Business-to-Business Copywriter
The Truth About Copywriters and Websites Revealed
by David Coyne
by David Coyne
From the World's
Highest-Paid
Copywriter
Highest-Paid
Copywriter
One of the questions often asked by novice copywriters is … Do I need a website to be successful?
While there are top-tier copywriters who are not online, most pros agree that a website should be part of your self-promotion tools.
“You absolutely need a website,” says Steve Slaunwhite, copywriter and publisher of ForCopywritersOnly.com. “Why? Because clients want to check you out BEFORE they call or email you. They do that by visiting your web site. If you don’t have one, you’ll lose opportunities.”
Another key reason to have a website is that it showcases your ability to write copy for web promotions. “If you don’t have a website, you’ll find it difficult to get online copywriting work, such as emails, web pages, landing pages, etc.,” adds Slaunwhite. “Clients will assume that, because you don’t have a web site, you must not be a very good online copywriter.”
Indeed. A website showcases your copywriting skills, demonstrates your marketing know how, and can be the tool that persuades a prospect to become a customer. But new writers often overestimate the power of having a website – and are disappointed when it isn’t the ultimate marketing solution they hoped it would be.
The main myth most copywriters have is that the search engines will do the work for them. This may be true for other types of businesses, but not ours. Let me give you an example from my own experience.
One of my copywriting niches is alternative health. With health-conscious baby boomers retiring in droves, this market is thriving. And it’s one of the most lucrative industries for copywriters. So I set up a website focusing on just this niche and I called it: www.healthcopywriter.net
Now, if you submit the phrase “health copywriter” in Google, you should see my website, come up in the first page of results. In fact, I’ve had my site rank number one in Google for this keyword phrase. But in the six months my health site has been online, I’ve gotten only five inquiries from prospects who found me through search engines. All of them were small business people – and none of them were a good fit for my services.
When I researched the keyword phrase to see how often people submit it to search engines monthly, “health copywriter” wasn’t even in the top 100 of copywriter related terms.
So why aren’t more marketing managers of large corporations using search engines to find copywriters? Two reasons…
Marketing managers are more likely to ask colleagues from similar companies or trade associations to recommend copywriters. Also, they regularly receive copywriter promotions by mail that includes the writer’s web address. No Google required.
It won’t hurt to keep search engine marketing in mind – as long as you keep it in perspective. Use it as a part of an integrated marketing approach. Test a variety of online and offline promotion methods to drive prospects to your website. Send out postcards and sales letters. Write articles. Post on discussion boards. See which methods work best then drop the activities that aren’t producing quality leads.
The biggest traffic generator I ever created was faxing out a one-page news release with tips on how to create more responsive advertising. It cost me $75 to send it to 500 business and marketing publications across North America.
Within an hour of distribution, the editor of Sales Promotion magazine contacted me and asked if he could publish the tips in his ezine that day. It netted me 20 new subscribers to my newsletter. Target Marketing published part of the release on their homepage as Tip Of The Week.
If your expectations are reasonable about the quantity and quality of leads a website can deliver, and you understand what it takes to generate those leads and turn them into clients…a website will serve you well.
Finally, while you’re planning your website, don’t put your self promotion on hold. And when your site is up and running, don’t assume that’s all you need to do to find work. It’s really just the beginning. Successful marketing will always include contacting prospects using other methods. It’s vitally important to get in the habit of marketing your services everyday.
Beyond self-promotion, a website provides another immensely important function. “The main purpose of my site is to constantly and continually teach myself about copywriting and marketing,” says copywriter Ben Settle. “The best way to learn something is to teach it.”
David Coyne is a copywriter and consultant specializing in business-to-business and alternative health. http://www.b2bcopywriter.net
This article was first published by CopyProtege.com
While there are top-tier copywriters who are not online, most pros agree that a website should be part of your self-promotion tools.
“You absolutely need a website,” says Steve Slaunwhite, copywriter and publisher of ForCopywritersOnly.com. “Why? Because clients want to check you out BEFORE they call or email you. They do that by visiting your web site. If you don’t have one, you’ll lose opportunities.”
Another key reason to have a website is that it showcases your ability to write copy for web promotions. “If you don’t have a website, you’ll find it difficult to get online copywriting work, such as emails, web pages, landing pages, etc.,” adds Slaunwhite. “Clients will assume that, because you don’t have a web site, you must not be a very good online copywriter.”
Indeed. A website showcases your copywriting skills, demonstrates your marketing know how, and can be the tool that persuades a prospect to become a customer. But new writers often overestimate the power of having a website – and are disappointed when it isn’t the ultimate marketing solution they hoped it would be.
The main myth most copywriters have is that the search engines will do the work for them. This may be true for other types of businesses, but not ours. Let me give you an example from my own experience.
One of my copywriting niches is alternative health. With health-conscious baby boomers retiring in droves, this market is thriving. And it’s one of the most lucrative industries for copywriters. So I set up a website focusing on just this niche and I called it: www.healthcopywriter.net
Now, if you submit the phrase “health copywriter” in Google, you should see my website, come up in the first page of results. In fact, I’ve had my site rank number one in Google for this keyword phrase. But in the six months my health site has been online, I’ve gotten only five inquiries from prospects who found me through search engines. All of them were small business people – and none of them were a good fit for my services.
When I researched the keyword phrase to see how often people submit it to search engines monthly, “health copywriter” wasn’t even in the top 100 of copywriter related terms.
So why aren’t more marketing managers of large corporations using search engines to find copywriters? Two reasons…
Marketing managers are more likely to ask colleagues from similar companies or trade associations to recommend copywriters. Also, they regularly receive copywriter promotions by mail that includes the writer’s web address. No Google required.
It won’t hurt to keep search engine marketing in mind – as long as you keep it in perspective. Use it as a part of an integrated marketing approach. Test a variety of online and offline promotion methods to drive prospects to your website. Send out postcards and sales letters. Write articles. Post on discussion boards. See which methods work best then drop the activities that aren’t producing quality leads.
The biggest traffic generator I ever created was faxing out a one-page news release with tips on how to create more responsive advertising. It cost me $75 to send it to 500 business and marketing publications across North America.
Within an hour of distribution, the editor of Sales Promotion magazine contacted me and asked if he could publish the tips in his ezine that day. It netted me 20 new subscribers to my newsletter. Target Marketing published part of the release on their homepage as Tip Of The Week.
If your expectations are reasonable about the quantity and quality of leads a website can deliver, and you understand what it takes to generate those leads and turn them into clients…a website will serve you well.
Finally, while you’re planning your website, don’t put your self promotion on hold. And when your site is up and running, don’t assume that’s all you need to do to find work. It’s really just the beginning. Successful marketing will always include contacting prospects using other methods. It’s vitally important to get in the habit of marketing your services everyday.
Beyond self-promotion, a website provides another immensely important function. “The main purpose of my site is to constantly and continually teach myself about copywriting and marketing,” says copywriter Ben Settle. “The best way to learn something is to teach it.”
David Coyne is a copywriter and consultant specializing in business-to-business and alternative health. http://www.b2bcopywriter.net
This article was first published by CopyProtege.com