The Biggest Lie Potential Clients Will Tell A Copywriter
"Come down on price on this one and there'll be more work to
come."
This come-on is a favorite of potential new clients who either
have no money, or are justifiably trying to keep costs down.
Either way it doesn't matter to the copywriter because both
circumstances ask the copywriter to sacrifice his or her income
on the promise of more work.
Unfortunately, "more work" rarely materializes. In my opinion,
most of these people don't lie with malice, they simply lack the
funds to pay a reasonable rate for copywriting.
One thing is clear: they do value copywriting and understand its
power to add to THEIR bottom line.
Why is this situation such a dilemma for the freelance
copywriter?
I think it's safe to say that every copywriter has experienced
tight finances. And for this reason alone it's tempting to talk
yourself into saying "yes" to a bad proposition.
In addition, the copywriter might see value in adding the
proposed project to his portfolio...and if it gets a great
response, add a powerful case study too.
Plus, the most trusting among us will believe there is more work
to come, and will be anxious to land the job and develop a new
copywriter/client relationship.
These and other realities of the copywriting life help us talk
ourselves into a situation we'll regret...a pattern of accepting
low pay from clients we don't want in the first place.
How to say "yes" the PROFITABLE way...
The good news is, you can say "yes" to new clients who promise
more work IF you protect yourself.
A couple of years ago a European software company came to me
with the intent of breaking into the U.S. market.
Phil, the CEO of this mid-size company, was a tough negotiator.
He wanted a ten percent price break for work he said would come
to me over the course of that year. When I priced the work, the
total came to about $12,000.
Obviously, this was a client I wanted to say "yes" to, but
knowing the "big lie," I also realized I would be on the line
for lost income if he didn't provide me with the promised work.
My solution was to work it into my Fee Agreement, which all
clients must sign, date, and fax back to me before work can
commence.
I stipulated a ten percent price break ($1,200) on the $12,000
job, listed all work to be performed and its respective dollar
value, and then added copy to this effect:
"In exchange for a ten percent discount of $1,200, all of the
above work must be assigned by December 31, 2004; if all of the
above work is not assigned by December 31, 2004, then the ten
percent discount becomes null and void and an invoice will be
submitted for immediate payment of $1,200."
The strategy worked like a charm. In fact, in mid-2004 work
slowed from this client, but toward the end of 2004 there was a
flurry to complete his obligation for the amount of work
contracted for.
WITHOUT the Fee Agreement stipulation, it appears I would have
"bought into the lie," cut my pricing by ten percent for the
work that I did do, and suffer the "lost income" of expected
work that never came.
WITH the Fee Agreement stipulation, I felt good about the ten
percent discount because it was a fair negotiation in which both
parties fulfilled their obligations. And it brought me a lot of
work toward the end of 2004 that may have come to me sometime in
2005...or quite possibly never.