The client I lost was a small business owner who wanted to market his business and contacted me to help. I gave him a quote which included the standard, content and revisions. I also included graphic design and printing in the quote. Obviously, he didn’t get it and didn’t know he had other options. Interestingly enough, I offer a three tier pricing system for the business development part of my business but for some strange reason I didn’t develop the same pricing strategy for the writing part of my business. Yes, shame on me.

How do you propose I try to woe this client again, if I should at all? Also, do I publish my pricing on my marketing materials or do I customize it for each client? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Cymantia Bey

Thanks Michel!
-Melissa Donovan
Writing FORWARD

But your suggestion of using the 3rd option as doing a critique and not writing the whole copy is interesting. I wonder whether that will affect the average dollar spending. Will test it out.

What I find very helpful is to create a pre-frame and a strong positioning in the prospect’s mind from the start. This always smoothen the closing prospects. New clients always go through an ‘education’ process first before I even give them a quote.

Thanks.

I offer three pricing models to my copywriting clients and apart from just having options to present… I find that they appreciate the ‘professionalism’ that comes across when I offer them three choices. It also makes them really think about what they want to achieve from the copy (which of course helps me in writing it!).

All the best,
Lan

In my case, it’s for money.

I do love writing. I wrote a novel, in fact, and it was published (not self-published, and not by a vanity press, but by a small regional publishing house). I invested a lot if time, work, and passion into that novel. Last year’s royalties were $70.

I don’t regret it. I loved doing it. But when the money came, it was in very small amounts.

When I write a sales letter, on the other hand, I invest a fraction of the time and energy into the project: and I get paid HUNDREDS of times more money.

That’s by design.

You see, I do think you’re more likely to get paid as a writer if you like writing (else why are you even doing it?). BUT…

If you just decide to “do what you love and the money will follow”, I think you may be disappointed with the result.

In my experience, “the money will follow” when you make a conscious decision about how that’s going to happen, and then take a discreet series of action steps toward the accomplishment of that end.

Which means: you need to have a strategy for money-getting, tactics that support that strategy, and the discipline to follow your strategy and tactics every day.

-Ray

I’m not a copywriter, but I think this is useful for anyone who intend to sell his services.

Thank you.

Thank you!

@All:

Someone asked in another forum if my strategy is just as effective when clients ask for discounts. Here was my answer, reprinted here for posterity:

Yes, that’s precisely why this tactic is so effective. It’s stops the grinding away process with clients who tend to overnegotiate to try to “get a good deal,” because it denominates, solidifies, and tags a value to each component in each package you offer, rather than making them a defacto part of a single package.

If clients understand what a package includes, not only within itself but also in comparison with other packages, then if they do try to get a discount, you have a fallback position — offering a downsell rather than a discount. A more economical alternative, that is.

This way, you’re not selling yourself short or give the impression that you’re asking for too much with a single option.

When you offer only one option, clients often automatically assume you’re trying to ask for the highest price, and therefore in their minds there’s room to negotiate, which is why they try to usurp concessions from you to “get a good deal.” They feel you are in control, which they don’t like.

But with options, it not only puts the onus of the decision on the client, but it also gives the client the perception of more control. They feel they are making the choice and getting the price they want — not you.

And conversely, they’re less tempted to ask for concessions because they know that, if they want more, they simply can choose the higher packages instead. (Either that or they know that this is what you will likely counter their request with.)

Anyway, thanks everyone for your comments.

I have been structuring my fees this way since I started. It’s model we used in the radio business to sell advertising packages. We even used the Gold, Silver, and Bronze terminology.

While we did sell mostly Silver packages, I was often surprised by the number of people who chose Gold because they wanted “the best”. Often, the clients who chose Gold level packages were not the clients we had profiled as “Gold” clients. The lesson: don’t decide for your clients how much they are able to spend.

This holds true in my copywriting and marketing practice, as well. If you’re not using this model for pricing, I encourage you to test it. I predict you’ll be happy with the results.

Of course, that depends. If it’s a flat-fee arrangement (no royalties), I normally give clients the copyrights to the copy, provided all fees are paid and accounts are settled. And therefore they can pretty much do whatever they want with it.

In some instances, the client wants to use the web copy offline (such as in direct mail). I’ll increase the fee to include “prepping” the copy for direct mail, which is relatively simple. But I charge as much as a normal job since it’s considered a rewrite, however this is sort of like a license to use the copy in another medium, if you will.

However, in most cases, my copy is a royalty-based arrangement, with a guaranteed draw. (That is, a guaranteed deposit — guaranteed means “non-refundable” — drawn against future royalties. Once the accumulated royalties surpass the draw, they pay me the excess at that point.)

And in such cases, I get paid no matter what they do. So I either get a percentage of gross revenue (online or offline), or in some cases a per-piece mailed royalty (offline).

All that said, however, nothing stops you from adding a clause in your agreement where you share in the copyrights (rather than handing them over completely to the client), and charge them a “license” to use the copy in another media.

Thanks
Colin

The questions and answers on the comments alone are a seminar’s worth of value!!

Thanks for this info.

Hey, Colin! Nice to hear from you.

The easiest answer to your question, “how would you transition an existing client” is to simply offer it. But granted, we are creatures of habit, and doing so might be risky at times, especially if you’re dealing with a long-time or large-sized client.

So the answer is really to take baby steps.

If they’re paying for design using a flat-fee or project-based pricing, then you simply tell them that you’re prepared to do the same. That is, to offer service packages instead of hourly rates, which could potentially “save them a lot of money.”

(Of course, while doing so you extol the virtues of service package pricing, as opposed to per-hour pricing. For example, you can say that service providers who charge by the hour tend to “balloon” their timesheets, or take their time while working on projects, in order to maximize billings. But with per-project rates, the fee stays the same, regardless of the time it took.)

Once you’ve transitioned them to the package pricing, then — and only then — slowly start offering options.

Not sure if this answers your question, but that’s the way I did it and would recommend doing it, too.

In my experience they always pick the middle package.

In my many years as a creative director at a major daily newspaper, it was normal course of business to pay a copywriter on a per hour basis.

In my creative agency we are often requested to write the copy as well as design the graphics and create the concepts. Keep in mind this is mostly for print ads that cost a lot to run. Traditionally I have added on an hourly rate to provide this service. (this was the custom at the newspaper)

The most recent full page ad I created for a national magazine transformed from a pretty image ad (as the client requested) to a classic direct response, three column ad that was I was inspired to write based on their product and the methods that I have learned from you and other masters of this craft.

To recap the question: How would you transition a steady client that is used to paying a certain fee for design and hourly charges for copy writing, to the 3 tier option system? (We haven’t had the run-time to test both style of ads)

Thanks for your dedication to this blog - the value is tremendous!
Colin
http://www.fastcreative.com

Only a couple of people ever went for the bottom - but they quickly upgraded to middle.

At the end of the day, the better the service, the better ROI for the client, IMO.