Hi Guys,

Just a quick one to all you copywriters out there...

I have a new eBook project coming up that I need some copy writing for.

Just need some quotes.

If you could PM me then I will discuss further.

Cheers guys (and girls)


Tom.

Hi Tom,

Two things:

#1: quotes don't mean anything. A quote for what? A sales letter? Writing the ebook? You're not giving quality information.

#2: if you are price shopping, I suggest you head over to elance. The people who hang out on this board are probably not motivated by being the lowest price offer.

Many people have hooked up with copywriters here by providing a little more information.

What niche - or greater niche - is your project in?

Do you want a sales letter?

Do you need autoresponders?

Namesqueeze page?

Order page?

Give people more information and you'll get better responses.

Peace

Hi Tom,

I'll second Harlan's points. If you want to hire a copywriter to write your copy, then you should want someone who has written copy for your niche (or a similar one) before.

You did pick a great place to find some awesome copywriters.

Best of luck,

Mike

Ton of good copywriters here. Just don't get sucked into royalties. It's the worst move you'll ever make. I'm writing a peice on why that's the case now which I'll post in the OFF TOPIC part of the forum soon.

But you came to the right place, don't get better than this.

Some copywriters (John Angel comes to mind) work on a commission basis and don't charge an upfront fee.

I listened to a Clayton Makepeace interview yesterday. He earns 10% on royalties. Why is that bad? (assuming that the CW makes a lot of money for you)

Hi Guys,

Thanks to everyone who has replied response has been great.

Just to let you all know who were interested in writing the copy for me it will be a sales letter to answere some of the questions posted.

What I am going to do is go away and decide who I would like to do the copy and then I will get in tough with them.

Thanks


Tom.

A royalty is like a roomate that will never leave. Clayton would make a lot of money for that person if they were on royalties or not, it's still his work.

What a lot of copywriters like to do is put in the mind of the prospect that when the prospect pays a royalty, it makes the copywriter "work harder" because now they are "invested" in the project.

If they were worth a crap in the first place they should be "invested" in the first place. That's what quality PEOPLE do, take pride in whatever they do.

I've heard this a lot from copywriters, even high dollars ones from this board. It's BS and for the consumer, it's a ripoff.

The royalty ONLY favors one person, the copywriter.

If the copywriter needs the royalty to "give more effort" I would hate to work with that copywriter. I write most of my own stuff and usually pay for critiques but sometimes I'll have someone write a piece for me if I dont' feel like it.

When I have someone write for me, the last thing I'm thinking about is paying them every single freakin' month FOREVER. It's a terrible deal.

I recommend everybody on this board RUN, not walk away from royalties. There's a million copywriters out there who will put their whole heart into a project and do their absolute best without a royalty.

Ricky

I look forward to reading your article. And hopefully it will get a good discussion going.


I've written mostly business copy (not dr) and receiving royalties is not something that ever occurred to me. Never realized it existed until listening to some interviews and reading DR threads on this forum!

I look forward to hearing both sides of this argument. (I have no opinion on it either way right now)

I must say that for the copywriting work I've done, I haven't done it on a royalty basis. However, I have created work with a self-imposed "performance" clause -- for one client recently, I charged a fair bit more than he was budgeting for, but in 2 sections: 1 upfront, and then the 2nd when we achieved a specific result milestone.

I can see downsides to royalty payments as well as upsides. I've heard arguments about royalty payments being difficult to administer over longer periods. And I don't mind so far taking payment without royalty, and getting what I think my efforts are worth at the start of a project. And I agree with Ricky: I want to put everything I can into a project regardless of the arrangement.

But -- on the other hand -- when I suggested a royalty arrangement to a client a couple of weeks back (5% -- termed as "for every extra dollar I make you, would you be willing to give me back 5 cents?"), they immediately offered 10% instead. I'm not going to say no!

I respectfully disagree.

My two cents: This kind of thinking pretty much guarantees you'll spend the rest of your life working with third-rate writers ... wasting months every year on drafts you wouldn't have to slave over if you'd hired a better writer in the first place ... and of course, still getting third-rate response, average sale and profits.

It doesn't matter whether or not a writer puts his or her "whole heart" into a project. Like they say, "The road to hell is paved with bricks of good intentions." All that matters is response rate, average sale and return on investment.

Let's say you plan to spend a half-million smackers to mail a million DM packages. Who would you rather hire? A copywriter who'll put his "whole heart" into your promotion? ... Or a proven master writer who has produced one out-of-the-park grand slam after another for decades?

With a half-million on the line, the 5% or 10% royalty a top writer will charge is cheap risk insurance.

And when you consider that a successful promotion has the potential to bring you millions or even tens of millions of dollars in profits -- and that top writers who charge royalties routinely produce 50% ... 100% up to 300% greater returns (sometimes more) than fee-only writers ... leaving those profits on the table to avoid a 10% royalty is illogical. Kind of like trying to get rich by buying $10 bills for $50 apiece.

On the net, where promos don't cost much, you're not risking much on each promo, so risk-reduction is less of an issue. And since you never see the profits a cheap writer never earned you, you may think they don't exist. You don't see the millions you're leaving on the table, so it's easy to pretend you picked the table clean.

That can be a costly illusion.

That's why the most successful companies in our industry pay royalties: To reduce their marketing risk and to increase their profit potential.

Is it possible to get a writer who'll slash your marketing risk and maximize your profits without paying a royalty? Sure.

In fact, just the other day, a prospective client asked me to write a promotion for him on a flat-fee basis. "Sure," I said. My fee is $300,000 -- cash on the barrelhead. After thinking about it for a nanosecond, he decided my 10% royalty was the deal of the century.

Companies that pay royalties don't do it to incentivize us to work harder. They do it because it's the only way to get proven writers to work for them instead of the competition.

Consider face-to-face salespeople. Typically, you hire newbies on salary -- a flat fee to get them started. But when they begin producing, you give them a share of what they produce: A commission.

Copywriters -- salespeople in print -- deserve a commission on what we produce, too.

Hope this helps ...