Copywriters: good or bad?

September 22, 2010 |   3 minute read

Copywriters: good or bad?

I was surfing the web recently and I came across what I considered an interesting headline: "Never use a copywriter for your website." The article's author Tony Hetherington is a copywriter. And he has four reasons for why a copywriters ruin your website. Interestingly (and probably on purpose) his article stands as a great testament for why a small business SHOULD use a copywriter.

Why small businesses need copywriters:

1. You could waste time finding a copy writer you'll be happy with, or you could go to a BNI and find a copywriter you trust. It's hard to find any B2B service. Or even just a skilled a grocery bagger (I hate it when they put hard stuff on top of the soft!) for that matter.

Copywriters: good or bad?


But how did you find a great accountant or a lawyer? By networking more effectively, you overcome so many potential problems. Meet  a person face to face and have a conversation about a real topic.

2. You could waste time briefing copywriter, or you could miss out entirely on the value of a Brief and the IP it provides your business. The Brief is a great chance for any small business to improve their marketing. Marketing is all about communication. And The Brief is like a workshop for strengthening your ongoing communication. The Brief helps you understand your features vs your benefits.

On Friday I got yet another client thanking me for doing the Brief in 45 minutes. As usual, we booked in a time and they really enjoyed the chance to explain their business; they realised they previously hadn't been doing a very good job explaining their business to customers. This external perspective on your business is another reason copywriters are good for your business. Copywriters don't just save you time, copywriters help you sell more to your customers.


3. You could be disappointed with your new copy or you could not realise how poor your previous copy was. At Tangible Words, we communicate all writing decisions and as a standard, give one set of edits to our clients.

You see, copywriters have expert writing knowledge. Even people who have done a short copywriting course or read a copywriting book might not realise how much more effective copywritten copy is, so we explain it to you.

Plus, copywriters stick to the business owner's Brief--what the business owner tells the copywriter. The website owner will only be disappointed if they struggle to articulate their business. And that's a good pick up that could save you a lot of hassle and heartache.

Copywriters help small business owners make sure they are giving the right, best information to their target audience.

4. You could risk a copywriter lacking in-depth knowledge of your business or you could risk your customers not understanding why they should buy your product/service. Tangible Words takes care of both problems. Before a text is ever written, copywriters do a lot of research on your industry. Also, because we have so many copywriters we are able to find the copywriter with the best experience to write your copy.

Most businesses get caught up in explaining their technical expertise on their website. But this is a big mistake.

While customers want to trust you're an expert, they don't want to know everything you know! That's why they're paying you---so they don't have to have the expertise to do it themselves.

5. If you use a copywriter, will you get a website that isn't yours...? Copywritten content comes from the ideas communicated by the business owner. If you are going to outsource  the building of your website, or the designing of your logos, trust an expert to write your copy.

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