Dear buyers: apparently I should be open with you about my prices

[Guest willedridge]

I woke up this morning and checked my emails to find a message telling me that I should be open with my pricing and write in a friendlier manner for those who might purchase my copywriting services.



The person who sent the message was genuinely trying to be helpful so here’s a brief explanation of why my fiverr gig is written like it is and why I don’t have my pricing up for you to see.



(For reference: my gig is )



The main reason it’s written like it is due to me practising what I preach. I’ve identified my ideal customer; the bootstrapping entrepreneur who can’t afford the services of a professional copywriter yet but understands the value of good copywriting.



With that in mind I wrote my copy to exclude everyone else; low quality clients, cheap clients, overly demanding clients, clients who don’t understand what’s involved in copywriting and clients who don’t understand communication.



Why? Because I don’t want to work with them. And besides, if I wrote my copy in a way that tried to appeal to everyone I’d appeal to no one and devalue myself in the process.

Moving on, the reason I don’t display my prices is because it’s an impossible task using fiverr’s pricing structure.



Copywriting involves several stages:

• Research
  
• Writing
  
• Testing
  
• Revision
  
  
  
  Without knowing how much research you can provide me with and how much I need to do to fill in the gaps I can’t give you a quote.
  
  
  
  If I priced per word (the most common method) I’d be charging you for the writing stage only; which itself includes brainstorming, first drafts, rewrites, edits and proofreading.
  
  
  
  But more importantly pricing by the word has a fundamental flaw: In the process of determining the exact quantity of a particular currency required in exchange for the procurement of a quantity of words designed with intent and proficiency at increasing the number of readers and conversion of said readers into customers I can write any amount of bullshit and fulfil the criteria.
  
  
  
  Good copy is concise; charging by the word encourages bloated copy.
  
  
  
  Another reason I don’t display my prices is to encourage communication from the start: you have to talk to me to tell me what you need. As I don’t specialise in copywriting for every industry I like to give myself the opportunity to decline. (Those who do are rare, brilliant individuals are they’re lying).
  
  
  
  If my services aren’t for you then that’s fine. There are plenty of copywriters on fiverr you could use so here’s my advice for finding a copywriter on fiverr that is worth their salt:
  
  
  
• They don’t charge by the word; they price for the project.
  
• They are native level speakers of the language you want your copy written in.
  
• They communicate with you.
  
• They guarantee their work.
  
  
  
  Just be aware; if you pay just $5 for copywriting, you get copywriting that’s worth $5.
  
  
  
  Take care,
  
  Will
  
  
  

[jamesbulls]

That’s fine and well, but it’s a violation of the terms of service to create a gig without specifying what the customer gets for $5. You should change that before an administrator notices that you’re doing business only on the basis of custom orders and suspends your gig.

[Guest willedridge]

That I didn’t know, thanks for the heads up 🙂

[fastadking]

Good for you! 20 years ago virtually all copywriters worked that way… no prices posted. Just put up some little job for $5 and you’re good.

[syvsekstini]

Reply to @willedridge: Might want to proofread your gig again. There’s a couple of errors.

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @syvsekstini: Well spotted. I’m not going make excuses but I’ll point you to an interesting article about why it’s much more difficult to proofread your own work compared to proofreading someone elses.



http://www.wired.com/2014/08/wuwt-typos/



I really like your gig, you sound like Seth Godin!

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http://www.wired.com/wp-content/themes/Phoenix/assets/images/apple-touch-icon.png

WIRED

http://www.wired.com

[sincere18]

but you have to sell something for $5, that’s the whole essence of Fivver. You can state in your gig to contact you before ordering for a custom quote but you have to have the $5 on there and then people can choose a quantity once you give them a quote. But you have to be willing to give something for $5, though it does not have to be much.



Also, have received many orders here on Fiverr?

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @sincere18: Yeah, I’m redrafting the gig now so it complies with the rules. I did double check with an admin and they said they couldn’t see a problem but best to err on the side of caution.



I’m working on my 10th order just now.

[sincere18]

Reply to @willedridge: well if you checked with Fiverr directly and have their note back to you and it says it’s ok, then just ignore people who write you comments like that and carry on. Now if you are not making sales and you were hoping to, that’s a whole other reason to modify your gig. Because even if something wasn’t against the TOU, there is also a community aspect of what most readers are expecting. So if you want more sales you generally have to move along with the herd to a certain extent.



But you can always be clear to have someone contact you before placing an order, I have seen that all over Fiverr. And if someone orders without contacting you, you can contact them see what they say, and then politely try to do a mutual cancellation since you clearly stated to contact you and they did not.



