1. Strategic ability - Do they have some strategic thought behind their creative processes or are they being creative, purely to be creative?
2. Do you find that their work embodies "salesmanship in print" or are they just creative writers? Some people can write very creatively but it does not mean that they know how to write good copy.
3. Are they able to write in different styles so they can change their writing to reflect a particular industry group? Are they able to adapt to writing for different organizations?
4. Can the copywriter visualise and communicate a concept to the designer? The ability to visualise a product/concept and communicate this in writing is a very useful skill and one that is important for a good copywriter.
5. Market research - How do they propose to "get to know" your market? By guesswork, or will this be based on their experience? Will they roll up their sleeves and interview the clients?
6. Experience – Do they have experience in doing work for clients in your industry and what is it? If they don't have any experience in this industry, is the experience they do have transferable e.g. if you're a marketing firm and they have had experience working with other professional firms in the service industry.
7. Street smarts – Do you see them display "in the trenches" wisdom or are they just graduates with no real experience?
8. Measurability – Have they produced measurable results for clients or do they only talk in terms of the creative awards that they have won?
9. Product understanding - How do they plan to get to know your product, your company, as well as the image you are wanting to project? With previous clients, how have they done this?
10. Do their fees fall in line with the measurable results they have achieved for their clients?
11. Capacity – Can they handle all your work with a quick turnaround for you?
12. Portfolio - Does their portfolio show that they have met the needs of their clients or was their work highly creative, but not meeting the needs of the target market? When you are reviewing portfolios, don't assess the work on the basis of whether it appeals to you or not, instead think about whether it would fit with the image you wanted to project if you were in that industry.
For more information about how our copywriters can help you visit the Words that Sell website:
http://www.wordsthatsell.com.au/adtrackz/go.php?c=wordsthatsellShane Mills - Words that Sell
Words that Sell services and products include:
Secrets of Freelance Copywriting Success course
Website Copywriting Mastery course
Direct Mail Copywriting Mastery course
Press Release writing
Direct Response Copywriting
Proposal writing
Yellow Pages ads
Website and SEO content writing
Newsletter writing
http://www.wordsthatsell.com.au
