How to Hire a Freelance Copywriter
Your company can benefit from the decision to hire a freelance copywriter.
Maybe your website is floundering. It hasn’t been the type of asset that works while you’re asleep in several years. The internet has become an infinitely more crowded place, and the level of competition has picked up.
Maybe your company is growing, and you need someone to help you reach your customers in order to keep the pace.
Whatever the case may be, working with a freelance copywriter can help you create content that resonates with your audience. It can help you differentiate yourself and attract business.
Potential Copywriting Projects
Whether you are a busy business owner, or operating a large-scale marketing department, you probably have enough responsibilities on your plate. It can help to offload content creation to an experienced freelance copywriter.
Here are just a few of the types of projects you can hire a freelance copywriter to complete:
Below are some suggestions when it comes time to hire a freelance copywriter.
4 Tips to Hire a Freelance Copywriter
Understand and Communicate Your Project — The better you can communicate what you want, the better work a freelance copywriter can do. If you have items you’d like to see in the copy, make sure you convey this. Often the copywriter will ask you specific questions in the research phase of a project. The more detailed answers you can provide, the better.
I have a questionnaire I send to new clients. When a client provides short answers, it’s hard to turn that into extended copy. A good copywriter will know to turn to an existing website or other marketing materials for additional research. They will know to look at how the competition writes about themselves. But that initial input from a business owner or point of contact can turn good marketing content into great content.
You Get What You Pay For — Is your company a Pinto or a Porsche? Your marketing and branding say a lot about the status of your company. If you are trying to hire a copywriter at $5 an article, and expecting Porsche-level content, that will lead to problems. There is nothing wrong with staying inside your budget, but make sure your expectations are realistic.
Have a Conversation — I love when I get the chance to talk with perspective clients ahead of time. It gives both of us a chance to cement the relationship, and make sure we have the right fit. When you are looking to hire a freelance copywriter, make sure that you find out a little about them. Here are a few questions you should consider asking.
Do you have a website? This is a good one if you haven’t found any online marketing materials from the writer. They should be able to point you to something that gives more information about their past experience.
Have you written in this industry before? This is a valid question, and I receive it a lot. I’ve been at this for almost 10 years, so frequently the answer is yes. But sometimes it’s not. However, I would say that it’s equally important to consider a freelance copywriter’s background. For instance, I am a former journalist. I learned as much as I could about a given topic on a daily basis, then turned around and wrote about it. That is a transferrable skill.
Tell me about your background. This is open-ended and general. But for reasons I mentioned above, this is a good question.
These conversations can be a great way to get to know someone before doing business with them. They are the freelance copywriter version of a job interview. It’s a window into a potential relationship on both sides, before you make a commitment.
Leave a Realistic Timeline — With good freelance copywriters, your work won’t be their only work. So when you approach them about a job that needs to happen by tomorrow, the answer is frequently “No.” Some might also charge a rush fee, which you should be prepared to pay if you expect a tight deadline to be met.
A one or two-week deadline is reasonable on a small project. If it’s a larger project, the deadline could be longer.
Conclusion
A freelance copywriter can help you drastically improve your marketing materials. They can help you make your website more efficient and communicate more effectively with all stakeholders. These are important skills for businesses in today’s economy.
It helps to make sure expectations are in line on both sides, as you move to hire a freelance copywriter. Often there may be a need for both parties to be flexible. If you have any further questions, contact me today!
Matthew Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing copywriter and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right — Sell Now.
