Freelance Copywriting

Template - questions to ask your prospective client

What is the nature of your business? (This could be anything from management consultancy to house builder, from
retailer to electronics manufacturer).

Who is your target audience? For example….

Internal staff use (such as a company induction booklet)

Affluent over 55s beginning to plan their retirement
Female, 16-19 year olds seeking fashionable, budget clothing advice
Local authority service provider, middle management
Large company computer manager/IT director who is purchase decision maker
Building materials specifiers (eg architects, surveyors, lead building contractors)

What will the finished article be? For example…

Product brochure
Company brochure
Press release
Mail campaign
Corporate video script

What is its objective? For example…

Generating new sales leads

Positioning the company as a top-of-the market/midrange supplier
Company awareness within the marketplace
Detailed product descriptions for product specifiers
A trading website that sells direct to the consumer

Who are your main competitors? You can then visit their competitors’ websites to get a better feel for what may be
expected in their sector.

Is it a re-write or an original piece? Clients have often already developed what they want, but recognize that it needs to
be ‘breathed on’ by a pro. Others expect you to take the lead. Some may expect you to do your own research. All this
will dictate the price you propose.

What ‘tone of voice’ (written style) should you adopt? For example…

Clear, corporate style for educated senior management.

Conversational, warm/friendly.
Snappy straight-to-the-point sales pitch.
Quirky/entertaining.

What is the anticipated word count? Sometimes clients will know in advance the number of words required (typically
a magazine article or an updating of an existing brochure).

The nuts and bolts – sorting features from the benefits

Experienced sales people invest a lot of time sorting out the benefits from the features associated with
whatever they are selling. We need to do the same. More importantly, like them, we need to really
understand the difference between features and benefits.
It sounds obvious, but it’s not. Let’s take an example. Your client asks you to write them a company
description. They have told you that:
They have offices in every continent
They have been in business for more than twenty years
Their key staff are all qualified specialists in their field

Are they benefits? No way. They are features. Features are the things that describe the product or
service. Benefits are what the product delivers. ‘Offices in every continent’ is a feature. A benefit
associated with that feature might be ‘local support, working in your own time zone, understanding local
trading conditions’. A cooker that has ‘fan assisted heating’ (feature) means ‘faster, more even cooking’ –
the benefits.

Whether writing about your client, their products or services, you can recognize features because they
usually begin with phrases like ‘It does…’, ‘It is….’’ It has….’. Features are factual and relatively easy to list;
benefits are much more difficult. Just keep reminding yourself they are what the product/service means
to the customer/consumer.

Tip: The ‘quick test’ is to use is the phrase ‘which means…’. “it comes in twelve different colors
(feature), which means it will look great whatever your décor (benefit).” “It has optional four wheel drive
(feature), which means goodbye to winter blues (benefit).”

MUST READ ‘Back to Basics’ PDF file for more truths.

Tip: The danger for beginners is working to an over-structured list of questions, resulting in a sort of
verbal 'tunnel vision'. A neat way of breaking out is to lead with some very global questions, such as "If
you were given a magic wand, what would be the things you would like most to see changed?", "What is
the biggest single strength you see in XYZ? And the biggest single weakness?"

TIP: How, under the pressure of an interview, can you automatically ask Open Questions? Easy - they
usually begin with Why? When, and How? "Why did you change your supplier?", "How did your Widget
change your life?"

For how to write case study –refer back to basics pdf

TIP: There is an easy way to check the readability of your own work. If you use Microsoft Word (who
doesn't?) then there is a little known gem hidden away called the Flesch Reading Ease measure.

Tip: The key to using active voice is making sure that the subject of the sentence is doing something,
rather than something being done to it.

TIP: The blank page begins to taunt you and eventually you write that first sentence. Only to trash it and start
again. Half an hour (and one more coffee) later the page is still blank and even more threatening. Time to
walk the dog?
The solution is simple. FILL THE BLANK PAGE. It doesn’t matter how embarrassingly poor the copy
is, just write it. It’s gargage? No problem, your client will never see it. Just carry on, because once you are
no longer looking at a blank screen, it all becomes so much easier – it’s as though someone has flipped a
switch. Think of top athletes. Before competing, they go through a warm-up procedure that is no way
competitive. This is just your warm up.
Sure, you will totally reword the garbage, but the threat has gone. From now on it’s dead easy. Honest!

Convention (and some clients will insist) dictates:

Numbers that begin sentences should be spelled out, except in dates and addresses
The numbers zero to ten should be spelled out
Do not begin sentences with a year number: “2007 was the year of global meltdown.” This is
offensive to the eye and scares readers and editors alike.
Here are some prize examples to avoid in written english
‘He is a man who’ – replace with ‘he’
‘At this point in time’ – replace with ‘now’
‘Due to the fact that’ – replace with ‘because’
‘At which time’– replace with ‘when’
‘The question as to whether’ – replace with ‘whether’
‘Owing to the fact that’ – replace with ‘since’
‘On the grounds that’. ‘As a direct result of’. ‘Accounted for by the fact that’. ‘By virtue of the fact
that’ – replace with ‘because’
‘Be completely au fait with’ – replace with ‘know’
‘Come to a decision as to’. ‘Reach a conclusion as to’ – replace with ’decide’
‘With reference to’. ‘Pertaining to’ - replace with ‘about’
‘Exhibit a tendency to’ – replace with ‘tend’
‘Despite the fact that’ – replace with ’although’
‘In close proximity to’ – replace with ‘near’
‘Was in receipt of’ – replace with ‘got’
‘Initiate’ – replace with ‘begin’

The Three Fundamental Rules of Selling:

1. People don’t like the idea of being sold. [Create a verbal picture that teases his desires —his hunger, his
craving for chocolate. You’d tempt him by appealing to is emotions. You would not bore him with reasons or
bully him with force. Undersdtand this first principle and you’ll have people eating out of your hands]
2. People buy things for emotional , not rational, reasons.
3. Once sold, people need to satisfy their emotional decisions with logic.
Know Thy Prospect!
1. Data Card
2. Buyer profile
3. Inspect product or service
4. Dissecting past promotions

Structure
1. The Promise
2. The Picture
 3. The Proof –example: Technical details
4. Credibility –testimonials example
5. The core of the core: Unique selling proposition
6. The close
7. The offer

Five of the most powerful emotions in copywriting are curiosity, vanity, fear, benevolence and insecurity.

Magic Formula for four-legged stool is benefits, ideas, credibility and track record.

Four U s that supercharge any direct mail bullet, any subhead, … and any headline.

5 Ways to create powerful, passionate PS:

1. Restate benefits
2. Make another promise/ introduce a surprise benefit
3. Provide more credibility
4. Communicate urgency
5. Restate/ Expand your guarantee
1. Stay focused on what you can do for your clients
2. Prove your worth
3. Specificity sells
4. Be concise
5. Include keywords
6. Create a descriptive title
Do this –infuse your benefits with drama –and you’ll intrigue your readers, and pull them irresistibly into your copy.