Freelance Copywriting

Ever wanted a job where you could spend all day, every day, writing clever and inspiring prose? Yes? Well don’t become a freelance copywriter!

And yes, it is a good job, and for some of us, it is a calling which cannot be denied. And of course, you do get to write clever and inspiring prose, it's just that you don't spend all day, every day writing. And in fact, sometimes when you finally sit down at the end of the day and reflect on what you've done, your time spent writing is a low percentage indeed.

So what does a freelance copywriter do besides write copy? Well, basically they run a business. The article discusses 11 daily rituals involved with running a freelance website copywriting or advertising copywriting business - other than writing, that is. And it also imparts some tips for performing them successfully.

1) Quoting

Freelance copywriters work for a lot of masters. Typically, they have a large number of clients and also use up quite a bit of their time quoting new jobs. Quoting is actually how you calculate how much you are going to charge for a job. In quoting as a freelancer in copywriting, there are several important factors involved. You need some means of correctly estimating time. Generally speaking, the best way of reaching this is by being diligent in your tracking.

If you know how much past jobs have taken you, you'll be much more confident and accurate in your estimates. You need to know how much time you spend not writing-as you should try to cover as much of this as possible.

You need to have an idea of what the client will pay for. Are they a large or small company? How much do they appear to value copy? You need to know how much your competitors charge for the same thing. You need to understand what differentiates you from your competitors.

You need to consider how much you want or need the work. And of course, you need to estimate how time-consuming the client will be.

2) Making Proposals

A quotation is not a proposal. A quotation may be contained within a proposal, but it's not the same thing. When you submit a copywriting proposal, you are selling your skills, your solution, your work ethic, your customer service, your commitment, and your experience.

You are basically justifying your price and differentiating yourself from the competition. It is not only WHAT you say, but also HOW you say it and how you PRESENT it. Everything about your proposal plays a role in the decision of the client! If at all possible, add ancillary helpful information. Employ a title page, table of contents, headers, and footers.

Introduce at the beginning and summarise at the end. Include your price, but call it an “investment”, not a “cost”. Show the client you’ve thought their job through by summarising their requirements. Outline your proposed solution. And most importantly, give the client a clear call to action (“Where to from here?”).

3. Chasing reviews

The freelance copywriter is seldom the bottleneck in a copywriting job. In 99.99% of all copywriting jobs, the review process is the bottleneck. Most clients take ages to review. In fact, about a third of the clients need to be prompted at least once before they'll get back to you with their changes.

It's not unusual for a one-day writing job to take a whole month to reach sign-off – or longer. Some clients will leave the copy review in a backburner for months – yet another reason to request a deposit before the commencement of work!

As a result, freelance advertising copywriters and website copywriters spend masses of time chasing reviews. Just make sure you factor the delay and the chasing time into your quotes as best you can. And always record which clients take a long time, so you can be prepared when discussing deadlines on the next job.

4) Project scheduling & tracking

Irrespectively of whether you work on big projects or small, project scheduling and tracking are crucial. You need to know the exact status of all work in progress-tracking-and also need to be very aware of what's coming up and how you'll manage it-planning. If you are doing it right, you will use your tracking and planning tools several times a day. In fact, they should be the hub of your business.

5) Accounting

Issuing invoices, processing payments - including part payments - chasing outstanding invoices, recording expenses, managing bank accounts, putting tax aside… It all takes a lot of time. Don't be fooled into thinking you can handle your accounts manually - or with Microsoft Excel.

Even with only a few clients, you really NEED a proper accounts package such as MYOB or Quicken-they both have small business versions. You will appreciate why the first time that you do your GST reports or annual taxes. In fact, you'll appreciate it any time you need to follow up on outstanding invoices.

6. Visit clients

Although the magic of modern email allows a freelance copywriter to get through about 95% of their work without ever leaving the office, sometimes it's still a good idea to do things in an 'old-fashioned' way – especially if you expect to work with them quite a lot. Shake hands and put a face to a name.

And remember, everything about the meeting reflects on you and your business. As with your proposals, think about WHAT you say, HOW you say it, how you PRESENT. Always organise the meeting with plenty of notice, confirm the day before the meeting, be on time, summarise the meeting, and provide a call to action.

Attempt to do these last two both at the end of the meeting and via email after the meeting.

7) Office administration

Even for a low overhead business like copywriting, there's always something! Changing phone plans, upgrading/fixing computers, your internet service is down, your website is temporarily unavailable, you're enhancing your data storage procedures, you need new printer or fax ink cartridges…

Office administration takes more of your day than one might expect. You must allow for it. By which I mean, allow time to do the work and factoring that time into your quotes. If you don't, you'll be continually working into the wee hours and/or losing money.

9) Industry research

Stay up to date with industry research in the field of copywriting. Read research related to usability, readability, and scannabilityand subscribe to their newsletters). Read about search engine optimization Try to track how day-to-day language is shifting and changing-what buzz words to use, what buzz words to avoid, what rules are being overlooked in spoken English, what sounds make a positive impression on people, etc. There lies some differences in writing for the web, writing for print, and writing for search engines.

10) Subject matter research

Whether it is website copywriting or advertising copywriting, to do a good job you have got to know a lot about your subject material. Both specific knowledge about the client's product or service and more generic 'domain' knowledge is involved. Clients have a tendency to not supply enough information.

Make sure you interview them thoroughly. Then inform them that, no doubt, you will have more questions afterwards. Even then, you may find yourself doing a little independent research. The Internet is your saviour, but always run any information by your client before publishing.

When you're quoting on a job, try to work out how much detail the client will be able to supply. You can even ask them to estimate how much they'll supply (i.e. All, Most, Some, or None). This is a good technique as it gets them thinking about your requirements while at the same time giving you some idea how much time you'll spend researching.

11) Planning

In one important respect, at least, website copywriting and advertising copywriting are no different to any other form of writing; planning is key.

Happy writing!

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