Everyone wants to be needed. Well, okay, so sometimes things get a little complicated in the personal arena, but when it comes to business: Everyone wants to be needed. Being needed in the business arena directly translates to job security. But writing great copy alone is not enough to make you indispensable. Let’s explore how to make yourself the go-to copywriter for your clients and bosses.
Solve Clients’ Problems
Your first and greatest job with a client or with an employer is to Solve. Their. Problems. Most people coming into a job or a contract are looking for a paycheck and looking for more great work to put in their portfolio. What that translates to is most people giving off the vibe of, “What can you do for me?”
Now, of course you need a paycheck, too! We all need to make a living and as copywriters, while we can certainly have a positive impact on the world, we need to get paid like anyone else. However, you’ll have the most success landing work when you remove the focus from yourself. You need to make your philosophy, “What can I do for you?”
When you review your copywriting portfolio site or your pitch to a potential client, look for language like “me” and “I.” You may inevitably need to use some of these words, but use them as flags when you’re reviewing your copy. Can you rework the copy so it’s about the potential client (“you”)?For example, on your about page, you may say something like “I pay close attention to detail so copy is always polished.” Instead, you could say “You get copy that builds and maintains audience trust in your brand—no careless errors or missed details here!” Which one do you think will attract your client’s attention more? Which one do you think your client cares about more?
Be Proactive
Make it your job to not only create great copy and solve your client’s problems, but to also look for problems and issues they haven’t even noticed. And then, as soon as you find them, fix them, so that the instant they realize they had a problem, they also realize you fixed it.
For example, if you’re working on a website for a client and notice that throughout the website, sometimes “Us/My/Our” refers to the website and sometimes it refers to the user. The website talks about “My Account” and uses terms like “Sign me up!” and “My Preferences” but at the same time says things like “We’re here to help you” and “Learn more about us.”
It’s inconsistent. It’s a problem. So, before they even notice it’s a problem, research the whole problem, note everywhere on the site it occurs and come up with your recommendations. That’s you: Problem Solver. And they’ll love it.
What you don’t want to do is find a problem and simply tell your client or manager about it without a solution. Come prepared with:
- The problem and why it matters to the company
- Your proposed solution and why that addresses the problem
- A timeline for when you can get it done
You want to make it easy for your clients to say yes to the project. And coming with a game plan makes it extra easy and valuable to your clients.
Know When to Solve and When to—Without Involving Others
For smaller errors, such as a typo on a website, just fix it. No one needs to know that someone keyed in their as “thier.”
If you don’t have access to the backend of the website to make the update, you can send a gentle email, such as: “Hey there, I noticed this teeny spelling error on the site. I’d love to help fix it. Is that something I can get access to to take care of it and, if not, who is the best person to pass this along so we can take care of it?”
If it becomes a consistent problem where you see similar typos or errors over and over again, you can either let whomever is entering the content into the site know. If that still doesn’t resolve it, you can recommend a process update.
You can simply say to your boss, client, or project manager, “I know this is the process [insert whatever the current process is!], but I’ve noticed a few tiny things slipping through. I’d recommend we add a quick step to the process so someone can run a quick spell check so we avoid those errors that, though small, can make our customers lose trust in us.” You can also volunteer to take on that role if it makes sense!
The key to being your client’s go-to copywriter is to always look for ways to add value to the company. After all, what benefits the company ultimately benefits you.
Listen for More
Listen to this episode of the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast to hear more successful copywriter traits. You may find you already have a lot of these traits, or you may discover new skills to start developing so you can remain your client’s go-to copywriter.
Where does your employer/client/prospective employer have a problem that they aren’t even aware of? And how can you fix it for them? Tell us in the comments!
Last Updated on July 18, 2022 by Nick Olds
