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Are all copywriting clients made of sugar and all things nice?

No. In fact, you have a higher chance of working for a toxic client than your dream client.

This post was written by TCCS member, Rashida Tayabali

Do you have a client whose phone calls and emails send shivers down your spine? A client who demands you answer their emails at once, and follows up with a phone call if there’s a few minutes delay. And who always seems to be unhappy with your work but can’t tell you why?

If you do, should you stick it out hoping they will turn into a prince?

No.

You should fire them.

In this post, I’ll be sharing how I fired a client for the first time, and how you can do it too—confidently and coherently.

Signs of a problem client

In my copywriting business, I’ve had a dream run for five years, with appreciative clients and great projects. But last year I finally met my first P.I.T.A (Pain In The Ass) client.

On paper, he sounded ideal. He wanted to lift his profile in his industry and needed someone to create content for his new website. After an introductory call, I sent in my proposal and briefing form.

The warning signs were clear almost immediately. The client:

• Sent me two-word answers for some questions, and started calling me frequently to tell me about his plans
• Told me about the bad runs he’d had with service providers in the past who took him for a ride because they didn’t deliver. (At this point, I was upfront with him about my experience and assured him I could deliver what he wanted)
• Haggled me on price. I stood firm and told him my rates were not negotiable
• Liked lengthy chats on the phone, and needed constant reassurance and handholding
• Said he’d need to borrow money from family to pay me (clang, clang clang!)

Despite the alarm bells going off in my head, I was keen to do the work because it was an interesting project. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and submitted the first draft on time.

Lack of proper feedback

I waited for feedback, but instead, I got… crickets.

After following up numerous times, I finally got an email saying he’d read the copy but it wasn’t what he wanted.

I scheduled a call to go through the changes. The client had provided some feedback (and a lot of waffle) via email that I addressed in the second draft. With the first version falling flat, I agreed to rewrite the copy from scratch (against my better judgment).

Still, I wanted to salvage the relationship and deliver on my promise of providing good service and content.

I sent in the second version.

I waited for client feedback, but nothing concrete came in. By this time I was losing money and time on this job.

One thing was clear: he didn’t like the new version either, but couldn’t say why.

Breaking up with the client

The client raised the point that I didn’t do a good enough job because I was bilingual. (He was bilingual too.) Apparently, people who have mastered more than one language are poor writers.

On another unscheduled call, he heard my baby cry in the background and suggested I was distracted and unable to devote enough time to his work.

My self-confidence was starting to take a hit because of the client’s comments. And really, who needs this kind of negativity in their working life?

So I made the decision to end the business relationship with the client—not by email but over the phone.

I explained clearly that despite writing website copy in two different ways it hadn’t met his requirements, and so it was better for me to refund the deposit.

I even suggested it was better for him to write his own content after he admitted, “There was nothing really wrong with the copy. I just don’t like it”.

How to know when to let a client go

If the process feels hard, and the client is always unhappy with your work and starting to show the P.I.T.A warning signs or becoming personal, it’s time to let them go. Fire them on the phone or email, but don’t burn your bridges. Offer to find them another copywriter who might be a better fit (but warn the writer in advance). Stay firm on the firing and don’t take them back.

Honestly, I shouldn’t have accepted the client when he didn’t fill out a proper brief.

I shouldn’t have gone ahead and written the second version or ignored the warning signs.

You live and learn. Now I pay attention to warning signs and don’t take on a client if alarm bells start going off.

Over to you

Are you working for a similar client who’s causing you grief?

When did you last fire a client?

If your answer is “Never”, it might be time to start.

If you liked this article, please share on your favourite social media platform.

About Rashida

Rashida Tayabali is a copywriter and features writer. She loves creating clever copy for clients that inspires their audience and leads to the right action through storytelling.

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Which is better for your business?

It’s not too much of a stretch to see that working with copywriting clients is a bit like dating. In this post I’m going to take you through the different kinds of copywriting relationships you can form, and the positives and negatives of each one.

Let’s get started.

The pre client phase

When you’re fresh to the dating scene it can be hard to know where to start.

First you give sites like Upwork a go, the freelancer equivalent of Tinder.
You suffer the humiliation of getting paid 7 cents for 500 words and fear the swipe left of rejection.

Then you do work for friends, and friends of friends, not unlike being set up with a blind date.
Sometimes it’s awesome, often it’s awkward. You’re not a good fit and you both know it.

