Not-so-hot-take: Investing in copywriting is one of the best things you can do for your business.
Understandably, a lot of business owners see it as a big deal when they hire a copywriter, especially for something as impactful as their website.
But, the ROI of copywriting is a steep one. Like the ROI of professional copywriting and thought leadership, or the ROI of email marketing, and sales copywriting.
So, if you know it’s time to invest in copywriting, it’s clearly a smart move for your business. But you might be wondering, how long is this investment going to take?
The answer?
It depends.
How long does copywriting take when you hire a professional copywriter?
If you’ve spent even 2 seconds Googling “how long does copywriting take” you’ve probably seen that there’s quite a bit of variety here.
Let’s shed some light on why there is such a range of copywriting timeframes.
First: most copywriters are freelancers or business owners.
Unless you’re a corporation hiring in-house copywriters, you’re not going to be able to have much control over someone else’s workflow.
Freelance copywriters, like many business owners, are basically having to figure everything out on their own.
They need to determine what workflows, processes, styles, and methods of communication work best for them.
Not all copywriters work the same, so timing will vary.
Basically, your copywriter will always be correct. You’re coming into their space, their workflows, and their processes. They get to dictate the project, and most established copywriters won’t be swayed by your own expedited timeline and why your circumstances are so.
Sorry, but we’re running businesses too. We have our own timelines and schedules to maintain.
The type of service you’re looking for and the copywriter you hire will determine the length of your project
Just how copywriters have their own variety of timing, the scope of your project will determine how long your project takes.
And oftentimes, it can be counterintuitive.
In my own experience, writing copy that takes a minimalistic approach will often take more time than regular-volume of copy.
Why? Because minimal copy need to be damn near close to perfect.
I’m going to budget extra time to obsess over the right words, do research, and talk to the client about it. Minimal copywriting needs to do the same amount of work with fewer words. It’s high stakes.
To give you a frame of reference, my website copywriting packages take about 3-4 weeks to complete.
However, a blog post? I can knock that out in 1-2 hours.
So, if you have a couple blog posts you need written, and you have a reliable copywriter on board, they should be pretty quick about it.
But if you’re doing a full launch package for your new course or membership? That’s a huge project (that can have a huge ROI) so you’ll want to plan several months ahead if you can.
It’s also worth noting that you’ll be facing different timelines depending on your relationship with a copywriter.
A copywriter you’ve worked with before might be more willing to fit in some ad hoc projects for you, but if you don’t know this copywriter, they’re probably not going to bend their processes and timelines for you.
So again, your timing depends.
Here are some things to consider when it comes to your timeframe and hiring a professional copywriter:
So, let’s say you’ve decided you’re ready to work with a copywriter for a high-impact project. (Yay!) You’re wondering when you should inquire and book them.
How quickly you can get on their schedule and complete your project will depend on a couple things:
Their skill level and experience
The people who are drawn to freelance copywriting are frequently people who’re naturally talented writers and/or they have experience working as a copywriter in a corporate setting.
The skills they’ve cultivated, plus their track record of working on several similar projects, will streamline their workflows.
How long they’ve been copywriting
Oftentimes, expert copywriters will be significantly faster at writing because they’ve had years to refine their skills.
That’s one of the big benefits of hiring a professional copywriter too: if you’re considering hiring a professional copywriter vs DIY, it could be a difference of weeks vs months to complete your project.
Their personality and work style
This is going to have a much bigger impact on your timeline than any of these other points, in my personal opinion.
From what I can see, my timeline of 3-4 weeks for website copy is typical of other expert copywriters.
However, that doesn’t mean that some website copywriters who have website-in-a-day offers are bad. They might just have a different personality and workflow that allows them to be uber-efficient in their work.
I’m probably never going to offer a website-in-a-day, because my personality would be too worried about cutting corners (especially if we’re looking at 5-6 pages of copy) but maybe the website-in-a-day girlies have talents I don’t possess.
The scope of your project and support needed
Oftentimes, my clients will add on additional services to their website copy projects that they need completed anyway (like lead magnets, email nurture sequences, SEO, blogging, brand messaging, etc.)
Those extra add-ons will definitely contribute to the timeline. If you have quite a big scope, you’ll want to budget more time for completing your project.
How far out your copywriter books out
It’s not uncommon for established copywriters to book out weeks, months, or even a year out.
This is great if you can get an expert, high-impact, professionally-written project done efficiently. After all, for something like a website or a launch packages (where you’ll get a huge ROI and use for years at a time) it’s worth waiting to get it done correctly.
Just make sure you budget that time in your schedule. You might have to wait a while until you can get on the schedule of that dreamy copywriter you know will *get* you and your brand.
Good copywriting can take some time, but luckily, I have a workaround
It’s pretty clear that expert copywriting can have a huge impact on your business.
It might not even be something as big as your entire website. It could be a smaller-but-still-intimidating piece of copy that you know you need to move forward, but it’s too high-impact to leave to chance.
Luckily, it’s because of those types of projects that business owners have all the time that I created my Copywriting VIP Days.
VIP Days are just that: the special treatment you need by having an expert copywriter on your team for one day.
VIP Days are completely customizable, but here’s a menu to give you an idea of the task we can accomplish during your VIP Day:
- 3 SEO-optimized blog posts
- 1 Sales page
- Email Nurture Sequence
- 1 Web page
- Copy-editing for 3 web pages
- Landing page & emails
…or whatever copywriting task is going to make the most impact (and money) for your business. Basically, if it fits in a workday for me, we can get it written.
I’m really excited to offer these VIP Days because, let’s face it, the copy needs never end when you run a business. You deserve the focused attention of an expert and the expedited I-need-this-like-yesterday timeline for those important tasks.
Book a VIP Day to get high-impact, expert-level copy written fast
Luckily, my VIP Days are the easiest and fastest projects to book with me. Unlike website or launch copy, you can skip the line AND get high-impact copy quickly.
Literally, it seems too good to be true. You’re welcome.
Learn more here: Copywriting VIP Day
OR Inquire to get your VIP Day scheduled here: Book a VIP Day
