In the beginning of your copywriting career, getting clients is your #1 challenge.
But once you’ve settled on a method to get clients, this issue will dissolve (trust me). At this stage, you’ll worry about getting these clients killer results with your copy.
You’ll do everything in your power to make sure every piece of copy you write is in fact the best piece you’ve ever written – over and over again.
That’s step 2.
When you advance to step 3, your copy has generated solid results and you know how to approach a project, no matter what type of copy it is.
At this stage, you start raising your prices. You have the proof to back it up – and your clients are happy to pay up for quality work.
However… there is a glass ceiling when it comes to how much you can ask per project.
Obviously… there are copywriters out there that can charge mid 5- and low 6-figure project fees with revenue share… but this is extremely rare (and not even necessary to pursue).
Here’s what I mean:
If you got the results to back it up, there are a lot of clients that happily pay between $5k and $10k per project if you can get them results.
But… can you handle two $10k projects per month? Can you be sure that what you deliver is still the same quality as if you only focused on ONE project?
Can you risk burning out just to please more clients?
I’m bringing this up because at around the 6-figure mark, most copywriters will need to think about implementing systems and start outsourcing copy projects if they want to grow – and get out of 24/7 service-delivery.
Now – I know: outsourcing copy projects can be extremely scary.
You’ve build your reputation through thousands of hours and tons of projects, getting paid by people that trust YOU (and no one else) to deliver amazing copy.
And now, you should just hand over these projects to someone that could be great – but you have no idea if she or he has the juice to back up their claims…
What do you do?
Well, after working as a subcontractor for many 6-figure copywriters, here’s a list of things that has always helped me give my clients some peace of mind.
Determine whether someone is a good fit for you moving from freelancer to agency by following these x principles:
- Check their portfolio (obviously – doesn’t tell you a helluva lot about their skills – but it gives you an indication on the type, variety and style they’re writing)
- Responsiveness – are you always getting a reply within at least 24h? You don’t want someone you can’t rely on to deliver on time.
- Have them pitch you ideas for short form copy (or send you the outline for long-form) before they start the writing process. This way, you get to see how good they are at coming up with ideas or how they approach a copy project.
- Do a smallish test project – a landing page, a couple of emails, some short-form copy that requires little risk from your side and see where it goes. This way, you get to vet their speed, communication skills and reliability for a couple hundred bucks and can re-evaluate.
- Establish what you expect – a contractor is only as good as the instructions he gets. In the beginning, send a sample or similar piece of copy so that your contractor knows which direction he should go.
Yes – some copywriters promise you the world – but deliver nothing but embarrassing squat. But if you follow these 5 steps, you’ll quickly and relatively cheaply identify if someone is a good for you or not.
And if you’re a copywriter looking to scale your practice – but have yet to find someone that’s a good fit, I have a proposal for you:
Why don’t you head over to my PORTFOLIO (click) and check out some of the copy I’ve written for my clients in the past.
If you like what you see, fill out the contact form by clicking on CONTACT on the top right of this website.
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