How To Price and Sell Yourself, as a Freelance Copywriter. Part One.

Incorporating valuable disciplines I learned from 25 years experience in mainstream advertising agencies, followed by 10 years as a Freelance Copywriter, this Four Part series of HubPages articles is a step-by-step Process Template primarily designed to help people who:- may have become a copywriter only recently; or some time ago; may even be expert ad copywriters, but, either for reasons of personal ambition, or because there are currently fewer straight advertising copywriter jobs, but commensurately more freelance copywriter jobs out there, have made the decision to pursue a Freelance Copywriting career, and are now keen to learn more about the business aspects, especially, how to win more work, and make more money.

It’s a smart move, too. While I enjoyed writing all forms of copy, for all media, and interacting with clients and industry specialists, these days there’s so much online work for website content copywriters, that you can, if you choose to, have a very successful freelance copywriting career, bidding, working, and billing, as an internet copywriter, without ever attending a client meeting. Being accountable only to yourself, is a wonderfully liberating feeling. And, making money at something you're good at, and love to do, is rewarding in more ways than one.

Note: If your interest in copywriting is just blossoming, if you’re still asking questions like “What is a copywriter?”, and “What does a copywriter do?”, this information is too advanced for you. But it’s timeless. Feel free to come back when you’re ready...

Before we start, if, like many online writers, you want to make money from writing whatever you like, and hoping someone will pay you for it, whether directly or indirectly, via AdSense etc, I’m sorry, there’s nothing here for you either. The Freelance Copywriter’s life doesn’t work that way. Although copy isn’t any good unless it’s creative, (and isn’t creative unless it sells), writing effective copy is a brief-based business skill, not free expression.

Everybody clear? OK, let’s get started.

If you’re serious about succeeding as a Freelance Copywriter, from here on in, you MUST think of yourself as a business.

To succeed as a Freelance Copywriter, apart from requiring the fundamental ability to mould your writing style to match the demands of each individual job, and to write focused copy that always hits its target, you also need the willingness to apply discipline to the business aspects, like:

1: Taking, and working to, a detailed brief (or frequently, researching and writing your own; look for a separate article I’m planning on that topic).

2: Working to deadlines.

3: Balancing and managing your business workload.

4: Understanding and working within various copy structures and formats

5: Building relationships with your clients, based on putting their needs ahead of your own.

But, most of all, if you want to make your living as a Freelance Copywriter:

You must know how to Price and Sell your work

First rule of business? "Everybody’s looking for The Right Price."

But, of course, ‘The Right Price’ means something quite different to buyers than to sellers. Which is really the nub of Part 1 of this series, as I explain below

First off, whether the economy is up or down, and marketing budgets fat or skinny, all clients still want the best; but for most, only at ‘The Right Price.’ They’re forever chasing bargains. Or deals. (Or rainbows, depending on your point of view.)

Now, this may cause you to feel, especially if you’re in the early stages of your Freelance Copywriting career, that you have no choice but to give in to the prevailing pressure on costs, and present the buyer’s idea of ‘The Right Price’, to get the gig. In other words, to bid low.

That’s understandable, and let’s be honest here, we all need to negotiate from time to time. But always remember, you’re selling a uniquely valuable skill; not a price-point commodity, and it’s a fool’s game to set yourself up at the low end over the long haul.

No matter how long you’re in business as a Freelance Copywriter, you won’t prosper if you can’t overcome price resistance. And, earn what you’re worth.

All you’ll get is frustrated and cynical, because the benefits your clients will derive from your copywriting skills - the enormous value your work can add to their business - will always be out of step with your own rewards.

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Fortunately, there is a way to avoid operating your Freelance Copywriting Business from the bargain basement. It starts with recognising the fundamental truths contained within a low price approach, and eliminating those risks from your business.

I call them, The TOP THREE TRUTHS about low price

Truth 1. A bargain is only a bargain if the work still does the job it should; at less cost. But, paying less for work that won’t (work), isn’t a bargain; it’s pointless. Because not all clients understand that risk, it’s up to you to help them eliminate it, as part of your pricing process.

Truth 2. No matter how low you price yourself, there’ll always be someone else who’ll go below you. I call it the Limbo Principle, and just like the dance, sooner or later the bar is set too low, and that player falls down. Stuck trying to deliver a good job, for no good return.

Truth 3. If low price is a key reason you got the job, you’ll never be able to raise your rates with that client. To them, you’ve already set your own worth.

