Rush work. We all hate it, but it’s a fact of life for freelancers. Trouble is, some clients abuse our good nature with repeated requests for quick copy.

Sara Lancaster takes on this problem and provides a few suggestions for dealing with it.

***

On Monday, a client sends you an e-mail requesting brochure copy. The company’s sales team is going to a conference next week. NEXT WEEK!

On Tuesday, a potential client calls to ask if he can have 50 articles about cell phone repair ASAP.

On Wednesday, an old co-worker IMs and asks you to be a professional reference. She’d love it if you could review her résumé that afternoon.

On Thursday … oh, never mind. You get the point.

What is with all these rush copy projects?

More to the point, how do you handle situations like this?

Why clients need ASAP copywriting services

Turns out clients are people, too. They’re forgetful. They’re procrastinators. They’re ignorant about things outside their world. Like, for example, how long it takes to write five pages of web content.

Some clients are also a little rude. Maybe it’s how they’ve gotten things done their whole life, and they just don’t know any better. Maybe they don’t mean to be abusive, but that’s how their boss and their boss’s boss act around the office, so that behavior trickles down, all the way down to the independent contractors who are clueless about that company’s internal culture.

All of these reasons are possibilities, but I actually have a different theory. I believe clients and potential clients ask for an ASAP deadline because of the “delayed construction epidemic.”

When I was a kid, my parents built an addition on to our house. They hired a construction company to make a beautiful family room that extended beyond the kitchen. They thought that within a summer’s time, they would have that wood burning fireplace, picture window, and abundant space for their oversized recliners. But, no. Months passed. Progress moved at a snail’s pace.

By September, my father decided the best approach was to be a pest. He called the contractor every day. He came home early from work to monitor progress. He told the contractor to get it done ASAP or else.

Whenever we hire a service provider to do an important job, we often feel vulnerable. We feel that if we don’t ask all the right questions, then it won’t get done. We feel that in order for a job to be done right, we must do it ourselves or at least micromanage the process.

How to kindly say “no” to ASAP requests

If you accept an ASAP request, your writing quality may go down because you’re rushed. You’ll neglect your patient customers, the ones you enjoy working with and are most willing to pay your full rate.

Say no to 95% of ASAP requests, otherwise you will set a trend. The client you say yes to will repeat that request over and over again and there’s an opportunity cost associated with that. While you’re manic trying to get work done, you’re risking your reputation. You’re also wasting time you could be spending trying to find clients that make you happy.

The solution? Say, “I schedule projects one week in advance (or longer if you need longer) and require three days to provide a first draft (or longer if you need it). I’d be more than happy to work on your project beginning DATE, and if I can get to it sooner, I will. Should I schedule you in?”

Tips for preventing ASAP copywriting requests

Dean posted an excellent article about how to deal with freelance clients that suck. In the post, he’s clear that we, as freelancers, have to adjust our attitude to make clients happy. In addition to attitude, it’s also strategy. Here’s what I suggest you do to prevent ASAP requests.

1. Set boundaries. Answer phone calls during regular business hours. Make weekend deadlines and evening meetings a very rare occasion. Prove you’re a real business.

2. Charge an expedited writing fee. Earlier this year, I started an emergency writing service to discourage ASAP requests. The new service hasn’t cured the problem, but it has earned me a few more dollars and eased some pressure.

3. Don’t neglect your clients. On every project, give the client status reports. It doesn’t have to be formal, but updates should be frequent. I’ve found that a quick e-mail letting him or her know of my progress often eases anxiety.

Certainly, there are more ways to discourage ASAP writing requests. How do you handle it?

Sara Lancaster, through her agency, No. 2 Pen, writes website content and other online marketing materials for businesses.

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Back in the Jurassic period of my career, there was no World Wide Web. So there were no nifty online payment services for billing freelance fees.

I’d invoice clients the same way I sent them copy: in the mail. Yes, I’d print an invoice, address an envelope, and drop it in a mailbox. The client would get the invoice a few days later.

Today, we have PayPal.

Billing clients with PayPal is about as easy as it gets. You can send an email invoice or use PayPal’s “request for money” feature. When the client pays, it comes to your PayPal account and you get a notice upon arrival.

Some clients like PayPal because they can use a credit card to pay you, and they don’t have to fumble with checks or bother with sticking bits of paper in the mail.

But this convenience comes at a cost, namely PayPal’s transaction fees.

In the U.S., you’re charged 2.9% of your invoice plus $0.30 for each payment. So to receive payment on a $1,000 invoice, you lose $29.30. If it’s an international payment, it’s an extra 1.0%, so you lose $39.30.

That doesn’t seem like much unless you start doing a lot of business this way and add up your fees for the year. If you’re billing $100,000 a year through PayPal, you’re losing anywhere from $2,900 to $3,900. That could be two or three mortgage payments or maybe a year’s worth of car payments.

If you earn more, it can get into some serious money. Because I’m fairly frugal, I got tired of eating these costs for clients, and started asking them to pay the fee. After a few fumbled attempts to tack on the correct amount (I suck at math), I found a handy online tool that calculates PayPal fees. There are many, but this is the one I like best.

On the right side of the screen, you can plug in your invoice amount and see what PayPal will deduct. On the left side, you can enter the amount you want to receive and see what you must charge to get it. Actually, once you enter any amount, all the rest is calculated automatically.

