How Long Should It Take a Copywriter?
Some copywriters will get your project done in a week. Other copywriters will take 3-4 weeks or more to write your promotion.
But how long does it really take to write a couple pages of copy?
Well, the simple answer is: not long. At least not for most copywriters. But it’s not so much the writing that’s the problem. It’s what comes before the writing that can take a while.
There’s a lot of work that you don’t see when it comes to writing copy. And much of that work involves creativity.
I’m not talking about the “coming up with a cute tagline or slogan” type of creativity, but the creativity that allows a copywriter to take a huge amount of information and turn it into a unique sales message that will get your market to take action.
And every copywriter has their own way to do that. Some take pages and pages of notes as they study your market and your product. Then they turn to those notes to come up with ideas to make the promotion a success.
Others just ingest a bunch of information and let their creative subconscious take charge. They walk around for a few days “mulling it over.” They’re just waiting for their subconscious to drop the perfect “hook” to put into your promotion. The hook is that one big idea that will turn readers into buyers.
For me, I know that once I’ve done the research… once I know exactly who my market is… and once I’ve given my mind some time to churn… the actual writing process is fast.
If I’m writing a 10 page salesletter for a product, it can be done in a few hours once all the preliminary work has been done.
For me, it just flows at that point.
So how long should it take to get your copy? A week? A month?
The answer is that it just depends on who you’re working with. And that’s really a blessing in disguise. Because what you’re really paying for when you hire a copywriter is the copywriter’s unique take on how to sell your product. And that uniqueness means that there is no hard or fast rule about how long it should take.
But here’s something to consider:
For me, the longer I work with a client, the quicker the whole process goes. The more I understand my client’s product and the deeper I understand the market, the quicker I can create results for everyone. And the better those results tend to be.
My hunch is that this is true for a lot of copywriters. And it’s a good reason why once you find the right copywriter, you should consider sticking with her. A long term relationship can be a whole lot more profitable for everyone involved.