That sounds pretty off-putting to potential clients. Surely you get more flies with honey than with vinegar? (Yes, but who wants flies? I know I don’t.) Before you launch the Freelancer’s Code of Conduct at me, read this latest instalment of Who’s Pissed on Sarah’s Cornflakes Now?
Copywriters.
Ok, technically, copywriters haven’t pissed on my cornflakes (that’s a particularly niche market). Listen, I like copywriters; I’m something of a copywriter myself.
And even though some are my competition, they enjoy connecting on LinkedIn. Maybe it’s the creative community hive mind or summat.
This article has an unplanned entomology theme.
But some copywriters cause me to worry. I sometimes wonder how the hell they cope with the seemingly crippling anxiety they experience each time they deal with a client. One copywriter, in particular, made me really worry when she posted about a recent project.
This individual was shitting a brick coz she was waiting for client feedback. In the days when I was a content writer, submitting the first draft was nerve-wracking. Any business writer who cares feels that. You want the client to love it. You want it to be exactly what they expected, actually, you want it to exceed expectations. You do not want them to say “Sarah, this is fucking terrible”. But this poor copywriter expected a metric fuckton of rewrites all via… wait for it… VIDEO CALL. Frankly, I’d be crapping building supplies too.
I could bang on about rewrites. But I won’t bore you (too late). The short answer is, I never did rewrites. NEVER. I did tweaks to the information, but I wouldn’t allow myself to fall into the endless demoralising cycle of the perpetual redraft.
Was that answer short enough for you?
And can someone tell me what the hell happened to normal phone calls? Lockdown has a lot to answer for. We don’t have to feel like we’re in the room with colleagues and clients now, so can we please, for the love of normality, use a bastard phone? Also, decent, civilised businesses know email is the honourable way to send copy amendments. Only a psychopath would choose to pick apart someone’s work face-to-face.
But hang on a moment…
Looks like this copywriter only has herself to blame because when she writes, she views the act of writing as something she does with the client. I dunno if this approach is her choice, but she’s concerned about being seen as “off-putting”. That sorta implies reluctant compliance.
No, there’s nothing wrong with collaboration. As a consultant, I work alongside folks to make their websites perform better. I listen, I ask questions, and we both hash out the issues, but I find the solutions because they don’t know what they are. That’s what they pay me to do. At no point do I take SEO advice from them. We can discuss my reasoning and walk through the process, but they either trust me or they don’t.
Thankfully, my clients know what they’re getting from me, so there’s never a need to jump on Google Meet to undo everything I just did. However, if you’re open to this copywriter’s flavour of collaboration, you might find yourself sliding down the greasy slope towards micromanagement, and no self-respecting freelancer, AKA business owner, should find themselves there.
FYI: Being “off-putting” to neurotic business owners is just fine. I don’t want to attract prospects who needlessly abuse my time, thinking their opinion on SEO is as valid as mine.
First published, 22nd April 2024.
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