Posts Tagged ‘copywriters’

How not to approach a potential creative partner

Monday, September 15th, 2008

It’s always a good idea to make connections with other creative professionals. If you’re a designer, find ways to meet copywriters and vice-versa.

Just as important, if you’re a designer, find ways to meet designers who do what you don’t do. For example, I don’t do logos, but I have had requests for logo work in the past. Rather than simply say, “Sorry, I don’t do that,” I’d prefer to refer the person to someone who does do logo work… someone I know and trust. (Or maybe you take the job but outsource the work to someone you know while collecting a project management fee.)

Same thing applies if you’re a copywriter. Maybe you just focus on financial writing but you get a request for some form of technical writing. If that’s something not up your alley, be willing to refer that person to someone in your network who can handle that.

What got me thinking about this topic was the following e-mail I received from a copywriter. This is how not to approach a potential creative partner:

“I was impressed by your website, and I’d like to work with top copywriters like you to create direct mail control packages. Please take a minute to visit my new [...] website.”

This person was referring to my main business website… the one that says “Direct Market Layout and Design.” In fact, one line of copy on my site reads, “If you’re in need of a writer, I can put you in touch with someone who will handle your copywriting needs.”

So based on the e-mail and apparent visit to my website, I was curious how she got the impression I was a “top copywriter.”

I can only guess, but the e-mail comes across as a form letter sent to people without much research into whether they’re copywriters to begin with much less “top copywriters.”

My intent here isn’t to mock anyone, but to point out what can result in this sort of approach. I can only tell you how I felt about this, but I’m guessing I’m not alone. The e-mail didn’t inspire me to want to work with this person. Fair or not, I’m doubting her ability to write great copy and put in the research that goes into great copy when she didn’t really do much research into me and my business before contacting me.

And I really have no idea if she’s only looking for copywriters, or was also looking for designers but forgot to change the copy in her e-mail to reflect that.

Let me give you what I think is a better approach if you’re going to blindly solicit for creative partners.

1. Be clear in your own mind on why you’re contacting people. Are you just desperate for work and hoping someone will throw some scraps your way? Or are you genuinely trying to create a network that will benefit everyone involved?

2. Be clear in what you’re looking for. Say you’re designer and you’re looking to connect with copywriters. Based on your own work, what types of copywriters might your clients have a need for? If you’re working on magalogs, you may want to meet health and financial writers since that they are two of the biggest fields that use magalogs.

3. When you find a potential partner, take the time to really look at their work and read what they say on their site. Is this someone who, at least on the surface, appears like someone who has the skills they claim to have?

4. When you do make contact, refer to specific things they said on their site and work they’ve done. That shows you’re paying attention.

5. Be clear to them why you’re making contact. Understand that this person may have contacts who do the same thing you do. But extend the offer for them to look at your work or ask any questions they might have. You might also mention that they’re under no obligation to respond.

That’s just my ideas for a proper way to approach this. You might have a better way or do things slightly different.

The main point I want to get across is that with just a little extra time, you could be approaching someone as a professional yourself, and not someone who is blindly contacting everyone in sight. Not only does that usually fail to gain you anything, it can actually hurt your business and how potential partners perceive you.

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Respect what the copywriter is doing

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

For whatever strange reason, most of my layout jobs don’t involve direct contact with the copywriter. I end up working just with the client and if there are any issues with the copy, the client talks to the copywriter, not me.

Some clients prefer that method because they’re concerned that if they’re not always the go-between, the copywriter and designer may make a change and forget to tell the client and, ultimately, it’s the client holding the bag when it comes to success or failure of the promotion. Fair enough.

But despite not having the one-on-one contact with the copywriter, I strongly encourage my clients to bounce last minute ideas or changes off the copywriter even if his or her work is complete and they’re, in the mind of the client, out of the picture.

Let me give you two examples.

1. I was working on the layout of a newspaper ad. It had a bold, one word headline at the top. The client suggested to me that we include a photo at the top of the ad that illustrated that one word. I found a great photo, but because the photo included the same word that was in the headline, I felt that having both right next to each other was redundant.

So I asked the client to bounce the options off the copywriter. The options were to have both the photo and the text headline together, not use the photo at all, or use the photo and remove the text headline.

But great copywriters don’t throw in words or do things without reason. For all I knew, that one word has tested favorably in other marketing projects, so including a photo next to the headline might decrease response. And for better or worse, if an ad bombs, it’s often the copywriter who takes the hit whether justified or not.

So since we’d be tampering with the copywriter’s vision of the ad with the possible inclusion of a photo, and even though the client felt the copywriter’s job was done, I felt strongly that the writer should be brought in to give his opinion, especially if he felt it might affect response.

2. Similar situation, but this time with envelope copy. A client needed an envelope for a sales letter. The client never talked to the copywriter after envelope copy, but was contacting me about putting together a basic design.

Again, I suggested the client talk with the copywriter about the effects of copy on the mailing envelope vs. no copy. Because if the envelope isn’t doing its job in getting the recipient to open it, the sales letter won’t get read and then we’re back to the copywriter getting the blame for a failed promotion.

I had my own opinion on whether or not envelope copy was necessary in this particular case, but my respect for the copywriter meant that I wanted her to be brought in for her advice based on her experience with other promotions she had done.

And you know what? She wasn’t asked for her opinion. I don’t know why. I did give the client the pros and cons of envelope copy and based on that, and despite my suggestion he talk with his writer, he made the decision without her.

So there are probably two lessons to take from this. First, respect the copywriter and suggest the client talk with him or her if changes are being made that seem to take things in a direction that they writer wasn’t planning. Second, familiarize yourself with the marketing process beyond just the design. Because at some point, you’re probably going to be giving advice on matters that are not just design-related and you’ll want to be speaking from a position of confidence and authority.

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