SEO client education: It’s your most important job
It doesn’t matter if you’re an SEO consultant, SEO copywriter, content writer, or social media coordinator that reads keyword reports – if you are helping clients with SEO, client education is your most important job.
In fact, I’d wager that if you’re struggling in your business as an SEO provider, client education is the missing piece.
Client education and managing expectations go hand in hand.
What do I mean by education? It can take many different forms, but the goal is to help your client get up to speed on what you provide, why you provide it, and how they’ll benefit. It’s not a sales page or a sales call. It’s helpful information that makes them a smarter buyer.
When I’ve had a difficult client relationship in my business, nine times out of ten it’s been because of a big difference between what the client expected and what I was able to provide. For example, as a copywriter, I can’t build your backlink profile or improve your offpage SEO. But I can make it easier for search engines to understand your site – and help your site visitors get where they need to go.
Client education is important in any industry – but it’s absolutely essential with SEO. Search engine optimization is complicated – and it’s always changing. Although the core of the process is growing a bit easier and less fragmented (pick your keywords, create great content and stay social), there is still enough change from update to update and from year to year for clients to get confused.
These changes can be jumped on by less than scrupulous providers to make a mountain out of a molehill. For example, when Panda and Penguin hit, questionable backlinks became the biggest problem. Unless a client has been paying someone to post backlinks to large, spammy directories there’s no reason they should be spending their time and their money on devaluing links when there aren’t many there begin with. They’d be far better off creating some great content and getting social to build genuine backlinks.
Since there are so many factors that go into SEO and some scum bags out there that are misleading their clients (either intentionally or unintentionally), your job as an educator becomes even more important.
Here’s how to do it, in three steps:
1. Always start the process with an intake call.
Do you get a lot of emails that look something like this: “Hi – I need some web copy. How much do you charge?”
Delivering a paragraph or two back with a quote isn’t going to have the impact that an official intake will. Start your relationship with a conversation so you can understand their SEO needs and determine if they need you, or another type of provider. This will also help you set the framework for how you are working together and let you explain the specific value that you provide.
2. Rather than being a service provider, think of yourself as a consultant.
It’s a subtle shift but an important one if you want to educate your client and take a more strategic role. When you’re “just a service provider” a client will expect to come to you, place an order and then get exactly what they ordered – no questions asked. These are the clients that will come to you saying “Here’s my keyword list and I want a blog article on X, Y and Z.”
But when you present yourself as a consultant, you’ll leave the door open to explain to them why jumping into blogging without a strategy is a bad idea. You can give them insight into how to make their pages better before they blog, how to create a blog strategy and how to improve their overall presence.
3. Produce lots of content – and then produce some more!
When it comes to copywriters and content, it’s often like the old story about the shoemaker’s children having no shoes. If your work days are filled with work for clients, how will you find time for your own work? Make time!
If you want to provide education for your SEO clients, you need to blog, create white papers and develop newsletters. It doesn’t have to be extensive, but it does have to be there. This way, your SEO clients are prequalified and educated before they reach out. They know the difference between bad SEO and good SEO because they’ve read it on your blog.
What steps are you taking to educate your clients?
About the Author ~ Courtney Ramirez
Courtney Ramirez is the Director of Content Marketing Strategy for Endurance Marketing and owner of Six Degrees Content. She’s an SEO Copywriter and content marketing specialist who creates clickable content for clients in both B2B and B2C markets. As a proud graduate of SuccessWork’s SEO Copywriting Certification training program, she geeks out on algorithm updates and content marketing metrics. She’s always in the mood for a good cat-based meme. You can connect with Courtney on Google Plus, LinkedIn or Twitter.
image thanks to Digital Sextant (Brendan Riley)
7 tips for sales call success
May 2, 2013 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
Breathe, relax and pull out your notes.
Last week’s blog post outlined how to prepare for a prospect call. Today, it’s time to pull out your notes, get on the phone and close the deal. Nervous? These seven tips will help get you through – and guarantee the call goes well.
