Lisa has been hard at work all afternoon updating websites, including this one. When she showed me what she did on mine, I was amazed.

I’m not telling you which page it is. It’s a new page. It has links to another well-known site. If you click on them, you’ll be transported directly to a place where you can buy something.

Enough said. I’ve given you one too many hints already!

I was out of the office nearly all day. First thing this morning I attended a networking meeting in Puyallup; then I had a meeting with a networking partner to explain about “laser-targeting” a specific audience rather than “broadcasting” to a general audience.  (You read the same insights yesterday or the day before. Remember the fellow with the “receive important messages later” app?)

Next, I deposited a check for some writing I did for another power partner. (He’s going to have me join him at a table early next week during a well-attended business and social mixer.)

When I got back to my desk, I got a call from an elderly friend who wanted me to give her dog a bath, so I did that. (I do this every week for her because the dog has a skin condition and the vet has given her a prescription shampoo to try to take care of it.)

When I finally landed (permanently) at my desk, it was close to 2:30. (ACK!!! Horrors!) So I wrote copy for another client (about 750 words) and sent it off to him for review at about 4:30. (It’s a $200 job.)

Next I sent copy I wrote several days ago to another client (a $450 project) and am waiting to hear back from her. (She didn’t fund the project until today.) She’s in Japan.

I’m waiting to hear back from two others about whether they want me to be their copywriter. One will pay $1300 if he does; the other will pay about $500.

The $1300 client definitely wants me; he has looked over the quality of the other candidates’ portfolios and settled on me; he just has to convince the finance fellow in his firm to agree to it, since it was originally listed as a $500 project and he really only wanted to pay $300.

If you saw the parameters of the project just mentioned, you would laugh the way I did when I saw what they wanted to pay to get it done. Many clients have no idea what a qualified, professional writer should be paid. Luckily, he was willing to listen. He totally “got it” after I explained the process and the effort and time involved to do a great job for him.

What I’m discovering is that a lot of new and potential clients believe great copy just pours out of writers without time or effort. (If only!  Then I could charge less!)  Too many have been led to believe (by freelance writing ghettos) that great copy can be bought for next to nothing.

It just ain’t so. But it’s a hard thing to learn. Usually people new to hiring a writer figure it can’t hurt to try paying peanuts (entry-level secretary wages or less) to see what they get.

Then they get what they paid for and are appalled, so they go looking for someone to “fix” it. (Sometimes the copy is fixable; sometimes it’s irredeemable.) IF/when it’s fixable, they don’t want to pay much more to have it fixed because they already paid what they considered a “fair price” to have it written in the first place! So they ask for a price break, rationalizing “It’s already written. It’s just not up to snuff. I know it can be a lot better–and I know you can do it.” (Music to my ears. Alas, music doesn’t pay my mortgage. “Dammit, Jim, I’m  a writer, not a musician!”)

And I think, “Wow… I’m truly sorry you had a false start, but how can you expect to pay me less than what you paid the original writer for the mess they delivered? It was your decision to hire a fresh-faced wannabe without looking at their portfolio, writing history, test results, or client feedback. Nobody twisted your arm.”

You know better. You’ve been following me for a while now (some of you for quite a while if you followed me on Almost Famous). I’ve helped you discover what good copy is, what it should do for your bottom line, what it’s worth (ROI), and even ways to start writing it yourself.

And although you may not be a wiz yet, you’re a lot farther along, knowledge-wise, than most people who have never hired a writer to do their bidding before.

My aim is to make you a savvy buyer and a better writer (if you’re writing your own stuff). Whether you choose me or someone else to serve you, you’re getting the knowledge you need to choose more wisely.

And that’s a good thing.