contact information and hours
As we get your copy goals accomplished, it’s important that we have an easy way to communicate. Please let me know whether you prefer email, phone, or web conference tools to contact one another about your projects. I’m in the Pacific Time Zone in the western United States, and you may be on the east coast or in the midwest, so we'll establish a good time frame for our communications that works for everyone involved.
getting to know your needs and goals
Once we've touched base by email or phone to see if we're a good project match and we're moving ahead with your material, I’ll email you a Discovery Questionnaire. These questions will help us define your goals, set the scope of the project, and make sure we’re achieving important results for your company. Most clients take 1-3 business days to fill this out. When I receive the Discovery Questionnaire, I review and study your answers, as well as perform a little preliminary research if needed. From there, I outline a short Project Roadmap to save you time and help you see that I understand the project. This will serve as the basis for our launch call.
our launch call
The Launch Call will generally happen between 3-10 days after I receive the Discovery Questionnaire answers, depending on your availability. In our 20-minute call, we’ll discuss the Project Roadmap and any additional insights and directions you have on the project. After the Launch Call, I draft and send an agreement. If your legal team has an agreement, we can use that.
investment and getting started
The agreement will contain the specifics on what I’ll deliver, including project deadlines. It will also list your investment for the project and terms of payment. I require 50% of the project total to begin. Most of my clients prefer to pay by PayPal. Once we have both signed the agreement, I’ll begin working on your copy.
my research process
Your specific needs and goals drive the research process. I begin with your website and the materials you send me. From there, I’ll research the market, the topic(s) at hand, and any competitors you feel are relevant. Depending on the project, I may ask to connect with past clients or customers, and/or different departments in your business. As needed, I’ll reach out for additional details and other resources to be sure I’m understanding your services, your voice, and your clients’ intellectual and emotional drivers to align the copy with what works for your company.
collaboration
As we work on this project together, communication is critical. Some of my clients are very busy and prefer to hand off the project to me and review the first draft, with very little communication in-between. Others like dealing with me on an almost daily basis and be involved at just about every step of the way. Which are you? Please send me an email and let me know how often you’d like to communicate and what the best way is to reach out to you (i.e., email, phone, social media, text, etc.). One other point ... I require that you assign me a single point of contact on your team. I will communicate directly with that person and they will deal with your other team members as needed to obtain information and approvals.
review of first drafts
Typically, you’ll receive the first draft in 10-14 business days, depending on the project size and scope.
When you get the first draft, please review it carefully. Also, have any applicable team members review it. The most important thing at this stage of the game is making sure that the tone, message, and offer are right. We’ll fine-tune during the second and third drafts, as needed.
When you get the first draft, please review it carefully. Also, have any applicable team members review it. The most important thing at this stage of the game is making sure that the tone, message, and offer are right. We’ll fine-tune during the second and third drafts, as needed.
revisions
After you review the initial draft, it is likely that you’ll want some things changed. Please note those changes. Some clients prefer using the comment feature or edit mode inside of Google Docs, some clients like to make colored notes in an emailed Word doc or even put their changes in the body of an email when it’s just a few quick notes. Please let me know how you would like to approach your comments so I know where to look for what changes you’d like to make. I will review all your suggested changes within 24 hours of you submitting them to me and make my adjustments within 2-4 business days, depending on the breadth and complexity of your suggested changes. In all cases, I recognize that these are your customers, it’s your business, and I will defer to you as much as possible. Large firms often have their own split testing and marketing directors, so they don’t require clarification on their best presence and profit drivers, while smaller firms sometimes want the head’s-up when I feel they’re making changes that don’t help sell their business to their target clients. Let me know what type of feedback you’d like to have during our work together, because my goal is to serve your company in alignment with your needs and your team’s areas of expertise.
additional reviews
After our initial changes, there may be some fine-tuning needed. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re satisfied with the copy and feel it is in a finalized form. The final review process usually goes quickly, with one review taking 1-3 business days.
final approval
Once all revisions are done, I will submit a final draft to you. At this point, you approve the copy by sending me an email stating that everything is ready for distribution. Once I receive this final approval from you, I will invoice you for the remaining 50% of the project investment. The invoice is due upon receipt. I will make every effort to be prompt in responding to your requests and assume that, as a professional, you will do the same with my invoices. In most cases, the final copy is sent to a designer for formatting. I strongly encourage you to send me a PDF of the final version. I will double check that any graphical elements added by your design team enhance the copy and make it more effective. If I see something that is distracting and may hurt your response rates, I’ll be direct in letting you know. If requested, I’m happy to work with your design team to make any changes needed to make the end version as effective as possible.
follow up
Once the project is done, I provide all of my clients with a complimentary follow-up consultation. We’ll spend a few minutes on the phone and discuss what went well and where improvements can be made. We can also review the Discovery Questionnaire and discuss additional ways to uncover new profits. Where appropriate, we can map out a new project to ensure that you continue to have excellent copy that meets your goals and grows your business.