How to brief a copywriter

Many of my clients run small or micro businesses, and some have never hired a copywriter before approaching me. One of the benefits of using a copywriter for your marketing material is that they are free to be as enthusiastic as they like about you and your business, something that can be difficult to do for yourself. (A certain reluctance to self-promote is natural to most Australians, and particularly to women.) But what do you need to tell a writer so they can do a great job for you?

The most important thing is for you to have done your research. Know who your customers are; know who your competitors are; and understand your own brand: what it is that differentiates you from the crowd, and how you show that in everything you do.

Then you need to think about the specific project you want copy for. Provide details of exactly what it is, how long/how many pages, how you want the information to be broken up, and what sort of information you want in each section. If you have any supporting material, such as previous items, or copy you have written yourself, so much the better. The more detail you have thought through, the easier it will be for the writer to concentrate on writing brilliant copy-and the less time they will have to spend on it-which in turn affects how much you will pay.

Then you can sit back and relax-or get on with something else-because delegation to a professional is all about getting results you couldn't achieve on your own.