Subcontacting A Copywriter - A New Frontier

[ktaylor310]

Hello all!

I will need to sub-contract with a copywriter in the near future to help with an upcoming project. I've never sub-contracted this type of work before, any tips? Is there a standard that I can use regarding payment or a recommended payment structure?

Thanks for your help!

[tortilla09]

All I know is that the recommended payment today is Paypal.

[copywriter]

Rates are all over the board. Obviously, the better the copywriter and the stronger their ability to bring about results, the more you can expect to pay.

The preferred method of payment is not PayPal unless you use one of the sites such as Elance. These are generally newbies who are working for cheep in order to build their portfolios or people from other countries who want to write for the U.S. market. Nothing wrong with that (everybody has to start someplace) but just be sure to ask for examples and verify that the copywriter actually wrote them by checking references.

Most professional copywriters accept credit cards through their own merchant account or they'll allow you to pay by check. Yes, they'll also likely accept PayPal if you want to pay that way.

As for rates... could be anything. Some charge by the word, others by the page. Some by the hour, still others by the project. I know, it makes comparing apples to apples a real pain.

The biggest thing is to get proof of performance. If the copywriter can't show you that they have actually helped clients improve their conversion rate or increased their rankings or raised their ROI or gotten some sort of benefit from the copy, don't use them.

This should be more than the client saying, "We really liked the copy." The client should be able to say, "The copy really hit a nerve with our target audience. We saw an increase in ________ and our conversion rate rose to _________..." etc., etc.

Good luck!

[ktaylor310]

Karon, would it be lame to hire someone (at a lower rate) who is an editor by trade if I do the research and supply keywords? I'm not as concerned about saving $$ as I am using someone I can trust. This person has a high work ethic, is very intelligent and trustworthy, she just doesn't have SEO background.

Paypal certainly is NOT my recommended payment process. I had a client choose to pay from their bank account once (made that choice by accident) and it took approx. 6 days for the payment to clear and then another 3 days to transfer the payment to my account! I love ACH

[copywriter]

Whether you hire a copywriter or an editor, you'll be responsible for providing keywords SEO copywriters are not full-service SEOs. We usually don't do keyword research.

I, personally don't like copy that's been edited for SEO. It just flows so much smoother when you write it from scratch using the keywords as you go.

Plus, an SEO copywriter will know what else to do in addition to inserting keyphrases. Where to put them, how to put them, what tags to include, etc., etc.

[hittjw]

I'll second @copywriter's comments on hiring a copywriter verses an editor. You'll find the resulting work not up to par for lead generation or sales copy. Editors are excellent for grammatical, fact checking, and many other useful thing, but not selling.

Best,

Justin

[copywriter]

Welcome hittjw

[ktaylor310]

Whether you hire a copywriter or an editor, you'll be responsible for providing keywords SEO copywriters are not full-service SEOs.

Good to know that there is a difference. I had spoken w/an SEO company last week and their copywriter works directly with their clients to develop good keyword lists, but they are full service. A lot of people are not aware of the line between web designer and seo specialist either. Although I firmly believe that all web designers need to know as much as possible about organic seo so sites are created in a search engine friendly manner, that doesn't mean we are seo experts.

So... we have web designers, full service SEO companies, and seo copywriters... distinct jobs, but when we pull together we can take over the world!!!! Mwaaa ha ha

[ktaylor310]

Editors are excellent for grammatical, fact checking, and many other useful thing, but not selling.

Thanks Justin. I think you guys are right.