- Spend a few minutes getting to know the prospect. A little small talk can go a long way. Sure, you’re both busy – but chatting about the weather, favorite restaurants or the latest Mad Men episode can be a great way to bond. Launching right into business-chat (unless the prospect does first) can seem abrupt. I once landed a client by chatting about Vanilla Ice. Really.
- Ask a lot of questions – and listen to the answers. What’s the best thing you can do during a sales call? Keep your mouth shut and take detailed notes. When you do speak, try to wrap your questions around your prospect’s previous response. For instance, you could say, “You mentioned that your copywriting team is already overloaded. How many new projects are you assigned every week?” That way, the client knows that you’re “hearing” them – and you get valuable information that helps you frame your next question.
- Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in the “Can you send me a highly detailed proposal outlining exactly what you’ll do” trap. I know it’s tempting to spend hours slaving over a multi-page document. That’s not a proposal. That’s a strategy document. Sure, you can point out some possible SEO writing opportunities. But if your contact is asking for an in-depth, detailed document, let your prospect know that’s a separate deliverable. Here are some ways to turn around a (good) proposal fast.
- If asked, confidently state your rates. This is where some copywriters get tongue-tied. If you’re not sure how much the project will cost, it’s OK to say, “I have to work on some numbers and get back to you.” If the prospect pushes for a general answer, you can always provide a highly general range (here are some ways to handle the “how much do you charge” discussion.) If your prices are too high for your prospect and you don’t see a “match,” refer them to another (lower-priced) vendor. And please don’t discount your rates just because you’re afraid of losing the gig. There are other ways to do it besides costing yourself cash.
- Is your prospect unsure? Help them break down the numbers and imagine success. Some clients know they need help – they just need a little confidence boost. If your client says things like, “Wow, $1,000 is a lot of money – I’m not sure if I can afford you,” start asking questions like, “What’s the lifetime value of a customer” and “what’s your average sale?” Chances are, you’ll be able to counter with a statement like, “If the average lifetime value of a customer is $700, it will take less than two customers to pay for my services – and I’m sure I can pull more than two customers for you.” In one fast sentence, you’ve overcome your prospect’s objection and made hiring you a no-brainer!
- Are you getting a “I can’t make a decision right now” response? It happens. Ask your prospect if you should chat with anyone else involved in the hiring decision. For instance, your contact may need her boss’ sign off before she gives her answer. If you can be in on the “pitch” call between your contact and her boss, you can answer any questions and speak directly to the decision maker.
- No matter what happens, send a “thank you” note. Whether the answer is “yes,” “no,” “call back in six months” or “I’m not sure” – email a thank you note the next day. Why? Good manners never go out of style. Plus, your prospect will remember you for other gigs. That’s the best kind of networking there is.
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The Veg-O-Matic approach to SEO copy development
March 28, 2013 • written by Heather Lloyd-Martin
Sure thing!
My slides were based on this 2011 blog post. When I originally wrote this, Google+ wasn’t even on the radar. Now, it’s yet another platform that marketers have to use and measure.
Feeling overwhelmed? Relax. Take a peek at my slides, and then read how the Veg-O-Matic approach to SEO copywriting can make your life easier than before. Really!
One of the areas where many site owners get “stuck” is content creation. There are more SEO copy opportunities than ever before, including:
(I’m sure you could add more to the list.)
The challenge with “content overload” is that nothing gets done. Planning an editorial calendar seems impossible. There’s too much to write in too little time.
That’s when you bring in the SEO content Veg-O-Matic to slice and dice your content into little bits.
For those not familiar with Ron Popeil’s Veg-O-Matic, it was a hand held appliance that made slicing and dicing vegetables easy. You could cut a carrot into small pieces. You could shred it. You could even create thin julienne slices. Cutting it up was effortless – and one carrot could take many different final forms.
You can do the same thing when you plan your SEO content. Rather than thinking, “Oh, man. I have a month’s worth of tweets to plan,” think of how you can “slice and dice” existing content many different ways. Here’s what I mean:
Say that your company creates one white paper a month. Once the white paper is complete, you could:
You see? You’re taking existing content and working backwards. You’re doing what you can with what you already have. Granted, you’ll still want to plan bigger projects (like another white paper or a product page revamp.) But, finding time for big projects is much easier when you’re not reinventing the content wheel every time.
