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

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 abrief-based business skill, not free expression.

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Everybody clear? Good. If you feel there could be something here for you, I strongly recommend that you begin at the beginning. Click here for Part One.

Already read Part One?

Great, then you’ll remember we learned that, as a Freelance Copywriter,

- You MUST think of yourself as a business

- You’re selling a uniquely valuable skill; not a price-point commodity

- You need to recognise that Everybody’s looking for The Right Price

- You must know The Top Three Truths about Low Price

- You must Sell and Persuade as part of your pricing process

- You must shift your prospect’s focus away from Price, and onto Value, if you’re to earn serious money.

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Now, let’s get started on Part Two.

First up, here's a rule to prosper by:

Never assume that your prospect has the ability to tell the difference between competing Freelance Copywriters. Or, to identify the true value within competing bids.

Don’t assume they know enough about quality Freelance Copywriting not to fall for the bargain-price trap.

To earn those higher fees, it’s your priority to make sure that your potential customer does understand the difference. Make sure you give your prospects all the information they need to see that yours is The Right Price.

To do that, you must

Itemise and detail the specific services you’ll be providing, and at what cost.

By doing this, you demonstrate not only your professional understanding of the requirements of the job. But, equally important, how to get it done.

You know what? Most people will have glossed over that, because it sounds like accounting, or administration. Not ‘creative’ copywriting. If you just glossed over it yourself, stop and read it again.

Because it’s a fundamental part of creating value over price.

I’ll work you through a detailed example of How to Do It in Part Three, but in the meantime ...

Let me explain why you have to define exactly what you’re providing …

It’s surprising how many businesspeople need the input and/or validation of others when making decisions. Even sole proprietors often look to their spouses, business associates, their accountant, to ‘bounce this idea / estimate off.’ And, that’s your idea or estimate they’re talking about …

If your prospective client organisation is larger than a sole proprietor, team input from various departments is a standard part of the bid approval process. In fact, there’s a very good chance that the individual you’re dealing with will not be the person who ultimately signs off on the expenditure. So, where you may be working with the Marketing Director for the creative elements of the project, someone in Purchasing may well have to authorise the fees.

Because copy is very often just one component of a project, not necessarily a self-contained task, your estimate, and those of your competitors will likely be bundled along with other associated costs of the entire project, and moved through several pairs of hands, and several sets of minds, before suppliers are selected.

In a worst case scenario, but not uncommon in very large organisations, your contact may not even be in the room when all the competitive estimates are analysed, and the winning bid chosen.

Whoa! If the approval of your estimate can be influenced by people you’ll never meet …

… you’d better make absolutely certain that your bid can support and sell itself.

That doesn’t mean cluttering it with self-promotion — that’s irrelevant to this stage of the process anyway.

It means setting up the total package in a clear, concise, and compelling manner. And, showing a professional understanding of, and regard for budgeting (but don’t be boringly formal like an accountant, you’re a creative writer after all!).

That way, your copy proposal is always connected to your price.

 How else will these strangers know what it is they’re being asked to pay for? How its value compares to other bids? How else will they be persuaded that yours is The Right Price?

Being persuasive in your pricing documentation can be your most rewarding writing challenge.

Here’s how you do it …

First, the style:

Always present your estimate as an attached document, never as a few lines within an email. Attaching it to an email as a PDF is your best choice, because the file will open accurately and remain intact. Word files may shift depending on what version your prospect uses, or worse, they may not be able to open your document at all.

Customise each document to the specific prospect and project. Design your own estimating template if you like, but avoid at all costs the temptation to insert standard descriptors and check boxes; your prospect wants to know you’re focusing on their specific, individual needs. (And if you do cut and paste from previous proposals, be ultra-careful to check every detail in every new bid document. Mistakes here can be very costly, in dollars and in credibility. Company ‘A’ will not be impressed if they morph into Company ‘B’ part-way through your proposal! I know, because I made that mistake myself. Once.)

Focus on one topic at a time. Even if there are only a few words, giving each topic a page of its own adds impact, clarity, and leads the prospect exactly where you want them to go. (Hint: it’s the dotted line near ‘Estimate Accepted’ on the final page!)

Tip: These days, influenced by the net, people ‘skim read’. We’re also led to believe that their span of attention has been significantly shortened. You can’t control that, but by breaking your document into separate pages (very easy to scroll through) you can at least make sure that your concise key points are the single focus of each page, and have time to sink in.

Now, the content:

Start with a summary of the project or task, as described by the prospect, including their business objective. (More on this, in Part Three.)

Identify the key communication objective, or marketing goal, as you understand, or interpret it. Try and show your point of difference; the unique element of skill or intuition or insight you bring, that adds value, not cost. (More on this, in Part Three.)

Whether it’s the marketers or the accountants reading your proposal, everyone understands superior value propositions.

Next, itemise and detail (i.e., ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how much’), point by point, the process you’ll go through in meeting the communication objective, and creating the solution. Step-by-step, build your credibility, and build the sale.

Right there is the key to generating the maximum return for yourself; and it’s a lesson anyone who’s ever had a bill from a lawyer fully understands: “A whole page of line items to bill you for not taking your call!?” Sure, I’m exaggerating, but you get my point …

Which is this: a progression of individually-outlined steps, each one vital to achieving the objective you’ve defined, but each in itself not ‘disturbingly expensive,’ can easily add up to a larger fee than a one-sentence description of the job, followed by a one-figure price.

More importantly, explaining your formal work process - thus emphasising and proving the value  - makes your proposal much more credible,  and therefore more acceptable to your prospect’s budgetmeisters.

As a further bonus, if you’ve already impressed your direct contact well enough that he or she has decided you’re the copywriter they want to work with, they’ll thank you for making their internal selling job so much easier.

That’s it, for Part Two.

We still have a way to go, but, in the interests of letting Part Two sink in before we move ahead, this is an appropriate place to take a break.

In Part One, I described and explained What To Do, and Why, to beginwinning more work and making more money, from your Freelance Copywriting Business.

In Part Two, I've explained How To Do It, and Why

In Part Three, I'll work you through a detailed example of How To Set Out Your Pricing Documentation, including tips on the underlyingbenefits your professional reputation,and your Freelance Writing Business will gain from working this way.

In Part Four, I’ll share more Truths about Price, that will enable you to Increase 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 read Part Three, click on the link below