Some Questions I Hear Often

OK, you’ve landed on my Frequently Asked Questions page, so I assume you’re interested in possibly hiring me to help you with your business, but you have a few lingering questions.  That’s great, because that’s what a FAQ page is for!

Let’s pretend that we’re sitting down face to face to clear up any doubts you have about me being the right person for you to work with.  The following questions are some of the ones I imagine you’d ask:

What can I expect from working with you?

First, you can expect someone who both understands your challenges and knows what to do about them.  That should give you some peace of mind.

Second, you can expect someone who wants you to succeed and will stay with you until you’ve achieved your goals.

Finally, you can expect someone who’s easy to work with, who will stay in communication with you throughout your project, and who will do what he says he’ll do—in the time frame and within the budget agreed upon.

What kind of services do you offer?

I provide a range of services that help you get found by your ideal clients, make an impression on them when they find you, and then expand upon that first impression by building relationships with these clients, creating a powerful network that you can tap into time and again for steady consulting work.

I can help you get found by doing keyword research to help you identify your most advantageous online positioning and writing your web pages with the best SEO-optimized content so you rank higher in search results.  If you want to go the paid route, I can also write Google ads for you to drive traffic to your site.

I can help you make an impression—a powerful, positive first impression—on your prospects by writing your website content so that it speaks to the needs of those prospects and drives them to take action (whether that action is to sign up for your e-mail list, download a special report, or contact you to discuss doing professional development work for them).

I can help you build relationships with your ideal clients by writing a lead generation piece to build your list of contacts, by writing regular newsletters, by writing sales pages, e-mail autoresponder sequences, or ad hoc marketing e-mails, or by helping you with your social media marketing campaigns.

And I can help you establish yourself as an authority in your field by ghostwriting blog posts, e-books, or even full-scale books for you.

You may need all of these services, or only one or two.  To see more complete descriptions of the services I offer, click on the links in the paragraphs above.

Why don’t you post your prices on your website?

Well, I do have a standard list of rates for different jobs, but it’s kind of like the “secret menu” at Starbucks.  It exists, but it isn’t publicized.  And there’s a good reason I don’t publicize that standard list—because they really are just a starting point and will vary based on your needs.

You see, I work with consultants who are just starting out—who need branding, need a complete website designed from scratch, need to learn how to start an e-mail list and what to do with it, etc.—and I work with experienced consultants who are published authors and are already recognized “names” in their fields, who only need “tweaks” to their website copy or a one-off promotion for a new book, etc…. and everything in between.  People’s needs differ, and therefore, so do prices.

When we have our initial consultation (it’s free!), we’ll talk through all your needs, and once we’ve nailed down the scope of the project, we’ll have the necessary context within which to talk price.  At that point, you may decide to hire me for the complete job, or, if your funds are a bit limited, we could tackle a piece of the overall project at a time, starting with the piece that would make the biggest difference for you first.

What do your fees include?

My fees include whatever we negotiate in advance to cover the scope of work.  For all writing/copywriting work, a set number of revisions within a certain time frame is also included.  I want you to be 100% satisfied with the work I do for you.

If I have a tight deadline, can you start my project right away?

The short answer?  It depends.  If your project comes at the right time when I’m not in the middle of another project, I would certainly start on yours right away.  But to be honest, the chances aren’t great that that will happen.  It’s more likely that I will have one or more projects going, and to honor the timelines I’ve established with those clients, I probably wouldn’t be able to jump your project ahead of theirs.  That said, I would certainly schedule you in to get started as quickly as possible without disrupting other projects, and hopefully we can work out a timeline that works for you.

How long will it take for you to complete my project?

Again, it depends (sensing a theme here?).  The typical project will take 2-4 weeks, but some projects are bigger than others.  We’ll certainly establish the right length of time for your project early on in our discussions.  I know you want your project done quickly (everyone does), but we need to balance your need for speed (spoiler alert: Top Gun reference) with my desire to do quality work.  We’ll work to find that balance together and then establish our deadlines.

What if I want you to revise the copy you write for me?  Do you guarantee your work?

I absolutely guarantee my work.  I want you to be ecstatic with the copy I produce for you.  We can talk about the details (some of this depends on your particular project), but in general, I include two rounds of revisions, if necessary, within 4 weeks of my delivery of the first draft.

Do you do design, too?

Well, I do, and I don’t.  What I mean is, I know quite a bit about the elements of design for a well-performing marketing website, in addition to what the copy needs to do to deliver results.  I have also been told that I have a great eye for aesthetic design elements such as color, balance, etc.  So, I definitely can give you good advice about designing your website, content, products, etc.  But I do not do the actual design work.  I leave that up to the professional graphic designers. 

In my experience, the most effective way to go about it (from your perspective) is to hire a marketer/copywriter like me first to design the layout and content from a marketing perspective, then hire a website/graphic designer to make that vision a reality.  I’ve seen too many people have a graphic designer put something up first, and it may be very pretty, but it doesn’t market your business effectively—and then you have to come in later and revamp everything to make it work.  With that approach, you end up paying for graphic design work twice.

How do I go about hiring you?  Do I have to sign a contract?  Do I have to pay any money up front?

You can get in touch by e-mail, phone, or by using the contact form on this site.  If you contact me through e-mail or the contact form, I’ll probably set up a phone call so we can talk through what you’re looking for (you can call me “old school” if you want, but I just prefer actually talking to people, at least for that initial consultation).  Once I agree to take on your project and we agree on the scope, time frame, and cost, we can continue to communicate in whatever way works best for you.

I don’t require you to sign a formal, legalese-packed contract.  We can simply agree to everything in an e-mail, or I can write up what we’ve agreed to in a Word doc and attach it to an e-mail so we have a paper trail.  Once that’s in place, I require a deposit of 50% in advance of starting the project, and I’ll invoice you for the remaining 50% once the project is completed to your satisfaction. The exception is for on-going projects like ghostwriting a series of blog posts for you or ghostwriting your e-newsletters. For those projects, I bill monthly, at the beginning of each month.

What if I have other questions?

I would be surprised if you didn’t.  Just reach out.  E-mail me; call me; use the contact form.  I’d be happy to answer any questions you have, and you’re under no obligation to hire me.  I promise to keep your contact information and anything you discuss with me confidential.

Thanks for stopping by!

Willy