Why Everyone Thinks They Can Write Copy
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:seethes in copywriter:
I woke up today (thank god) and did what I always do:
Hit my snooze button 3–4x until I can pry my crusty eyes open to get a look at the latest emails gracing my inbox for the day.
I do this mostly so I can lay in bed, shirk responsibility, and silently judge subject lines while coming up with new ideas from the rare “good” ones.
But. (Big butt).
Today was different.
See … I have a client who I write emails for on a weekly basis.
I can write them fairly quickly, but they can be pretty involved. I choose the angle, the links back to their site, the subject line to send with it and a lot more.
They give my client a great ROAS compared to the time I spend on them.
But today, I noticed something different when I saw the last email I wrote for them hit my inbox.
THEY CHANGED MY GD SUBJECT LINE BEFORE SENDING IT.
Good LORD.
Like … why even HIRE a copywriter if you’re just gonna go and change their work? And if you had feedback, why not just tell me so I can advise on the change?
Perhaps you’ve experienced this too. It’s infuriating. It can send fire from your fingertips.
I honestly don’t know the solution.
Because even after working with clients for 5 years, this still happens to me.
But I think it’s less about my writing … and more about the length of the relationship (building trust), my desire to test everything (clients should too), and the client’s pressure to meet goals.
And I find this happens even more with pre-profit startup clients who have investors to answer to.
These days, I try not to let it bother me. Sometimes the relationship with the client is more important than being “right” or testing what YOU want.
Definitely true for “newer” clients … with some of my more long-term relationships, I push back in situations like this.
Have you ever dealt with a situation like this? Hit reply and let me know.
David Patrick
BIG P.S. — I write a daily email about my adventures in copywriting across the Wild Wild Web. The emails are VERY strange (but incredibly useful) … and often have NOTHING to do with copywriting at all.
Don’t believe me? Find out for yourself here: www.stealthiscopy.com.
