If your brand could speak, what would it say and how would it say it?
Perhaps your company isn’t quite yet a well known brand. You probably have some loyal customers and clients and enjoy working every day.
Your company is a type of living entity. You and your employees keep it alive. There are things that happen within it – in certain ways – day in day out. Your company might always be looking to improve and expand itself.
How do we make things better?
For me, for my employees, for everybody?
There’s things that your business provides in ways that nobody or nothing else does. These things and how you do it, how people feel about what you do, is where we can start to provide a voice for you which becomes unmistakably you.
When we deliver this to people they can feel the difference. They feel good about what you offer.
You might want to take some time now to ask yourself -
1/ What message are you sending to your customers?
2/ Do they understand your brand?
3/ Have you thought about the personality of your product?
4/ If your product could speak, what would it say?
Companies need to write creatively in strategic places to remain competitive and to expand.
You can keep your customers coming back for more by personalising your marketing techniques, your advertising strategy, your copywriting and your media releases.
Your media releases in themselves can run miles for you in helping people feel and think about what you do. About what you can do for them. How you can make their life better.
1. Your Genre
2. Your Viewpoint
3. Your Voice
4. Your Setting
5. Your Scene
6. Your Character
7. Your Market
Using creative writing exercises, and tried and tested copywriting techniques, christopher copywriter provides for you, your unique business voice for various mediums.
The effect is a stronger brand affinity for potential clients, greater trust and ultimately a firm desire for what you offer.
You can be in the forefront of customers minds. Customers can talk happily about what you did for them, your referral ratio can grow, your public awareness multiply.
Google’s self-created ‘love story in Paris’ commercial generated huge buzz and rated highly by fans and advertising reviewers aired during the Super Bowl XLVI this year.
As in all good advertising it’s the quality of a good idea that counts. Google’s advertisement is a simple, extremely low budget, yet moving and memorable advertisement with the tag line -
Journalists Should Not Work for Free – So Tell Me What They are Paying
One of the most depressing things about the present climate is the number of talented journalists who agree to allow mainstream media to publish their work for no payment.
“But I quite enjoy it,” said one such to me the other day. Well, yes you are allowed to enjoy your work. But letting employers and publishers think they can get quality work for nothing merely speeds the decline of the profession, and undercuts your colleagues.
So it was with interest that I read this post by Silicon Valley blogger and media executive Alan Mutter, whose argument I entirely agree with. Mutter goes one step further and provides a spreadsheet for working out what to charge for a 600 word freelance journalism piece .
The figures are relevant to the US, of course. Depressingly, they come out with a wordage rate of just US $0.35c a word – which even allowing for the exchange rate is low by Australian standards.
Or is it?
I think it would be useful to find out what different freelancers are getting paid by our mainstream publications. Here’s what I know:
Fairfax broadsheets start by offering .60c to.70c a word these days, but can be pushed higher if they want you badly enough. Section editors are adept at getting around the bean counters’ rules.
The Monthly still offers its $1 a word, which was princely when that magazine started, and still handsome.
I hear the RACV magazine pays well for both words and photos.
We’re happy to see the 2010 Approved minimums for freelance and casual writers, broadcasters, photographers and artists released by MEAA (Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance) recently. (These minimums are exclusive of GST and are effective 1st January 2010.)
At christopher copywriter we often don’t charge anywhere near these specified industry pay rates for freelancers. Prospecting clients often come to us wanting everything done on the cheap. There’s a difficult X-factor skill involved with keeping the clients impression – of the value of our work high – perhaps it’s the “trust” factor. It operates well beyond the actual and very real value of our work. That’s to say – sometimes a particular clients expectations and understandings of a job, determine the monetary value of what we do. Surprisingly, if you think about it – this is often well within the actual monetary returns (profit) a client gains from our contribution to their business or company. When there is lots of work on, these expectations are less of a factor. We just get on with turning over the jobs to the best of our ability and everybody is much happier. We always aim to do excellent work and exceed the clients expectations!
Online internet based article writing is an invaluable second level search engine optimisation and publicity tool. Obviously, when client comes on board for a long-term relationship – we’re happy to reduce our rates accordingly for the ongoing and continual work. We can also do far more to help a company in these situations. We currently price web based article writing slightly lower than print published journalism even though it can receive much more attention! This really depends on the story itself and how well we craft it.
