What Kind Of Copywriting Do You Specialise In

As a freelance copywriter, I get used to answering new enquiries. They’re always welcome, and a bit exciting, if I’m honest.
I get asked all kinds of stuff by people who are new to the whole game of hiring a copywriter to promote their business using the English language.
Most of it I can handle: ‘How much do you charge?’ ‘Can you do this for tomorrow?’ ‘Do you get bored working on your own?’ For the record, the answers are yes, yes and no.
But there’s one question that has me flummoxed every time. Every now and then, someone from a high-tech outfit in Wiltshire or some geophysical research company in Stockholm will call up and pose the one question that truly does my head in: ‘What kind of copywriting do you specialise in?’
Why so tetchy? It goes like this.
People who know stuff about very scientific or technical subjects tend to be weak writers. It’s not their fault. They’ve spent a lifetime being brilliant at one thing, honing and perfecting their skills and knowledge. That’s fine. I’m full of admiration for people like that.
However, just because they know a subject inside out doesn’t mean they can write about it in a way that’s palatable for all the different audiences they have to appeal to. There’s also a bit of a ‘can’t see the wood for the trees’ syndrome going on. They’re just too close to the action.
Now, if I knew as much or almost as much about thermal compression or broadband telecoms as they do, I’d be like them. I’d be a lovable geek with very little idea about how to communicate in a media-friendly way. In short, I’d be a bad writer.
You see, copywriting can be highly effective if you get it right. But, as a medium, it’s nothing if not incredibly superficial. To tackle a copywriting project, I need to know what the product or service is, what it does, why it’s better or different from the competition, who the audience is, and what their pain point is. (Oh, and the business address of the client.)
Having established all that, I’ll then produce a first draft that barely dusts the surface of the product offering. But that’s what’s required. For anything more detailed, it’s a technical author you need.
So, take a few seconds out and ask yourself: is it a copywriter I need? Do I need a website, some advertising, some direct mail or some other equally superficial communication? If so, pick up the phone and call a friendly copywriter.