contact information and hours
As we get your 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 Eastern Time Zone in the United States, and you may be on the west 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
For those clients who need more extensive copywriting and/or consulting services, 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 with a Q&A. 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 Q&A, I review and study your answers, as well as perform a little preliminary research if needed. From there, I outline a short roadmap with some notes to save you time and help you see that I understand the project.
project launch
Generally between 3-10 days after we touch base and do the initial Q&A, we’ll discuss any additional insights and directions you have on the project. Then it's go time. I draft and send an agreement for us both to look over and sign. 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 important deadlines that we've established. It will also list your investment for the project and terms of payment. For larger copywriting projects, I require 50% of the total to begin. Most of my clients prefer to pay by PayPal. Once we have both signed the agreement and the first payment is made, I start the work. For ongoing freelance projects, you may have an hourly or weekly rate you normally pay.
my research process
Your specific needs and goals drive the research process. Not every client requires this service. If you do, 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. I may ask to connect with past clients or customers, and/or different departments in your business, especially if you have large teams involved. 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’ priorities to create an experience that 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.). I also make sure that I have a single point of contact on your team who is the ultimate decision-maker for the official "yes" and "no" decisions as we go along. I will communicate directly with that person for the final sign-offs on information and approvals.
review of first draft
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 product or service offers 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 and make the adjustments. 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 results and feel we've reached a finalized form.
final approval
Once all revisions are done, I will submit a final draft to you. At this point, you approve the project 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 some cases, the final copy is sent to a designer for formatting. I strongly encourage you to send me a PDF of the final version if you have larger teams working on graphic and/or web design elements. 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, if your team would like a follow-up to review what went well, what needs improvement, and what future direction might be appropriate, please let me know. I know people are pressed for time and can't always do a post-game analysis. For small businesses, I often provide notes and links as a record of what we did together for an easy reference on information and processes we covered during the project.