HIRING A COPYWRITER: YOUR 5-POINT CHECKLIST | wordwallah

Here are some tips to ensure your outsourced copywriting projects run smoothly and achieve their objectives

1.?? Choosing the right writer
It?s often difficult to find a copywriter who is suitable and available, particularly if your projects vary in their requirements of skill and experience. For example, a writer who only has magazine experience probably won?t be suitable for writing website content. If you want to save yourself a lot of time ? choose someone who works with a pool of other writers with differing skills and experience. That way you only need one point of contact ? if they?re busy on another project or they don?t have the specific skills/experience for a particular job, they can organise an alternative writer for you.

2.?? Briefing the writer
Providing your writer with a clear brief will save you unnecessary copy revisions and keep your costs down. Points to include are:

• your target audience
• what message you want to convey
• what tone you want to speak to your reader in
• what response you ideally want the reader to make
• your schedule

3.?? Setting the schedule
Copywriters need time to develop the ideas and words, so set a realistic schedule to allow for research and the creative process. Also, don?t expect the first draft to be perfect ? allow for one or two revisions so your writer can refine the content.

4.?? The agreement
The agreement should include:

• the project size
• number of revisions included
• schedule
• agreed fee (this can be a flat fee or hourly rate).

Also check what?s not included. Many writers charge extra for face-to-face meetings, research time, and weekend or rush work. Most writers charge 35?50% of the total project fee upfront. And if you have sensitive or proprietary information, don?t hesitate to have your writer sign a non-disclosure agreement.

5.?? Providing background information
Provide as much background information as possible up-front. This can save you and the writer considerable time. And if they still need more information, they can always come back to you.

Grammar time: Contractions

Using an apostrophe in a word generally indicates that one or more letters have been left out, e.g. it?s, you?re and didn?t.

?It?s? is a contraction of ?it is? or ?it has?. However, the possessive of it is its, with no apostrophe. Examples: ?It?s a great project? but ?the film reached its climax?.

?You?re? is a contraction of ?you are?. The possessive is your. Examples: ?You?re the boss?, ?Your food is in the oven?.

Source: http://wordwallah.com/newsletters/archives/363

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