Also, you’ll notice that you can click on the flag icons to change the currency and the fees charged in whatever country you live in. If your client is outside the country, click the cross-border payment box.

Right now, PayPal is considered a convenience by most of my clients, so they don’t mind paying the fees. It’s only fair, after all, since I don’t mind getting a check. And PayPal offers me only minimal convenience.

However, I can see a time in the future when electronic payment, by PayPal or some other service, will become the standard and clients will no longer want to pay these fees.  Though, I imagine by then, there will be other payment services, some of which may be free.

Sneaky Tip: If you don’t do a lot of PayPal business, you can ask your clients to send the money as a “personal” transfer. There are no fees for that. However, I’m not recommending this since PayPal is notorious for freezing or canceling accounts if they don’t like how you’re using their services. So beware.

Do you use PayPal for billing? Do you eat the fees or charge extra for them?

Related posts:

1. 8 rules for setting your freelance copywriting fees
2. Freelance fees: hourly or per project?
3. Should you ask for freelance referral fees?

Writing can be a lonely way to make a living.

This is especially true if you’re a freelancer, but it’s also true if you have a full-time corporate position.

Writers create the messages that communicate, persuade, and sell. Yet they are too often underpaid and disrespected by those who directly benefit from the skill and experience writers bring to the business world.

I cannot personally complain much about this, but I’ve had my fair share of prospects who have expected me to essentially be their slave, work for nearly nothing, and bask in the joy of it all.

Some of this has come from pure ignorance about what professional writers do. Though some comes from outright disrespect. Though I try to be polite, I have little patience for this and am not shy about expressing my opinions on the matter.

When this disrespect takes the form of cheating you out of fair pay, breaking contracts, or ignoring copyright protections, it may be time to consider joining a union. And I’d like to introduce you to two of them.

The National Writers Union and the Freelancers Union are two well-known organizations.

The National Writers Union (NWU) boasts more than 1,200 members and has support from the United Automobile Workers. They seek to advance income and improve working conditions for many types of writers, including freelancers.

Benefits include contract advice, assistance in resolving grievances, legal and political advocacy, member education, job listings, insurance, copyright defense, and various resources and services.

They require that you are a professional writer and meet certain standards, but the standards are fairly low. You must have “published a book, a play, three articles, five poems, a short story, or an equal amount of newsletter, publicity, technical, commercial, government, or institutional copy.”

However, even if your written material is unpublished, you can join if you are “actively writing and attempting to publish your work.”

Dues depend on your writing income, from $120 a year if you earn less than $5,000 to $340 a year if you earn $45,001 and above.

The Freelancers Union caters to all freelancers, not just writers. Like the NWU, they offer various benefits and services, including insurance, retirement plans, jobs, political advocacy, educational and social events, and discounts on things like gym memberships and workspace.

The big advantage of the Freelancers Union is that membership is free and there are no particular requirements other than having a valid email address. They also have a larger community, tens of thousands, partly because membership is free, partly because their member universe is more diverse.

Just on a personal note, the Freelancers Union offers a much more user-friendly website. And I notice that nowhere do they use the abbreviation FU. This is wise.

I’m a member of the Freelancers Union, but not the NWU. My impression is that the NWU is more of a traditional union. However, the Freelancers Union does have a political action committee that fights for freelancer rights and offers lots of solid benefits.

Should you join one or both of these unions? That’s up to you. Since the Freelancers Union is free, I don’t see any harm in giving it a try. You can look at the NWU website and decide if the benefits are worth the money for you.

Keep in mind that most unions have a certain political leaning that may or may not agree with your own position on issues. Also, organizations like these tend to cater to typical writers, not necessarily high-paid copywriters and consultants. So consider the advice you get carefully.

These days, with corporations taking more and more liberties with contracts, copyright, and the often desperate condition of some writers, I think it’s a good idea for writers and freelancers to band together to protect their own interests.

Whether you’re a full-time employee or an independent writer, and regardless of your specialty or the industry you work in, you provide a professional and important service. You should demand the pay and respect that you deserve. Joining a union may be one way for you to protect your personal interests and the writing profession.

Do you belong to a union or association? Which one and how does it benefit you?

Related posts:

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2. 7 elements of a solid freelance copywriting contract
3. Copyright for copywriters: Who owns your copy?

If you write a novel, it’s clear to everyone who owns the work. You wrote it. You own it.

But if you write a website for an employer or client, who owns the copy?

What we’re talking about here is “copyright.” It’s one area of law that you should understand to protect your interests and avoid unnecessary confrontations with employers and clients.

Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer and I don’t pretend to be one. What follows is my admittedly meager understanding of basic copyright principles. You should not consider this legal advice. If you have a legal question about copyright, you should consult with a real lawyer who has attended a real law school (not one on the Internet) and works in an office with rows and rows of impressive leather-bound books.

What is copyright?

Today’s copyright laws are based on the Copyright Act of 1976. This act basically says that the moment you fix your work in a tangible form, whether it’s written, typed, or dictated, your rights are automatically activated.

In other words, when you write something, it becomes your property. It’s the same as a car, couch, or digital camera. It’s yours. You own it. And you can do anything you like with it. But others cannot.