Instead of looking at your editorial calendar and thinking, “It’s mid-March, what do I write/tweet/blog about for the next 30 days,”it shifts to, “We just completed a blog post/case study/video. In what ways can we slice and dice it into tasty content tidbits?”
Once you’ve figured out how to leverage what you have, the content creation process seems much more effortless.
You can accomplish the same goal even if you don’t have one “big” content piece a month. For instance, say that your company blogs five times a week. You could probably pull a couple – maybe more – good tweets out of every post. You could track popular blog topics and develop a Webinar (which could even be an additional profit center.) Heck you could even produce a monthly “Twitter tips” list that you could offer as a downloadable .pdf. The possibilities are endless.
You don’t need to solely focus on existing Web content, either. Do you have an old how-to guide that you could dust off and transform into blog posts or tweets? Did you write an article years ago that you could repurpose? Have you written a book? As long as the content is updated and valid, looking to “old” content sources is a smart idea. Recycling is good for the environment, and it’s great for your content, too!
Consider taking a cue from Ron Pompeil and see how you can Veg-O-Matic your content. You may find that you’re releasing more quality content than ever before – and creating your monthly editorial calendar is easier than ever before.
Filed under Blog writing,Direct reponse copywriting,Freelance SEO copywriting,In-house Content Marketing,SEO Content marketing,Tips and techniques,Twitter,Working with clients
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What baseball & poultry can teach you about handling SEO clients
March 12, 2013 • written by Siân Killingsworth
Perhaps you’re developing new content or maybe you’re just taking direction and making straightforward tweaks to existing copy, but at some point, your client asks you to do something you know is a bad idea.
Sometimes it’s because your client thinks she is an expert in not only her own business, but yours as well. Sometimes it’s because she’s trying to help but is simply misinformed or has information that’s out of date.
Either way, you know your ideas are going to be the more effective, but you don’t want to risk offending or angering your client by being rude about it.
Here are some tips on championing your own, superior ideas while making your client feel respected, comfortable, and enthusiastic:
If the idea’s a turkey
When the client’s idea is something that clearly won’t work but she is pushing you hard to do it anyway, vent to a disinterested third party before you address it with a client. This way you get to say all the snarky, insulting things you want, and get them out of your system so you can collect yourself before you ruin an otherwise perfectly good client relationship.
One funny example I can share with you is when a former client of mine really, really wanted to publish almost a dozen pages on his website that would feature “articles” brimming with relevant keywords.
He had no intention of publishing content that was well-written, useful, or necessarily relevant to his audience, and he didn’t even have plans to promote the content. He merely wanted to have the keywords all over the website so that, theoretically, the site’s Google ranking would rise.
Of course, anyone who’s read a little bit about Google’s Panda update knows that publishing low-quality content is pretty much worthless. It took me a few deep breaths not to yell about this particularly “fowl” idea.
Don’t be a lame duck
You may be just the hired help, but permitting a client to steamroll you even one time is dangerous because that will set a precedent for the client to do so all the time.
If you believe that the client’s idea will be detrimental to her business, steel yourself to say something. She hired you because she respects your expertise, so now is the time to show it off. Furthermore, you might be held responsible when things backfire down the road, so protect yourself by putting your reservations in writing.
Don’t be chicken either
You should be working on content that you’ll be proud to put in your portfolio, so don’t be afraid to stand up for it.
Your reputation as an effective copywriter could take a beating if you put out material that’s weak, not in keeping with best practices, or otherwise low quality. Don’t let a fear of upsetting your client deter you from raising the issue.
Show off your slugging percentage
Let’s say your client insists you use absolutely perfect schoolmarm grammar despite the fact that her target audience is unpretentious, regular people with average educations. You know that type of language will alienate prospects, so hit the books yourself.
Do your due diligence and provide your client with evidence from your own work with other clients showing how colloquial wording is more effective than flawless grammar.