What’s much worse, if the client loves what you do, and recommends you to friends and business associates, guess what he / she will be telling them? Trust me, you don’t ever want the words “great” and “cheap” to appear together in any sentence that describes your work, or your business.

So, where does that leave you?

It means you must Persuade and Sell, within your pricing documentation, just as you do when writing copy for your clients.

And, how do you do that?

The answer is the key to your success as a Freelance Copywriter, so consider it well:

Put the Price into perspective, by pitching the Promise first.

So far, you’ve learned that price is always a key factor; but that it would be short- sighted of your prospect to pay less, only to get less.

You’ve also learned that pricing low is a short-term strategy that can destroy the profitability of your Freelance Copywriting business, before it even gets started.

Here’s something else worth knowing; while price is always a factor, it’s seldom the only factor.

What you need to do, is shift the focus away from price, and onto what will make the greatest difference to your client’s business.

Acclaimed veteran copywriter Michael Masterson says:

“To sell anything, you have to see beyond the actual product or service and get to the Big Promise you can make to your prospect.”

Read that again, then let’s step back and see what happens if you look for the Big Promise beyond the Freelance Copywriting service you’re offering:

• Is cheap copy your Big Promise?
• Is great copy your Big Promise?
• Isn’t your Big Promise actually great results from great copy?
• Isn’t that what your prospect really wants — great results?

Isn’t great results what will make the most significant difference to their business? If so, shouldn’t they be concentrating on each copywriter’s professional skills and effectiveness, not just on their price?

Are we getting somewhere now?

I hope so, because here’s the really exciting part:

• What if the price problem isn’t real?
• What if it’s more about perception?
• Or communication?

What makes that so exciting is that for a professional copywriter like yourself, it means the ‘problem’ has suddenly become an opportunity!

After all, don’t you get paid to:

Persuade people to do things they may have had reservations about; to put aside rational fears and objections; to pay top price for something because you’ve created an irresistible word picture of the benefits they’ll enjoy, made them imagine the way they’ll feel when their purchase brings the reward they desire; when it does the job they needed doing?

Now, hold that thought, and think again about the Price ‘problem.’ Take another look at The TOP THREE TRUTHS about price:

1. A bargain is only a bargain if the work still does the job it should; just at less cost.

2. No matter how low you price yourself, there’ll always be someone else who’ll go below you.

3. If low price is a key reason you got the job, you’ll never be able to raise your rates with that client.

These are the issues you need to confront and overcome. But, guess what, as a professional Freelance Copywriter, you already have the communication skills to do that.

it’s a simple matter of shifting the focus:

To win more work, and earn the higher fees your copywriting skills are worth, you simply need to shift your prospect’s focus away from Price, and onto Value.

Think about it, when you’re buying something yourself, do you always base your decision entirely on price alone? Or, like 90% of people, do you look for a wider ‘value’ proposition? Including the way you'll feel, not just the purely functional aspects?

That mix of emotional and rational levers is what effective copywriting capitalises on. That's what good Freelance Copywriters do. When pricing projects, do it to your own work. Provided you can deliver great copy, and SELL yourself, there's no reason not to set your own worth, and not have it dictated by the pressure to 'bid low to get the gig'.

PROVE your worth through the excellence of your work. In the end, that's all you have to sell.

That’s it, for Part One.

I have a lot more to share with you, but, in the interests of letting what we've covered sink in, before we move ahead, this is a good time to take a break.

In Part One, I’ve explained What To Do, and Why, to begin winning more work and making more money, from your Freelance Copywriting Business.

In following instalments, I’ll explain, step-by-step, How To Do It, and Why

I'll work you through a detailed example of How To Set Out Your Pricing Documentation, including tips on the underlying benefits to your professional reputation, and your Freelance Writing Business, of working this way.

I'll wrap it up with some fundamentally important points about The Difference Between Being a Freelance Copywriter, and Running a Freelance Copywriting Business.

Plus, I’ll share more Truths about Price, that will enable you to maximise your Freelance Copywriting Income, by working Smarter, not Harder.

As I publish each Part, I’ll link them to one another. So, if you choose to bookmark them, you’ll have the complete ‘Writeronline Profitable Pricing Process’ at your fingertips.

Next time you’re preparing an estimate, remember, for a Freelance Copywriter, well-crafted pricing documentation can bring immediate financial rewards, as well as building long-term credibility for your business acumen, and your overall communication skills. So…

Don’t Just Submit Your Price. Sell It!

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To proceed to Part Two, click the link below.

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