COLLABORATION

I love to collaborate with my clients and my teams. Why? First of all, I’m a real team player. So, while I do love the fact that I work for myself, I also love to have a boss! Call me a contrary Aquarian, but it works for me.

Collaboration with my clients

I don’t believe in getting some basic info from a form, then going away and researching, doing my copywriting, then coming back after a week or 3 and going ‘da-DAAA!!!’ here it is. Maybe it’s because in my first years in advertising, I worked in press and in direct marketing, and I got the information second hand.

There was always a sales rep or an accounts manager in between me and the client. Chinese whispers. Things got lost in translation. The results of the campaign very much depended on how good that go-between was. So once I started my freelance copywriting business, I was clear that I wanted to work closely with my client.
 

I get very nosy and I ask a lot of questions

When we work together, I want to know everything about your business, your target audience and what you want to achieve. Unlike most other copywriters, I don’t get you to fill in big, long forms. A form could NEVER capture the essence of things — and people hate forms, anyway. I prefer to talk to you and get into your head. To interview you. Because nobody knows your business like you do.

Now, not everything I uncover will get into the campaign (nor should it!) but I want to understand the big picture so I can help create the perfect solution for you. Then there’s a lot of backing and forthing, every step of the way, throughout the entire project. This way, you always know what’s going on, you’re comfortable with the process, and there are no nasty surprises.

Most small business owners who come to me have never worked with a copywriter before, so I want to stay close and hold your hand where necessary as we work together. I always say that I don’t work FOR people, I work WITH them.
 

Another good reason to work closely with my clients

I’m an expert copywriter, but I’m not an expert in your industry or your business. You are. If I was to get some basic information and go away for a week or 3 and come back and go ‘da-DAAA!!!’ I would bring you some nicely written stuff, but it would probably be very similar to what I would write for your competitor up the road. What’s the point of that? I believe that every business is unique. I believe that one of my most important jobs is to find out from you what makes YOUR business so unique, so special, so different from the rest. And then help you tell the world.
 

Collaboration with your team

If you’re a small business owner, chances are you already have a designer, you might have a web developer, you may have an SEO dude, photographer, printer, etc. As a copywriter, I will probably be the last person that comes onto your project.

Please know one thing. Whoever you already have onboard, I am totally committed to working with them, to fitting into the team that you have created. I’m flexible and I’m fast. I can hit the ground running and I pride myself on moulding myself and the way I work to fit into the group dynamic that you already have.

Now, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to put my hand up and let you know if I think you are heading in the wrong direction — I will. But respectfully. Knowing that no matter what my opinion is  — and I will back it up with the relevant facts where necessary — at the end of the day, it’s your business, your baby and the buck stops with you.

COLLABORATION WITH MY PARTNERS IN CRIME

I believe 1 person can’t know everything. With 25+ years in the industry, I know a lot about writing, but copywriting doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It needs to work with the graphics, the design, the brochure, the website, the video, whatever. That’s where the other experts come in.

Whether it’s branding and design, web development, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), animation, or something else, I really enjoy working with the gurus in that field. Not only do I learn from them, we get a better result for the client.

In the 20 years of my copywriting business, I have worked with plenty of industry people in Adelaide. Some good, some not so good, some downright awful and a very few — fabulous. And it’s not just about the knowledge that they have, it’s the magic that’s created when we just click.
 

Not just experts — there has to be a synergy

I think it’s like sport. (Now this is very dangerous ground for me because I know NOTHING about sport, but I do know about TEAMWORK. Ok, here goes.)

You can have a ton of great players on that sports ground, but if they’re not working together well, you just don’t get a good result. And the bottom line for me is making sure we get a good result for the client.

Below are a few people that I work with on a regular basis who are great at what they do, are passionate about what they do and are also fabulous people to work with. If you go talk to them, please tell them know that Karen from Copy with Cream sent you…