Hi Michel,

You know this is not a copy issue.

That's a nice solid salesletter (and you know I don't make that statement too easily).

You're just too much of a nice guy.



I have a simple suggestion.

You have preeminence in the market of online copywriting.

In the field when you talk about online copy you talk about Michel Fortin.

You don't need to bother with clients like this.

In fact you should have a list of requirements you give to clients before you'll take work from them and one of them is the feedback you expect if they don't like your copy.

The biggest rule you'll ever learn in life is that you can pick and choose who you do business with.

Your time is all you have and you don't want to waste it away on people who don't give you the respect or the treatment you need to help them.


FIRE THE CLIENT and move on.

There's no need to be Mr Nice Guy all the time.

You have the skill to make a few selected clients VERY rich.

Capitalize on that and get rid of the clients who are difficult to work with.

At least that's what I'd do.

But then I can be an arse at times and I know that's not YOUR personality style.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh


Freelance online copywriter

That's a fabulous tip, Andrew. Thank you so much.

Edited to add: you and a few others on this board I listen to very intently for the same reasons -- you know what you're talking about. It's not a question of personality. It's a question of results, pure and simple.

Mike,

In line with what Andrew, and others have said - unless the client can be laser specific to what they don't like (and it is a valid reason that your vast experience can live with) - then any discussion of rewriting is premature.

We all get hemming and hawing balkers - but my only response to them is "lets test it please". Then, if it's clear that something isn't working, the rewrite is in order.

I tend to be overly serviceful like you, with the mentality that the customer is always right. But when it comes to sales copy - we aren't doing our clients any favors by letting them be "right" with vague emotional feelings.

All the best,

Tim

If the copywriter who wrote this copy is looking for more work I'm sure I can help arrange some.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Michel,

This same sort of issue occurs in the web design industry as well. The answer for it is simple, and there is only one answer: fire the customer.

You have to. They're chewing up time, energy, and resources. They're demanding you fix something when they haven't identified what is broken. Frankly you'd have better luck shooting a rifle at a barn from a 1/2 mile away, blindfolded, at midnight! It is impossible to know what changes a client would classify as "improvements" without the client communicating what he/she thinks is wrong to start with.

I concur with the suspicion that the work might be being used as leverage or a working point for another copywriter. This also frequently happens in web design, and is why many designers don't do mock-ups before getting the client's signature and deposit. We don't want them to take the design and run to a new designer saying "here's what so-and-so did." Now they would essentially have a base design for free and the 2nd designer likely won't charge as much because they have a mock-up to work from. If we can at least get a deposit and signature on the contract, then we don't lose money on the first stage of development.

Michel, I firmly believe that there are some clients that must be fired. Andrew Neitlich discusses this in his article How a Core Relationship Strategy Can Help You Increase Profits at Sitepoint. This is really a must-read article for anyone who does project-based creative work for clients.

Bailey