The worst thing about freelance copywriting (or any other type
\nof writing) is this:<\/p>\n
You write a brilliant piece that you are absolutely in love
\nwith. You submit it to your client or editor. And the client
\ncall or e-mails \u2013 and to your utter amazement says, “I hate
\nthis. It stinks.”<\/p>\n
How can you prevent this unpleasant event and ensure your
\nclients’ satisfaction? Here are a few ideas that work:<\/p>\n
1\u2014Listen and capture.<\/p>\n
Often when you ask the client about his business or product, he
\nwill articulate its benefits in a clear and powerful way. Write
\ndown what he says, and incorporate the best of this verbiage in
\nyour copy. Not only is it accurate, but when the client reads
\nit, he’ll be pleased with how you put things (because it
\naccurately reflects how he thinks of the product).<\/p>\n
2\u2014Create a pre-approved sentence library.<\/p>\n
Especially when dealing with a complex or technical subject,
\nafter reviewing the source material, write a bunch of sentences
\nthat express your understanding of the technology, function, and
\nfeatures as best you can.<\/p>\n
Submit these sentences \u2013 no more than 6 to 7 or so \u2013 to the
\nclient and ask him to review. Incorporate any changes. Now, you
\nhave a library of pre-approved sentences you can use in your
\ncopy.<\/p>\n
Few things upset clients more than the unpleasant surprise of
\nreading a first-draft filled with errors, because it puts the
\nfear into them that you do not understand the product. Using a
\nlibrary of pre-approved sentences eliminates surprises of this
\nnature.<\/p>\n
3\u2014Submit 3-5 headlines.<\/p>\n
Come up with 3 to 5 headlines \u2013 the strongest you can. Instead
\nof picking one and submitting your first draft with it, show the
\nheadlines to the client early … and let him pick. That way, when
\nhe gets your first draft, he is already comfortable with the
\nheadline, which is the first thing he sees.<\/p>\n
4\u2014Submit the lead early.<\/p>\n
As with the headlines, write a 100 to 500-word lead or two,
\nsubmit them to the client for review and comment, and then make
\nany changes. Again, now when he gets the first draft, you are
\nensured of no surprises, at least on page one.<\/p>\n
5\u2014Use the John Steinbeck writing method.<\/p>\n
John Steinbeck said that when you are writing, you must treat it
\nas the most important thing in the world, even when you know it
\nis not. This helps you take the job seriously and do your best
\non everything you write.<\/p>\n
6\u2014Use the Bill Bonner writing method.<\/p>\n
Bill Bonner, founder of publishing giant Agora, told copywriter
\nJF that you must believe in what you are selling \u2013 at least
\nwhile you are writing the promotion. If you don’t believe and
\nthink the product is hooey, turn down the project. This is why I
\njust turned down a potentially lucrative assignment to promote a
\ncourse on how to make good business decisions based on
\nastrology.<\/p>\n
7\u2014Do not be a prima donna.<\/p>\n
When the client makes changes, don’t pout or grumble, even if
\nyou disagree with them. For instance, in a copy review last
\nweek, the client removed a phrase I thought was really strong \u2013
\na reference to the Dire Straits song “Money for nothing.” I
\nloved it. But I did not argue.<\/p>\n
Copywriter Cam Foote always said he considered his first draft a
\nrecommendation \u2013 and after that, he would acquiesce pleasantly.
\nDavid Ogilvy said, “Fight over your queen; let the pawns go.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The worst thing about freelance copywriting (or any other type of writing) is this: You write a brilliant piece that you are absolutely in love with. You submit it to your client or editor. And the client call or e-mails \u2013 and to your utter amazement says, “I hate this. It stinks.” How can you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":957,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}