Should I hire a copywriter or Do it myself?

do-it-myself-blog-post

This is one of my favourite questions because it reminds me of every time I’ve ever faced a domestic crisis. That thought always crosses my mind “do I need to call a tradie or will a quick trip to Bunnings fix it”?

Deep down you know when it’s something you can tackle yourself, like changing a light bulb or hanging a picture. And you also know when it’s far beyond your DIY capabilities and time to call in an expert.

Why do I need a copywriter?

The problem comes when the dilemma is about more of a skill-based service. Maybe you want to design your own business cards – there are great apps for this now…or you’re faced with organising a wedding for 300 people – definitely time to call in the wedding planner!

The same applies to copywriting. Most people can arguably put a sentence together, but there are so many pitfalls you can fall into when trying to DIY your own newsletter or website content for example.

  1. Knowing too much about the subject matter – there’s certainly no substitute for knowing what you want to talk or write about. But when you’re immersed in your industry every day it’s easy to think that everyone is like you and has the same level of knowledge. The trick to good copywriting is distilling complex topics into content that’s engaging for the reader, no matter their level of existing knowledge about the subject.
  2. Not thinking about what your audience wants to know – while you might be excited about your latest product or new industry development, your audience might not be! A good copywriter will challenge you to think less about the features of a product or service and more about the benefit to customers. What do they need to know to convince them to act, whether that be driving a sale or just getting in touch to ask for more information.
  3. Being too “blue sky” – I’m never one to quash ideas. They should be cherished and explored…but at the right time. Blue sky thinking is a fantastic way to brainstorm and form a content plan, but once it comes to actually drafting content, leave the blue sky thinking behind. You need to be focused and have a clear purpose for your writing to avoid waffle and losing key messages.
  4. Thinking long words make you sound clever and authoritative(!) – if you’re trying to build a reputation as a thought-leader or authoritative voice in your industry, using jargon and long words isn’t the way to do it. In fact, you’ll probably end up achieving the exact opposite. If your content is difficult to understand or too lengthy, you will lose the attention of your audience and they will seek out alternative information sources that are more accessible.
  5. Leaving it to the last minute and then panicking about the deadline – when writing isn’t your favourite task, it seems easier just to put it off and add to tomorrow’s to-do list. But as your deadline looms, suddenly tomorrow is the due date and you’ve still written anything. Writing something at the last minute is never going to be your best work and, in some cases, you might have been better just missing the deadline altogether and not submitting that newsletter article to avoid reputational damage from poor quality or errors. Or you could have called a copywriter of course!
  6. Writer’s block – even if you’ve managed to successfully evade all the other pitfalls, and you’re confident you know what your audience wants, what you want to say and you’re comfortably inside the deadline, if writing isn’t something you do every day, you might find yourself suddenly facing “blank page syndrome” or writer’s block. Argghhh, how do I even start this.

Have you come across any of these issues? I’d love to hear how about you dealt with them.

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