Startups Stack Exchange Archive

What to look for in a copywriter

• posted by: Mohammad Abu Musa on 2015-11-25
• tagged: marketing
• score: 3

I am looking for your advise regarding copy-writing as I do not have any relevant experience in this domain.

I am building a new startup where startups connect with early adopters segmented based on products they used before.

I am publishing stories of startups which validated their products before. My goal of this blog is to make visitors subscribe to our mailing list, so I want to hire a freelance copywriter but I do not know what are the qualification to look for. Please share your experience in the following:

1. How to tell a good from a bad copywriter (I do not even know what good/bad means)?
2. What are the metrics to measure quality?
3. Is there a standard process that copywriters usually follow?
4. What are the technical skills, I must look for?

Answer 7932

• posted by: Luke Gedeon on 2015-11-25
• score: 1

My good friend @bradshorr suggested 50 Attributes of a Great Copywriter

Since that is a long list, I will highlight a few:

• Quality: spelling, grammer, conciseness, vocabulary, clarity, compelling
• Knowledge: knows the industry or has a keen interest in learning it
• Passion: Cares about your business and what it has to offer
• Business: Understands marketing, SEO, business processes
• Story-teller, listens, takes notes, logical, imaginative

And as a bonus: A good copywriter will be able to show samples of their work. If they make you want to buy what they are writing about, they are good.

Answer 7935

• posted by: Denis de Bernardy on 2015-11-26
• score: 0

Simple test: Google them and start reading what they write. If they bore you out, they’ll probably bore your readers out too.

More practically:

• Good writers get to the point. They often copy-edit what they write to strip out words - and sentences - that add no value.

• Good copywriters talk to their readers with an active voice, use action verbs, and strive to keep things concrete: “Contact us and our sales team will get back to you”.

• Great copywriters are storytellers. A good story has a hero your readers can identify with, a complication, and a resolution.

• Good sales copywriters understand the importance of headlines. Quoting John Caples (it’s called the “Caples Award” for a reason):

  … I spend hours on headlines - days if necessary. And when I get a good headline, I know that my task is nearly finished. Writing copy can usually be done in a short time, if necessary. And that advertisement will be a good one - that is, if the headline is a stopper.

In terms of process, the key is research. You need to do some - a lot, in fact - to find a good angle. Beyond that it depends on the writer. Some massage each sentence as they go. Others brain dump their thoughts and trim. I’m more of the latter.

Being technical can actually get in your way: you end up needing a lot of empathy to get your point across in pain English. By contrast, a non-techie will make you say it in plain English until they grok it well enough to spew it back at you. It’s a bit approximate at times but the net result is worth it.

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