Copywriting, thou art an elusively incalculable service

On numerous occasions I am asked about copywriting and the logic behind its pricing structure/rates. Most businesses confide that after scouring the likes of Google for ballpark pricing figures they come back somewhat disappointed, leaving them exposed and apprehensive when contacting and hiring copywriters. So why is this? Why is it so hard to put a price on such a service? Let us give you some food for thought, here’s a list of our justifications, opinions and tips.

Haste makes waste:

Simply put, it’s hard to put a price on quality copy/literature and in most cases only the writers themselves know the time and effort spent discerning, contemplating, researching, analysing, writing and proofing your content, be it site copy, a press release, a guide or even a leaflet.

As expected these stages are not really measurable and are reflected entirely by the copywriter in question.

For example some will cut corners, others will skip stages and a few may even blatantly rip the work of others and present it as their own! Naturally, those who spend less time and resources on your copy will in most cases charge less and are ironically the ones to avoid…as tempting as the pricing may seem.

For love or money:

Copywriters can be cheap for other reasons too. So, be sure to read all the small print before committing. A good example of this is variations in exchange rates. An article that may seem like a pittance to you might equate to a respectable days wage for someone in a different country.

This in theory sounds great however, it does come with its own pitfalls. The most prominent being the quality and syntax used within the English language.

For the best impact, your language quality, syntax and writing styles should match those of your target audience. Unfortunately, it doesn’t (most of the time) when hiring copywriters from overseas. In fact when reading articles this is a dead giveaway as sentence structure, accents, dialects and colloquialisms are blatantly misrepresented and used out of context.

Although having content written abroad is common practise in the eyes of a potential customer the above really does highlight the competence and professionalism of a company and separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. The idea is not to fill up a page with words about topic X, instead it is and should be treated as a delicate mix of information, persuasion, psychology and emotion all wrapped up in a provoking composition. Only then does this blossom into a powerful and effective message.

That’s not to say overseas content writers should be avoided. You should just research the company/individual making sure examples of previous work are of the calibre you and your target audience require.

Service rates and structures:

You should also consider the length and frequency of the proposed copy. Is it a one off article, a weekly feature in a magazine or copy for a fifty page website? All of these would impact the type of copywriter required along with the payment methods and potential negotiations that could take place.

These will inevitably help you decide on whether you should go down the hourly, per job or per word route when negotiating fees and also when looking for copy houses, freelance writers and SEO copywriters.

Big fish or small fry?

Whilst building on your choice of service type, it’s important to choose carefully when looking at going with a copy house or a freelance copywriter in Manchester. Both have their good and bad points. For example, if you have a large project with a lot of copy which needs to be turned around in a short space of time a copy house has the people in place to make that happen.

However, if on the other hand you would like a more personalised service, then hiring a freelancer is normally the better option. Freelancers are also easier to negotiate with as they can shift their prices for a job without having to speak to any persons above them.

Any tips?

You really are getting what you pay for!

I hope by this point you now appreciate that pricing up a copy project really isn’t as simple as it sounds as there are too many varying factors at the discretion and control of the company and/or freelance writers.

If you want to just throw something up (which in my opinion is useless both for your customers and search engines) then go for the cheapest available, however, if you are looking for true copy which has a purpose and gets results, then don’t cut corners or skimp on quality. Sure, this means you pay more but it’s the only way to achieve good results.

Just remember copywriting should be considered as an investment for your company and brand, not a costly and inconveniencing chore as if it is done well, the returns will by far outweigh the investment costs. What you should therefore, not be doing is treating this as a tick box exercise.

Any thoughts? Let us know whether you agree or disagree? Leave your comments below.