Specifically, copyright grants you a set of rights, including rights for reproduction, distribution, adaptations, performance, and display. These rights apply only to you, the author of the work. If anyone else wants to do anything with your work, you must “transfer” rights to them.

So if you write an article, you are the author of that article and copyright protects your work. If a magazine wants to publish your article, you must grant them the right to reproduce and distribute the article. Being paid for the work doesn’t transfer your rights. And generally, the transfer must be in writing.

If anyone uses your work without your permission, you can sue for compensation for any loss you suffer.

Of course, there are limits on copyright. For example, you do not have copyright protection for ideas or facts. So while copyright protects your written article, it does not protect the idea or the facts in that article. Someone else can write an article on the same topic with the same facts.

Copyright also does not protect words, names, titles, slogans, and short phrases. If you write a book titled “Ribbit: The History of Frogs Part III,” someone else can write a book and give it the same title. If you want to protect things like this, you have to apply for a trademark.

Myths about copyright

You must “register” your work to get copyright protection. No you don’t. It’s automatic. Registering your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office is optional. You do it only if you want to establish evidence of your ownership.

If there’s no © mark, there’s no copyright. Wrong. The copyright mark is also optional. It’s just a reminder to content thieves that you own the work and they don’t. The most common formula is the mark, followed by the year, followed by the rights you want to retain: © 2010 All rights reserved.

Reprinting a portion of a work is illegal. Nope. It’s called fair use. Generally this means that someone can cite a short portion of your work. So if you write a book, a blogger could cite a few paragraphs in a review.

Copyright is forever. No. In most cases, your copyright lasts for your lifetime plus 50 years. After that, it’s in the public domain.

It’s online, so it’s already in the public domain. Absolutely wrong. If someone tells you this, ask how they would feel if you took their car. After all, it’s parked in a public place, right on the street. Same thing.

You can find more copyright myths here.

Copyright and copywriting

So now we get to the heart of the matter. What about copyright protection for the copy you write for employers or clients?

From what I’ve told you so far, you might think that you have a goldmine on your hands. You’ve written tons of copy and it’s all yours! Mwahaha!

Unfortunately, there’s another concept you need to know. It’s called “work for hire.” And this pretty much obliterates any ownership you have for anything you write on the behalf of your employers or clients.

If you’re an employee, there is an understanding that you are hired to work for the business. So even if you do the writing, the legal “author” of the work is the business, not you.

If you’re a freelancer, the same understanding generally applies. The business hires you to work them. You do the writing, but your client owns the work.

Technically, you could argue that if you do not transfer your authorship rights in writing, you maintain the copyright. And I’ve seen some copywriters try to do this. But if you go this route, you’ll face some series problems.

• You’ll have to buck the entrenched tradition of work for hire.
• You’ll need a lawyer to enforce your copyright if an employer or client disagrees with you.
• You could lose a job over it. Or you could lose clients over it.

I’ve seen some copywriting contracts that seek to retain copyright, but I think this is an unproductive and impractical idea. After all, if you write a brochure about a pressure valve for the XYZ Valve Company, how could you reuse the copy anyway?

There are only two practical ways to retain copyright and profit repeatedly from your copy: creating products for resale and entering into a royalty agreement.

One marketing consultant I know, for example, wrote a sales letter to sell heating and air conditioning systems. He’s not hired to write the letter. He contacts HVAC installers and sells the right to use the letter. Every time a client uses it, he gets paid.

Some businesses who hire copywriters offer royalty arrangements in addition to or in lieu of cash payment for services. So you might write a direct mail package for a financial newsletter, get a check for your services, plus get 2-4 cents per piece mailed. The more successful the package, the more it’s mailed, and the more money you make on royalties.

For more information on copyright, I strongly urge you to get at least one good book on the subject. Here are some books on copyright at Amazon.

Related posts:

1. Should you join a freelance or writers union?

In the minds of some consumers, people in marketing operate at an ethical level below lawyers and barely above used car salesmen.

And that includes copywriters.

Some of my friends call me the “marketing weasel.” It’s said affectionately, since I make a lot of money for some of them, but it shows that even copywriters don’t have the best reputation for ethical behavior.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to get on a soapbox here. I just believe that this is a subject every copywriter should think about from time to time. Sara Lancaster touched on this last month when she revealed her own standards for accepting clients.

What is your stance on ethics in copywriting?

Many years ago, I wrote a piece for Direct Marketing Magazine where I outlined 4 ways to approach ethics:

Pragmatism: You’re concerned only with bottom-line results. The end justifies the means. A little deception is okay as long as everyone benefits.

Idealism: You look at right and wrong in absolute terms. You believe that the way you sell is as important as what you sell. No form of deception is acceptable.

Relativism: You see ethics operating on a sliding scale, depending on the time, place, and situation. You depend on commonsense or experience to tell you if you’ve gone too far.

Professionalism: You see yourself as an advocate for your client. Your job isn’t to ponder ethics. You leave ethics to the client and the legal department.

I won’t tell you which view to hold. I’ll just let you ponder these options.

Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice

You can’t decide on a philosophy of ethics without considering what others think about what is or is not ethical.

So I’d like to suggest that you become familiar with the DMA Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice, the standard followed by most direct marketing organizations. It’s a good set of basic ethics regardless of what part of the business world you work in.