Three strikes & you’re out
My rule of thumb for persuading a client to drop their bad ideas in favor of my superior ones is borrowed from baseball. You can argue – politely! – no more than three times for your ideas, but if you’re shot down all three times, you have to let it go. Either the client is too stubborn or you need to improve your persuasion tactics!
One last piece of advice: Always allow your clients to explain why they want you to implement their ideas because often the reasons they have can help you lead them to an understanding of why their ideas won’t work and which ones will.
When you know what their reasons are, you can come up with solutions to the problem rather than appear to be arguing for the sake of argument.
About the Author ~ Siân Killingsworth
Siân Killingsworth is a freelance copywriter, content curator, and social media manager. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she blogs about marketing for small business at www.sianessa.com and spends a lot of time studying various social media channels to guide her clients with best, freshest marketing practices. When Siân isn’t writing, she enjoys discovering elegant wine bars, traveling, and working on her lifelong quest for the perfect prawn burrito. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, or email her at siankillingsworth@gmail.com.
photo thanks to allygirl520 (allison)
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Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Tips and techniques,Working with clients
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Your copywriting is served: what should you offer clients?
February 25, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
When you first start out – and even after you’ve been in business for awhile – it is tempting to offer every service under the sun, from white papers to direct mail to web pages.
Then you end up burning out, because you’re doing a little bit of everything (some services make you more money than others), and you might not be writing the kind of content you enjoy.
Tune in as Heather discusses how to determine what copywriting services to offer your clients…
No, you don’t have to do everything…
The first point to remember – and one that is empowering to know – is that you don’t have to do everything. You don’t have to offer every copywriting service under the sun! Instead, think about what to offer clients in terms of:
- What services are important to your target audience?
In defining this, you may find that in a lot of cases your clients might not need direct mail, but they will need an email newsletter. There you go! You can delete direct mail from your services.
I would encourage you to figure out what your clients need, and then streamline your service offerings around that.
- What do you enjoy writing and provides the highest ROI? Can you specialize?
You also want to consider what you enjoy writing and provides you the most profit, and if there’s a way you can specialize.
For example, I just spoke to a woman who loves writing e-books. She loves the detail work, she loves the fact that it takes a relatively long time, and she loves that it involves a lot of research – that’s just how her mind works. And her target market needs e-books! So she has become a go-to person for that particular target audience. It’s really pretty cool!
So this is something that you can think about for your own freelance copywriting business: is there something you do really well, like writing high-converting sales pages that you know your clients value, and that they can come to you for time and time again?
- What about partnering with another copywriter?
The third thing to consider is the option of partnering with another copywriter.
For instance, if you find out that you really enjoy writing e-books but then your clients need something else – such as an e-newsletter or a blog post – you might have someone else on your team that can handle that for you.
That way, to your client it’s still one source of services, they’re still getting all their copywriting needs met, it’s just that you’re not the one doing everything. You have other people on board who can help you, and are also writing what they love to write!
Again, I’m basing the “how to start an SEO copywriting business” on the Copywriting Business Boot Camp. So if you’re interested in learning more you can check it out right here!
Thanks for tuning in! As always, if you have any questions or feedback, I would love to hear from you. You can zip me an email at heather@seocopywriting.com, or find me on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to flickr4jazz (Jazz Guy)
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Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Working with clients
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A freelance copywriting contract for a quick & dirty gig?
February 18, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
In this video, Heather builds on her previous two posts speaking to the importance of having a freelance copywriting contract. Specifically, she answers a question posed by a reader/viewer asking whether a contract is still necessary for small copywriting jobs.
This is an excellent question, and one that will come up many times in your freelance copywriting career.
A client will need some work done and after looking over the scant requirements, you’ll think “Oh, I can knock this out in a few hours.” Then you’re presented with the question of what to do about a contractual agreement, knowing that dealing with that would actually take more time than it would for you to do the work.
In this commonplace scenario, do you still need to send the client a contract? Or can you just do the work, call it a wrap, and get paid already?
Tune in as Heather outlines some options for you to consider…
Short answer: YES!
You may recognize this first slide from Heather’s original video post discussing how crucial it is for freelance copywriters to work with a legal document.
