The Commodization of Copywriting: Coming to a Client Near You?
By Tom Chandler on May 13, 2007 in Business of Freelancing, Copywriting
Copywriters have never been immune from market pricing pressures. To avoid competitive pressure on fees, I preach the gospel of the “value-added copywriter,” believing that adding value insulates us from the worst of them.
Recently, I spent a little time poking around Craigslist, job listing boards and even the bid boards (where copywriters underbid each other for jobs). All seem intent on dropping the money-making bottom out of the barely-living-wage copywriting world.
I don’t think bid boards are a great place to make a living or grow a copywriting career. But I was pretty sure I wouldn’t see online bidding boards popping at the upper levels of marketing.
Today, maybe I did.
Commoditizing Marketing
I just got off the phone with a good friend from the S.F. Bay Area; a talented copywriter who specializes largely in case studies.
He sometimes writes for a marketing firm, who recently received some bad news from a big client (one of the biggest manufacturers of high-tech equipment). We’ll call them GigantCo.
GigantCo recently told the marketing firm that life was about to change. If they wanted to work with the GigantCo, they had to meet a long list of terms and conditions (including errors and omission insurance costing nearly $1K a month).
Tough for a small company. But not not unprecedented. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there.
Meeting the terms and conditions only qualified the marketer to bid for work in an online setting against other marketing firms.
Simply put, the jobs would go to the lowest bidders.
Ouch.
Quality of the work? Who cares?
Aptitude for the project? Experience? Prior Results? Apparently they’re not a big part of the equation.
Cheaper Isn’t Better
I’ve largely given up railing against the unfairness of the world (well, not really). But I have to wonder at the intelligence of awarding projects with little regard for the ability to do the best job.
One wonders if the corporate attitude towards “savings at all costs” would change if executive positions were filled in the same manner.
Years ago, I did some work for GigantCo, cleaning up after a consultant who charged $50K for a direct mail project that never produced a single mailer. I honestly can’t remember what the mailing program ultimately looked like, but I do remember that I got something out the door — and for far less than $50 grand.
So, OK, GigantCo’s record on marketing achievement isn’t sterling to begin with. And over the long term, I firmly believe a focus on bargain-basement pricing will lead to root-cellar results.
Still, this is one trend I’d rather not see repeated. Is anyone else experiencing downward pressure on their copywriting fees?
[tags]marketing, freelancing, freelance copywriting, freelance marketing, value-added copywriter[/tags]
Hi Tom, Ouch indeed!
Yes, I’ve been seeing this downward push for sometime. My response, like yours, has been to expand my skills and continue to add value.
But the push remains. And like you, I also have a story. Major pharmaceutical publisher asked me to do one-step email marketing for a wide number of their books and publications. They wanted, and this is per email, mind you:
** 3-5 subject heads (Not for testing, I discovered. Just so they could pick the one they liked better.)
** 3 different headlines AND intro paragraphs.
** 48 hour turnaround
They wanted to pay $100 per email. GACK! They also balked at signing an agreement that said they have to pay on term or be open to litigation. (Pretty boilerplate stuff.)
(I did wind up working for them, fashioning a 10-project commitment within a specific timeframe at triple the rate. I did great work, but after a few contract extensions, they decided to terminate. I don’t know for sure, but my bet is they’re back to $100/email copywriters.)
And oh, I’m not allowed to mention who they are on my site or in my literature. Can’t imagine why.
Roberta Rosenberg, The Copywriting Maven | May 13, 2007 | Reply
Hi, great post by the way and I agree fully with you about the system of bidding for work. It does mean the person willing to work for the least amount of money gets the job. And so often this means that the work gets done poorly. I found a great site through one of those bidding forums that is both professional and not ridiculously priced.
Peter | May 13, 2007 | Reply
Peter: I’m not interested in running ads for copywriters who aren’t contributing to the conversation, so I axed the link at the end of your post.
Hope you understand.
Tom Chandler | May 14, 2007 | Reply
Roberta: I remembered you said somewhere that you’ve seen downward pressure on a lot of projects for the last ten years. Me too — at least since the dot.bomb meltdown.
“Generic” work — simple press releases, simple articles, etc — have gotten cheaper over the last decade.
Tom Chandler | May 14, 2007 | Reply
Tom,
Excellent post.
Being a “value added” copywriter is going to be necessary evil in our business in the years to come.
I accomplish this by providing marketing consulting services along with my copywriting services.
Now…I am more valuable to my client. And as for fees, still collecting the higher end fees because I can “package” my services and information.
Naturally, this requires a marketing mindset and face to face negotiation and selling skills…but you already need that as a copywriter anyhow.
Joseph Ratliff
http://www.profitpartnersconsulting.com
Joseph Ratliff | May 14, 2007 | Reply
Good post Tom. And yes, this trend has been around for a while.
Since I sometimes freelance, I check out the proz.com website to get an idea of the translation opportunities in my field. And the prices are ridiculously low. You really need to do a load to actually get by.
It’s pathetic. So I abide to the same logic as all of you: bring added value. If the client doesn’t care, don’t care about them… if you can afford it :)
superk | May 14, 2007 | Reply
I’ve given up on trawling sites like Craiglist because writing for the pay level offered just isn’t sustainable. Not unless I want to turn my business into a conveyer belt of ugly, 1 draft copy.
Hopefully more businesses will start thinking of using RSS as a marketing tool. Then quality will have to imrpove - and the prospects for writers with it.
I have been hoping this for the last year though and we still seem a long way from RSS being used for marketing on a mass scale. Heh hoo. At least I can keep up on my reading and get more golf practice in, which some would say is a more pressing need.