Here’s just a taste:

HONESTY AND CLARITY OF OFFER
Article #1
All offers should be clear, honest, and complete so that the consumer may know the exact nature of what is being offered, the price, the terms of payment (including all extra charges) and the commitment involved in the placing of an order. Before publication of an offer, marketers should be prepared to substantiate any claims or offers made. Advertisements or specific claims that are untrue, misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent should not be used.

ACCURACY AND CONSISTENCY
Article #2
Simple and consistent statements or representations of all the essential points of the offer should appear in the promotional material. The overall impression of an offer should not be contradicted by individual statements, representations, or disclaimers.

ACTUAL CONDITIONS
Article #4
All descriptions, promises, and claims of limitation should be in accordance with actual conditions, situations, and circumstances existing at the time of the promotion.

DISCLOSURE OF SPONSOR AND INTENT
Article #8
All marketing contacts should disclose the name of the sponsor and each purpose of the contact. No one should make offers or solicitations in the guise of one purpose when the intent is a different purpose regardless of the marketing channel used.

SOLICITATION IN THE GUISE OF AN INVOICE OR GOVERNMENTAL
NOTIFICATION
Article #10
Offers that are likely to be mistaken for bills, invoices, or notices from public utilities or governmental agencies should not be used.

There are a total of 61 “articles” outlined in this guide covering offers, consent, children, sweepstakes, use of data, online marketing, fundraising, and other areas.

For the most part, the guidelines are common sense. And I’m guessing you’ll agree with most of them.

If you work in a specialized industry, you may have access to another set of ethical guidelines. The point is that you should have a sense of what is okay and what is not so that you can help your clients stay on the straight and narrow and maintain a clean conscience.

With a few minor exceptions, most of my clients have appreciated it when I’ve helped steer them away from anything that could jeopardize the reputation they’ve built up with their customers.

So, do you consider yourself an ethical copywriter … or a marketing weasel? Will anyone answer this question honestly?

Related posts:

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2. Copywriting ethics: 6 steps for working with questionable clients
3. The one simple secret for earning top freelance pay

Most of my clients have been respectable and honest. Many are household brand names, such as Sprint, American Express, and Turbo Tax.

But I’ve received my share of calls from, shall we say, questionable clients. You know, gambling, porn, and other businesses on the wrong side of the tracks.

Today Sara Lancaster reveals how she deals with this difficult ethical challenge.

***

The day I sat down to write this post I received a timely email from an affiliate program inviting me to promote clothing. Here’s an excerpt:

We have been looking for someone such as yourself to promote our fashion and classic items…take a look at our full selection by clicking this link. As you’ll see, we carry everything from the latest fashion finds to the classic staples that are essential to every woman’s closet.

I bit. When I clicked the link I was surprised to see an assortment of men’s risqué undergarments that I wouldn’t exactly describe as “classic” or “women’s” — more like outrageous and borderline offensive.

I’ve fielded several calls and emails from adult website owners, online gambling promoters, weight loss experts selling snake oil, “business opportunity” con artists, etc., who all wanted quality web content for their morally questionable niche.

While I’ve turned down most of these projects, every now and again I’ll take a project provided the client seems to be a legitimate business person with scruples.

Of course, I’ve set a limit for myself — I won’t promote adult products or services, for example, regardless of circumstance — but I try to remember that one of the great things about the Internet is that anyone can find anything. As long as it’s legal and no one gets hurt, who am I to judge?

If you’re like me and find yourself considering a project that some might consider borderline, I think it’s important that you take a few extra steps before beginning the work.

6 steps I follow before taking on a questionable copywriting project

1. I’ve made it a personal policy to always speak with a client before taking on a project. This helps me to know that the client and I are on the same page and have the same ideas for the project.

2. Once I have a rapport with the client over the phone, it’s easier for me to ask the tough questions about the value of their product or service. An added bonus to talking with a client up front is that he or she is usually a little kinder during the revision process.

3. Next, I head to Google and try different searches such as “NAME and rip off” or “NAME and scam,” etc., to see what I can find. I also check RipOffReport.com, Yelp.com, and other review sites to see what others have to say about the company/person.

If at this point I feel comfortable moving forward, I make the following demands:

4. Ask the client for at least a 50% deposit or full payment up front.

5. Get a contract. As Dean mentioned in a previous post, 7 elements of a solid freelance copywriting contract, a contract sets a professional tone at the start and scares away scammers.

6. If you want to keep your work arrangement private, ask the client to sign your NDA.

Considerations for writing ethical copy

At the BlogHer conference held this last August, I was lucky enough to hear Stacey Ferguson from the FTC speak about the year-old guidelines governing endorsements and testimonials.

I learned quite a bit about making claims on the web, which is complicated enough to fill a dozen blog posts. I don’t want to get into the intricacies here, but I do want to share one comment Ms. Ferguson made that really stuck in my mind.

“Whatever you do, do not guarantee weight loss.”

I think this sentence sums up how copywriters should look at writing copy for any industry. Don’t make false claims. Don’t fictionalize testimonials (they MUST be authentic). Don’t promise that the customer will lose 15 pounds or win $500 or meet the woman of his dreams when there is a good chance he won’t.

My rules: Don’t judge, but don’t step outside my comfort zone; always say no to snake oil; demand more from clients in controversial industries; and, finally, create ethical copy.