And of course there are the networking events, like shuffling round a nightclub, clutching a rum and coke, hoping to be noticed.

It’s all kinds of depressing.

You have to kiss a lot of copywriting frogs to win your first proper client and when you do, it doesn’t get any easier – sorry folks.

The first date

When you win your first client, it’s just an awesome feeling. You’re flirtatious on the phone and promise them the world. Anything is possible.

You show them the best bits of your portfolio like pulling your best outfits from the wardrobe.

And of course you make an extra effort to make sure everything is perfect.

Your copy legs are waxed, and your copy underwear is fresher than fresh.

Everything you provide to them is thoughtful, proof read to the max and polished perfectly.

But what next?

The copywriting one-night stand

For many of us the copy dating stops there. We are one-night stand copywriters.
The job comes in, we do the work and then we wave ‘bye bye’.

Sure it was fun, but we’re not about to ask the client to sleep over and breakfast is definitely not on the cards.

There are lots of pros to copywriting one-night stands:

• Cash flow: Smaller jobs can be turned around quickly keeping your bank balance healthy.
• Testimonials and portfolio: the more jobs you do, the faster you’ll fill up your sample case.
• Efforts: Since it’s a one off you can work hard, but not stress too much, as you’re not hoping to lure the client back.
• Appearance: With shorter copy relationships there’s not time for the client to see your flaws.
• Variety: With fresh topics to write about each week, you’re unlikely to get bored or get stuck in a particular industry writing rut.

So, as you can see, one-night stand copy jobs can be a great way to keep your workflow chugging along and your creativity blooming.

Some negatives include:

• Hustle: Without regular certain work, you’re continually having to market yourself and hustle for new jobs.
• Admin: The more jobs you go for, the more proposals you have to write, the more briefs you have to take – which all takes your focus away from writing.

But of course you have to ask yourself: why are some copywriters only good for a one off job while others can persuade clients to bend the knee and pop the question?

The copywriting relationship

If that first job was a hit, you may find the client comes back for more and is keen to have a long-term writing relationship.

This can be a huge boost to the ego. It’s hugely flattering to have a client love your work so much they return for more.

The pros of a long-term relationship are:

• Ease: Working with the client becomes easier, you know their quirks and they know your processes.
• Confidence: The more you write for a particular client or industry, the more familiar you become with the tone and the subject matter.
• Time: As you know the client you’ll spend less time researching, briefing and discussing and more time writing.
• Admin: With long term clients there’s not really the need to spec out every job with a proposal, instead you can shoot them a simple invoice.
• Cash flow: Often clients are keen to set up retainer agreements which means you have regular money coming in at the start of each month.

Some negatives include:

• Tedium: Sometimes it can be hard to write about the same subject year in and year out.

For example, I spent 3 years writing email copy for a tech company, the information was essentially the same each week, but the client was keen for it to sound fresh. In the end I was simply shuffling words around with a heavy heart.

• Warts and all: The longer you work with someone the more likely they are to see your flaws. You’ll probably have to cancel meetings and push back jobs due to life getting in the way. You’ll have off days, you’ll produce bad copy, and the client will get on your nerves.

Just like a real relationship, copywriting relationships take work to make them successful.

If you prefer the sound of copy relationships I have two notes of caution:

1. Make sure you choose the client: Just because a client wants to metaphorically date you, doesn’t mean you have to say yes. The attraction must be mutual.
2. Know when to let go: All good things come to an end and you need to be honest with yourself about your copywriting relationship. If things are feeling stale it’s better to let the client go, before they turn rotten.

The best of both worlds 

When it comes to copywriting relationships I’m a cheating, serial monogamist.

That sounds bad, right?
But let me explain.

A photo posted by Kate Toon (@katetoon) on Aug 1, 2016 at 6:08pm PDT

I find what works best for me is:

1. Multiple partners: Work with two or three clients at once, so that while I’m waiting for feedback on one job, I can be working on another.
2. Copy cheats: Mix one-night stand style jobs with longer relationships, so while I’m waiting for that second payment on the 60 day government job, I can feed myself with the little mini jobs that pop up along the way.
3. Long distance relationships: I have a number of clients who’ve been working with me for 4-5 years, but they don’t have work every week. Rather it’s like a long distance thing where we don’t see each other in months but then just click back in to where we were.

Personally although I love the regular dosh, retainers don’t work for me. I don’t like the pressure to show up and be awesome every month.

