Articles About Cable, DSL, And The Internet

Freelance Copywriters on the Internet: How to Tell the Difference Between Heaven-sent and Hack

If you're hunting for a good freelance copywriter and have never done it before, or if you have but find yourself needing another for the first time in a while, I don't envy you. This "brave new" e-world has turned your once straightforward search of a neatly stacked file of brochures and introductory letters into a bothersome wade through a mucky world of half-baked online listings and search results which only seem to list those freelance copywriters who are experts in SEO, or at least know what the heck it means (search engine optimization).

You: "I just need a good freelance copywriter to write this product launch brochure who's not going leave me hanging or make me ask for another round of financing."

Google: "Results 1-10 of 44,700 for brochure copywriter (0.17 seconds)."

And that's not even a very popular search term. Yet, with 44,700 doors (or thousands more depending on your search) to choose from, what are the chances you'll click the one that leads to:

A freelance copywriter who plays nice with designers and doesn't charge a first-born child

A freelance copywriter who knows when and where to offer their expertise on how to communicate a message

Creative, cliché-free, differentiating, success-enabling copy that is turned in clean and on deadline

It's probably better than a 1-in-44,700 chance, but you're still more likely to fall short than be wildly ecstatic about your freelance copywriter decision unless you add a few points of structure to guide you through the online chaos:

1. Look at freelance copywriters further down the list. Unless you're specifically looking for an SEO copywriter, how high a freelance copywriter or a link to a freelance copywriter ranks in search results is not indicative of how good that copywriter may be. Search engines rank web sites according to formulas of keyword saturation in site copy, meta tags, links and other places. Not how well a freelance copywriter's work achieved his client's objectives. Spend some time at this. There is more to the marketing, branding and advertising worlds than the Internet, and there are many worthy and successful freelance copywriters who work in the offline world, but have only a token presence on the Net. Go ahead and look at the top-ranked freelance copywriters, but investigate the others as well. Look at who their clients are, the work they do, the brands they've worked on, what their site is like and testimonials from past and current clients. That should give you a good gauge. Or if you like the advertising a specific company do a search for "CompanyX AND copywriter."

2. If you want quality, steer clear of "bidding" sites. There's too many of them already, and more seem to be popping up all the time. The online auction is a great concept for your old fishing equipment or clunker on cinder blocks, but not for a good freelance copywriter, designer, photographer or any other "creative service" professional. Sites like Elance.com, Guru.com and their many cousins allow service providers to whore themselves out for projects in a reverse auction where the lowest bid wins. Unfortunately, there really is no winner. The freelance copywriter (or whoever) gets a fraction of the fair market value for their work and the client, unless they're extremely lucky, will be stuck with a student, green amateur or someone who might not even speak English well—to say nothing about the copy they'll write.

3. Seek out freelance copywriters with online portfolios. Find freelance copywriters who have some kind of online portfolio. Go through it in detail. Try to get an idea of the communications problem the freelance copywriter had to solve and get a grasp on the talent and thinking that went into creating the finished copy. Then ask yourself, "If I was in the market for something like this, would this make me more interested in learning about this product or want to buy it?" The work of a good copywriter will be obvious.

4. Judge by the work, not the product. You may have a great new product that everyone's going to want, or an old product that everyone already has, but with a new feature or something. Now, your first instinct in finding someone who's going to write copy to sell this product is to find someone who, if you're selling underwater titanium door hinges, has written copy for underwater steel or plastic door hinges. Yes, too many marketers think if a freelance copywriter has only written for X and not Y, that they can't write for Y. This kind of thinking is misguided. Again, go back to No. 3 and look at the portfolio. Gauge the talent. If they did a great job communicating something about X, you can bet they'll be able to do the same for Y. A freelance copywriter isn't defined by the product. He is defined by how he writes about that product.

These guidelines, along with a little "buyer beware" mentality, will help you wield the Internet as the powerful information tool it's purported to be. You will find a good freelance copywriter.

