Do you really need one?

That’s the first question you need to ask yourself as a business owner or manager.

My answer is always yes. EVERY business needs good copy, and the best way to achieve this in Belfast is to hire a freelance copywriter. They’re easy to hire and easy to pay. (I go into more of this in my blog post ‘do you really need a copywriter’ here).

I’m not going to get into the guts of what makes a good copywriter (see blog post ‘what makes a good copywriter’ here).

With a plethora of freelance copywriters available throughout the world, and remote working more of a recognised ‘thing’ (it’s always been a thing with us writers) then finally the world is switching on to the fact that if you do business in Belfast then you don’t need a writer from Belfast.

But I’m going to put that idea to bed.

Belfast is different. The whole province and indeed island of Ireland is different.

Possibly based on our…tumultuous history…we don’t trust too well. Yes, we’re friendly. We’re kind to each other. We have a sense of community and family that certainly rivals the mainland UK – hence why it’s best to choose homegrown rather than someone who perhaps isn’t from such a friendly culture (after all, who wants to work with a wing-ding?).

However, if you’re not in the circle of trust then you might just be out to get me…that’s how some business owners behave. It makes becoming established in creative industries incredibly difficult. Businesses tend to have ‘their guy’ or ‘their agency’ that does all of their work. Forget freelance copywriters in Belfast (most of them are decent human beings), the worst offenders seem to be website creators.

I’m not talking about good, honest and decent website creators like www.ebony-media.com or the many that are available.

I mean the ones that don’t have an ounce of skill and churn out below-par results but because it’s ‘our guy’ and the business isn’t prepared to shirk off the loser to make the jump into winnerville.

What’s worse is that I know a number of businesses in the Belfast area that have been royally shafted by certain people who learned to code on a two week long course and then somehow managed to sell their shoddy website development to an unsuspecting person for £5,000, only to get the cash and never be heard from again.

(Top tip – own your own domain. Don’t let someone else set it up and keep the login details or you’ll end up like my last client – suffering from a massive headache at every turn).

So we have trust issues: “If I don’t know you then I don’t trust you”.

And extreme trust issues: “Not only do I not know you, but the last guy screwed me over, so he did”.

 

Back to copywriting and how to hire one in our incredible city.

There’s a few of us. Most are absolutely bang on the money every time.

Some don’t go into that much detail to ascertain the depth of your product or service and they can still give you great copy.

Some undercut the better writers to secure their business – that’s the game we’re in.

Others know their worth and won’t budge on their rates – hats off to them.

I guarantee that a freelance copywriter in Belfast who charges £300 a day is worth 100 Asian copywriters who charge £30 a day. Just a couple of main points bring me on to this:

•   English is their mother language;

•   They’re probably established in the industry and know what they’re doing;

•   They can repeat their results for you;

• They’re easy to communicate with and ascertain a neutral playing field where you’ll value their opinion.

I use an Indian fellow to outsource my data collection to. A great fellow, but he agrees with everything I say as it’s in his cultural nature. A freelance copywriter from Belfast won’t agree with everything you say. You want someone who actually pushes back with their own opinion and expertise. You’re the business owner or manager – let the expert do their thing.

So…where to look?

 

I’ll start with where not to look:

Upwork, or any other ‘freelancing’ website. You’ll stick out a job that requires a copywriter. This will force you to put a wet finger in the air and come out with a price that is well below what you can and should pay. Then you’ll sit back and be inundated with so many different writers that you’ll get bored of sifting through profiles and pick the next person that uses more than two exclamation marks in their ‘pitch’. It’s not healthy.

Where else not to look…

Facebook. I’d rather be folded up like a deck chair than spend another minute being tagged in a friend’s suggestion for ‘good copywriters….’

I’m sorry (not sorry) but if you think you’ll get yourself a really good copywriter that someone on your friends’ list just happens to know really well then you’re either extremely lucky or just kidding yourself.

Here’s where I’d suggest you start looking:

Referral

As a business owner, manager, or something to do with marketing, then you probably have friends that own/manage/market other businesses.

Yes copywriting is a hidden art and we writers still struggle to get across what we actually do to people not in the business, but you might get lucky and find out that an owner who knows an owner who knows a manager happened to use the best copywriter Belfast and indeed Northern Ireland has ever seen (or just email me directly…?!). Great stuff.

In Northern Ireland you need that referral. Other countries not so much but it’s a credible way of actually finding someone trustworthy.

Business Networking Events

We don’t all hide behind our laptops and possibly use starbucks as a temporary office. Some of us go out and speak to people in the business world more often than we chat to our over-friendly neighbours.

For me it’s a great way to see how other companies are marketing their products – new methods provide new opportunities and challenges. We’re still in business ourselves and although I end up sharing my office space with various members of the Paw Patrol, sometimes adult company is very much a worthwhile luxury.

If you’re launching a new product online and don’t have a clue what you’re doing then the chances are I’ll be the one asking you all of the questions without a care in the world for who is going to do your copy. I love business.

Agencies

I had to say it. I love the good agencies. They’re awesome. They are the bringing together of incredibly creative minds that use that company to take over the world.

It’s an absolute fact.

With a mixture of personalities and often their own ‘inside culture’, some of them really set out to dominate.

Some of them have copywriters that are as sharp as a knife, others hire in copywriters for certain tasks.

The great thing about agencies is that you might have everything you need in one place. Beware though, they’re not all equal. Some of the bigger boys might be fantastic but won’t be able to make margin on your budget – their minimum engagement might be lots higher than your bootstrap budget. Some of them are 100% absolutely shockingly horrendous.

Their copywriting efforts leave a lot to be desired and are often the strongest part of an abysmal effort to market your service or product. I’ll never ask an Indian guy to write copy for me, but some of these marketing agencies (yes including some I could name in Belfast) are hellbent on just churning out any old random crap that doesn’t align with your branding (they don’t know what branding means) but still want to charge you £5,000 for that free wordpress website that doesn’t work when you need it to.

Good luck with your search. You deserve someone helpful, we all do.

Want to save yourself a headache and hire a Belfast Copywriter with proven results? Just claim your free discovery session here and let’s get to the bottom of how I can help your business to grow.

Keep hustling,

Keep copywriting!

Thanks for reading,

Adam