Have you heard the following short story about the evolution of a relationship (told in direct quotes from a suitor’s point of view)
I’m crazy about you!
I love you!
You’re perfect!
Marry me!
(Not long after the wedding ceremony…)
Now … CHANGE!
You’re a professional copywriter. If a client ever begins treating you the way the above suitor did, it’s time to reconsider if you’ve entered a partnership or a pretty pathetic prison.
In life, in love, and in the copywriting business, gentle suggestions to move right or left a smidgeon are fine, but when a client starts asking you to alter copy so substantially that you no longer feel you’re writing words and phrases that are in his or her best interest, it’s time to re-evaluate whether to continue the association.
I have a client right now who came to me because he loved my stuff. Absolutely loved it. He recommended me to others, who also loved my stuff–and still do; I have additional projects coming in from them. I’ve won them over!
But recently I’m being asked to change my stuff for this client so it sounds pretty much like every other person’s stuff in the same niche. There is no unique voice. I guess the powers that be in the organization believe that cookie cutter copy is good as long as the copy they’re emulating has been successful.
I disagree. One of the reasons my copy converts so well is that it’s different. I don’t copy. If I use templates, I make them uniquely my own where the words go. I never have to use copyscape to see if my stuff is “different enough” to avoid duplicate content issues. I write every piece from scratch.
Many prospective buyers (unhappily, not all, but many of them–and the number is growing as more people get burned by charlatans) check out professionals these days; they don’t just assume someone is the full meal deal until they’ve researched him or her thoroughly. It’s easy enough to do, given the Internet and mobile devices.
Potential customers flit from website to website looking for somebody who “gets them where they live” and recognizes what their needs are. When everybody in a niche sounds the same, visitors get confused and don’t know who to choose; all of the copy sounds alike and the benefits sound the same–so why not go with the cheapest provider instead of the Cadillac//Maserati pro? Isn’t that just being wise and (in an economy that pinches painfully) frugal?
So they go with a lesser light and get what they pay for–the guy or gal willing to give bargain basement prices (and results). Anyone can hang a shingle and start teaching stuff. Lots of wannabe gurus do!
The same kind of thing happens with a successful new TV series. You get a smash series about cowboys or doctors or lawyers or criminal investigations or vampires or politicians, and the following year all-too-similar series debut, hoping to get hot off the same formula. Most fail.
Formulas don’t work. Connecting with your audience is what works.
The moment you forget this (as a copywriter or in most other businesses, for that matter) and start pleasing clients at the expense of what you know will work best, I suggest you find another line of work or re-evaluate whether you want to let the client go on his or her own way to shoot himself or herself in the foot: clients like this don’t need you to serve as a scapegoat when their copy doesn’t convert!
Your job carries a fiduciary responsibility: You’re supposed to take great care of your clients, period. You’re the one with the writing chops. You’re the one who has invested years learning what works and what doesn’t.
Don’t let a client talk you out of what you do best. You’re the adult in the room when it comes to copy that converts browsers into buyers.
