Since I’ve struck out on my own as a self-employed copywriter, I’ve had the chance to meet with and work with all sorts of clients, writing business blogs, web content, press releases and more.
However, I’ve also come across a fair few misconceptions about what people think a copywriter does and how we work. This is quite damaging to copywriters everywhere, as the less people know about us, the more likely it is that the misconceptions will continue. So I’ve decided to clear up three of the main myths…
1. ‘Copywriters are cheap’ – I’ve responded to a few enquiries about work which have garnered no reply in recent times and have experienced some surprise at quotes. First of all – I’m not expensive, but if you think you can pay a professional copywriter £20 or £30 for a piece of content, then you’re going to think that I am.
This is something I come across a little too often, which is why it’s a myth that needs to be dispelled. Simply put: Copywriters are worth a professional fee.
I have editor friends who have the same problem and part of this is because there are various sites online (I won’t mention names but I’m sure you’ve heard of them), where inexperienced writers bid against each other at rock-bottom rates to write for companies and other organisations. Granted, some professional copywriters get work out of these sites too, but most buyers will choose the cheaper option and if you value yourself as the professional writer that you are, then you won’t go near these sites. Nine times out of ten, the content received is mediocre at best and I had a client myself who used this process first, paid pennies for a blogger and got rubbish writing in return. Such sites perpetuate the myth that writing is cheap, that it’s worth little and that writers aren’t to be valued.
Copywriting is what sells your brand and long after it’s been written, it’ll still be there, working away for you. So a skilled copywriter deserves not to be insulted by an expectation of ridiculously low rates.
2. ‘Short copy costs less’ – There’s a bit of a theme developing here (!), but this is the second big myth – that if a client requests 200 words of written content, then they get to ask for a low fee. Simply put, editing and distilling content down to the bare minimum is a skill that requires time and expertise, aside from the time spent liaising with the client over what the content should be and doing any research around it.
If it helps, think Mad Men: Your content is essentially an advertisement, no matter what it’s about, and the return you get from that will always pay you back more than what you’ll pay a copywriter to create it. Remember all those hours, days, weeks even, that the guys and gals in Mad Men spent agonising over ad campaigns to come up maybe one slogan or a few lines of copy at the end?
Remember also, the amount of people working on any one job at a time and the luxurious lifestyle they all led? The big glass offices? It’s the same today – ad agencies cost an arm and a leg and by hiring a copywriter, you’re expecting the same thing from one person, and usually also a heck of a lot more content. What’s more, the price tag won’t be anywhere near what you’d be expected to hand over to a big agency, so… let’s dispel this myth that short content is cheap. It isn’t.
3. ‘Copywriting is less important than design’ – A common misconception, but ask any consumer and none of them will say they bought from you because your site looked nice. It’s because they were hooked by your content – the blog you wrote, the news article you shared, the concise product descriptions on your website, the business newsletter you sent – they bought from you because you supplied them with relevant information. Information that was interesting, insightful and frequent – you built up a relationship with your customer and shared your story with them.
As a copywriter who comes across these myths more often than I’d like, I feel it’s useful to share insights into my profession from time to time, as copywriters can’t assume that everyone knows how we work. Like any industry, you know your own trade the best, and misconceptions will only arise when you don’t share what it’s really like.
What are the myths about your profession? There’s an idea for your next blog?! 🙂