As standard practice, Freelance business copywriting of promotional material in print and web mediums – is charged slightly lower than print journalism features or publicity mentions rates – because positive pr and publicity can achieve a far greater impact! Yet again, regarding our rates – you’ll find are usually somewhat more cost-effective for our commercial copywriting work than the prices listed below. We’re expanding by completing more work at a slightly reduce price – without any skimping on quality or performance.
Ghostwriting, on the other hand is best priced for us by taking a percentage of the final profits and a smaller retainer upfront – like a business partnership. This way the incentive is on us to create a wonderful work that sits within the current market climate and can sell recouping any of our clients costs. Obviously ghostwritten novels or novellas requires a considerable amount of work – including research – drafts and a full immersion into the subject matter. This somewhat depends on our clients desired out comes and roughly changes on a job by job basis. We offer a set rate if the book just needs to be written with little concern for it’s outcomes. christopher copywriter has had plenty of offers to write clients books at some extremely ridiculous and unfeasible rates – and interestingly enough – especially from the property development sector – perhaps always existing with an eye to make a quick big buck.
Have a read and please take a special note and respect the industry standard pay rates for the work you need. We’re happy to cut different rates for the different article writing, copywriting, ghostwriting and publicity jobs we perform in our clients best interests – but we would much rather recognise and adhere to the 2010 Australian National Industry Minimum Freelance Rates – this would be a wonderful world for everybody!
This document can be downloaded as a .pdf and detailed questions, concerns or membership applications forwarded to MEAA.
the advertising and marketing project problem illustrated
The Potential Project Problems Illustrated.
This hilarious and valuable illustration bumped into on stumbleupon, was initially drawn to depict the process of creating a specialised business software application, “The Project.” christopher copywriter thinks it works almost equally well for the business advertising and marketing communications equation. It’s helpful for those first time marketing and advertising clients to understand that we understand what sorts or issues can present themselves and that we know how to best avoid them. It makes helping you and your business all the merrier for everybody concerned.
The illustration runs miles for us to put into light relief, the potential issues, thoughts or hang ups which can sometimes arise through trying to communicate, evaluate, formulate and create on certain strategically envisioned projects. Christopher copywriter understands how important business messages can be forgotten or misconstrued. KISS. Keep It Short and Simple.
We make business communications as easy as ABC123. We’re always looking for easier ways of working. We don’t wish to enter into the abundant marketing sales hype, we strive to deliver very real solutions.
christopher copywriter writes your best possible sales stories for the best possible, cost effective mediums, time and time again.
The first illustration depicts what the client usually wants. Triple value work quantity and quality, for a reduced price. Even if the product and services provided don’t really suit the clients best requirements.
The second illustration, our job, shows us building a swing that doesn’t even work. Yes it looks good, but in practice it doesn’t achieve the required results. christopher copywriter copywriters, pride themselves on doing a good job, that truly sells, every single time, for every single client we take on and every single page that we write for them. That’s the foundation our business is building upon. Not some ricketly adhoc and misunderstood formula. We’re most happy to let our positive results speak for themselves. Being motivated by doing our best possible job. Not by other possible other motivations. We understand this will always show our “true value” in the big picture. It makes sense.
The third illustration. Sometimes the various in depth specialists and so called experts and extra researchers can analyse a problem to its own detriment. Crafting a solid written story and delivering it in the correct mediums, not just any old place, and in the correct manor, not just any old how – gets the marketing communications message most effectively across.
The sixth illustration shows our desire to PUT IT ALL IN WRITING. When working with us, feel completely free to send us all or any of your thoughts about the job in an email. We will send the same back to you. It helps us understand more about how you see the job. Or perhaps you’ll be happier if we simply deliver for you. Communicating with clients is always more helpful, for you and us.
The last illustration shows what was truly needed when everything extra was moved out of the equation. I might seem strange that this is often different from what people think is needed. The successful equation is both an art and science afterall.
christophercopywriter truly understands the marketing and advertising project process and gets on with giving you the top quality job you want and deserve.
Writing professionally for companies for over 10 years in public relations, advertising copywriting, internet marketing, blogs, e-books and ghostwriting. I run boutique communications agency, christopher copywriter; based in the middle of Sydney, Australia's Fashion, Media, Music, Art & Design District, Surry Hills.
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