When business owners and entrepreneurs are looking for writing help, among the most common search term phrases they use are
“affordable copywriters”
“affordable writers”
“affordable ghostwriters”
“affordable marketing services”
“cheap copywriters”
“cheap…”
You get the idea. And as is the case with most professional services, you’ll get the quality you’re willing to pay for…and no more.
Affordable Entry Level Copywriters Start at $25/hour
The average U.S. born-and-raised English-speaking entry level trained copy (sales) writer makes between $25 and $35 an hour, so if they work full-time in an agency, they make roughly $52,000 to $62,000 plus whatever benefits their employers offer (health, dental, eye care, stocks, sharing of federal and state taxes, etc.).
An entry level freelance copywriter will need to make more, because they won’t have billable 40-hour weeks although they’ll be working at least 40 hours per week, most of the time looking for work (which pays nothing and often costs something if they’re looking online, attending network meetings, pitching their services locally, etc.). And freelancers are responsible for 100% for their tax burden, health care, overhead and all the rest.
As a result, most entry level freelance copy writers are financially-strapped and struggling to keep their heads above water, so their minds aren’t totally in the game. They’re double-minded, feeling the need to take jobs just because they need the money instead of because they’re passionate about helping their clients succeed.
Beginning copywriters simply aren’t experienced enough, or can’t relax enough, to do the quality of work that reliably turns browsers into buyers; they’re focused more on “good enough” and “passing muster” as fast as they can so they can get a decent review and get paid and meet their own financial obligations. (I know this because that’s the way I started out…scrambling!!! I am so grateful those days are over, and I grieve for everyone still in that trench. It’s an unmitigated nightmare with just a tiny ray of light at the end of the tunnel beckoning you on.)
Affordable Intermediate-Level Copywriters Start at $75/Hour
Intermediate freelance copywriters who charge between $75 and $100/hour are farther along in their careers (but again, they rarely have 40 billable hours per week). Out of necessity, they’ve become far less timid about pricing the evergreen value of their copy so they get adequately compensated for the amount of heart and soul they put into it and its ultimate (cumulative) value to the client. But they aren’t ROI (return on investment)-level experts yet.
TOP-GUN COPYWRITERS ARE AFFORDABLE BECAUSE OF R.O.I.
The top guns–copywriters who charge $250/hour or one to three dollars per word and up (plus, frequently, a significant percentage of the income derived from the copy they write for clients)–find out the approximate cumulative value of their copy to each client who comes through their door (or via the web) and charge based on that.
And only clients who understand the estimated ROI of great evergreen copy will ever cheerfully reach out to hire the top guns, no questions asked. They know that hiring a pro to do what they do best frees them up to do what they do best.
Corporations, high-profile entrepreneurs and other successful business owners rely solely on top gun writers for their communication needs as a matter of course.
People who hire copy and content writers and professional editors are looking to reduce their risk of failure. They know they don’t have the writing chops to stop people in their tracks to take a look at what they’re offering.
STARTLING FACT:
The average North American consumer is inundated with 3000+ advertisements every single day.
Don’t believe me? Look around you. Facebook. Radio. TV. Newspapers. Magazines. Your mailbox. Your inbox. The hallways and bathrooms in your favorite restaurants. Crammed with ads!
You’ve simply trained yourself to IGNORE most of what’s in your face all the time so you can function without being distracted.
That’s the level of NOISE you’ll need to find your way through to get someone else to pay attention to what YOU offer them!
Adept copywriters know how to target your ideal client and pull them into your intimate sphere of influence. The ones who do this best have testimonials, links to live websites, and portfolios crammed with examples of their prowess. (You have access to some of mine, right here!)
All of it sits there, mute, telling you: “I am the provider fully capable of reducing your risk. I can help you get noticed: I can get people in your door. The rest will be up to you. Have you found anyone else who can do this better?”
When the answer to the question is, “No…” I feel certain you’ll find a way to pay what true professionals ask as the price of doing business with them. The price has to make sense on both ends, to work on either end. Because no professional is going to risk going broke or living hat in hand to serve clients who stand to make small fortunes (in perpetuity) from what we write for you.
Being in business as a freelance writer requires making enough profit to stay in business after our legal obligations (taxes, mortgage, bills, overhead, etc.) are met…with a little extra to put away for a rainy day, an occasional, three-day local vacation, and living a life that isn’t routinely deprivation-based.
That’s not asking for the moon. It’s just asking for what’s fair based on the evergreen VALUE of what we create that keeps you on the fast track to success!!!
