Ah…Sweet Vindication!

Do you remember my rant about dealing with wannabe writers? I mentioned a client who had majored in journalism and how they have a tendency to nitpick your copy.

It seems that he wasn’t a partner in the venture as he claimed. He was an employee and didn’t have authorization to hire me.

When I sent a follow-up invoice noting that the bill was past due, I got a call from the real owner.

The former “partner” was no longer with the company, but had left some of my work in his desk when he departed. They needed more work done (including rewriting work that he’d done) and asked if I was available.

We reached an agreement on the outstanding bill and I now have a new (legitimate, this time) client.

I shouldn’t have picked on all journalism majors. I’ve worked with some who are great writers but admit that they aren’t copywriters. Others have more work than they can handle.

I guess the lesson here is to beware of someone who spends too most of his time telling you how great he is.

Reselling Your Services

I have an ongoing contract to write monthly newsletter articles for a client. As per an earlier conversation regarding the theme of the month, I wrote a series of articles for the next edition. Then, I ran into the person who is my contact in this organization. I mentioned that I had the articles written in time for her deadline. She said that she had written some articles herself and probably wouldn’t need my material.

My initial reaction was going to be to remind her that we had a contract and I would have to bill her for my time. Instead, I decided to take a less confrontational approach. (Always a good idea with a regular and pleasant-to-work-with client.)

Since she had not given me specific instructions to write these articles, I told her that I wouldn’t bill her for them unless she used them. I told her I would email them to her and let her look at them. If she chose to use them I would bill them, if not, I would wait for her direction for the next edition.

I emailed the articles and waited. When the newsletter came out, my articles were in it. It was followed by an email requesting some additional work on another matter. Since then, I’ve gotten a lot of work from another department in this same organization.

Occasionally, you’ll have a client that forgets the value that a professional writer brings to the table. At that point you can resell your abilities, or force them to honor the contract. If you’re good enough, your abilities SHOULD win the day. I’m glad I took this approach. If it hadn’t worked out, at least I wouldn’t have burned any bridges.

Under Pressure

It’s interesting how the mind works. I’ve been under a tight deadline and have more work than I really feel like doing.

I got up this morning after a very restless night and sure didn’t feel like working today. One of the joys of being self-employed is being able to take a day off when you want to. (Wanna bet?)

I worked on my new side business for a while, then spent some time on the phone with one of my partners and realized I was falling further behind.

I went out into the yard and started to do some exercises. (Not one of my favorite things, lately.)

When I came back in, I started to work and suddenly was reenergized. I knocked out my entire daily to-do list and got a good start on the rest of the week.

When I looked at the clock, 6 hours had passed. Amazing the way time flies when you’re in the zone.

Sometimes the planets just line up in your favor. We’ve even started to get a handle on this Google Adwords thing. (Maybe.)

Everyone’s A Writer

The first thing you learn in the copywriting business is that everyone’s a writer. And… they all think they’re good. Some of them are…but most are not. Some…should never be allowed to hold a pen in their “hot little hands.”

You’ll meet some who like to “bloviate” in print, thinking that everyone will be impressed with their command of the English language. (They won’t.) There will be others who treat English like it’s not their native tongue.

Oft times when you write for a large organization your copy passes through many hands. Each of those hands is just twitching to “tweak” your copy, so they can impress someone up the line. The version that lands on the desk of the final decision maker will be entirely different from what you wrote. You might not even recognize it. (This happened to me. If it hadn’t been for the title, I would not have known I wrote it.)

The easiest way to avoid this is to involve all decision makers right from the beginning of the project. Explain what you’re going to write and why. Let them know that this is writing in a “conversational tone” and is designed to be read, not to be grammatically correct.

Once they know where you are going, it’s easier for them to understand what you are trying to do.

Keep all parties in the loop. Email copies to everyone, even when you make changes. When they want changes that go against all the rules of sales copy…make them. Make them cheerfully, but explain (in a nice way) why you’re against it.

If the copy gets results even with their changes…be humble. Thank them for showing you a new way of doing things. If it bombs, be considerate and helpful. Resist the urge to say, “I told you so.”

Finally…let it go and be happy, knowing you’ve done your very best.

A Rental Truck Copywriting Lesson

My wife’s company is replacing most of their office furniture. I was volunteered (shanghaied) to help remove and store the old furniture. It will be done in phases and involves renting a truck on several different occasions.

On our first foray into the truck rental experience…the service was terrible. This is a national company whose name is instantly recognizable. (They use an orange and white color scheme.)The truck barely ran, was dirty, and the extra equipment we ordered wasn’t inside. (Luckily, I looked before we left.) The staff acted as though we were an intrusion on their day. The young man who was to check me out on the truck was busy on his cell phone. It must have been very important because he gestured in the direction of this sputtering, filthy beast and nodded that tit was ready for me.

Our next experience was with a competitor and the difference in service was like the difference between night and day. (This company’s name rhymes with Snyder.) The service, the people, and the vehicle were all first rate. Guess who’ll get the rest of our business?

This experience got me to thinking about the customer service we copywriters provide to our clients. Given two copywriters of equal ability, who do you think the client will give his business to? The Prima Donna who is hard to work with…or the guy who is willing to compromise and become part of the team. You need a big ego to succeed in the copywriting business. But it should be tempered with a generous dollop of humility.