Sara Lancaster, through her agency, No. 2 Pen, provides Web site content and other online marketing materials to small businesses. While she does work with clients in all variety of industries, her primary niches include restaurants, hospitality, and legal.

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1. The freelance guide to working with clients that SUCK
2. Oops! 7 steps for handling a major copywriting screw-up
3. 7 elements of a solid freelance copywriting contract

If it’s happened to you, you know how devastating it can be. If it’s not happened yet, get ready, because it will.

Sooner or later, you’re going to screw up big time on a copywriting project. You’re going to make a mistake so serious, you’ll think your life as a professional copywriter is over for all time.

And the question is, how will you handle it?

I’ve been fortunate. In my long career as a freelance copywriter, I can remember only one serious screw-up. It happened when I had just started out and was writing copy for a local agency.

The agency had volunteered to create a mailer for a prominent award show. That meant thousands of area advertising professionals would see the piece. The agency wanted to make an impression and was putting their reputation on the line. They were also putting their own money into the project.

My job was to work with the designer to create the mailer. It looked simple enough to me. Headline, some descriptive copy about the show, a list of VIP judges, and so on.

I worked hard to write the important copy I thought the designer needed. And, being inexperienced, I figured that I didn’t need to worry much about all the routine things that went into every direct mail piece.

Oops! That’s when I made perhaps the most incredibly stupid mistake of my career.

I didn’t write copy for the reply piece. After all, every designer knows you need a reply piece, so why spend time on it? She’ll know to just fill in that part. Right?

You can see where this is going.

The designer took my copy and laid out the piece, a multi-fold self-mailer. The project manager then sent it to the printer because we were under the gun to get the piece finished and mailed.

The samples came back and the nightmare began.

I still remember sitting in the designer’s office looking at the piece with the project manager. We all realized at once that we had a problem.

“Where the hell is the reply piece?” the project manager screamed.

“I thought you’d know to fill that in,” I gasped to the designer.

“I just used the copy you gave me,” the designer squealed.

Then the agency owner stepped in. “What’s going on?”

The project manager should have caught the error. The designer should have known better. So should the printer. The whole process was screwed up. But ultimately, it was my error.

And there was only one answer. I had to write the missing copy. The designer had to do another layout. And the printer had to reprint the mailer.

It was terribly embarrassing. I felt 3 inches tall. How could I make such a massive muddle of things?

It didn’t feel good at the time, but I handled the situation as best I could and recovered in short order. In fact, I continued to do work for that agency for years, learning and building my confidence along the way.

How to deal with your own big copywriting oops

If something like this ever happens to you, if you are ever responsible for a stupendous foulup, I suggest you follow these 7 steps:

Admit the mistake. Like everyone else, you’ll have the gut instinct to blame the mistake on someone else. Don’t. If you screw up, admit it. People can forgive a mistake, especially if you have done good work for them and they realize this is an isolated incident. But people cannot forgive someone who passes the buck.

Accept responsibility. When you admit your mistake, you have accepted fault. But you must also accept responsibility. That means you can’t sheepishly hide under your desk. You must take charge of the problem.

Fix the problem. It’s your mistake. You’ve taken personal responsibility for it. Now fix it. Do whatever it takes to make things right. Work longer hours. Go beyond the budget. Do what needs to be done, then go a little further. Don’t stop until you’ve done all you can do.

Prevent the problem. You’ve fixed the problem and the heat is off. But you’re not done yet. Ask yourself why this problem happened and decide how to prevent it from ever happening again. Often this results in a checklist so you won’t forget something or a step-by-step procedure to make sure you never skip any step in the writing process.

In my case, the prevention was simple. I would never again assume anything when preparing a copy document. I would write every word, even for routine elements. Never again would I depend on anyone else for filling in a single word.

Apologize once. If you’ve caused a major problem, you owe an apology to the others involved. However, don’t become a whimpering weasel. Say you’re sorry once. Then move on. Any further apology will simply annoy people because what they want is for you to fix the problem, not beg for forgiveness to make yourself feel better.

Get over it. Making a major blunder can be embarrassing, especially if you’re trying to project an image of professionalism. But you can’t let this crush your ego. Everyone makes a mistake at some point. What defines you is how you handle it and move past it.

Learn from your mistake. When the smoke clears and you’ve climbed from the rubble, sit down and think about what happened. What have you learned? How are you a better writer now? What other areas of your work could be improved? Major mistakes provide major learning opportunities. My mistake gave me a new perspective on the range of my responsibilities and the extent to which others rely on me. It changed my perspective forever.

How about you? Have you ever experienced a major copywriting screw-up? How did you handle it? How did it change the way you approach copy projects today?

Related posts:

1. Copywriting ethics: 6 steps for working with questionable clients
2. Copywriting apocalypse: 6 survival tips for when the shtf
3. POWER Copywriting: How to write any ad in 5 steps

They’re out there. Lurking in the shadows. Waiting for the right moment to strike.

They’re the copywriting sample bandits … nefarious and sneaky people who seek to steal your samples for their own greedy ends.

If you’ve never run into a sample bandit, let me tell you about two encounters I’ve had recently so you can get a taste for how these villains operate.

A guy calls me on the phone:

Bandit: “Yeah, high. I have a car dealership and I’d like to do a mailing. Can I get some of your samples?”

Me: “Why don’t you tell me a little about your business and what sort of promotion you want to do?”

