I will probably create my first product within the next year or so. Do copywriters ever assist with market research and product ideas? (Or do they more-or-less just write sales copy?)

Ideally, I'd love to just pay a qualified copywriter to select my niche, give me a profitable product idea, and write my sales copy... but are there any copywriters who actually do this?

Yes, they do.

Two words bother me here... they are "probably" and "year". Dude, that's insane! How about "I'm definitely going to" and "next month"?

Who cares if you fail, you'll learn more doing it next month than waiting 11 months. Plan on succeeding and roll with it.

Also, I know you'd love to pay a copywriter to do all that work for you but there's no way I'd do that. Can they? Well anyone can do it to be honest. But the bottom line is do you trust THEM to do YOUR work? (At least initially)

Even if you do trust them, that's a ton of work to just throw off to someone else. They will not care as much as you do, I promise you that.

Eventually, once you have momentum, market knowledge, traffic, etc, then I'd recommend it if you simply don't feel like doing it.

Heck, I've hired about 7 different writers from this board over the last 2 years. I actually counted up how much I've spent with people I've met on this board and it's just over $80,000.

But I had specific goals in mind and didn't want to do it. Or I was to close to a project that I didn't want to write for it.

Nobody will care about your product like you. Please don't outsource that part expecially if it's your first product. Get in the trenches and actually... man I know people don't wanna hear this... WORK!

You'll learn so much, get better faster, and be more proud of yourself. It will also build up your confidence big time when you succeed which is very important even though it's not talked about much.

Bottom line, don't do it.

Ricky, I dig you more every time I read one of your posts!

James:

What you're really looking for is a co-marketer.

I received a similar proposition from a prospect-marketer.

I accepted because we were talking about essentially entering the European market with products that were already proven successful in America.

Market research and product creation? What's your role? Financing?

What kind of payment, you'd offer? Not that I am interested because I am booked for the next 6 months.

The reason I am asking you these questions is because: you'd need to offer serious incentives to get that.

I don't know what you're trying to sell, but if you can't come up with a product or research a market, here's what I'd do.

1-I'd locate a segment of the health market. Especially a market dominated by women.

2-I'd see who are my most visible competitors, a few hours on Google and Yahoo would help.

3-I'd look at their promos, especially online promos.

4-If there are many competitors in this specific niche, I'd conclude that there is a need for the product.

5-If most of my competitors are running weak promos, that's when I'd decide to "test" the market. In the health market, many pieces are extremely weak. Some companies are still putting "glossy" websites and expecting prospects to buy.

6-Even if you offer a similar product to your competitors, if your promo is stronger, you'd end up eating them for breakfast. And that's where you'd need a copywriter to create stronger promos for you.

One last thing: There is a trend: good copywriters, once they realize they can make money for their clients, start selling their own stuff.

With the internet, you don't need millions to test a project. It takes a little bit of courage, maybe a few thousand bucks and a good piece of copy, to know whether an idea/product is viable.

Although other copywriters can do both market research and product development, you'd be better off doing it yourself or doing it in conjunction with the copywriter/co-marketer.

Hope that helps.

Ricky and swans, those are excellent posts from both of you.

Some copywriters certainly can and do assist with every area of the marketing process and
with product creation.

Quite a few of my projects have been built around coming up with an idea for a client.

But keep in mind that if the copywriter is really good he may not be all that
willing to work with you unless you're bringing something substantial to the table like:

# Paying him/her a hefty fee.

# A huge email subscriber or past client list in the niche.

# Massive highly targeted traffic already established in the niche.

In fact if you can't cover at least 2 of these you're really not ready to hire a copywriter for this and your chances of being able to afford a copywriter who can deliver for you are very slim.

Keep in mind that a copywriter who can find the lucrative niche, create the product and create the sales copy really doesn't need you and he can make money month after month doing all that for himself.

So you either have to pay a substantial fee or bring something else that's truly worthwhile to the table.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

James,

Recently I worked with a client and helped her with product ideas. I did some of the market research, but she took care of most of that. However, I helped her develop her product beyond the initial scope of the project and offered ideas to improve/expand her project, ways to market it more effectively, etc. I love being completely involved in the process and staying committed to my client through the course of the marketing campaign.

With this particular project, I wrote the sales letter. She wrote an e-book and autoresponders, but I edited and reworked them for her.

Some copywriters prefer to write the sales letter and move onto the next client. We're all different in our preferences. It's best to find someone who can really get excited about your goals and not consider it "just another job."

Also, many of us are developing our own products, so we have some experience in product development and market research.

A huge part of every copywriter's job is market research. If you're not digging into the niche itself and really working to find out WHAT PEOPLE WANT, then you're not doing your job as a copywriter.

Once you've acquired that knowledge, why would you hold back from your client??? If you notice that their product doesn't answer the questions that the target has, why would you continue to write without at all addressing those issues before the product hits the shelf??

I don't know why I'm saying YOU. I guess I'm talking to the copywriters who haven't considered the fact that marketing should always start with the product. If you're going to sell yourself as a marketing consultant (as many copywriters do) then what's wrong with starting at the beginning?

If you have enough money and are willing to part with it--you'll always be able to find someone to do just about anything.

The question is... should you?

Should you abdicate and delegate responsibility... interest... desire... and passion to achieve something of quality... something of intrinisc and enduring value--that represents what you believe in and who you are?

Hell yeah! It's really all about the money, isn't it?

It's the paycheck! The Payoff! Screw the rest!

So why don't we just bail on the 80+ years of living, crying and loving and cut to the punch line--justrollover and die. It'll happen anyway.

Dude--don't you know, it's the journey not the destination.

I was approached recently by a marketer that had a product idea--just the idea and he wanted me to develop it... market it... sell it--and everything in-between.

The reason given--he didn't have the time to devote to the project himself--he had too many other sticks in the fire.

My first thought was that here's a true cold-blooded mercenary--a man after my own heart. Lazy as the day is long. Can't wait to be rich and famous without lifting a finger...

If I can only take a pill to look like the Governator in his prime, play tennis like Federrer and attract women like Pitt--send me a couple of cases--now!

Anyway, I was up for a challenge... to make this project my own (literally) and make it succeed. Of course, I knew I'd never be able to count on him for 'nothin once the contract is inked.

In essence he'd be a sort of silent, very silent, hopefully, partner.

So I pulled out my rolodex, so to speak, considered what team I could assemble to attack this beachhead and sent this character my proposal and my big dollar fee.

He was impressed--said I had brass balls and then told me to get serious.

He said he already had copywriters lined up that could do it all for under $2,000--flat fee.

Gotta love the guy... a man after my own heart--a dreamer through and through.

So to answer your question, James. Yeah, there are copywriters willing to do whatever you ask--whatever you ask. But be careful out there--rarely is anything as it seems.

--Barry