The freelance copywriting market has been corrupted

Who needs quality writing?  What is quality writing?  Does quality writing still exist in the world in 2009? These questions are legitimate and warranted in light of the state of freelance copywriting today. 

The staggering unemployment rate in the U.S. has flooded the freelance copywriting market with untested amateurs who use the service marketplaces to find uninformed buyers.  Copywriters in countries where English is the second language are flooding the world market also, writing English copy and content for an English-reading market.  Both groups pose problems for buyers, professional copywriters and even readers.

Service marketplace buyers suffer

In service marketplaces like Elance and Guru, buyers are snatching up the work of unproven writers because of their low-ball bids.  The buyer never sees beyond the bid amount and rarely blames the amateur writer when the copy or content falls flat.  Brand and image seem to take a back seat when a page of words comes so cheaply.

The net result of this trend is to drag down the fees for copywriting.  While free markets normally have a positive outcome for the consumer, the effect on copywriting is just the opposite.  

Buyers, in the service marketplaces, get copy and content that does not convert their site visitors or sell their products or services.  The buyers are left scratching their heads wondering if they need a new sales approach.  Their sales strategy may be sound, but the words that convey that strategy may be poorly planned and poorly structured. 

The $60 dollar copywriter-quality is not in their vernacular

Imagine the quality of writing when a writer bids $60 to author all of the content for a new website.  Juxtapose that writer’s experience and mindset with the requirements of the website.  In most cases, the website has been developed to sell a product or service.  Each page of that website has a specific purpose and mission, all of which is compromised by hiring the $60 writer.

Imagine also the impact of the web content on native English speakers and readers when the content has been authored by someone who does not speak or write English as a first language.  The writer is confident that their copy or content is written in perfect English, but the site visitor knows the difference and the image of the site owner’s company becomes dubious.

It may seem too cliché’ at times to state that ‘you get what you pay for,’ but the reality of the freelance writers marketplace is that a buyer is always left with what they paid for.  In the case of a website, the all-important content, tasked with achieving sales and brand-building, is ineffective at doing either.  The company eventually fails and the site owner points the finger at the competition or the market.  The sad truth is that the content they purchased may have done just as well as a placeholder.

The net result of hiring an inferior writer

What can a buyer get from a freelance writer for $60?  Words.

Take the example of an e-commerce website.  The content on the homepage has to be effective at selling a site visitor and prompting that visitor to explore the site beyond the homepage.  A professional content writer knows how to do this and what will motivate the site visitor to remain on the site past the first paragraph on the homepage.  A $60 content writer knows how to construct a paragraph.

The About Us, FAQ and Service or Product pages all offer additional opportunities to sell.  An inexperienced content writer sees these pages in stark terms.  There is enormous missed opportunity for the site owner because the amateur writer only regurgitates what he or she is told.  There is no value-added benefit.

How many companies will lose the potential for meeting or exceeding sales goals because they decided to take the cheap approach and hire the lowest cost copy or content writer?  How many companies will fail because they hired a writer who could barely author their own bio?  When quality writing is sacrificed, who suffers most? 

We are living in an era where service providers can access a worldwide audience.  Some of those service providers are experienced and competent and some will be a bane to their employers.  Many site owners will never realize their impact and many small businesses will fail because they scrimped on the most important commodity they require; quality writing.  Hire experience.  

Contact us today.  It’s your image.

The Great Writer is one of America’s premier copywriters. Our track record for satisfied clients and effective copy and content writing is second to none.

If you missed our March content development special, contact us with your project requirements and see what we can do to meet your budget. We are not the cheapest copywriter on the block, but we give you real value for your money.  You get what you pay for and that is never truer than when you hire a writer.

Let’s face it, your writing project has to meet certain goals and expectations and that means that the writer you hire must understand your service or product. Seems like an easy task.  It isn’t.

Some writers never ask the right questions. The Great Writer wants to know all about your product, your company and your goals.  Those goals are our goals.

Contact us today with your copywriting, content writing, marketing collateral, sales letter, press release, white paper, feature article or tagline project.

For more intense content development, web site design, SEO, domain research or static web page content projects, visit Solution Content. We have your writing needs covered.

Effective writing, always researched and always designed to satisfy.

What motivates the visitors to your web site to buy your service or product? It may be the pictures, but most often it’s the content.  Words are powerful tools, and when constructed properly, they work on a reader’s brain in a way that says; buy now.

Words cannot be splashed onto a web page haphazardly. They need to convey a message that is purposefully created to convert readers to customers. That message requires careful attention to sales language, sales psychology and marketing knowhow. Only carefully crafted wording will persuade and only deliberate language will sell. Your web content costs you money if it doesn’t accomplish its mission.

As a former professional salesperson, sales trainer and marketing manager, I have studied and lived professional selling and marketing. I can tell you that both are an art and a science. During the years that I was in the top 1% of salespeople nationwide in my profession, I learned what motivates people to buy. Selling success requires a consistent, repetitious, methodical approach.

The worst thing you can do with your web content, sales letters, marketing materials or landing pages is to trust the copy or content to a writer who knows little about selling. It’s akin to asking your plumber to perform heart surgery. Writing to sell requires additional expertise.

Take a moment to view my ‘accolades’ page and see if you find a consistent theme. Happy clients, yes satisfied clients, have expressed their feedback and delight with the work I do.

Your web site has a purpose; it has a goal, even a mission. Its job is to produce sales and customers. It is one of the myriad approaches you use as a business person every day. Make certain that you hire a writer who understands that mission. Contact me today.