Adam Barone is a freelance copywriter from the Boston area, who writes results - generating copy for such clients as The Timberland Company, Bank One, TJ Maxx, and other clients and ad agencies.

Visit him at http://www.adambarone.com. Subscribe his e-newsletter, CopyTHINK at adambarone.com/mailinglist/?p=subscribe .

©Adam Barone 2005. All rights reserved.

Reprint rights granted as long as the article is published in its entirety, including links.

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

MORE ARTICLES:

How to Pitch a Tent On the Internet - the Family Friendly Way
New tent website www.TentsAndMoreOnline.com launches to offer vast amounts of tent expertise, purchasing options and helpful tips and tricks for beginners and stalwart campers alike. The site offers nearly 100 pages of practical and relevant tent information designed to take the guesswork out of finding the best gear available.

In Internet Marketing The Only Certainty Is Constant Change
A generation in Internet marketing seems to last 12 months or less and therefore it is very important for online marketers to reassess their marketing plan frequently. It wasn't too long ago that popups and banner ads were all the rage and now they're about as welcome as a telemarketer or a lawyer.

Learning Internet Marketing the Hard Way
Ok, so after reading many articles on internet marketing I decided to take the plunge and started my own website, and decided that url should be something that by itself would bring the shoppers to the website in droves.The url chosen was www.

Internet Banking ? Banking With A Click
In the past, people often rush to the bank for last minute deposits or withdrawals resulting in long lines at the teller?s booth This was very inconvenient for most of us

The Three Resistant Internet Advertising Secrets
Drawing traffic to a website is nolonger a secret. However, It is believed that with internet marketing, the speed at which innovations change is three times faster than the way things change in normal life. This is why you will hear about one superb internet marketing strategy or trick and within three months it is no longer effective. That is how fast things change in internet marketing.

Internet Poker - 13 Rules to Follow
Add bad poker players to your buddy listPlaying poker is much nicer to play against bad players than good players. If you find a bad player add him/her to your buddy list.

Cell Phone Recycling Leader GRC Wireless Recycling Expands Cell Phone Recycling Operations
New state-of-the-art recycling facility can process over 5 million cell phones annually.

Air-Trekkers Announces the First Ever Internet Big Air World Challenge
Air-Trekkers, a leading North American supplier of the revolutionary jumping stilts, will be holding the first ever internet Big Air World Challenge. This cyber extreme sports meet will be held in May, 2008 in one of the most unique sports settings ever envisioned--the Internet.

At Home Internet Jobs, Who Said It Was Easy?
I'm sure you've heard it all before, build a website and people will come. But if you've built a money-making website, that's not what you want to hear.

Internet Communication Methods
How do we keep Internet communication simple? Let's start by taking a look at the different methods used to communicate on the web. It is important to understand the nuances and benefits of the different forms.

The Secret of a Successful Underground Fiber Optic Cable Installation
The two most common outdoor fiber optic cable installations are pole line aerial installation and underground cable installation. Underground cable installation can be buried directly underground or placed into a buried duct.

Life Outside Internet Marketing: An Interview
Although most of the people I interviewed for my book were connected to internet marketing in one way or another, Thea Westra is not. Ultimately, this book is about perspective, and I wanted to bring you marketing information from someone outside of internet marketing. Thea is the perfect person to do that, as she uses articles to market her business. I think you'll find her interview refreshing, and you'll also see how anyone, regardless of what industry they choose, can succeed with internet marketing.

Increasing Sales Through Strategic Internet Marketing
The Internet has now become an important medium for product and service advertisements. Almost every company that can afford print, radio and TV advertisements have also ventured into placing ads on the Internet.

Blogs And Your Work From Home Internet Business
As a work from home internet business entrepreneur you have several really good tools on the internet you can take advantage of in order to build your work from home business. A blog is just one of those tools that you can use and should be taking advantage of.