Bandit: “Uh, do you have any samples of auto dealer direct mail?”

Me: “A few. But if you could tell me what you want to accomplish, perhaps I could help.”

Bandit: “I want more customers. How about those samples?”

Me: “I can send you samples, but I’m just trying to find out a little more about the sort of promotion you want to do so I can help you accomplish your objectives.”

Bandit: “You know what? Never mind.”

*click *

Pretty obvious, right? The guy had no intention of hiring me. He just wanted to grab some samples. He wanted to steal the work I did for other paying clients and use it for himself.

The other recent encounter was nearly as obvious. A guy completed the contact form on my copywriting website and sent it to me. He was self-employed and gave no business name, no website, and no phone number. He said he had some people who wanted to hire him to do a promotion and he wanted to show them my samples.

Really? Why? To get work for yourself?

It’s usually pretty easy to spot a bandit. Here are some of the red flags:

• Real prospects usually ask for samples at the end of a conversation. Bandits ask first thing.
• Real prospects encourage you to contact them. Bandits often hide contact information.
• Real prospects are happy to answer questions. Bandits hesitate and dodge.
• Real prospects are generally professional and polite. Bandits tend to be curt and impatient.
• Real prospects tell you about a business problem upfront. Bandits avoid revealing their intentions.

Of course, not all copywriting sample bandits are so easy to spot. A few have mastered sample thievery, convincing you that they’re genuinely interested in your services and getting you to hand over your work for them to filch.

However, there’s one common tactic many of them use that give them away. It’s an empty promise that if you give them samples, they can win a client and give you the project. It goes like this:

Bandit: “I have some prospects I’m working on. And I’d love to show them some of your samples.”

You: “You want to show them my samples?”

Bandit: “Yes. You see, if we can show them the right samples, we’ll get them as clients. Then, of course, we’d want you to write all the copy.”

You: “Oh, I see. Well, sure. I guess that’s okay.”

Bandit: “Good. Goooood. Mwahahahahaaaaa!”

Okay, bandits won’t actually say that, but they’re thinking it. They have no intention of hiring you. They just want to use your samples to win clients for themselves.

Some are quite brazen about it. There’s a well-known “consultant” who actually lures copywriters into an “association” promising special access to copywriting jobs. You have to pay a  membership fee and hand over a bunch of samples. Of course, you never get any work. It’s an outright scam.

Remember this: no legitimate company or consultant will ever need your samples to win business. If they can’t get business without using your samples, they’re playing you. Say “no thanks” and walk away.

You won’t run into too many copywriting sample bandits out there, but keep your eyes open. You should never let someone take your work to use as their own. It’s unethical. It’s unprofessional. And it’s bad business.

More tips for offering samples:

You do have to offer samples. They’re your best sales tool. So unless you think you’re dealing with a sample bandit, be generous about showing your stuff.

• Create a sample page on your website showing off your work.

• If you’re concerned people will rip off samples from your website, show small images only. Ask prospects to contact you for full-size samples.

• Show some of your best work, but don’t show everything. There may be some trade “secrets” you want to keep to yourself.

• If you have printed samples, send PDFs or scans. If you mail actual samples, you’ll never see them again.

• Watermark your digital samples. This won’t prevent copy theft, but it will prevent bandits from presenting your work as their own.

• Talk to people before sending samples. Don’t send samples in response to an email message. Most bandits try to avoid personal contact.

• Watch for other copywriters posing as potential clients. Sad but true.

No related posts.

No matter how professional or experienced you are, the day will come when the sky turns dark,  the earth trembles, and the apocalypse crashes the world around you.

In other words, a copywriting project will go bad. Way bad.

Maybe it’s your fault. Maybe it’s the fault of your client or boss. It doesn’t matter. One way or another, you have to deal with it. So I’m going to give you a simple, 6-step survival strategy.

But first, let me tell you two stories. In the first, I screwed up. In the second, my client pulled a fast one. In both cases, the SHTF and I survived.

Story 1: Years and years ago, when I was just starting out as a freelance copywriter, an agency asked me to write copy for a self-mailer. It was an easy assignment to promote an award show for a local advertising organization.

So I came up with a headline, wrote a few paragraphs explaining the show, crafted a simple call to action to register for the event, and typed up a list of the various sponsors and speakers. Simple right?

Unfortunately, I made one giant blunder.

I assumed the assignment was so simple that the designer would just fill in all the routine items such as the reply form. That’s right. I didn’t include copy for the reply form in my copy. And yes, the designer designed the mailer with no reply form.

Worse, it was sent to the printer that way.

I still remember standing in the designer’s office reviewing the mailer with project manager when someone said, “Where is the reply form.”  That was right about when the agency founder walked in, her smile turning to a frown when she learned all the mailers would have to be scrapped. An entire room full of people glared at me in anger and frustration.

Doh! It was humiliating and I felt about 3 inches tall.

What did I do? I sucked it up and worked with the designer to correct the problem. When I climbed out of the rubble, I realized that part of my job as a copywriter was to assume nothing and include everything in the copy. It was a harsh but valuable lesson.

Story 2: Long ago, a marketing consultant called me. He said all he wanted was a simple little postcard to advertise a new service his client had just introduced.

So I provided an estimate. I would write the copy and hire a local firm for the design. I charged a flat fee, but the design firm worked hourly. Since it was just one postcard, that shouldn’t present a problem, right?

