Do you do your own copywriting?

[SearchBlogger]

Hi,

Just wanted to find out some opinions and information on copywriting and how many SMEs do this themselves and whether anyone uses a copywriter.

If you do your own copywriting, what's the biggest problem you face? is it lack of ideas, lack of time or something else?

Thanks

Jamie

 

[-Joe-]

I have several people I use for copywriting, generally it's not worth my time. If it's a 2000 word salesletter I'll write it myself though, as the costs for those are sky high.

 

[pheelweb]

Both roots have their advantages and disadvantages.

The thought of doing my own copy is really daunting, it seems boring and long winded for (in many cases) little in return. As Joe pointed out, it doesn't seem worth the time. But when I get started, I find I actually quite enjoy it. It's gets really frustrating when you know what you want to say, but don't know how to say it so I usually just take notes and come back to it when I'm more relaxed and have a clearer head.

I spent a lot of time and money looking for a ghost writer for my blog and eventually found the right bloke. Me and him got on well, he had brilliant way of wording his articles and was on always on time with submissions. However, I found myself spending quite a lot of time providing him with the information he needed, draft reading and editing his work. The whole point of hiring him was to free up time I was spending writing so I can spend it on more important tasks, but I just ended up spending this time managing him. Now I try to write my own copy as much as possible, unless I'm swamped with work (which unfortunately I'm not ).

My advice would be, if it's important to you and you are able to do it - then do it yourself. If it's not so important or you really don't have faith in your own writing then hire a copywriter. Another option is to write notes or a draft copy and then send them to your copywriter to polish up - get the best of both worlds!

--Mike

 

[gemd89]

Im currently paying someone to do all the content, product desciptions, blog articles and news content on my site!

I think my problem is im not that creative a writing and i have other things to deal with so it was easier to outsource this. I just have to send a few ideas and they are always done on time.

Gemma

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

So is copywriting included in the £249 web design charge?

 

[pheelweb]

So is copywriting included in the £249 web design charge?

If your referring to Joe's post, then that quote is in his footer rather than the reply to this thread. It might be worth sending Joe a PM to enquire, but I doubt it does.

--Mike

 

[-Joe-]

So is copywriting included in the £249 web design charge?

No it doesn't, although, if needed, I can include it for not very much. If you're interested, PM me, I'll get back to you with a quote.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Copywriting isn't just about whether you need to free up time, or whether you enjoy it, or whether you feel like you can't write to a high enough standard.

What it's about when it comes to business is the sales conversion rate. The amount of customers you get out of a given number of visitors. If you write good sales copy which really grabs the reader and pushes all the right psychological buttons, then the buy-rate can be a big percentage of your targeted visitors. If you don't know how to do that, and you write sales copy which doesn't follow certain copywriting rules, then the sales conversion rate can really suffer, and a big chunk of your marketing could simply go to waste. After all, if you're spending time and money on generating visitors, then you want as many of those to become customers as possible.

It makes a huge difference too. Two pieces of copy could read reasonably well, but one could provide a sales conversion rate of 10%+, whilst the other provides a rate of well below 1%. Now if you imagine going from copy which provides 1%, to copy which provides even 5%, that's FIVE TIMES more sales, and five times more profit, without any extra visitors.

Unfortunately, learning how to write sales copy like this can easily take years, as you need to know how a customers mind works, how selling psychology works, and how certain word combinations will work to grab the attention of prospects and really hit them hard with the most powerful marketing messages available for a given product or service.

It's all about return on investment. Invest in good sales copy from a good copywriter, and it should pay for itself relatively quickly, with all of that lovely additional profit to follow.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Is it worth paying for copywriting?

I guess the question is: "does copy make a difference to conversion?"

I've split-tested copy (one version of a page against another, where only the copy was changed) and seen differences of up to 400%.

What would an increase in sales of 30% (with no extra marketing cost) mean to your business?

If you're making £30,000 a year, that'd be £9,000.... if the traffic was free.

If you're making £80,000 in net sales, but spending £50,000 on PPC (so you're still making £30,000), a 30% conversion bump would mean £24,000 more profit.

As Scott said, it's not just about outsourcing, it's about understanding the importance of sales copy and making sure it's done well.

Steve

 

[Kingdingle22]

Anyone recommend any good resources for improving your copywriting skills?


Copyblogger is a very useful site!