So there you go, a dating metaphor spread (thinly) over an entire blog post.

Over to you

What type of copywriting relationships do you prefer? Please tell me in the comments below:

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Watch the video

Today’s question is from Nicole. And Nicole wants to know

“How to balance current work with new clients?”

So in today’s video I want to talk about how to balance the need to keep on top of all your current work with the other need of taking time out to write proposals for new business.

It can be a real challenge for copywriters.  I think there is a little bit of a misconception that when you become a copywriter you’re going to spend all your time writing.  The truth is that you’re actually going to spend quite a lot of time working on your business rather than in your business.

What I try to do to stay on top of new client requests is set aside time each day to focus on new business.

So putting aside an hour a day or a couple of hours a week where you focus on getting back to clients and writing proposals for new jobs.

I tend to spend a little time each day on new business because I like to get back to clients as quickly as possible.

But I know that other copywriters prefer to batch all their new business tasks together and spend an entire morning working on proposals.

Another really important thing is to have your processes ironed out.  So have a really good proposal template.  You can buy one at the Clever Copywriting School website and also have a streamlined flow of emails so that really putting together a proposal takes a matter of minutes rather than a matter of hours.

Of course, it’s tempting to focus on the work that you have to get stuck in to that and get paid for it as quickly as you can.  But it’s important to keep the flow of work coming in.  So setting aside a little time each day or each week is the best way to stay on top of new client projects.

Some copywriters like to use a virtual assistant to work on their proposals for them but I prefer to write them myself and give them that personal touch.

I find by spending a little time each morning on new business I can enjoy the rest of the day writing copy for my existing clients, confident in the knowledge that the proposals are out there doing the good work for me.

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We copywriters are generally a friendly bunch. Well us Australian Copywriters are anyway, those English ones are a grumpy lot.*

But there are ways to make our blood boil.
There are buttons you can press.
And there are plenty of utterances that make us utterly crazy.

So, if you want to keep your working relationship sweet, here are 17 sentences you should never say to your copywriter.

Number 1: “We have sent the first draft to the facility directors and the board members for a look.”

Why: Because feedback by committee sucks.

Number 2: “I thought I’d let you know I’ve resigned and my replacement doesn’t start for two weeks.”

Why: Because we all know that replacement is going to change everything, just because they can.

Number 3: “Ah sorry, I forgot to tell you. We’ve changed direction since we filled out your brief.”

Why: Because we know a change in brief most often means a change in scope but the client won’t see it that way. Sigh.

Number 4: “I’ve sent it to my wife/husband to check over, she/he’s in marketing.”

Why: Because the wife/husband will say something, just to say something. And you can’t criticise her/his opinions, because, well, they’re married.

Number 5: “I have a bank of articles that I purchased/copied and they just need tweaking so they’re original.”

Why: Because a) stealing other people’s work is evil and b) we’re not word shufflers we’re writers. Right?

Number 6: “Can you make it ‘pop’ a little more?

Why: Pop? What does pop even mean? I’d like to give every client who says this a pop in the eyeball.

TOP TIP: Send back with random use of bolding, ALL CAPS and a few !!!!s always seems to do the trick.

Number 7: “I don’t like it. I can’t explain why, but I just don’t like it.”

Why: Well if you can’t articulate what and why you don’t like it, how are we supposed to get it out of you?  By osmosis? Are we mind readers? No we are not.

Number 8: “Can’t you just take <competitor’s> site and copy their content into mine and move things around a bit?”

Why: Because that’s what we do anyway. Nah just jokes. Because that’s STEALING!

Number 9: “How about I just pay you commission on any sales I get from this newsletter/DM/landing page/article/blog?”

Why: How about I stick my keyboard up your bum hole?

Number 10: “(After you provide a quote). I think that’s a bit much. Don’t you agree?”

Why: Erm, if I though it was a bit much I wouldn’t have sent it. How about you get yourself over to Fiverr?

Number 11: “It’s only 200 words. What, half an hour’s work? And cost me maybe $50?”

Why: Think about it. Nike’s “Just do it.” slogan is just three words. How much do you reckon they paid for that? Shorter copy is often harder to write than long copy.

Number 12: 

Client: “I’m having trouble making these products sound different.”

You: “OK, tell me how they differ.”

Client. “They don’t. I just want people to think they are.”

Why: I. Can’t. Even.

Number 13: “I’m sorry there are a lot of changes. I thought it would be easier if I marked them up by hand. Here’s the PDF. Sorry my handwriting is so appalling.”

