells a great product that appears to sell very, very well. I looked at his numbers, read a little bit of the copy, and it all seemed like straight-forward direct response marketing.
Sounds great!
Guy hires me to do a couple different things, and as we’re moving forward through these projects, the details on my objectives start to become more vague. At some point I got transitioned from the business owner to the project manager, so that might have contributed to this as well.
Regardless, there was a particular way they wanted these emails to look, and that wasn’t clearly laid out or explained to me.
From my perspective… You (the business owner) obviously see and know what you’re doing (or have done in the past), so I’m assuming you want me to change the direction a little bit. Clearly try something new!
I mean that’s why you’re hiring me in the first place, right?
Plus, I believe in the Eugene Schwartz idea that you really only have one client, and that’s the ultimate end-user/customer. But at the same time, I totally understand if a client isn’t excited to pay for something they didn’t want.
I laid out what I was planning to do.
And I believe they were listening to me, heck, they were responding to things. But I don’t think they got the total vision of what I was trying to explain.
So, when we get to the point of submitting copy, they come back with revisions. They want something eerily similar to what they had done before. And I laughed aloud to be flatout honest.
I couldn’t help myself.
Truthfully, I only laughed because I felt awkward and almost guilty – maybe?
You know I’ve logged all these hours I’m going to be paid for – not to mention the upcoming revisional hours they’re adding to this project.
And it all could have been avoided…
If you want the same thing, and that thing is already working well, then maybe I shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
Might sound odd coming from a copywriter, but I think it’s true.
In fact, with some previous projects, my clients have shown me the copy ahead of time and asked if it would be worth my while.
If the copy works well, and there’s nothing earth-shattering the client is willing to try new, then it might be better to simply run it ‘as is’…
Now you must rely on the copywriter being honest and not just upselling you for no reason. That’s what makes those good business relationships so special too. But most good copywriters will be direct with you.
If it’s something not worth the hours and price, he or she should let you know.
For one, copywriters aren’t usually excited about arguing over price. If it’s a clear pass from the start, the better business move is to shift from selling to building a longer-term relationship with the client.
To finish up my individual story, these were good people.
They replied back and were very upfront about giving unclear guidance. They paid me. Said they’d try both emails, but I never really heard anything back.
I honestly doubt they tried my new copy.
My Tyler Durden reference is to the fact that ultimately (once again) I only have one client – the end customer.
And with that in mind, kicking and screaming, I’ll drag you (my clients) to better email copy.
Therefore, I’m going to build that relationship with the customer in the best possible way I see fit (based on all the research and hours that I put into the project). It’s not necessarily better than before; that’s why testing was created.
However, my path of discovery will likely take me outside your normal status quo. And if the client wants something different, that’s totally fair, I just felt bad that we could have saved some money potentially.
I think it also hurt this one particular business relationship, but at the same time, you live and you learn.
And if you want to learn how to improve your own sales writing (with the goal of never hiring me in the first place), check out my website – www.smugpelicancopy.com -to Sign Up For My New FREE Smugger Copy App!