 

[-Joe-]

Anyone recommend any good resources for improving your copywriting skills?


Copyblogger is a very useful site!

More copyblogger.

 

[SearchBlogger]

I also like Copy Blogger a lot, you may also want to look at Michel Fortin's site

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Anyone recommend any good resources for improving your copywriting skills?


Copyblogger is a very useful site!

I've got about 20+ copywriting books from every respected copywriting expert and author I could find. Have a look on Amazon and grab yourself some of those. It would be a good start.

 

[garyk]

Plenty of online resources check out eugene schwartz, maxwell sackheim, robert collier (old school and still valid) and more modern Gary Halbert, John Carlton, get a copy claude hopkins scientific advertising (old and now a free pdf)

The argument over doing it yourself vs outsourced is going to come down to time, not just the time to *do* it but as Scott mentions the time to learn it. I find I have to get the 'scent' for it (kind of like Will Graham going to see Hannibal Lechter in Manhunter to get a feel for catching a serial killer) by spending time reading ads from swipe files before I can do it as its not something I do *loads* of.

Gary

 

[princefarr]

I think writing has got to be the most essential skill toward persuasive copy-writing but within that there are many other things one could do to improve.

 

[BrightIdeas]

I generally write my own copy but have just started to outsource some work to a writer to help with content development/blogging. For me, it's not just the question of time, it's also the fresh ideas and the market knowledge that I'm paying for. Oh, and better skill too.

 

[Surbhee]

If people will writer for themselves, where will Content Providers like me will go?

Just kidding..I personally believe, if the content is for marketing purposes and not something like a sales letter, it should be outsourced and its not worth spending your own time in basic content like that

 

[dagaul101]

I think it's a combination of two things, time and ideas

 

[Birmingham]

If you do your own copywriting, what's the biggest problem you face? is it lack of ideas, lack of time or something else?

on important stuff i do most myself because i don't expect anyone else to intuitively understand what i'm looking for, and by the time i've made a brief i have all the ideas to do it myself

and the biggest obstacle is probably lack of time & spare energy... i mean the time & effort it takes to come up with ideas, not the simple task of typing stuff up... so the time problem and the ideas problem are 1 & the same issue for me

 

[MarkAndrews IMCopywriting]

Of course, I do all of my own copywriting...afterall it's my greatest passion - advertising, marketing and writing sales copy for high conversions.

Recently I was approached by an Israeli gentleman with a company in Chicago, Illinois, USA. His business? Home appliance repairs.

The company concerned, unusually enough given the recession for which I would have thought would have resulted in a substantial increase in business was nonetheless, in severe decline at the time of contact several months ago.

Asked if I could improve his website sales copy, I replied, "Sure I can, no problem."

Upon supplying the sales copy for his homepage with a very specific direct call to action...his conversions absolutely rocketed to new dizzying heights.

1 in every 2 visitors to his website ended up (and still continue to do so) telephoning the company concerned to inquire about their services and to place orders for appliance repairs in Chicagoland.

In his own words, George Secher was astonished at the huge conversion rate and his PPC team expressed their opinion that they hadn't seen anything like it before!

Yes, you can do your own sales copy but why would you want to, if you do not know how to hit on those sweet buying buttons of your targeted audience?

A copywriter is much more than just salesmanship-in-print. When you employ a professional copywriter you'll be able to tap into his or her full on marketing mind for ideas and inspiration.

Most pro copywriters have a massive amount of accumulated advertising and marketing knowledge - just one reason why we're in such high demand and can charge as much as we do.

If you want to look at George Secher's website, you can do so here...

http://www.NorthernRefrigeration.net

I can't personally stand the website design and I have advised him to change it out quickly, unfortunately for him he's not too willing to make the needed changes for an even greater response rate. Although understandable, (in my clients own words), "Why fix something which is converting so well at a consistent 50%?"

Basically, I used a large range of bullet points to draw his target market into his business, highlighting his very real benefits to the end consumer.

Any copywriter worth their salt will instantly be able to jump straight into the mindset of your customers or potential clients feelings of emotional pain or frustration.

It is then quite a simple task to move these emotions in the subconscious mind from one emotional state to the other, in this case, emotional pleasure at finding a solution to their pain or frustration.

If any of you need an outrageous advertising consultant for direct mail campaigns or general Internet marketing copywriting..... Whatever your problem is, please do feel welcome to give me a shout.

Best,


Mark Andrews