Why: Bangs head on desk.

Number 14: “I know it’s the final draft, but I’ve just flicked it to Legal.”

Why: Because Legal always hate EVERYTHING.

Number 15: “At this point we can’t offer any money, but it’s great exposure.”

Why: Okay great, I’ll just pay my mortgage with these amazing exposure dollars.

Number 16: “It needs some work, I haven’t got time to fill you in now, but I’ll call you.”

Why: Because now we’re left hanging and thinking the worst.

Number 17: “I’ll know it, when I see it.”

Why: Just as PITA** clients know ‘great copy’ when they see it. So, we copywriters know PITA clients when we see them.

This is the final version #copywriter #copywriting #copywriters

A photo posted by Kate Toon (@katetoon) on Nov 25, 2015 at 8:11pm PST

Other contenders:

• “I don’t do the track changes thing.”
• “I’ve just texted you some amends.”
• “I read this article/book on copywriting once and it say that…”
• “Can you make it chatty but not conversational.”

Over to you

What’s your most hated client saying? Please add to the comments below.

Contributions to this post may or may not have been provided by Anne Maybus, Bek Lambert, Anna Butler, Sarah Spence, Charlotte Calder, Belinda Weaver, Nicole Leedham, Matthew Fenwick, Sally Bagshaw, Brook McCarthy, Kylie Saunder and Lisa Cropman.

P.S. Special thanks to Nicole Leedham for the inspiration for this post.

• I’m English so am allowed to say this :-)
  ** PITA = PAIN IN THE ARSE.

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A few months ago, we launched an anonymous Freelance Copywriter Survey to gauge how rates, working hours and challenges varied around the world.

We’re now (finally) ready to publish the results.

We had 97 submissions from all over the world.

The majority of respondents were from Australia, but we also had submissions from Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, England, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland USA and the UK.

The majority of respondents (68%) were female.

Most respondents (77.3%) been a copywriter for less than 6 years.

The split between full time and part time was fairly even.

Most copywriters (70.1%) charged a mix of hourly and fixed-price rates.

Most copywriters (79.3%) charge between $40 and $120 per hour.

Over half of copywriters (57.8%) worked on average between 11 and 40 hours each week.

The majority of copywriters (67.7%) felt that only 31% to 70% of their time was billable.

38.1% of copywriters earned under $10k (after tax) in their first year.

International figures converted into AU dollars.

Only 7.5% of copywriters are earning over $150k a year (after tax) in their 5^th year.

International figures converted into AU dollars.

The majority of copywriters (62.9%) work mainly for small or medium-sized businesses.

Copywriters regularly work on jobs involving writing website copy (83.5%).

Copywriters mostly found clients via word of mouth from previous clients or friends (55.7%).

Over half of copywriters (57.7%) have no formal training.

Of those who had taken training, 38.1% chose ecourses and/or webinars.

37.1% of copywriters chose freelancing for the freedom it gave them.

Other answers here included:

• All of the above
• I wanted to leave IT
• I love writing
• I lost my job
• The job market sucks
• To have a career I enjoy
• To stop losing my personality in the corporate world
• Wife told me to
• To make money while building my online business
• Got preggers

“If I weren’t’ a copywriter I’d be  …”

• A Fiction writer
• A CEO
• A Chef
• A Beekeeper
• A Belly dancing astronaut
• A Broke travel writer
• A Designer
• An Artist
• A Horticulturist
• A Journalist
• A Lawyer
• A Musician
• A Painter
• A Drum kit master
• A Psychologist
• A Brand Manager
• A Sommelier
• A Surfboard shaper
• A Successful author
• A Zoo keeper
• The Australian Jackie Chan
• An ESL teacher
• An IT support engineer
• An Antiques dealer
• Broke
• A Barista
• Retired
• The Stage Manager at the Albert Hall
• A Web developer
• Working in sales
• A Comedian
• An Underwater photojournalist
• A Yoga teacher
• A Private investigator
• A Psychologist
• Very poor

FREELANCE COPYWRITER SURVEY 2015 (PDF 44 pages, 44KB).

Thanks to all those who took part in this year’s survey. We hope you found the results useful. I would love it if you would share this post.

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This post was written by TCCS member, Belinda Weaver

Sending your copywriting to a client is a nerve-racking experience. When you’re a newbie it can be down-right terrifying.

I vividly remember handing over the first version of copy to my first paying copywriting gig.

