How To Create Winning Concepts And Copy Every Time…Even When Faced With A Terrifying Job!
Keywords: concepting, ideas, copywriting, concepts, coaching
It doesn’t matter how new you are to copywriting, or how old…the fact is, there will be times when you’d feel more confident with the brains, talent, and experience of a writing partner.
Perhaps you’re writing for a new client who’s in an industry you know nothing about. Perhaps you’ve been asked to come up with some very high level concepts. Or maybe you’re getting paid partly based on response rate, and you simply want to make sure your package is as good as it possibly can be.
The answer to these and many other copywriting situations is to call in another copywriter. Share the fee and make sure you hand in perfect work. Not only will you find tremendous relief in “buddying up,” but you’ll get the work done faster and the results will be better, making for a happy client who comes back.
This is not an unusual arrangement in an advertising agency. Typically a junior writer will do the hard work, a copy chief will go over the work, and finally a creative director will put the stamp of approval on the work after possibly adding their 2 cents.
And when it comes to concepting, a copywriter is often paired with an art director, or a group of copywriters and designers may be assigned to come up with ideas.
In the freelance world, many copywriter “gurus” achieve guru status because #1 - they don’t take jobs they don’t think they can win, and #2 - they hire as many as 5 copy chiefs to go over their work.
Some months ago I found myself in a “copywriters bake-off,” as the client called it. I would be up against 3 other writers in the concepting phase for a plum job for Intuit, one of the world’s leading software companies.
Was I intimidated? After writing copy for 19 years, and more than 30 packages for software, I can say that…YES, I was!
But before I put my creative hat on I thought about whom I could bring in. I decided on Carol Worthington-Levy, a well-known graphic designer with many direct marketing awards for results.
My strategy was twofold: not only would I submit concepts from two heads rather than one, but I would submit them in an actual design format which would come across much more impressive than the text format I anticipated my competition would use.
The strategy worked, the client loved the concepts, and I won the job. (Although I then found myself competing against 3 other teams in the copy phase!)
More recently one of my coaching students had a new client
and wanted validation of the copy she’d written. She sent it to me, and while it was an excellent piece, it did need a stronger headline. Working together we came up with a headline that would have been difficult to improve upon.
The next day my coaching student sent an email that her client was positively thrilled with her work, and had made only minor edits.
So whenever you feel your chest tighten up with that old
(unnecessary) feeling of anxiety, call on a colleague who has proven success with whatever type of project you’re tackling. Just the thought of bringing in a partner should make you feel more relaxed.
Recently I called on Richard Rosen, my old employer and
internationally recognized direct marketing guru. He’s used to paying me for copywriting; but in this case I needed his help on crafting a strategy. Knowing ahead of time that I’d want to call him for help with a particularly complicated product launch, I worked an extra fee into the budget to pay for his expertise.
So open up your thinking: whom do you know who has
knowledge and experience you can leverage? If you don’t know of anyone whose ability you’re sure of, ask around for a referral, or go to the Web site of a pro you don’t know personally, but whose work you respect. If they can’t team up with you, they’ll know who can.
Copywriters are an anxious bunch, often fretting over imagined insecurities. Buddying up with a copy chief (or other expert) eliminates the jitters and allows you to learn from a pro. If you think about whom you can bring in to a difficult project, you’ll find that you can eliminate one of the copywriter’s biggest self-defeating obstacles - that of insecurity.
Master copywriter and coach Chris Marlow publishes a free ezine for copywriters who want to quickly build a profitable business. Visit:
www.FreelancersBusinessBulletin.com
Previous Articles Highlighter:
How To Increase Your Copywriting Success (1)
For instance, I specialize in software. And while there are more than 7,300 software companies in the U.S., I need only 500 to keep busy. So which 500 should they be?
Updates On RSS Directories (2)
RSS is widely used initially by news sites to allow others to syndicate their news stories. Now, a lot of other websites are using RSS. It is being used in flagging new forum headlines, auction listings, sales listings and others.
How To Easily Choose The Right Web Hosting For Your Business? (3)
Most businesses can get by with just a regular shared server or virtual server and have web hosting expenses under $30 a month. The price will vary from around $10 a month to as much as $50 depending on how much bandwidth and disk space you need.
