Thanks so much for your post!

It is amazing, isn’t it, that some clients still think
all they need is great copy to make sales?

I recently had another client, who insisted that’s
all she needed.

I told her, truthfully, there were so many things wrong
with her site, her strategy, etc … no amount of fabulous
headlines and copy would people buy.

She disagreed, and we parted company.

Kudos to you for your ethics! It’s the only way
to go, eh?

I checked out your site. I bet your very good!

Maybe we can ‘confer’ sometimes??
I do just about everything and am doing more financial
writing, so perhaps our paths will cross again.
Thanks Kevin!

Carolyn

I really think God is with me, or I would have never gotten this far. Your post reminds me of how my mentor taught me to always, and I mean always(!) ask: “What is your marketing budget?”

If they don’t know, I give them a quick (not detailed) quote of what I think a campaign will cost them that includes copy and/or whatever else they’ll need.

For example, if they have no means of driving traffic to their site, I’m not going to tell them that copy will cure their problem. I’ll recommend different ways to get traffic that I can help them with. But I’m not going to sell a partial solution that won’t help them. That would be a disservice.

So, to end this rant, I’ll get their budget up front and see if I can help them. And I’m not shy about telling them what they will need to make their campaign work. If the client and I can’t work together to achieve what the client needs, I won’t take the job, and I’ll let them know that up-front.