Frequently asked questions
When you’re having a look around my site, you may well have a few questions about working with me.
I’ve answered some of the most common questions I get asked below. But, please give me a shout if you need any more information.
Copywriting
I understand that, if your budget is really tight, you might question whether to hire a professional copywriter or write the words yourself. I get it. But hiring a professional copywriter is an investment in your business.
A customer’s first interaction with your business may well be through your website, email marketing or blogs. So, you need to win them over from the start.
As an experienced copywriter, I use tried-and-tested tactics to help you make the right first impression. I look at your business through your customers’ eyes – looking at what they need to know and how to bring out your unique selling points.
It’s also really difficult to write about your own business because you’re just too close to it. So, as a copywriter, I bring a fresh perspective as well as my creative skills.
Plus, by outsourcing your content, you won’t have the hassle or stress of doing this yourself. You can take this task off your to-do list and get on with your day job.
Lots! I can help with:
- Web copywriting and landing page content
- Blog writing
- Email marketing
- Business case studies
- ebooks and lead magnets
- Social media marketing (paid and organic)
- Awards submissions
- CV writing
- Sales letters (see my blog, ‘Is the sales letter dead?’)
- Brochure and newsletter copywriting
- Proofreading.
I’ve helped dozens of clients with different projects over the years. Get in touch to find out how I can help your business.
I’ve included some rough prices on my service pages so you can get a broad idea of the costs.
But, I do provide individual quotes for each project because the cost depends on exactly what you need. For instance, some customers might need me to interview several team members for a blog whereas others might not need this.
I’m always happy to produce a quick quote for any project and look at what works best for your budget.
I’ve worked as a professional copywriter for more than 20 years, both in-house and as a freelancer. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the UK’s best-loved brands, as well as many smaller businesses.
When you hire me, you’ll be working with an experienced professional using proven tactics to meet your business goals.
You’re definitely in safe hands. I’m very happy to put you in touch with existing clients who can tell you about their experiences of working with me.
I’m fortunate that a lot of my work comes through referrals and repeat business. But some work also comes from website enquiries and social media – particularly LinkedIn.
I’m a mid-priced copywriter. I’m not the cheapest – there are many firms in-flung lands offering copywriting services for peanuts. But these firms have a reputation for churning out high-volume, low-quality content.
When you hire me, you’re getting an experienced copywriter with proven expertise in crafting high-impact content for many businesses.
I’m an ethical copywriter – so I keep my costs in line with industry rates. Learn more about the going rates for UK copywriters on the ProCopywriters website.
I want you to be really happy with content I’ve created for you.
Of course, you may have a few tweaks and comments and that’s all part of the process. My quote includes one round of tweaks and comments (usually all that’s needed).
If you later decide you’d like more changes further down the line, that’s fine. But this would be charged at my hourly rate of £40 per hour.
Again, this really depends on what you need. I’ll always give you firm timescales at the start so you’ll know when to expect your content.
To kick things off, we’ll have a chat about your brief. The briefing session is so important as it really guides how I research and write the content. I cover this in one of my blogs.
Doing a great job for you is important to me. I’ll always be honest about the timescales as I never rush a job or compromise on quality.
The timescales also depend on how quickly you can get back to me with information and feedback. If there’s a delay, this will impact on the turnaround time.
It’s important that your content meets your needs.
I deliberately invest a lot of time upfront at the briefing and research stage to ensure that I’ve got a good understanding of your needs and don’t misinterpret your brief.
But don’t worry if you do need to make changes. I include one round of tweaks in my costs.
Obviously, if you’ve decided to change the brief substantially midway through the project, I will need to charge more.
For new client projects, I ask for a 50% deposit. I may ask for staged payments for large projects, but we can discuss this when you first book in.
Life happens and it’s not always possible to give lots of notice when you need some copy. If it’s a blog or a small project, I can usually fit the work in reasonably quickly. For larger projects, I’ll need more notice.