Chicago Cubs, Kentucky Derby And Dallas Mavericks Tickets Are Hard To Get! (4)
How enraged would you be? There are some rules you should follow when looking to purchase tickets from a ticket seller online. The first of these rules is to know who you are dealing with.
How Do Wireless Networks Work? (5)
Well, the answer is that there are standards that all wireless devices follow. These standards are technically called the 802.11 standards, and are set by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
3 Steps To Getting Organized In Your Online Business (6)
freeing up much of my time and energy. It certainly made life a lot easier and more disciplined. Second thing that I set up was a spreadsheet to track income and expenses.
Let Customer's Imagination Flow For Effective Research (7)
David Poulos, Chief Consultant at Granite Partners has been offering marketing guidance to firms for over 25 years. Specialties include non-profit marketing and full-scale strategic marketing campaigns. He can be reached at www.granite-part.com, or 410-472-4570.
Two Common Negotiating Mistakes Copywriters Make, And How To Avoid Them (8)
Those who bring in the business! Everyone else's salary depends on them. That's why they're usually paid more than anyone else. YOU are in that category. Marketing coach Chris Marlow publishes a free newsletter for freelancers who want to land the high-quality, high-value clients.
What Is Search Engine Optimization? (9)
Search Engines normally have algorithms that produce results in a particular layout. SEO looks at optimization of a websites coding, links, content, and on page optimization. Spiders are known as the program that runs through the algorithms set by Search Engines.
Here Is One Easy Way To Make Money On The Internet (10)
Many credit card and stores offer rebates to get your business. But you only earn a rebate on your purchases. Even better is to earn rebates on the purchses of thousands of people.
Why We Need To Become A Websmith Marketer (11)
The websmiths goal is to mentor others dedicated to supporting the team with this most vital part, the training system. Those wishing to prosper and become serious home marketers are Websmiths who train others for free.
Mistakes That Can Bury A Blog (12)
When they try to load your page, it will take an excessively long time to do so. This in turn will likely drive them and anyone else with this problem away.
How To Promote And Market Your Online E-Greeting Cards (13)
It is not going to work, so market your mission well. Hence for your online greeting card to catch the public eye it should be easily accessible. Now with so many e-cards available, getting the web users to find yours is not a simple task.
Building A Strong Business Blog (14)
If you are new to blogging, you should research popular blogs that are similar to what you want to create. Most blogs are short posts between one hundred to three hundred words.
Looking For Targeted Leads? Then Follow These Steps Now (15)
Some of the questions that will lead you to uncover a thirsty market are; Who are they? What are their wants and desires? And what are their fears and inhibitions?
Newer Articles Highlighter:
How Start-up Carpet Cleaning Companies Can Quickly Be A HUGE Success (1)
Think about your favorite restaurant. Do you go there because it's just like the others? Do you go there because it's the cheapest place in town? Some ideas include being the company who specializes in pet odor removal, stain removal specialist, grout dyeing, or fine rug cleaning.
Make Money Selling On EBay (2)
Send emails to subscribers notifying them of upcoming auctions. eBay Auction Support eBay provides sellers with several tools to help them navigate the auction process. Automated listing tools allows sellers to post additional listings without going through the Sell Your Item process every time.
5 Reasons Why Blogging Is The New Internet Marketing Tool (3)
In this age of speed and quick access, logging in and downloading e-mail is simply taking longer than clicking into a blog site. Let them explore your site by using a short e-mail message as teaser to your blog site.
What Kind Of Affiliate Marketing Program Should You Promote? Don't Leave Money On The Table! (4)
Know the products they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The more you know about the retailer offering you the affiliate program, the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really for you and your site.
Website Traffic Using Free Methods (5)
With the use of niche marketing you can discuss lots of things about that you represent or offer. Another great advantage is that you know what you are getting into and that you will be prepared in your internet business.
Cultivating Quality Clients With A Powerful Ezine (6)
Point #1: Determine specifically what you will be sharing with your audience and make it apparent in your newsletter title. The regular content should revolve around your USP, a niche market, or some particular talent you possess.
