How much does a copywriter charge? It’s the ultimate question. When I started as a copywriter I asked my friends who were well ahead of me in the industry the same thing and even they couldn’t tell me. There’s not really any such thing as a hard and fast ‘copywriter hourly rate’ when it comes to getting words on paper / screen. The catch when it comes to copywriting and the costs involved is that every job is different. It’s hard to set a definite cost when all work is so varied. Some things can be charged on an hourly basis, some per word and some as a stand alone item. Like everything on this planet (including plumbing, omg that blocked drain set us back), hiring a decent copywriter means you’ll probably be spending slightly more than what you expected to. I’ve quoted an hourly rate or a flat fee for certain jobs to be met with wide eyed expressions of disbelief on more than one occasion. And I’m not even one of the expensive ones!
Here are some things to keep in mind when you get a quote from a copywriter:
‘Quick’ takes time Four hundred words doesn’t sound like much, so why would someone want over $80 just to write what only ends up being one page of copy? To quote Mark Twain, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one.” That four hundred words was probably culled from over one thousand. A copywriter will start out by chucking all relevant information on to the page and then spend time refining it, working in SEO keywords and making sure it reads well. Sometimes the shorter the length required, the longer it actually takes to write copy, because every word has to have the right impact. Once you have a finished product, the hourly rate doesn’t actually work out to all that much.
We’re learning I recently wrote brochure copy for a Bloodstock Agent. “What’s a Bloodstock Agent?” I hear you ask. I asked the very same thing! The day before I wrote the brochure I had never heard the term used before and I had a very short amount of time to get across the ins and outs of buying and selling horses before the work was due. I only charged for the copy itself, but I had to spend time becoming a bit of an expert in order to write it properly. Copywriters turn their hands to a wide range of subjects, and that takes time. I’m lucky because of my background working in news and current affairs – I was covering issues from Guantanamo Bay to aromatherapy and learned how to quickly source the right information and present it succinctly.
Free meetings If you’ve called me to give a brief and gotten so excited that all of a sudden an hour has passed – that’s ok, I won’t charge you for it on the bill. But there are only so many hours in the day to get actual work done and the fact that a lot of it goes into meetings means the cost of the finished product can seem expensive if that’s the only thing taken into account.
We know our stuff Everyone can write, right? Wrong. It shows when you haven’t had the time to properly spell check your website, blog or product descriptions and your customers will be the first to notice. Copywriters spend all day every day doing this stuff – so leave it to us and buy yourself more time to do the things you’re best at. The return on investment will show.
So how much does a copywriter charge??
Hmm I haven’t really answered your question have I? It’s because every job is different. Also – I don’t want to freak you out! Why don’t you drop me a line and we’ll talk – it’s the best way to decide on a price and trust me, you’ll be getting value for money.
