“Thanks for your quote, Kris! There are precious few talented writers on Upwork, so I’m quite glad you applied.”
– Josiah, Greensboro Tree Company
Well…. that, right there, pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?
I’m competing against bargain basement-priced newbies and wannabes on Upwork, for the most part.
That’s why I have to keep looking every day (several times a day) for weeks to find the rare needle-in-a-haystack clients who are well aware that a low-priced newbie or wannabe copy or content writer or editor is not going to produce the ROI (return on investment) that they’ll need to thrive as business owners and entrepreneurs.
Clients who want to reach the moon fired from a slingshot are invariably going to be disappointed when they end up being fired into the solid trunk of a nearby tree. And then they’ll sit and sulk because their writer was ” no damn’ good.”
Everybody has to start somewhere. I get that!
But I started as a feature writer waaaaaayyyy back in 1969 when I was in high school, so I was already a competent writer before I decided to tackle copywriting in 2007.
Copywriting is a whole different animal. Copy (sales) writing needs to capture the reader’s/visitor’s total undivided, rapt attention within within five seconds.
Why?
Because although most people like to buy things, they loathe being sold to.
A sales piece (aka copy in writing terms) has to quickly put a client’s Ideal Customer into the same kind of “waking trance” that occurs when they’re in the middle of a riveting movie, or watching their beloved child fully embrace the wonders of the world before their eyes.
Good copy doesn’t sell right out the starting gate; it compels and propels people to remain reading (or watching, or listening to) the communication long enough to reach the conclusion that they need (or dearly want) whatever it is the provider is selling, whether it’s a product, a service, a podcast, or a cause.
Add in the necessity for SEO key terms and the plot thickens. A good writer of copy and content needs to know how to incorporate keywords and phrases into their pieces so search engine spiders can find and rank them without frustrating or irritating human readers. Human readers don’t want to think a piece was written for search engines, but for them.
And a good piece is written for humans, because search engines don’t buy goods, services and experiences — people do.
It’s truly frustrating to have to “compete” with substandard writers ONLY because I realize it’s human nature to rationalize, “Well, if I can get good enough for less, why should I pay more?”
Who do you want on the face of the U.S. currency
that you bring into your business?
You should pay more because the bills you pick up as a result of hiring a tried-and-true pro have the faces of William McKinley, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Grover Cleveland and Salmon P. Chase on them.
When you hire anyone less qualified, you may well find Andrew Jacksons in your pocket (soon to be replaced–hurray–by Harriet Tubmans) or some Ben Franklins, but it would take a helluva lot of those to maintain a thriving business.
I wish business owners and entrepreneurs understood the concept that, in most instances, you really do get what you pay for.
Do you want copy fit for lining the bottom of a bird cage, or copy that catapults your business into the upper reaches of fortune where the eagles fly?
Most businesses are looking to succeed, not to bleed.
A good writer can stop the bleeding and help you start succeeding.
Hire the best writer you can find, even if it isn’t me, if you want to succeed. And be willing to pay what they ask. They’re worth their weight in Ben Franklins!!!