How Any Copywriter - Even A Beginner - Can Assemble And Present A Winning Portfolio (7)
For the Internet, send no more than three work samples, which can come to 15 or so PDFs (individual PDFs of the letter, envelope, reply device, and other components). If you're inclined to send more, store them on a CD and mail via snail mail.
3 Ways To Make Sure You Crank Out As Much Content As Physically Possible (8)
The very last question I want to answer is you may be wondering what to write about? Head off to your favourite forum in your niche and find a hot topic or one where people are having problems - write about that.
EBay Basics: Four Focal Points For Beginners (9)
Say - it might be a good idea to do those cute Disney figures too! And why not have a look at those Royal Worcester vases while you're at it?
Why Some People Prefer Canadian Web Hosting Over American (10)
This is very important when you are looking for a web host. The more reliable the host is, the more reliable your site will be. If the host is down a lot this means your site will be down a lot as well.
Blogging Platform Tips For Maximizing Your Site Visiblility (11)
When you are reading reviews of different platforms, try to keep in mind the reviewers point of view and the features you really need. For example, a negative review written by an accomplished software designer who complains that a popular platform is too limited may tell you that the platform in question is ideal for a beginning blogger.
Article Writing Success Builds Site Popularity Today! (12)
They did a search on google for "shopping in Madrid" and found your article listed and contacted you! Ah...sweet success! While this probably won't happen, you have the assurance that you are going through the right process to promote your web site and gain exposure in the search engines.
When To Go With A Work At Home Business Opportunity (13)
This means that for awhile you'll be making less money than you are used to, and so you have to be prepared to take a little bit of a pay cut when you start a home business.
Should You Be Selling A Product Or A Service? (14)
You would generally not try to sell items people can get at the corner store. Thus, few toothbrushes are sold on the Net; the same thing with daily food and beverage purchases.
How To Price A Job Correctly Even When You're Totally Stumped (15)
The copywriter has not worked in an agency environment, or "in-house" at a catalog company, or in the advertising department of a sophisticated marketer, and has no concept of fair pay for his services.
3 Simple Steps To Starting An Affiliate Program (16)
In most cases this is what most people will look at when deciding whether or not your affiliate program is worth while. After all, everybody wants to make more money.
Affordable Solutions For Internet Marketing (17)
So, if you do not have enough money in the coffers for traditional advertising, you will likely have to use online marketing. This is not a bad thing. Offline advertising (i.e. radio, TV, print ads) is sometimes not effective.
Make Extra Money Selling Ebooks Online (18)
To make money from ebooks you write, start your own affiliate program. There are plenty of online and print books that will help you learn how to get in on the sales bandwagon.
6 Postcard Marketing Tips That Can Improve Your Mortgage Business (19)
Or, you read the message and then flip it over. Either way it's like a magnetic...people need to read it. And, the really great thing is...there's no envelope to open.
Google Came From Thin Air? The History Of Google (20)
Stanford University owns PageRank's patent. Google credits its success and popularity to PageRank. To deter webmasters from using abusive techniques to garner higher rankings for their search engines the company will not disclose the algorithms used to rank pages.
How Copywriters Can Cultivate Quality Clients By Creating Powerful Newsletters (21)
If you have enough experience with your subject matter, you can "pull content from your head" and create a worthy newsletter in about two or three hours. If not, be willing to do a little research to offer your reader something of true value.
Is The Use Of Pop Windows In Internet Marketing Effective Or Irritating? (22)
Keywords: advertising, internet business A few years ago, pop-up windows were all the rage in Internet marketing. It seemed that every time one opened a web page they would be bombarded with offers for this or that.
Increasing Sales Through Strategic Internet Marketing (23)
It is still being debated if domain names matter when it comes to search engine placement. Whether it does or not, having product related domain names help consumers remember your domain, that they can go back to your site even without the links.
Learn The Secret Keyword Research Tips That Will Increase Your Traffic (24)
2% is more reasonable. Each webmaster as their own density that they like to achieve based on past results. As long as you don't over optimize and you are making good profit from your rankings, then you can choose whatever keyword density you like.
Why Your Marketing Plan Should Include A Blog (25)
The idea of blogging for any size business is to get the word out to readers. A reader who frequents a certain blog is more likely to share the blog with others.