Also, one other random note, something I noticed is that your profile says that you wanted to diversity your portfolio of samples for your website. Two issues that come up are,does buying a gig from you mean I automatically have to let you use it publicly on your website so does that mean you own the rights or do I own the rights to the work you do for me? And the other thing I did think honestly was if you were doing this to create a new website, and your profile says you joined in Oct. I think it was, I thought, how long is is taking him to build a new website, he should surely have a new site by now.

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @sincere18: Thanks for the advice 🙂



As you said, moving a long with the herd is needed sometimes, so that’s why I’m updating it.



To answer your questions:

• I wouldn’t automatically presume to have the right to display the work in my portfolio but stating that I want portfolio work narrows down the clients. I’d get permission before using it.
  
  
• You’d own the rights.
  
  
  
  And finally, that’s the date I joined fiverr not when I started selling copywriting services on fiverr. I haven’t been selling long at all.
  
  
  

[sincere18]

Reply to @willedridge: cool, I understand, I was just sharing my perspective when I went to your page. I might question the rights thing just because it’s not mentioned anywhere, only you want stuff for your website. As for the other note, as a buyer, I do not think we can see when you started selling a gig, so all we see is the date you joined, the copywriting gig, and that note about the website, so if that’s all we are seeing then, it’s a possible perspective some of us might have. I was just sharing that as an fyi.

[itsyourthing]

sincere18 said: well if you checked with Fiverr directly and have their note back to you and it says it's ok, then just ignore people who write you comments like that and carry on.

Danger! Danger! There are several Fiverr "admins" and much of the site is automated. Abide by the Terms of Service just in case their note doesn't hold water, @willedridge. :)

[itsyourthing]

P.S. Nice tactic with addressing your “target buyers” in the forum, but keep in mind they rarely read anything, they just post in the Ranting Pot and ask for Facebook followers.

[fastcopywriter]

"Just be aware; if you pay just $5 for copywriting, you get copywriting that’s worth $5."



My clients disagree with you, that goes double for my repeat customers, including those that give me tips because they felt my work was worth a lot more than what they paid for.



"Copywriting involves several stages:

• Research
  
• Writing
  
• Testing
  
• Revision"
  
  
  
  True, but research can be done in 5 minutes, maybe 10. Writing can take 5-15 minutes depending on the project. Testing? That’s what your buyer does. I’ve never worked at an agency where I was told how many things my copy sold. As for revisions, that only applies if there’s a mistake. If someone doesn’t like something, or there’s a spelling mistake.
  
  
  
  I agree with everyone else, you need to offer specific things. “I will write direct mail for $5” is clear, people like clear. Confusion kills sales. Since you seem to enjoy long copy, then you can have gig extras for every additional page you write.
  
  "They don’t charge by the word; they price for the project."
  
  
  
  I charge by the project because I don’t write articles, but if I was writing articles you bet I would be charging by the word. More words = More effort = More Money.
  
  
  
  Fiverr is not some advertising agency where you do whatever they tell you to do, whether you want to do it or not. Here you have no creative directors, no senior copywriters, just you and your client.
  
  
  
  If you don’t believe me, check out your competition, LeviNewman.
  
  
  
  I will create unique sales, ad, and web copywriting for $5
  
  https://www.fiverr.com/levinewman/provide-you-with-unique-compelling-copywriting?context=advanced_search&context_type=rating&pos=1&funnel=271e7322-1b3a-49ae-b5dc-42b88105f57b
  
  
  
  That guy is amazing, he has 43 orders in his queue. And he clearly states,
  
  “For $5, I can write your headlines, taglines, and ad copy up to 50 words.” So if you want more? You pay more.
  
  
  
  You want 350-550 words? You pay him $50. Why? Because he’s worth it.
  

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[dowbright]

I’m just a buyer of lots of types of work. I looked at your offer. I wouldn’t even bother with you. It sounds like the order is for you, not for me. Good luck, though, and I wish you well.



Maybe Fiverr isn’t a good fit for you to make your website content.

[syvsekstini]

Reply to @willedridge: Oh, I understand completely. I’m glad you understood I wasn’t trying to be a jerk - just helpful. Bookmarked the article for later, thanks.



I did not know who Seth Godin is, but I Googled and see he did a TED Talk so I’ll probably check that out - and thanks for the compliment.



Cheers and Good Luck with your gigs.