I was still working at my marketing day job, trying to look busy as I prepared my copydeck for send-off.  I had slaved over the copy, trying to implement all the good copywriting rules I knew. I was proud of it but I was also paralysed with uncertainty.

Was my homepage headline going to attract attention? Were the benefits compelling? Did it need more editing?

As I read the copy again, I didn’t know what else could be done. I had run out of reasons not to send it.

My finger hovered over the send button and then it was done.

The drum of blood flow echoed in my ears and I literally heard my body struggling cope with my anxiety. I waited for a response from the client as if my life depended on it. And in some ways, it did.

I mean, I thought the copy was good but what did I know, really?

These are signs I use, backed up with wisdom from some well-known copywriters I call colleagues, collaborators and friends.

#1: You need your concept approved

Some products and businesses come to you devoid of unique personality. In these scenarios, part of your role as a copywriter is to suggest a creative concept or angle. Seize these opportunities with all your creative cells!

That said, it’s natural to experience some doubt as your awesome idea or angle is taking shape. Like when I had this magical concept for a shoe company website. My cool idea? Create diary entries of each shoe style showing their owner’s exciting lifestyle. It was either going to be awesome – or suck, badly – and I wanted to know if I was wasting my time on it.

For the shoe company, I wrote enough copy for the client to see where it was heading. And they loved it. Anna Butler of Copybreak Copywriting Services eliminates uncertainty by sending a starter page to establish the overall tone and style, which is another great approach.

Kate Toon, founder of the Clever Copywriting School, says,

“I often just pick up the phone and call the client if I need a quick bit of feedback or confirmation on an angle, so that the copy can be more complete when I send it through.”

So don’t be afraid of getting your client involved in the creative process, before you slave over pages and pages of copywriting.

#2: You’re over-working the copy

You usually get this sign when you’re not completely happy with your copywriting but you don’t know exactly what to change (if anything).

I call it ‘moving the deck chairs’ because you aren’t improving the angle or creative concept any more but you’re not ready to call it done. So you tweak words here and there, spending a lot of time editing elements that don’t really matter. Not on the first version.

Remember, the first version the client sees is really bout making sure you’ve nailed the angle and positioning, general tone of voice and personality of the brand.

When I’m no longer deleting or moving entire paragraphs or pages and just changing a word here or there, I know it’s time to stop and get the client’s thoughts.

Anna (Butler) makes an excellent point, saying,
“It’s not unusual for clients to read the first draft and come back with fresh ideas or information because they’re seeing their business in a new light, so I don’t see a lot to be gained from agonising over the first draft only to have to rework it in the review process.“

Signal #3: You’re 99% happy

Sometimes the copy just flows. Whether you sent your client a starter page or you jumped straight into writing, sometimes your copywriting mojo is doing its thing and you’re mentally lining up the champagne glasses.

This feeling of awesomeness is a magic moment in copywriting.

Bek Lambert of Unashamedly Creative says she’s usually happy to hand copy over once she has done a full write, an on-the-fly re-write, and then sat on her thinking-lounge with a printed version and done her best impression of a super-fussy critic.

For me it happens when:

• I know I’ve checked off the main points in the copywriting brief.
• I’m confident the tone and style are a good fit.
• I’ve edited the copy and cut 30-50% (of fluff).
• I’ve written a few wordy gems that make me feel like the copy is better than the average bear.

Although I know there will be some fine-tuning to do, the copywriting is ‘match fit’ and I feel good about hitting Send.

Copywriting is a collaboration.

These signals aren’t like a full house in poker. You don’t need all of them before you act. In fact, you need just one.

Let’s recap. Rather than sit on your copy, send it to your client when:

1. You’ve got a bold and exciting idea and you’d like a ‘hell, yeah!’ before you devote weeks to writing copy.
2. You’re selling it to yourself. You’re comfortable you’ve chosen the most compelling angle for the audience and that your messages are succinctly and clearly written.
3. You’ve hit a wall and you just can’t read your copy any more.

Remember, don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.

Over to you

Do you have different signals altogether? Share them and let’s compare notes:

About Belinda

Belinda Weaver shares her successful techniques for creating engaging brands through awesome copywriting. Find out when her next Copywriting Master Class is open for enrolments.

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Thanks to Kate Toon, Anna Butler, Bek Lambert, Michelle Guillemard, Micky Stuivenberg and Charlotte Calder for sharing their thoughts on this topic.

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