Hiring, Firing and Re-hiring Copywriters
5 Comments December 28, 2009 / Posted in Progress reports by Sue.As we build our online business, we share with you all the steps along the way. Even the mistakes. Like hiring, firing and re-hiring copywriters…
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Hi Sue and Steve -
Of course, your title got my attention, since I’m a copywriter. My curiosity aroused, I had to see what you had to say because I think it’s great to hear what you’ve gone through. Good learning for those of us plying our writing trades (and for those looking to hire us).
You are spot on about how to hire a writer. There is a “fit” that must be in the relationship in order for it to work smoothly. One of my favorite questions of potential clients is, “what’s your work style?” I’ve not taken jobs because I discovered that we had such divergent work styles that the relationship couldn’t have worked. I think the conversation is valuable, however, because no one has time to waste these days.
One comment is this: don’t ignore your gut. I’ve learned time and again that my gut is often much smarter than my head or my heart. I’ve been burned taking on projects I shouldn’t have (yes, despite what I said above, I have taken on the occasional “bad” project), or worked with clients that my intuition screamed, “LOOK OUT!” Live and learn I suppose. Another point is don’t second guess your decisions. Although, I suppose as in your case, this worked out just fine.
Your advice is great for other hires as well, be they designers, cleaning people, bookkeepers, etc.
Thank you for sharing your experience and I wish you the very best in your hiring and business endeavors!
Warmly,
Lis
hah. I need to watch your videos more. You guys are a ton of fun
to watch. You two are definitely perfect each other
Thanks for that Lis…some great advice there. It’s gets a little tricky when there are “two guts” that need to be trusted, but we work it out
Good for you for turning down the wrong opportunities…sometimes it’s just not worth it if the fit is not right!
Thanks Sean…Happy New Year!
It’s funny to hear your story because I go through this all the time with clients. I’m not a copywriter but a web designer. However, the same concepts apply.
My niche focuses on small blogs with large audiences. By that I mean blogs that may be owned and/or written by a single person yet have massive audience. Gossip bloggers and mommy bloggers are good examples.
Many of these folks quickly become popular but outgrow their technical abilities to handle the scaling they need. They also tend not to know a whole lot about design and optimization.
That’s where my company comes in. We handle all the intimidating tech stuff, design elements, SEO, etc, so the owner can go back to doing what they like to do: blogging/writing.
Your video was spot on to me because I receive a lot of that when taking on new clients. My core group of sites we manage have been with us for years and years. But we still try to take on a handful of new long term deals each year.
It’s almost like dating. You really do have to fit well with the client. In this case, the client is basically putting their baby in our hands to make better. It can be a lot for them to handle, especially when we start to question some of their current practices.
It isn’t that we are judging them or second guessing them. It’s more that we are trying to understand their thought process and workflow. It can often come off as an interrogation.
With that information, we’re able to recommend better or more efficient ways to accomplish the same goal.
And we really do have a vested interest in making our client sites great. We invest a lot of ourselves in them.
Hey Travis…thanks very much for your well thought-out post…great stuff!!