I like to work flexibly around my clients. My usual working hours are Monday-Friday 9am to 5.30pm. For urgent tasks, occasionally, I do work weekends and outside normal working hours. But, I do charge extra for this type of work and try to avoid weekend working as far as possible. Everyone needs a break!
It’s best to drop me a message or call and I’ll let you know if I’m free. If I don’t have any capacity, I can usually recommend other trusted copywriters.
The brief is one of the most important parts of the project.
In an ideal world, I’d want to meet with you in person and I’m always happy to travel within a reasonable distance. I also meet with clients on video calls, usually via Zoom or Teams.
Before our meeting, I’ll send a few questions over to you to steer my research and help you prepare. The briefing is always far more productive when a client’s had a chance to look at the questions beforehand.
For a fun take on this, read my blog on what Mad Men teaches us about the copywriting brief.
Writing copy is my living and it pays my bills. So, I’m not able to offer copywriting for free, I’m afraid.
My costs reflect my experience and the investment I’ve made in keeping my skills and knowledge up to date.
But, by hiring an experienced professional, your marketing is in good hands.
I may well have experience writing about your sector but, to be honest, it’s not a showstopper if I haven’t. I don’t need to understand the intricacies of your engineering widget or HR policy. What’s important is that I understand what you offer and I convey this clearly in words.
I’ve written for scientists, engineers, builders, tea experts, estate agents, joiners, financial experts, a supermodel (!?!?) and many others. So, I am highly experienced in writing for different audiences.
I’ll see your projects with a fresh pair of eyes and perspective. My clients often tell me that I’ve found a selling point or angle that they’d never considered or overlooked.
Fortunately, this is an exceptionally rare occurrence.
If you have to cancel midway through a project, I would charge 50% of the original fee (minimum). That’s because I’ve already committed work to the project.
You may receive emails from ‘SEO experts’ based in far-flung lands, offering to get your business website to the top of the Google rankings for next to nothing.
The reality is that no one can guarantee this – whatever they say. As an SEO copywriter, I can optimise your content to help you get found. In fact, I’ve helped many clients achieve top rankings for the keywords they want to be found for.
I’ve also got top Google rankings for my own business (which might be how you’ve found me!)
However, it’s never guaranteed.
I’m happy to chat about this in more detail if you’d like to give me a call.
Social media marketing
I can help you in lots of different ways, including:
- developing a social media strategy for your business
- a social media audit to help you build your profile, reach and following
- social media training (one-to-one or group.
I also provide social media management for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
I’m always happy to have a chat about what would work best for your business.
The cost depends on your platforms and your business needs.
I can help with content creation (words, images and videos), engagement, influencer outreach, community interaction and more.
Day-to-day social media management starts at £400 per platform per month. I benchmark my rates against industry standards annually.
My social media training costs start from £699 and an audit from £225.
I would recommend a social media health check – which is an audit of your platforms. This provides an overview on what’s working (and what’s not) and recommendations you can implement instantly.
This health check is an affordable option if you don’t have the funds to outsource your social media marketing.
I’ve been managing social media marketing for clients for several years – helping them to build an engaged and loyal following and helping to drive leads and sales.
In 2020/21, I completed an Advanced Diploma in Strategic Social Media Marketing – an intensive six-month course where I was assessed on my work on a client’s social media platforms. Graduates from this nationally acclaimed course regularly go on to manage social media marketing for top UK brands.
So, when you hire me, you’ll be working with a social media specialist who’s trained with the best.
I keep my skills up to date and I’m a founding member of The Social Club, a 200-strong group of female entrepreneurs and social media marketers.
For day-to-day social media management, I ask client to commit to three months as a minimum. That’s because it takes time to build awareness and grow your social media presence – this will not happen overnight. I’ll be tracking the results weekly and sharing regular updates.
From there, we can make any tweaks as we refine your social media marketing, delivering 100% on your business goals.