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @dowbright: You may not like the style of writing but maybe because my copy has done it’s job then? 🙂



The fact is the order wouldn’t be for you OR for me but for us.



I work with someone to create the best work I can. We’d reach a point where you’re happy but that doesn’t necessarily mean I would be,so I’d keep going.



If in a roundabout way that means my work isn’t for you then so be it but I like to think by following my own interests as well as the interests of my clients we both get the most out of it.



The fact of the matter is if my writing isn’t the best it could be I’d be doing us both a disservice.

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @fastcopywriter: Hey, thanks for your feedback.



I’m not sure what kind of work you do but as a copywriter I could never justify charging by the word. It’s the equivalent of a graphic designer charging by pixel*resolution or a videographer charging by the second for filming and editing a video. It just reduces the overall quality of the work.



I’m sure many people will disagree with that but there isn’t a single self interested human being on the planet that isn’t trying to maximise their utility for their own gain.



AS for your comments about research all I can say is that the highest paid copywriter on the planet regularly takes home 6 figure sums and his highest payment has been in excess of $2mil. That kind of fee doesn’t come with a paltry 15 minutes of research.



Congratulations to you and my competition on fiverr but we are all different types of copywriter it seems.



43 jobs at $5 is still only $215 dollars.



An example of my work outside of fiverr would be a direct mail campaign involving a long copy sales letter directly supported by a website. Overall there are 10,000 words of copy.



To do this I needed to do extensive research right down to the kind of language that is used by my clients ideal customer.



In our first month we generated £46, 590 (about $70,000) in revenue and that’s in the first iteration before we start split testing the direct mailpieces or the web content.



I’ll leave it up to you to decide what kind of fee that level of service commands (it does however come with an additional 1% commission).



***

I don’t plan on being here full time because I don’t want to race to the bottom with my services what I do want is additional testimonials and live examples to boost my websites credibility stock.



All the best,

Will

[mrproofreading]

Reply to @willedridge: Absolutely 100% agree! As a proofreader, I have to hire another proofreader to proofread my work. It’s very strange, but it’s like I get tunnel vision when I look at my own work.

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @sincere18: Well thank you for all your feedback! This has actually turned out to be some great market research in itself 🙂

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @mrproofreading: Argh! It’s so frustrating isn’t it! Psychologists do warn about trusting your own brain though!

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @syvsekstini: He’s one of the most renowned marketers in the world and he’s written loads of books and launched companies like Squidoo etc.



You’ll learn a lot from reading anything he’s done.



He’s one of my role models actually.

[Guest willedridge]

Reply to @itsyourthing: Thanks for the advice! I was thinking that myself; I’m going to have to figure out how to work around them t&c’s to provide something for $5 without devaluing my service which is why I’ve suspended the gig for a little while.



This whole article has turned out to be pretty good research really 🙂



Haha I love your gig for “keyworded crap” great copywriting there; certain to get it some attention!

[professorcowan]

Dear Willedridge

Thanks so much for this article - which was a testament itself to your copywriting abilities - and was also just what I needed this morning. I spent 6 hours last night on a PowerPoint design for a client who paid me $20. By my own gig listing, he should’ve paid over $100, but I was feeling generous and did my best to provide a good looking, professional PowerPoint deck anyway.



When I delivered the deck (16 hours before it was due - he had purchased a 24 hr delivery upgrade) - I gave him 2 versions, plus substantial explanations about why I did what I did and options to change if it wasn’t what he was looking for.



I woke up this morning to an email saying I hadn’t done what he had wanted (like, their company logo is 8 or 10 colors and he wanted ALL of them used) and then he went on to give me more instructions for an EXTENSIVE revision - BUT - he also had already given me a two star review saying I hadn’t done what they had wanted and was “uncommunicative” (never mind that we’re dealing with a 7 hour time difference and that I had at the start emailed and asked him some questions, done my work, and then written a message when I delivered that was 4 Fiverr messages long…)



I’m horrified, baffled, and angry. I did work worth 5 times what he paid. But I suppose that’s my fault.



So, your message was really timely - to remind me that 1) some people don’t get it; 2) some people want to pay nothing for really good work; 3) and that there are great providers here. Finally, your message is a good suggestion about how I should move forward on Fiverr for the very reasons you explain.



Thanks for both your support (even though you didn’t know it!) and your advice. Most of all I admire your calm and charming attitude in responding to some of the less than enlightened comments above. More than I could’ve mustered.



Best,

Prof C

[professorcowan]

And 15 minutes of research for copywriting? Pffft. Yikes. Get what you pay for, for sure.