While contracts may seem like a pain and a huge hassle, they’re a necessary evil for two compelling reasons:
- A contract spells out the terms and gets everyone on the same page.
- A good contract protects you – and protects your client, too.
Here’s a possible option…
That said, here are some things to consider when you’re in that position…
- Is it a NEW client? Have them sign the agreement. Consider getting the money up front.
If it’s a brand new client, even if it’s a fast job, have them sign the agreement…because they’re unknown and you’ve never dealt with them before! The client is not familiar with your terms, either, so a contract gives them an opportunity to review them and determine whether they still want to work with you.
You may also want to consider getting paid before you begin work, because it is a quick job and getting 50% now and 50% two days from now may not make sense.
- Is it an EXISTING client who has already signed your agreement? Spell out your terms in an email. Tell your client you’ll need written confirmation before you start.
If it’s an existing client – you have a history, they pay their bills, everything’s gone fine – you may opt to just outline your terms in an email.
So while you’d still spell out your terms (i.e., what you’ll be doing, when you’ll send it to them, how much it will cost, and when payment is due), you’d simply let your client know that you’ll need written confirmation from them before you start work.
What I’ll do is write an email reiterating my terms, and then ask “is this ok?” at the end of the message. Then I wait for the client to respond with “yes, this is ok” before I’ll start the work.
- Ask your attorney about a master services agreement.
This is another option – asking your attorney about a master services agreement.
Again, I am not an attorney and none of this constitutes legal advice. I highly recommend all freelance copywriters to work with an attorney to figure this stuff out, because it is so important!
A master services agreement is something that your clients sign once, and then you’re done with it. At that point, all the terms have been negotiated, they’re set, and then you’ll be able to work with email – or whatever paper trail you and your client prefer – for future jobs.
Thanks for joining me for this installment of the how to start a freelance SEO copywriting business! I really appreciate that reader/viewer question, and I know that other people have lots of questions about how to successfully run a freelance copywriting business.
So if you’d like some free advice, you can simply send an email to write4income@aweber.com, and you’ll receive a series of tips delivered right to your inbox! And you may also want to check out the Copywriting Business Boot Camp for more intensive training.
And for real SEO copywriting tips I’d encourage you to sign up for my newsletter. You have the option of receiving daily updates or a weekly summary of the daily blog posts each Tuesday.
As always, I welcome your questions, suggestions, and feedback! You can leave them below in the comments, or email me at heather@seocopywriting.com. You can also find me on Twitter @heatherlloyd. “See” you next Monday!
photo thanks to Keith Williamson
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Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Working with clients
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Protect yourself! 3 copywriting contract essentials
February 11, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
Today, Heather elaborates on last week’s video (on the necessity of having a freelance copywriting contract) with three crucial things you want to include in your copywriting contract.
While she is not an attorney and this video post doesn’t constitute legal advice, Heather has been reading copywriting contracts for a very, very, very long time!
In the course of her career, she has seen some excellent, airtight contracts as well as some that leave the copywriter wide open to litigation, not getting paid, and other bad things.
So tune in to find out what three stipulations you want to be absolutely certain are covered in your copywriting contract…
1. When will you get paid – and how much?
- How much is the deposit, and when is it due?
This first point is the one that all copywriters love and is about the money: when will you get paid and how much will you get paid? Meaning, you will want to outline things like how much is the deposit?
This subject is covered in some detail in an earlier video, where I discuss the importance of having a retainer. In most cases, that retainer is due before the copywriter starts writing.
- When are other payments due?
If you’re splitting up the payments, then you’ll want to specify the dates those payments are due.
- Consider having all the money on your side of the table before you submit the final page.
For the final payment, consider having all the money on your side of the table before you release that last page or that last group of pages.
Otherwise, what can sometimes happen is that you release the work to the client, and then it takes a long time to get paid. So if you’re paid in full beforehand, you are sparing yourself the worry of chasing down a receivable after you’ve already completed the work.
2. When is a page considered “accepted” and done?
- You don’t want to wait…and wait…and wait for feedback.
