How to hire a damned good copywriter

How do you hire a copywriter?

Did the question raise a shrug of your shoulders and the expression ‘Search me’?

Ouite possibly.

Because one of the things about copywriting is that it’s such a niche field that when a business needs a copywriter, they don’t really know how to hire one.

How do you get hold of these specialists and get them on board to work their magic for you?

Well, there are a few steps you need to take.

Follow me.

Establish whether you need to hire a copywriter

First thing’s first: you’ve got to establish whether you even need to hire a copywriter, before you go about doing it.

Is your offering on point? Is it an issue with your offering that’s stopping you from meeting your goals? Or does the copy really genuinely stink?

Is your technical SEO good? You might have good on-page SEO, but if your website’s not up to scratch technically, you won’t be getting as much traffic as you could be. No amount of copywriting in the world is going to make any difference.

So make sure it’s not another part of your business that’s letting you down

If, on the other hand, the following applies, then hell yeah, why not bring in a copywriter:

• you’re just starting a business;
• you have heaps of marketing materials to create and need an extra hand;
• you don’t have the time to produce marketing materials regularly;
• you’re struggling with your message;
• the thought of putting your own writing out there terrifies you.

Think about what kind of copywriter you need

Okay, so you’ve established all’s well in your business and you need to hire a copywriter for a hand with the sales and marketing, the next step is to figure out what type you need.

Copywriters are highly versatile when it comes to writing for different channels.

But it’s common to specialise.

You might want a copywriter who specialises in writing for websites. Or in leaflets and brochures. Or in writing optimised copy (SEO). Or for public relations. Or in business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-clients (B2C) communications.

Although the generalists are pretty fantabulous, a lot of copywriters also specialise in writing for specific industries. Could be technical. Could be medical. Could be something else. They’ll be able to go deep into a topic, which is good for your audience and also for Google. That last one very important, of course!

Depending on the project, you may be fine with a generalist. If, for instance, you were needing a press release or an outreach blog post or even some social media writing, you’d be perfectly fine in the hands of a generalist. Or for the company blog. All depends in how much depth you want to go.

Hang out where the copywriters are

To find a good copywriter, you want to go to where all the cool kids – in this case, the copywriters – hang out.

You can try the usual methods, such as:

• Searching or advertising on social media: Linkedin, facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok
• Google searches
• Asking business connections if they know of a good copywriter

But there are a few other ways:

• Seen a business with good advertising? You could contact them and ask who wrote the copy for them.
• You could contact a paid copywriting association or network
• You could message me directly and ask for my services (worth a shot, right?!).

Assess the copywriter’s experience and expertise

Copywriters that have lots of experience certainly have writing skills. But that means it’s going to be pretty expensive.

You need to ask yourself what it is you need. Do you just need a press release or a digital PR? If you’re looking for a conceptual storywriter, someone who’s going to create and tell an entire story for you, you’ll need to pay more.

What kind of copywriter do you want to work with?

Copywriters, they’re a diverse bunch.

People might throw accountants into the ‘square and formal’ box, but you can’t do that with copywriters.

Some are cheerful and upbeat. Others are quite serious.

Some work 9-5 hours and contactable during those hours. Others get the job done but are less orthodox in how they organise their time.

Getting a copywriter on a call and speaking to them not only about their services, but also how they operate will give you some idea of whether they’re the kind of person you want to work with.

Gather feedback

If a copywriter has been operating a longtime, they’ll have written for a lot of individuals, businesses and organisations.

Good or bad, all of these people will have something to say about them.

So why not get in touch with them and see what they thought?

Did they have a good experience working with the copywriter?

Or was their creative a disorganised pain in the proverbial?

Copywriting, in my opinion, is as much about providing a service around the words. Clients want brilliant words, but they want them for the deadline you agree, not a week later.

Contact the copywriter and ask questions

Writing samples aside, one of the best ways to ascertain whether the copywriter you thinking of hiring is to get them on the call and fire some questions at them.

But don’t be the one doing all the talking, however. Let them speak. See if they ask you questions as well. Unless you’ve given them a solid brief from the off, they’re going to want to ask you some questions… want to chat to some people in your business… see some existing marketing materials etc.

If they don’t ask questions or for information, they’re not the one. Good copywriters want to know as much as possible. It helps them work out the benefits of your business and how to position and present your business in the most appealing way possible.

Particularly, they should want to know:

• why you want to hire them;
• who your target audience are;
• what the main USP and benefits of your product or service are;
• things clients have said about your product;
• is there anything people don’t like about your business or its products or services;
• things they say when they come to your business;
• whether your company has a mission.

If they’re asking questions like this, then you’re on to something!

What to expect when you work with a copywriter

Different copywriters work in different ways.

Some will ask you for a (full) payment upfront. Others will request a deposit and then the rest on completion of the job. Others won’t charge you a thing until the work is completed.

Your copywriter will want a brief. Or at the very least, clear instruction about what it is you need and want from them.

They may wish to chat a few people in your business, especially your salespeople.

Once they have the information they need about your industry and your business, they’ll move onto keyword research and other research.

Then they’ll draft the copy or content for you and send it over for you to review. Some, like me, may place everything in a Trello board for you to look at. I do this on certain projects.

Rates

Depending on how they’re charging you for the work, you’ll either pay:

• an hourly rate or a daily one for the process from start to finish, which will include the drafting, writing and editing of the work until you’re happy with it;
• a fixed amount for the piece or project, which is likely to include one or two rounds of edits. After that you’re likely to pay for any further edits you request.

Communication

Although copywriters generally liked to be left to get on with the work, they will require some reasonably responsive communication. Website copywriting projects require a lot more communication between the copywriter and the client. Blogs and other types of content not so much.

So if you’ve set a tight deadline that leaves you too stretched to answer questions, consider having a backup contact person who can answer the copywriter’s questions if you’re too busy, rather than leaving them hanging around days for an answer. This can keep the copywriter and the project moving forward.

If you’re needing a website writing but are going to be too pressed to answer questions, do yourself and set the deadline further into the future so you and your copywriter have some breathing room to do a good job.

Time to get in touch!

If you don’t how to hire to a copywriter, your starting point is deciding whether you even need one in the first place and then what your requirements are.

Remember that experienced copywriters will be excellent at their trade, but will also be expensive.

Even if they’re the business and you have the money, don’t forget to consider whether they’re the kind of person you’d like to work with, which you can do by having a chat with them and finding out more about them and how they work.

Once you’ve done all that, it’s time to hire the copywriter.

Ideally, that copywriter is me!

So go on, get in touch, using my Contact page, and let’s see if we can work together.

Thank you for reading.