Recently, I responded to the question above. There was more to the question… in particular, how to tell a company that, based on what you can see of their marketing material, you could do a better job. In the designer’s words:
Is there a tactful way to tell a company you could do things better?
Here’s how I responded:
Here’s the rub… how do you know what “better” is in the eyes of the client?
The bottom line is results. I work mainly with direct marketers and in some cases I’m stunned by what they’ve used in the past… some of it the ugliest stuff you’ve ever seen. Yet, it has worked tremendously well for them and that’s what they care about: results
I’ve learned not to presume that I can do something “better” for them until I know what they’ve done in the past and what results they’re getting from those efforts.
My quick advice is to introduce yourself to your local companies and start asking them about their marketing material. One question in particular to ask is: Is your marketing material getting you the results you want?
If they say yes, congratulate them on their success, let them know what you do and that you’re available, ask them to put you in touch with anyone who needs help with their marketing material, etc.
If they’re not totally pleased about their marketing results, offer to look things over and give your advice. At this early stage, simply try to be a resource for them. If you’re providing useful info (and they can afford to hire you) they’ll let you know when they’re ready for you to work on their material.
Until you know their background and what results they’re getting, I don’t believe you’re in a position to tell them that you could do something better. Sure, you could make comments from a technical standpoint, but you’re not at the point that you could accurately evaluate their marketing process.
Sad to say, I started off the writing portion of my freelance career giving “how to make it better” advice without asking about how the material was performing. It’s an easy mistake to make, especially if you’ve been reading books and going to seminars to learn how to do design and copywriting “right”.
Just remember… “right” is often defined in the mind of the client as “what works”. Sometimes it won’t be the prettiest thing to look at and the grammar may not be perfect. But fixing those things doesn’t guarantee that the material will actually be “better” when it comes to generating results.
