How we work
There are specific steps involved in creating effective copy and communications for your business. Allow us to put into words the messaging that will connect with your audience, while you focus on what you do best.
It’s often easier to have someone outside your business help create your content and write your marketing materials. An objective perspective helps to produce business documents that are written with a customer/client focus.
We can work with you directly, or we can collaborate with your designer/agency/developer to create effective business documents and compelling marketing materials.
Working with clients/businesses directly
We begin each project with a discovery process – learning more about your business and what you’re trying to achieve. These initial briefing steps include learning more about your objectives, your audience and what they frequently ask, what objections or misconceptions you might need to overcome, and clear calls to action.
We get clear on what your sales process is so we can help you convert inquiries into bookings or purchases. The discovery work often adds value to several areas of a business, and is a great way to get different teams of an organisation all working together.
Wherever needed, we conduct external research so that we fully understand the market you operate in. We use a collaborative and iterative approach to defining your key messages and shaping them compelling copy, so you’re involved as much or as little as you want along the way. We’re not finished until all of our work has been thoroughly reviewed and proofed, and you’re delighted with the completed product.
Working with designers and agencies
Coming in to a project as the specialist copywriter, we’ll work to the brief and milestones set by the account manager, creative director or designer. We won’t repeat the briefing process already undertaken, but we’ll make sure we have all the information we need to create compelling messages for your intended audience.
We understand the different approach to writing needed for offline/printed materials versus online copy and will work as needed with the other parties involved – designers, developers, SEO experts, social media partners.
Pricing
We prefer to use fixed-rate pricing whenever possible, working within your budget. Occasionally we’ll quote an hourly rate, particularly if there are external factors that may change the scope of our work together. But we know that a clear and detailed briefing process is important to keep a project on track and to control costs.
Thorough scoping sets agreeable expectations and clear deliverables – no surprises and no confusion.
Website copy
There are generally two ways we work on website content.
1. If you already have a website designed and built, and you’re writing or updating your own content, we’ll bring in a fresh pair of eyes and a professional set of skills to create compelling, SEO focussed website copy. Let us know how far along you are, how much help you require, how many pages you require, and we’ll prepare a quote. This pricing will include a full briefing process, several iterations of writing and revising where you’re consulted along the way, and proofing stages as your content goes live.
2. We’re often brought in to a website project by a website designer, developer or a branding agency to be the specialist copywriter. Waiting for a client to write their own content can often hold up a project unnecessarily, so it makes sense to hire a dedicated, professional writer who knows how to write for the web. Here we’ll work to a budget already set for content by the agency, or we’ll produce a quote based on the project requirements. We’ll complement the work being done by the developer or agency, rather than doubling up and duplicating efforts (and costs).
For an estimate of what your website copy might cost, please get us in touch with us.
Other marketing materials, business documents
While we use a structured and proven approach to copywriting for business documents and marketing materials (brochures, company overviews, articles, blogs, product spec sheets, personal bios, etc), we are flexible in how we work together and how we can fit in to your budget.
After an initial discussion about your project, we’ll put together a quote for working together. We use quotes, not estimates, for two main reasons. First, it helps us both clearly scope out what you need and what you will receive. Second, it guarantees there will be no pricing surprises or unexpected add-on costs.
Please get us in touch with us for an initial, no-obligation chat before you begin your next project.
Bids, tenders, RFPs*
This is one area where we almost always work with an hourly rate. There are a number of reasons for this – often the scope of this type of work and the hours required are difficult to quantify at the start of a project. Many times there are last-minute or urgent requests or late night work required to meet a deadline. Sometimes the requesting party moves the goal posts and you need to adjust your strategy in the midst of a bid project. Having worked on numerous bids and RFP projects – both as a responder and as a requester – we understand how complex these jobs can be.
If you do have a fixed budget set, we can give you a full briefing on what can be accomplished within those parameters. The important thing is that you seek the help of a professional copywriter who has the skill set and the time to devote to help you submit the best proposal possible.
Please get in touch for a copy of our paper on 10 Tips for Writing a Winning Tender Response.
*RFP = Request for Proposal (your response to a bid or tender request)
“Renata is able to seamlessly jump into a project already in process and hit the ground running, or start at the initial stages and provide the strategic guidance required to create successful outcomes. Through her tender writing work she focusses not only on getting the language clear and consistent, but also takes a higher level approach to creating documents that make an impact and address customer needs. She has proven herself able to provide value in a diverse range of government departments and industry sectors, bringing an often much-needed outsider’s perspective to a project.”
Director, Strategic Sourcing Consultancy Ltd