Hiring a copywriter

Read about the posts about the category Hiring a copywriter of How to be a copywriter by Copywriter Collective.

An empty, dimly lit conference room lit by a chandelier, waiting for a pitch meeting to begin

What Agencies Want From a Copywriting Agency

Half our briefs come from other agencies. What they want from a copywriting agency isn't writing — it's a name they can put in the room on Thursday.
A row of identical numbered metal mailboxes, one of them open — a visual metaphor for choosing one name from a shortlist of interchangeable candidates

The Shortlist Is the Worst Way to Hire a Copywriter

A marketing director rang me last month with a request I've had a thousand times. "Send me three writers. I'll pick." It's an entirely reasonable thing to ask. It's how you buy nearly everything else — three builders' quotes, three agencies…
Red neon open sign glowing in a dark shop window at night

SEO Copywriting Services: Why Ranking Is the Cheap Part

SEO copywriting services promise rankings. After twenty years placing writers, I can tell you ranking is the cheap part. Persuasion is what you're buying.
An orange origami crane standing out from a crowd of identical folded paper shapes

What a Copywriting Agency Actually Sells (It Isn’t Writing)

After 20 years running a copywriting agency, I can tell you the product isn’t writers. It’s judgement — and the shortlist of one.
Peeling painted wall with torn layers exposing older surfaces beneath

The Copy Brief That Was Really a Brand Strategy Problem

After 20 years placing senior copywriters, here’s how a simple copy brief exposes a brand strategy problem — and what to fix before you brief a writer.
Vintage metal letterpress printing blocks with Chinese characters in a movable-type cabinet

Transcreation: Why Great Campaigns Die at the Border

Every few weeks an email lands that I've come to think of as the most expensive kind I receive. A marketing director — smart, experienced, fresh off a campaign that worked — writes: "Can you get this translated into German? Nothing fancy,…
Two armchairs facing each other in front of a brick fireplace

How to Interview a Copywriter (When You’re Not One)

How to interview a copywriter: after 20 years placing writers and hearing how every hire turned out, here's what actually predicts great work.
Copywriter's desk with a laptop, coffee and printed drafts

Copywriter or Content Writer? You’re Hiring the Wrong One

A client called me a few months ago, frustrated. They'd hired a writer six weeks earlier — sharp, well-reviewed, fair rate — and the work was landing flat. "The blog posts are fine," they said, "but the campaign line we asked for is just...…
A writer edits a manuscript with a red pen beside a vintage typewriter

The Revision Where Good Work Goes to Die

A writer I'd placed called me a few months ago, a week after wrapping a campaign for a brand most people would be thrilled to work with. I asked how it went. There was a pause — the kind that tells you everything before the words do. "The…
why-great-creatives-deliver-average-work-copywriter-collective

Why Great Creatives Keep Delivering Average Work

Why Great Creatives Deliver Average Results I've placed hundreds of freelance copywriters and creative directors over the past two decades. Award-winners. People whose work you've seen on billboards, in Super Bowl spots, on the homepages of…
Empty creative agency desk by a window — where did all the good creatives go

Where All the Good Creatives Went

I had a conversation last month with a CMO at a large European brand. She was frustrated. "We've been through three agencies in two years," she told me. "The pitches are great. The teams they present are impressive. And then the work starts…

The Hidden Copywriting Opportunity Most Brands Ignore: The Shopping Bag

Procrastination has a habit of leading me into the murky waters of LinkedIn. Every now and then, however, something interesting rises to the surface of my news feed. Usually a small marketing debate or an unexpected comment thread, sparking…

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