We’ve all had this happen: you turn in a page, and then you’re pinging the client after three weeks saying, “Hey, did you receive it? Did you like it? Should I go on to other pages?” So…
- Consider giving your client a set amount of time for review. After that, the content is considered “accepted.”
This protects you and it prevents a gig from going on forever, or a client coming back three months later with, ”Yeah, I’m ready to finish up the contract now – I need it done by this week.”
In my agreement, it’s five business days. After that, the content is considered “accepted.”
Certainly there are exceptions for outstanding circumstances, such as the client being on vacation. You’ll want to accommodate them for that one time, but in general, I think it’s really important to stick to this deadline because it ensures that the client is accountable for checking out your work – in a timely manner.
3. What are you doing for the client?
- Outline your deliverables carefully.
- This helps to avoid “I thought this was included in the price” blues.
This third contract essential is to be really specific about what you’re doing for the client.
I have seen (and heard about) many instances where the deliverables in the contract weren’t defined very well, so the client comes back with “Well, what do you mean you didn’t do keyphrase research? I thought I was paying you for keyphrase research. You wrote the page without keyphrase research?”
It becomes a mess.
To avoid these freelancing blues, outline clearly: “it’s going to be up to three hours of this,” and “we’re going to provide this service,” and “we’re going to write this page with the title and the description.”
Being absolutely clear really helps the client, and it helps protect you as well.
The BEST advice?
Work with an attorney. Really.
It will cost less than you think.
And save your bacon many, many times over.
I just had a really good conversation with my attorney around a copywriting agreement, and he made a lot of changes that served both my client and me well. Working with an attorney will cost less than you think. It really, really will – and it will save your bacon many times over.
So even if you’re brand new to the freelance copywriting business and you’re struggling to minimize costs, this is one cost that is very much worth incurring.
In short, I highly recommend finding a good attorney, and having him or her help with your agreement!
Thanks for joining me! Have a comment or question about this video? Or a suggestion for a video topic? Wonderful! Just zip me an email via heather@seocopywriting.com, or track me down on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to Tony Fischer Photography
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Do you really need a copywriting contract?
February 4, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
You’ll want to pay especially close attention to this one, because here Heather talks about the intimidating subject of copywriting contracts.
For new freelancers, getting a client to sign a contract can be a really scary thing. Here you are, so very close to getting the gig, and you’re asking the client for their signature. Thoughts race through your mind: are they going to sign the contract? Is something going to go wrong?
Tune in as Heather quells your fears and addresses the question of whether you really need to work with a copywriting contract…
Short answer: YES!
On the left side of the slide, I have a photo of Judge Marilyn Milian from The People’s Court. Judge Milian often makes the observation that many of the people who come to her courtroom are those who don’t have contracts – or don’t have good contracts. (She calls them “litigants”.)
- A contract spells out the terms and gets everyone on the same page.
- A good contract protects you and protects your client, too.
- If a client won’t sign one, consider it a huge red flag (and consider walking away.)
Even though a contract seems scary – and maybe even too formal, depending on your clients – they’re actually really good. They’re good for not just you, but they’re also good for the client because it protects both parties.
A good contract clearly defines what you’re going to be writing, when you’re going to turn it in, when you’re going to get paid, and what your policy is for revisions. All of that needs to be spelled out in a contract – and I’ll discuss more details on what needs to be included in a contract in a future video.
Sometimes a client doesn’t want to sign a contract. I have talked to prospects who say things like “Well I’ve been in business for thirty years and I’ve done everything on a handshake – and I’m not going to start signing contracts now.”
If you hear that from a client – and chances are you’re going to at least once in your freelance career – then consider that a big, huge red flag and consider walking away. At that point, you don’t have much to protect you, and a lot of things can go wrong.
In fact, in the times that I’ve heard of something going majorly wrong with an account and the copywriter didn’t get paid are often when s/he didn’t have a good contract, or any contract at all…and that ended up coming back to bite them.
Should you sign your client’s contract?
This is another question I get that’s related to the first one. It is especially likely to come up when you’re working with larger brands: the client may have their own contract.
- Maybe – although it’s good to have your own contract.