While I was writing the copy for the postcard, the client called and said he actually needed three versions of the card for different market segments. They would be similar, with just a couple lines different. Okay, no problem. The design might be a tad more, but not much.

So I create three versions, copy and design, and send them to the client. He said, “These are great. But I just realized that we’re doing some price testing. So we’ll need a little tweak on each card so we’ll have two price versions for each.”

Okay. Now I’m getting worried. I estimated for one card and now we’re up to six. The client doesn’t understand, or says he doesn’t understand, why that’s an issue. After all, it’s really just one card with a few little differences.

So we do six cards. I’ve warned the client that the bill is going up on this project. But he assures me that’s nothing to worry about. “Oh, and we need to color code the cards,” he says, “to make it easier for the printer to identify which is which, so we need some revisions. And while you’re at it, we need a couple more versions so we can run another test.”

At this point, the design hours are adding up fast. Plus materials. Plus shipping, because this was back in the days before the Internet made sending pdfs easy. Plus my time constantly meeting with the designer and dealing with the client. Plus, plus, plus.

In the end, what started out as a simple $3,000 project turned into an $11,000 invoice. When the client got the bill, he flipped out. I said, “I told you all the add-ons and revisions would increase the bill. We estimated for one card and ended up with eight.” He was furious.

He paid the bill. But I learned how badly a project can spin out of control when I allowed a client to do a “slow reveal,” adding seemingly little extras one-by-one until a small project turns into a bigger project.

The lesson: Stuff happens. You have to deal with it. You could miss a deadline, underbid a project, misunderstand the objectives and deliver off-target copy, or just make a dumb mistake. Your client or boss could move the due date, add on lots of extra work, give you poor direction, or ask you to do something you think is stupid.

What can you do? Here are six simple ways to survive your own personal apocalypse.

1. Don’t flip out. Keep your wits about you and keep your temper (or embarrassment) under control. Take a long, deep breath. Stay professional.

2. Shut up. Don’t say any more than you have to. Don’t promise anything or blame anyone. Your instinct will be to become defensive, but don’t.

3. Walk away and think. You need some time to figure out what went wrong. Think it through and be objective. Whether it’s your fault, or your boss’s, or your client’s, or someone else’s, it just doesn’t matter. Look at the problem and come up with a solution.

4. Accept responsibility. I know … it may not be your fault. But fault and responsibility are different things. Fault is about blame. Responsibility is about accepting a problem and fixing it. It’s hard to be the adult if someone else is acting like a child, but that’s one mark of a professional.

5. Fix it. Find a solution. Make it happen. Try to look at this as a personal challenge. That’s easy to say and hard to do. But do it anyway.

6. Deal with the fallout. You might end up the hero. You might end up looking like a moron. You can’t control this. Sometimes things go so wrong, it destroys a relationship. That’s life. When I forgot the reply form, it pissed people off, but I continued to work successfully with the agency. When the client kept adding on to the postcard project and didn’t want to pay extra, I collected the bill and canned the client. Good riddance.

Whatever happens, you’ll get through it. Life will go on.

By the way, if you’re a freelancer and what you’re facing is an angry client, here’s how to turn the anger into loyalty with one word.

Disclaimer: If the actual apocalypse comes, many of these tips still apply. Though I would also advise that you stock up on ammo, spam, and wooden matches.

Related posts:

1. Oops! 7 steps for handling a major copywriting screw-up
2. Copywriting Revisions Gone Wild! Why it happens and how to handle it
3. How to write a postcard for maximum response

How much of your life is on your computer? What would happen if it all just … vanished? Email, documents, photos, financial records, address book, samples, soft rock from the 70s, everything.

EVERYTHING!

Scary isn’t it? I know because it happened to me.

A few years ago, my computer crashed in the middle of a busy week and it almost destroyed my business. I had a backup of my data, but it wasn’t up-to-date because I was always too busy or too lazy to do regular backups.

So I lost weeks of work, including paying projects worth thousands. And since all my contact data was on my computer, I couldn’t even call clients to tell them what happened.

Talk about a nightmare! This is the very definition of scared straight.

I saw the error of my ways and decided this was never, EVER going to happen again. Oh, I might have another crash. But I would never again sit in my office helplessly staring at a dead computer.

My experience inspired me to devise a computer disaster recovery plan. So that no matter what might happen to my computer – virus, hard disk failure, power surge, theft, software corruption, fire, flood, meteor strike, zombies, anything – I’ll be able to recover in hours rather than days or weeks.

And the real beauty is that my plan is totally automatic. You set it and forget it. You don’t ever have to think about backups or spend a second worrying about the safety of years of personal and business data.

What’s involved? One simple text file on your computer desktop and a tiny little program that works quietly around the clock backing up your data online to a remote location. Perfect for busy, or lazy, people.

Why most computer backup methods are not reliable.

There are lots of ways to back up your computer files, including floppy disks (does anyone still use those?), tape drives, zip drives, CDs, data sticks, and external hard drives. I’ve used them all.

But they all have four serious flaws.

First, they depend on YOU. You have to schedule time to do the backups and keep doing them day after day, month after month. If you get busy or forget, and you will, all your data is at risk.

Second, they’re all “on-site.” If something happens in your office, your data is gone along with everything else.

