Want A Copywriter Avoid These Three Deadly Mistakes

A copywriter is different from other writers. We don’t just describe – we excite, inspire, and motivate. Whether you want content for your website, a tag line for your business, or a makeover for your Internet presence, a copywriter can help you find the words to make your message sing. The right copywriter, that is.
Sometimes, in their eagerness to promote their business, managers and entrepreneurs make predictable missteps. Here three big ones and how to avoid them:
1) Signing on wholesale before you’ve tried someone out. 
 If you hire someone for a big job before you’ve had a chance to try them out on a small job, your whole project could go in a direction you don’t want.
Instead: Hire someone for a small job before you hire them for a big job. This way you can see whether you like their work, and whether you feel enough of a connection where you could imagine working together over the long haul.
2) Giving up after the first try.
You don’t want to go to the other extreme, either. Great copy usually takes multiple feedback loops. This means you say what you want, the writer cranks out a sample or several, you give feedback, and the writer begins again with your most recent feedback in mind. Repeat, and repeat again.
Through this process, you get clearer and clearer about what you want, and the writer gets closer and closer to giving it to you. At least, if you’ve got a good connection with your writer (see #1 above).  Rarely will someone hit the nail on the head on their first try. If you kick a writer to the curb because they didn’t get it right the first time, you could wind up missing out on some great writing for your business.
Instead: Agree ahead of time on the number of revisions you’ll build in (I usually recommend at least three). By the third revision, you should get a clear sense of whether you’re heading in a direction that makes sense to you.
3) Hiring just any writer
So your spouse’s coworker’s nephew just graduated from Princeton with an English degree and wants some work? Great! You decide, heck, it’s an Ivy League school, how bad could his copy be?
Seven pages of overwrought prose later, you might start to think that writers having specialties might not be such a bad thing after all. You’d be right.
Here’s why: The kind of writing required in most arenas-universities, nonprofits, tech environments, etc. – isn’t what you need for your business. You want a writer who knows how to take the essence of what you’re offering, distinguish you from the competition, and get your clients to call.
Instead: Find someone whose samples excite you. Though some writers are multitalented, don’t assume that the grant proposal writer, journalist or ghostwriter’s skills automatically translate into good copy. Most don’t.
Good luck!