- Don’t just blindly sign – no matter how excited you are about the gig.
- Always have your attorney review your client’s contract and make changes.
- See something you don’t like? Speak up!
Ideally, I would recommend that you have your own contract. Talk to an attorney and have him or her draw something up. I know it sounds expensive, but it’s really important and it doesn’t cost that much money.
So seriously consider having your own contract drawn up by an attorney – especially since you’re going to be attracting a lot of clients in your lifetime! You want to be working with a document that ensures both you and your client are covered.
That said, if the client presents his or her own contract, my advice to you would be: don’t just blindly sign it – no matter how excited you are about the gig!
I’ve seen instances where copywriters sign their client’s contract only to realize after the fact that it stipulated that they wouldn’t be paid for six months. True story.
Or, that they won’t get paid for something they’ve created if the client doesn’t use it. Another true story.
So really dig into the contract and read precisely what it is the client is saying. A lot of times these things can be negotiated, so if you spot language in the contract that you don’t like, speak up!
In a perfect world, you are sending client-drawn contracts to your attorney and having him or her review it and make any necessary changes. And again, while it may sound scary and expensive, it really isn’t. It typically takes an attorney maybe ten or fifteen minutes to go through and redline an agreement, and then you can be sure your interests are protected.
More often than not, when you send the amended contract back to the client, they sign off, everything is fine, and it’s a win-win for both parties.
So in moving forward with your freelance copywriting business, concentrate of finding an attorney you can work with and getting a solid client contract created. Or at least have an attorney review your current contracts to ensure you’re protected.
Thanks for joining me! As always, if you have any questions or comments about this video, or suggestions for a future topic, please let me know. You can reach me at heather@seocopywriting.com, or find me on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to >WonderMike< (Mike Wade)
Want to learn more about copywriting business contracts? Check into my Copywriting Business Boot Camp classes, where legal expert Bob Ellis discusses just that! The next Boot Camp begins in a week, on Monday, Feb. 11th – register now to reserve your place!
Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Working with clients
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How to fire a writing client: it ain’t me, babe
January 29, 2013 • written by Siân Killingsworth
There are so many reasons to do so: sometimes it’s as simple as a personality clash, and you have a client you just don’t click with. Maybe it’s your smallest client who pays a discounted rate and expects the most effort, so it’s not worth your time. Perhaps the subject matter is boring, personally objectionable, or the work will not advance your career.
You might even have a “bad” client who pays late or not at all, is abusive, etc. It might be your biggest fantasy to channel The Donald and yell, “you’re fired!” But in real life, that’s just not good business practice.
Now, obviously, if a client has seriously crossed the line in some way, such as throwing things at your head or screaming at you (let’s hope this never happens!), then ending the relationship is probably in your best interest.
However, assuming your client doesn’t exhibit those extreme types of behavior, you still may find yourself yearning for freedom. Before you tell them to take a hike, there are several questions you should ask yourself, and they fall into two categories:
1. What’s Really the Problem?
2. To Fire or Not to Fire?
If you can answer all of these questions and determine that ending the client relationship is your choice, here are some ways for it to be, if not a pleasant experience, at least one that isn’t unpleasant – for all involved.
Take Care of Yourself
Make sure that you suffer no serious or long-lasting repercussions as a result of ending the client relationship.
Take Care of the Client
The way you treat the client will directly affect the way she feels about you after you no longer work for her. If you are able to keep things pleasant and relatively upbeat, you may escape with a glowing testimonial. She may even refer her colleagues to you.
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
To make a clean break, do it in person if possible, or over the phone if you’re far away. Do not terminate the relationship over email or, God forbid, voicemail. Put yourself in their shoes: remember to always be professional, polite, and positive.
You needn’t get into your real reasons for ending it, especially if it’s not flattering to the client. You can say you’ve taken on too much work and you need to cut back. You can say you want to focus your work to cater to a different industry. You can say that you’re uncomfortable with the workload or schedule.