Third, they are all “things” that can break. I’ve had floppy disks jam and tape drives break in mid-backup. CDs can get scratched or melt. External drives can fail just like any hard drive.

Fourth, they only allow you to backup a set amount of data. Once you reach the limit, that’s it.

The answer? Automatic online backups.

If you really want to keep your files secure, forget about all the usual backup strategies. You have to back up all the time and keep the data off-site. Big businesses have always done this, but it has been prohibitively difficult and expensive for the rest of us until recently. Now there are a variety of services that are easy and cheap.

Most online backup services work in similar ways. You buy a subscription, install a small program on your computer, and the software backs up your data over the Internet to a remote location. If you ever need to restore any lost data, you select the files you want and they’re reinstalled on your computer.

Unfortunately, most online backup services are more complicated than they should be. Two of the simplest and most popular are Carbonite and Mozy.

Both have their fans. I tried Mozy first after reading several positive reviews, but I couldn’t get it to work on my computer. Technical support was no help. They spent a week working on whatever the problem was, but I gave up and gave Carbonite a shot.

And I’m glad. Carbonite is mercifully simple. You don’t have to start it up or set anything. There’s nothing to learn. Once you’ve installed it, which takes all of 2 minutes, it works in the background looking for new and changed files to back up.

If there’s one negative, it’s that your initial backup will take a while. Carbonite will back up about 3 or 4 gigabytes per day on a home broadband connection. I had about 16 gigs to back up and it took 4 days. But then this is true for most other services of this kind. (I now have over 40 gigs backed up.)

Carbonite compensates for this by giving you unlimited backup space. I mean that literally. There is no limit to how much you can back up. Theoretically, if you have a thousand gigs of data, you can back it up with no extra cost.

The first backup creates what amounts to a duplicate of your hard disk, folder by folder and file by file. After that, Carbonite runs quietly in the background. Every time you load, create, or change a document, the utility automatically backs it up. You don’t have to do anything. It’s all automatic.

By default, Carbonite backs up everything in the “Documents and Settings” folder if you’re using Windows XP or the “Users” folder if you’re on Vista. This includes most of the stuff you’d want to save, such as your documents, desktop contents, most of your program settings, email data, browser settings and bookmarks, pictures, music, videos, downloaded files, etc. However, you can select anything for backup. You just click on a file or folder to tell Carbonite to back it up and keep it backed up.

One unique feature: In Windows Explorer (your file folders), Carbonite inserts a little green dot on each file or folder that is backed up. An orange dot means the file or folder is waiting for backup. This lets you tell at a glance what is backed up and what isn’t. Those little green dots give me a lot of comfort since I can see my files are protected.

If anything happens, all you do is log into your Carbonite account online with any browser, select the files you want to restore, and they’re all put back where they belong. Simple as that. Even if the worst happens and you lose your whole computer, you can retrieve everything with a new computer once you start it up and get online.

The secret of my disaster recovery plan: one little document.

My own computer crash taught me something important. Even if you have a reliable backup, there’s a lot you’ll lose if your computer fails, such as the “keys” to reinstall programs, phone numbers for technical support, information to reconnect to your Internet service provider, passwords for websites and services, and lots of other little things you take for granted when everything is working right.

So I created an “open text” document with all this information and saved it to my desktop. You could use Word or some other program, but I wanted a format that I could open with any software. I included:

• Computer model and operating system
• Internet service provider information
• The “key code” for my wireless network
• Phone number for ISP technical support
• Email customer number, password, and support number
• Incoming and outgoing mail server for setting up an email program
• Web address to access Web mail
• A complete list of my programs
• Program registration keys, serial numbers, and passwords
• A list of online tools and service subscriptions
• Website and blog user names and passwords
• WordPress plugins for my blog
• Affiliate user names and passwords

It takes a while to compile this information, but you only have to do it once. Then add information to it whenever you install a new program, create a new password, sign up for a new service, etc. Depending on how thorough you are, you’ll need from 2 to 8 pages.

Here’s the cool part. When you save this little file on your computer desktop, it becomes part of your automatic backup. So no matter what happens to your computer, everything you need to get your system, programs, email, and services up and running again is ready and waiting.

The only thing you’ll need to commit to memory is the password for your online backup service. With that and a browser, you’re golden.

Do these three things ASAP.

1. Do a search for online backup services and try one. Most offer a free trial, including Carbonite. Last time I checked, Carbonite was $54.95 a year. Mozy was $54.45 a year. I think Carbonite is simpler (and I like those little dots on the files), but look at both.

2. Start compiling that recovery document. Yes, it’s going to be a pain. Yes, you have better things to do. But do it anyway. Without it, you face a world of hurt if something bad happens.

3. Share this article with everyone you know. Tweet it. Post it to Facebook. Stumble it. Digg it. Get it out there. Because I don’t want any copywriter to go through what I went through. Well, maybe a couple.

I had to buy a new computer, install every program from scratch, import an old backup, and make lots of calls to customer support for half a dozen programs. And some things I just lost forever. My clients understood, but they weren’t happy.

I’m asking you to eat your spinach here. But someday, you’ll thank me.

Related posts:

1. Computer meltdown: 5 lessons for copywriters
2. 7 writing workflow tips to double your writing speed
3. Track your copywriting projects the easy, low-tech way