3 Questions Every Copywriting Client Asks

  Hi, this is Jesse from StartCopywriting.com and in this post I’m going to be sharing 3 questions (almost) every copywriting client asks copywriters. I want you to be prepared. Even if right now you’re not actively hunting for copywriting clients. It’s better to be prepared because you don’t want to be the person who introduces yourself to potential clients as “a copywriter” but can’t answer these 3 important questions that copywriting clients typically ask. You look inexperienced when you fumble with your answers and they might not take you seriously. Over the last 10 years, working as a freelance copywriter, I’ve been asked these questions probably hundreds of times. Now I want to share this knowledge with you so you’ll be prepared.

Question #1: Do You Have Any Experience In Writing For My Industry?

How do you answer that? And how do you answer if you don’t have any experience? Well, first of all, always be honest. If you lie then they might eventually find out and that’s not going to be good for you. How to answer the question: “I actually haven’t worked for your industry before but I am someone who’s very interested in your industry. And I read a lot about your industry and I have knowledge in your industry. I look forward to working in your industry and let me tell you, I’m prepared to do the research necessary to find out all the things I need to know to write the best copy possible.” That’s really going to put them at ease and then you can move forward in the conversation. However, if you’re a beginner copywriter, it’s better to start working in industries that you have experience in already. Maybe in a past career or a job where you were an employee in that particular industry. You can leverage your contacts, experience and Insider knowledge in order to write copy for an industry you already know and understand. That’s one way that you can leapfrog over the competition by using past experience to start working with copywriting clients.

Question # 2: How Much Do You Charge or How Much Will This Cost Me?

This is the next logical question prospective clients often ask copywriters. The client simply wants to know what your copywriting rates are. What’s my go-to answer to the question “how much do you charge?” My answer is always, “it depends”. As it really does depend on several factors. If you’re meeting someone for the first time, then you really don’t know a lot about their needs and what the job even entails. So if you answer the “how much” question with a quote prematurely then you may be shooting yourself in the foot. Here’s why… Let’s take this scenario. Let’s say you’re at a party and someone asks you what you do for a living. Your answer would naturally be “I’m a copywriter” and they would say “Great! We’re looking for a copywriter at my work. How much do you charge?” But how can you seriously answer that question? It really depends, doesn’t it? Even if there were specifics saying they wanted website copy. But then you would have to consider on:

• How many pages?
• How many words?
• How much research will you need to do if you’re unfamiliar with the subject?

Never answer that question until you have all of the information necessary. You want to know specifically how many hours you’re probably going to be working on this project and also how much writing is required. So never answer that question with a quote until you have all of the information.

Question #3: How Long Will It Take You To Write My Copy?

Now, this is a tricky one because every job is different. Someone wanting just a short amount of copy written obviously will take a lot shorter time than someone wanting a very long sales page written. So it really depends again on how long it’s going to take you. Now, through practise and experience, you will start to gauge how long it does take you for certain types of projects. Whenever you’re quoting and whenever you’re answering this type of question “How long will it take you to write this copy?”, try to estimate in your head how many hours it would take you to accomplish the work. You might want to factor in the research time that’s going to take you to:

• read through their website
• research their competitors
• research the target market

Then you can factor in those hours and bill your client for those hours accordingly. You may also want to factor in the actual writing time itself. Some clients will come to you with a deadline and they would say: “We’re interested in hiring you and our deadline is this date.” Now before you even agree to a certain deadline (some deadlines are unrealistic!), you do need to estimate how many hours this particular job is going to take you. Once you know you can meet their deadline comfortably, then you can agree to the job. But if there’s a short deadline and there’s no way you can meet it around your schedule, tell them the deadline is too short and ask them what the reason for the deadline is. You might think that’s kind of inappropriate or rude to ask but it couldn’t be further from the truth. You need to be able to do enough research in order to write effective copy. If you rush a job and you skip over some of the important elements like research then it’s not going to be good for you or for them. So do ask them why their deadline is short and propose a longer deadline if necessary. Of course, if you really do want to work on this project, you may find yourself working late nights and weekends in order to get it done. Ask for more money. I’d love to know what you think about these 3 Questions every Copywriting Client Asks in the comments section below. Please take a moment to give me your feedback. I’d love to hear your thoughts!