My freelance copywriting FAQ
Here’s my copywriting FAQ page. If I haven’t answered your question here, just ask – I’ll be pleased to help.
Q – Who do you write for?
A – I work locally, nationally and internationally, writing for digital marketing agency clients and small business owners.
Q – Do you write B2B or B2C?
A – I write business-to-business and business-to-consumer.
Q – How much does it cost for freelance copywriting?
A – I charge £35 per 1000 words for blog posts, articles, press releases, ebooks, landing pages and web pages. I quote on a project basis for things like social media and product descriptions, depending on what you need.
Q – What is your specialism?
A – I write about any and every subject from holiday homes to pets, financial services to FMCG, designers to surveyors, sport to science, entertainment to the arts. I avoid software development because it needs someone who understands the language, and the law sector because they find it so challenging to speak plain language. Other than that there’s nothing I won’t cover, unless it’s illegal or widely accepted as immoral. If I don’t know the subject, I’ll research it.
Q – What qualifies you to work as a freelance copywriter?
A – I have more than twenty years’ direct marketing experience – client and agency side – plus plenty of creative acumen and a great deal of business experience.
Q – Which writers inspire you?
A – Nevil Shute for his outstanding clarity and exceptional economy of words. Nicci French for sheer plot brilliance. New Scientists’s journalists, who put across complex messages in elegant plain language with a dash of wry humour.
Q – What motivates you?
A – I love creating beautiful, commercially powerful work. As well as being effective, the copy I produce is lyrical and a pleasure to read, written with conscience, integrity, honour, truth and sincerity.
Q: How do you generate work?
A: Most of my copywriting projects come my way hrough LinkedIn and word of mouth.
Q: What do you need to kick off my freelance copywriting project?
A – Sometimes I get a full and detailed brief. But most of the time I work from one-liners and bullet point lists of facts. The more information you can give me, the better. But I’m happy to work from the simplest brief. If I have any questions, I’ll ask.
Q – Do you write cheap copy?
A – No. I charge a reasonable amount for a job well done.
Q – Do you give discounts for high volume projects?
A – Yes, because once I’ve got into the flow I can often work faster.
Q – What is ‘high volume’?
A – For a website, anything from 15 web pages upwards. For blog posts, anything more than three a week.
Q – Who owns the copy you write?
A – My clients do. They can do anything they like with it once they’ve paid for it!
Q – How does your copywriting service work?
A – I like to keep things simple. No agreements, no contracts, no up-front payments. You send your brief or request a quote. I send a quote and ask any questions I need to clarify the project. You OK my quote. I diary the work and let you know exactly when you’ll receive Draft 1. You feed back D1 comments and amendments, if any, by email. I send you D2. When you’re 100% happy, I send you an invoice. Job done.
Q – Can I phone my amends through, or brief you by telephone?
A – I’d rather not. It’s best for everyone concerned to put things in writing.
Q – How much notice do you need?
A – I tend to work about a week in hand and can usually get started within seven days of your approving my quote.
Q – What kinds of things do you write?
A – Anything and everything from ebooks to websites, white papers and articles to blog posts and press releases, adverts and advertorial, features and editorial, printed materials and direct marketing campaigns. While I don’t write email marketing campaigns, simply because it’s far too hard these days to get people to open emails, I do write email auto-responder messages.
Q – Do you write ebooks and books for print?
A – Yes, I write and ghost-write ebooks and books for print. I also write poems, limericks, funny stuff, short stories and prose. Like all of my work, I quote on a per project basis for these things because every project is unique.
Q – Do you provide editing services?
A – Yes. I transform ordinary communications into something special, with added sparkle and a strong sales focus where appropriate.
Q – What about SEO?
A – I have a keen appreciation of search engine optimisation and if you brief me to do so, I’ll write online marketing materials bearing search engines in mind. But I don’t do keyword research – that bit is up to you.
Q – Do you carry out actual SEO and marketing?
A – No, I stick to copywriting.
Q – Can you write directly into my website for me?
A – Yes. I can write direct into your blog or via your website’s CMS, to save you the trouble of uploading new content yourself. I don’t do images – that’s your job – but I can write the meta data.
Q – What do you expect from me?
A – Respect, efficiency and prompt payment.
Q – How do I pay you?
A – Within 30 days, by direct transfer to my account or PayPal, in UK pounds.
Q – What’s your ‘best’ price?
A – You will always get my best price. I don’t haggle.
Q – Will you send me samples of your work?
A – Yes, just ask.
Q – Will you sign our NDA?
A – Yes, no problem. You can rely on me not to discuss your project with anyone, whether or not we use an NDA.
Q – Do you provide free copywriting samples?
A – Yes, if you’d like to test drive my freelance copywriting services before making a decision, I’m happy to write a short sample for free. No strings attached.
Q – Do you ever turn copywriting projects down?
A – Yes. If I can’t meet your deadlines or we’re a poor cultural fit, I can recommend an alternative copywriter.
Q – Can we meet in person?
A – No, I run a 100% remote digital business.
Q – Why did you decide to become a freelance copywriter?
A – Because I love the written word and enjoy writing more than anything else on the planet!
Q – Copywriting FAQ – What are you like to work with?
A – I like to think I’m straightforward, honest and fair, fast and efficient, friendly and professional.
If you want to contact me for more copywriting FAQ
If there’s anything I haven’t covered in my copywriting FAQ, you can email me at kate@wordcat.co.uk or call on 01271 858437 or 07976 737243.
