Potential clients sometimes ask me how I go about writing an assignment, and what my fee works out to on an hourly basis.

Regardless of the type of project, my process is usually the same. And after reading this, you’ll see why you wouldn’t want to hire a copywriter on an hourly basis.

By the way, even if you’re not planning to hire a copywriter at this point, you can still use this process to improve your writing.

Research
My first task will be to gather all the information I can from you. I’ll need details on your target market, the features and benefits of what you’re selling, what makes you or your product unique or different from the competition. Also what are the strengths (and weaknesses) of your product or offering?

One thing clients tend to forget about until I ask for it is their competitor’s information. Most of you have done competitive shopping and gathered information or come across competitor’s marketing pieces. If so, give them to me, and if not, get them!

One of the best ways to ensure that the marketing piece I write for you is the best is to give me a benchmark (your competitor’s marketing piece) to exceed. For example, if you’re selling a widget, is there a similar widget on the market? Or has your widget been offered before in a different promotion or manner? Give me the marketing pieces from those events if possible.

Organize
Very rarely does a client have all the information I need in one place. More often it’s spread out across brochures, spec sheets, flyers, and websites. This is o.k., you only need to get the information to me, I will take the time later to organize and get it into the form that’s most useful to me.

Usually in this stage I’ll create a master sheet for the project that includes:

- The features and benefits ranked by priority

- Characteristics that distinguish the product or service from the competition

- A profile of the target market

- Any specific information that must be included in the piece such as company name, contact information, disclosures, warranties, and disclaimers

The way I’ll organize all this will differ based on the type of project. For example, the way information will be presented for a website will differ greatly from the way it gets presented in a brochure.

Writing
Once I decide where the information will go I’ll start creating headlines, subheads, sidebars, callouts, and even visuals when needed. This works much like an outline for a book or an article.

I’ll do a “content dump” where I place all the information I’ve gathered into the appropriate section.

Next, I’ll start to write the first draft. If I’ve done the first two steps properly, this usually won’t take me long at all. I basically just look at the content a section at a time and write as freely as I can. At this point I don’t care how good or bad my writing is, as this first draft won’t see the light of day.

I try to visualize a member of the target audience sitting in front of me, and I try to write to them as conversationally as possible.

Feedback and Editing
Once my draft is complete, I’ll get a copy to you so I can hear what you think so far. If possible I try to let it sit for a day or so (if time allows) before I start the work of editing. Going through the piece I’ve written, line by line, section by section, numerous times over.

Some passes I might change a sentence here and there, during other passes I might change whole sections or paragraphs. My goal is to make it the best that it can possibly be. Though this stage is very time consuming, being a perfectionist, it is my favorite part.

When a client’s schedule allows, I like to have at least a week or two with a piece to let my subconscious mind take over and help me come up with ideas and revisions to improve the assignment.

Final Delivery
You get your copy on or before deadline along with my invoice. You then breathe a sigh of relief that you didn’t have to pay me for all that by the hour.