Most copywriters suck.
No, but really.
My clients tell me horror stories of how they hired copywriter after copywriter after copywriter… and every time, without fail, the copywriter was just really bad at writing copy. Which led to many wasted hours… and many wasted dollars for my clients.
Which leads us to a very important question:
How on earth do you find & hire a copywriter who DOESN’T suck?
Good question – but too soon.
First, let’s get more specific.
And say WHY most copywriters suck.
(Then we can answer the question of how to hire non-sucky ones)
Behold:
4 Things That Underlie Most Copywriter-Suckiness
- Lots of copywriters base their copy off of best practices… instead of basing their copy on real research, and real life. They’ll read some Dan Kennedy book, and get all enamored by the cool tricks and tactics inside. And then they’ll forget to figure out who they’re writing to. And how that person talks. And what they want. And so what they end up writing sounds “salesy”… and awkward… and forced. And it doesn’t work.
- Lots of copywriters just aren’t that good at selling. Because they often come from a writing background… instead of a selling background. Which means they’re not deeply and experientially familiar with the psychology of selling. Which is a problem. Because copywriting IS just written salesmanship.
- Lots of copywriters can’t write in your company’s voice. They latch onto the voice they’re used to writing in, and mistake this personal voice for “the way I HAVE to write my copy in order for it to work.” All the while failing to understand that effective copywriting is 80% psychology… and psychology can be worked into any voice in the world.
- Lots of copywriters can’t get their copy to ‘flow’ well. Even if they can get the basic idea right… they use too many words. Or bog down the copy with awkward phrases that create friction in the reading experience. So the copy doesn’t work.
Okay.
So now that we know what comprises most copywriter-suckiness… how do you hire a good copywriter?
Or even better, how do you hire a great one?
Here are the answers ye seek, in the beautiful bullet form:
How to Hire a Copywriter Who Doesn’t Suck
- Stop thinking you can hire a great copywriter for $20/hr or less. You can’t. Barely good enough copywriters start at $25-30/hr. Good guys will charge $50+/hr. And great guys will charge $100+/hr. And yes, that’s a lot. But they’ll easily bring you a 1,000%+ return on your investment with them(if you put them on the right sorts of projects). Which is why they charge so much.
- Find a really expensive copywriter and ask them for recommendations. The really big guns—guys who charge $100-500/hr—shouldn’t be too hard to find. And they’ll be highly connected in the copywriting world. And they’re usually pretty nice guys who will be happy to give you some recommendations… or at least point you somewhere helpful. Hopefully. So be nice about it, but take advantage of that.
- When you do start vetting… be on the lookout for the 4 things that make up copywriter suckiness. Have the dials to your suckiness-detector dialed up to the max when you’re looking over their writing samples. And then when you’re reviewing their paid projects.
- If you’re looking to hire a copywriter in an ongoing capacity, have them “audition” by writing 2-3 emails for you. Write up a short scenario for each email. Example:
“We’re ready to launch a new _____ product that shows people how to _______. Without further clarification, write up an email announcing the product to our email list and sending readers to the product page.”
So there’s some pointers.
More pointers coming soon.
