Consider a Contract Copywriter Over an Employee 

Hi there,

If you are reading this, you are either a human who got the link from my resume, or you are a google bot. Let’s assume the former.

I wrote this page because I often answer “full-time” copywriting ads, but also understand a contract situation may serve everyone better.

That’s because I have handled writing for some big companies (like $300 million big), and I know a little secret:

Unless you are an agency or a super-prolific online marketer, copywriting is usually not a full-time job.

Most copywriting is project-based. Like “we need to rewrite the entire website… we need to produce a new catalog… we need to get some case studies online…”

And yes, those projects can take days and weeks of work.

Then after that, there’s a lot of downtime. I mean, how many internal memos does your company really need?

(better question – can that creative copywriter you hired for sales copy even write them? It sounds surprising, but most copywriters can only do one “type” of writing. Except me. I do it all.)

Ok, back to the time thing: I know full-time corporate $100k copywriters that take an entire day to do a 400-word blog post. 

Technically, that’s about two to three hours work in most cases. The rest of the time, that copywriter is doing busywork, or chatting with Janice in accounting, or filling his or her day in any number of ways. 

But the company is happy with that output. They’ll pay the eight hours plus benefits and taxes. All companies do this for most employees – the actual work they do is usually less than half their day. The rest is filling time, chit chatting, web surfing, etc. This how work works.

Honestly, you’d probably prefer paying my rate for just the two to three hours it really took, and let me worry about my own benefits.

(This also means I look at Amazon and Reddit on my own time.) 

Are there drawbacks with a contract copywriter arrangement?

Not really. Sure, contractors call their own shots and take off when they want to. But is that really a big deal if the work is what you want, when you want it?

Ok, here’s another possible objection: How reliable are contractors? After all, you probably want some continuity, and be confident your writer is going to stick around. You also want them to really understand your company and your voice. 

Fair enough. That’s why I’ll point to my TWENTY-YEAR PLUS track record doing this. And my long-term clients have been with me for over a decade – I am fiercely loyal to them (and them me). I’m a writer, but I am also a business pro. I’ll hit the ground running.

You treat me well and pay me quickly, and I’ll hang around forever. Better still, you’ll want me to. 

Need something done? Throw me a project. See how it goes. If it goes well, let’s talk about a monthly work arrangement that fits your needs. Maybe you won’t need that full-time person. 

That all said, if you are still set on a full time hire, we can still talk. But don’t be surprised if I want to do more than just copy. Because I’ll probably have time.