It may be true what they say... it's darkest before the dawn. Because the day or two prior, I was at one of my lowest points (writing-wise). I contemplated throwing in the towel and getting a traditional "job."
Then yesterday when I turned on my computer and got into my email, I had an email from the person at the XYZ company (I'm tired of explaining who is who, yet without revealing names and specifics, so from now on, XYZ will be the company I contacted back in November, who asked for samples, then reconnected with me a couple weeks ago expressing possible interest in me doing website work or brochures for them).
Anyway... I had sent my rough estimate numbers to the guy at XYZ last week, and waited. It was my first time quoting a real price to a real potential client.
Did I price too high? Too low?
While you'll probably never know if you could've priced a little higher and still been hired, getting hired is goal #1.
XYZ said my quote "looked good" and while he hadn't decided which direction to go first, he thought focusing on sprucing up the website would be the first task. He also said he would like to focus first on the product description pages on their site.
So we scheduled a phone conversation Thursday of next week. In that convo I told him I'd let him know my thoughts on his website as it is currently, and some ideas I have for improvement.
Note: Since I always like to know numbers, I'll share numbers.
I quoted XYZ $75 per page with not a lot of text (like product description pages), and $200 per page with more text (the About Us page).
I also quoted $250-500 per page for brochure copy, and $250-$1,000 for retail ads. Those were the initial projects he mentioned. Looking back, I probably could have just sent him my complete price list, but I didn't.
The benefits of sending the whole price list are these:
1) The prices they're specifically interested in are surrounded by your prices for everything else. It puts it in context. It makes it look less like you're just pulling the numbers out of thin air, and more "official."
2) They may see projects listed on the price list that they hadn't considered, but will now.
So in the future, when a prospective client contacts me and asks for prices, I will probably send the whole list.
But anyway, this was a big turning point for me. Granted, the project hasn't been "landed" just yet. That'll await our phone conversation next week and my official proposal (which I told him I'd send once we talk... which will give exact quotes for the exact projects he wants to move forward with, along with time frames and other terms). I'm still excited!
Another Idea for Newbies:
This is something else I got in the works yesterday (yesterday was indeed abundant!).
I got in touch with a fellow copywriter friend who has more job offers than she can fill herself.
I know, horrible problem, isn't it? But it's a win-win for everyone.
I offered to do some of the writing jobs for her. She gets the clients, sets up the jobs, and outsources them to me (the ones she can't fulfill herself anyway).
Truly, this is my best-case scenario in many ways.
For one, I don't like reaching out to potential clients, selling my services, trying to convince someone to hire me. But she does.
And two, I prefer to just do the work. Focus on the job at hand. While she loses interest once the project is landed.
Could be a match made in heaven!
This is basically how agencies work.
Now, I'm not very familiar with agencies, and I don't know how hard it is to get hired into one.
But if you're a newbie writer like me, looking for work, you might want to look into it.
Either look into actual agencies, and see if they're looking to add a new writer to their list of freelancers... OR... like I did, pay attention to other copywriters that you're in contact with. Is anyone complaining they have too much work and can't get it all done? Offer to help them!
Sure, you'll make more money if you're the lead copywriter, and the one actually hired by the client. But if you're like me, and struggling to get clients on your own, this could be a great way to start working and making some money!
Yesterday was truly a re-motivating day for me. An affirmation. A confirmation. Keep going!
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