Another option is to look at personal relationship strategies. If it’s the case that you’re just not into them but you don’t want to go to the trouble of breaking up with them or creating a bad feeling, you could start exhibiting behaviors they don’t like. You might raise your rates, give them less attention, or even offload the work to a junior member of your team.
None of these is necessarily the single best option: each has benefits and drawbacks. You need to assess the situation and determine which tactic or combination of tactics will get the result you want.
One last thought: once you’ve decided to end the relationship, if you need help to muster your courage, you can’t do much better than this classic Bob Dylan song, covered by breakup experts Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash: It Ain’t Me, Babe.
About the Author ~ Siân Killingsworth
Siân Killingsworth is a freelance copywriter, content curator, and social media manager. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she blogs about marketing for small business at www.sianessa.com and spends a lot of time studying various social media channels to guide her clients with best, freshest marketing practices. When Siân isn’t writing, she enjoys discovering elegant wine bars, traveling, and working on her lifelong quest for the perfect prawn burrito. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, or email her at siankillingsworth@gmail.com.
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Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Working with clients
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Promises, promises: the copywriting client carrot & stick(y) situation
January 28, 2013 • written by Laura Crest
(For those of you new to the series, you may want to check out her three preceding video posts: Niche copywriting for love & (more) money, Make your freelance copywriting pay – every time!, and How to handle writing revisions – without going insane!)
Today, Heather addresses a somewhat tricky situation that you will likely face many times throughout your freelance copywriting career, and that is: Should you provide a discount on your rates now, if the client promises “more work” later?
Tune in to learn how to handle this touchy scenario…
What the prospect says…
This situation can be really touchy, because you might have been talking to this person for awhile, you’re really excited about the gig, you work hard on your proposal, you turn it in, and you hear: “Yeah! We want to work with you, but…”
And those “buts” typically turn into statements like:
- We want to “try you out first” before giving you a lot of work.
- We need you to “work with us” this one time.
- We know we can push a lot of volume your way.
So here you’ve gotten all excited about the possibilities, and now you’re thinking “Aw geez, now what kind of discount am I supposed to give to get that future work?”
Then…
Suddenly, your brain starts working overtime
You focus on that “future work” statement and think:
“Wow, I could use a bunch of new work! This is exciting!”
And then the business side of your brain kicks in and you think:
“What if I don’t discount my rates? Will I be walking away from a super profitable freelance copywriting client?”
And then there’s always that little bit of:
“I wonder if this person is lying to me?”
(…and they’re just trying to get a discount this one time, and then I’m never going to hear from them again…?)
And sadly, that third scenario seems to be the one that happens more often than not.
So, here’s what I suggest you do in that situation…
Stay calm and carry on (with your normal copywriting rates.)
- Don’t get paid peanuts – hold to your rates.
- Unless the client is willing to commit to the additional work in writing - and you can offer them a volume discount – don’t do it.
Keep your copywriting rates as is – don’t get paid peanuts, and don’t discount your rates for a first-time client that you have absolutely NO history with whatsoever, and especially with no real guarantee of work!
Now what you can do to turn it around is suggest the client sign a monthly retainer agreement.
You can simply say: “Hey, if you expect that there’s going to be a lot of work later, then why don’t we sign a monthly retainer agreement, where I agree to create five pages or ten pages for you a month. Then I can provide a bulk discount, because I know that you’re going to be on a retainer and I know that you’re going to be pushing a lot of work my way.”
Now, if the client agrees to that, bonus! That might be something that you can work with. But if the client doesn’t feel right about signing a retainer contract with you, you might want to really consider if that “extra work later” is real – or just something that might happen.
For more discussion on this client payment conundrum, check out Heather’s latest post: “Discount your copywriting rates? No way! Try this instead.”
Thanks for tuning in! If you have any questions about this video, or suggestions for a “how to” topic, you can reach Heather at her email addy: heather@seocopywriting.com, or on Twitter @heatherlloyd.
photo thanks to discoodoni (Carmelia Fernando)
Want to learn more about how to start – and run – a profitable freelance copywriting business? Learn from 12 of the world’s leading experts: register for the Copywriting Business Boot Camp before classes start on February 11th!
Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Tips and techniques,Working with clients
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