Matt Ambrose | May 14, 2007 | Reply
Some time ago, I thought I’d apply for a low-paying article job through one of the job boards, thinking — with my years of experience — I’d get a gig in an instant and write a blog post from the experience.
Naturally, I didn’t hear a single word from the three companies I contacted.
So much for investigative “copyjournalism.”
Given how quickly technology changes, I’m reluctant to focus overmuch on any technology or media channel. RSS is likely the future, but adoption has been slow.
Maybe next year…
Tom Chandler | May 14, 2007 | Reply
I think this trend is making it increasingly difficult for newbies in the field to sort out what’s workable and what’s not. I recently bid a job and AGONIZED over the pricing –I intentionally bid low in hopes of increasing my chances of landing the work but wanted to be able to pay my bills in the mean time! In the end I lost the job — they said they loved my proposal but the bid was too high!
Susan Minarcin | May 15, 2007 | Reply
Susan: I think you’ve touched on a key problem.
In an environment where all the evidence suggests that writing articles for $20 is what “professional” writers do, how are newer writers supposed to know that’s no way to make a living?
Too bad about the gig. I’m fortunate in that I’m not often involved in competitive bidding situations, but when I am, it’s always a heartbreaker to lose.
When you hear “we loved you but the price was too high” it’s sometimes simply a negotiating tactic, but it’s also possible you have an internal champion who wants you to have the work.
I wouldn’t drop my price, but I would try to demonstrate how the cost of better copy is largely insignificant compared to revenues generated by better response rates, better branding, etc.
Good luck!
Tom Chandler | May 15, 2007 | Reply
It all goes back to three items:
1) Positioning - Do you position yourself as a “value added” copywriter? An expert? What else do you bring to the table that separates yourself from the rest of the pack? Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has a unique talent or ability that can define them as a copywriter.
2) Selling Skills - Anyone who thinks this business does not involve a full set of selling skills should consider re-evaluating their view. You sell in print, and need to be able to do so in person as well. Sometimes that requires you use “takeaway” selling, where instead of lowering your fees or bidding lower, you simply say “Thank you for your time” and move on to clients who better understand the value of your service.
3) Negotiation Skills - Your business depends on the fees you generate. Why on earth would you settle for a lesser fee than you deserve? We obviously cannot be unreasonable, but the client will tell you when you are. When a client says “no” to your fee, that simply means you did not convey enough value in the negotiation to justify the bid you quoted.
And sometimes…saying “no” yourself can be very powerful. :)
Joseph Ratliff
Joseph Ratliff | May 15, 2007 | Reply
Joseph: Certainly you’re right — copywriters need to practice the same marketing techniques they preach.
I’ve covered negotiation and positioning here — even created a Six Point Plan for writers stuck writing low-paying work.
There are a truckload of newer writers clogging up the lower rungs of the food chain, and with no “selection mechanism” in place (in the bad old days, if you wanted to be a copywriter you learned at an ad agency or corporate gig), it will be hard to get noticed unless you’re doing everything right — including the three things you mentioned.
Thanks for the comment!
Tom Chandler | May 15, 2007 | Reply
Great post Tom. I agree that the prices companies are willing to pay are trending downward, which is bad news for me since I just recently got into this business.
Guess I could always try making money with blogs eh?
Mike Sieber | May 15, 2007 | Reply
Mike: I’ve said before that the getting is pretty good right now — provided you’re willing to forego the scrum for $20 articles and concentrate on building a sustainable writing practice.
I visited your blog and your site. You’re off to a great start. Sharpen your pitch a little, demonstrate some capabilities the rest of us don’t, pick the clients you want to work for, and pitch them.
Do those things, and you’ll find yourself in front of 97% of the copywriters on the planet.
Good luck.
Tom Chandler | May 15, 2007 | Reply
Scrum, indeed. Yesterday I received a spam email from an outfit offering seo-smart content for purchase. Cost to ME was about 2 cents a word.
Yes, that’s about what Charles Dickens was getting paid to write his potboilers in the London press.
Can you even imagine what the writers actually get?
Roberta Rosenberg, The Copywriting Maven | May 17, 2007 | Reply
Gotta love it when payments to writers keep current with the cost of living.
Tom Chandler | May 17, 2007 | Reply
Tom,
You couldn’t be more right. Good copywriters are worth more, and it’s crazy that they should bother to accept less. Anytime a copywriter takes on a new assignment, there ought to be the understanding that they don’t just sit down and start spewing out copy–and if they do, they’re not worth much to begin with.
Good copy is about the art of connecting with an audience, not churning out corporate hype/jargon/blahness. In my experience, good copywriters are the rarest commodity on any website development project–and it’s generally the last consideration.
Dave Young discusses this tragicomic stuff over at GrokDotCom. Check it out!
Robert Gorell | May 18, 2007 | Reply
Tom,
It has been a little while since I have visited last…but I read your Six Point Plan.
Excellent. You mention “old school” techniques…but if the writings of Claude Hopkins still hold value, I guess they are not old school huh? :)
The one main point I took from your plan is “make copywriting your business.”
That is sage advice. Everyone reading this post should check a few replies up and use the link that Tom put there to the “Six Point Plan.”
Great stuff Tom.
Joseph Ratliff
Copywriter, and Author of The Profitable Business Edge Blog
http://profitablebusinessedge.blogspot.com
Joseph Ratliff | Jun 18, 2007 | Reply
Thanks Joseph — both for the comment, and for stopping by. It’s good to have a plan, even if you have to change it.
Tom Chandler | Jun 18, 2007 | Reply