This is not a simple yes or no question. Often you are your best advocate. No one is more qualified or should have more enthusiasm than you to extol the virtues of you or your business. However, you are also busy and often have to run a business as well as all your personal responsibilities. So what is the best approach?
Your passionate voice will come through
Readers like to feel they are getting information from the source. If you are passionate about your subject that will come through in your writing. Third person, impersonally written content, may not inspire your reader with your passion and enthusiasm.
Writing interesting copy is a skill
Many of us are not naturally gifted writers. Writing interesting and engaging copy is a skill. It is not something that can be ‘bashed’ out in a spare 5 minutes in between doing your real job and handling your family responsibilities. Carefully plan out what you need to say. Write out the first draft. Edit it down, then edit down again. If you don’t have time or you don’t enjoy writing, the result will be bland or confusing to read.
Do the first draft yourself
One good approach is to do the first draft yourself. If you go for this approach talk to your copy writer first so you can work on an approach that will work best for both of you. If your ideas are put together in the right format then your copy writer will have an easier job. If what they end up doing is polishing your initial work it will cost you less hours and your voice will still be part of the end result.
Do not just rewrite their copy
So many clients will just do what they feel are small tweaks to the professionally written content. Unfortunately, these small tweaks can completely change the flow of the text and waste the money you spent getting a professional result. If you are not happy, explain the issue before changing anything yourself.
Spend some time reading the copy properly
You will have agreed on a set number of changes. Actual changes should really be to the first draft. When you get to the second draft you should be making grammatical and proofing changes only.
‘But what if I really want to do it myself’
Fair enough for whatever reason, whether monetary or true belief in your own skill that is your choice. Be prepared to spend a reasonable amount of time doing this work. A good rule of thumb is that copy should take as long and in some cases longer than the technical development of the site.
Here endeth the sermon until next time.
Need help with copy writing for your website or just want a professional review? Contact Leonie Winson [email protected]
