Let’s face it, the freelance world is growing at a break-neck speed in Singapore and across the world. With countless freelance marketplaces like Upwork, there is no dearth of freelance copywriters on the Internet. But does quantity translate to quality?
We all know the answer to that. The truth is, with the proliferation of freelancing platforms, it’s never been harder to hire a talented freelance writer within a stipulated budget.
As a marketeer and/or a small business owner, you’d want to hire the best freelance copywriter in the market, somebody who is skilled, experienced, easy-to-deal-with, affordable, trustworthy, reliable, competent, versatile…The list goes on.
You might have an urgent need for good freelance copywriter, especially if you have a new product to launch on a tight deadline or ahead of the festive season.
Finding the perfect copywriter could takes ages or worse, end up with you burning hard-earned dollars on not-so-professional ones. So, how to find your dream writer, you ask?
I’ll tell you!
Being a freelance copywriter in Singapore with over 10 years of experience and 100+ local and international clients, I’ve has clients come to me with bitter experiences, explaining what went wrong with their previous copywriter. These experiences and my own experiences of putting together a junior copywriting team in my previous agencies have helped me create a guide that YOU can use for hiring an excellent copywriter for your next project.
Note: The tips you’re about to learn will come in handy when choosing a freelance graphic designer too (you’re welcome!)
1. ASK FOR WRITING SAMPLES SIMILAR TO YOUR PROJECT: Spend thirty minutes going through the freelance copywriter’s portfolio. Ask them specifically for writing samples that might be relevant to your project.
For example: if you’re in need of a copywriter to write a compelling introduction about your brand, ask the freelance copywriter to send you the ‘About Us’ page copy they’ve written for another brand. Or go and read the ‘About Us’ section of their own website. Get familiar with their writing style and tone of voice. Do you find their writing interesting, persuasive, eye-catching while being informative and helpful? Congrats, you’re on your way to hire a great freelance copywriter.
2. LOOK OUT FOR SIGNS OF PLAGIARISM: Now that you have access to their portfolio, see if the sentence construction or writing style varies drastically across different projects. Run a quick plagiarism check using free tools such as: Chegg, Grammarly etc. During your call/meeting, ask them to talk you through some of the projects done for previous clients. Do they sound convincing? confident, and proud of their work? Take these as green flags.
You’ve probably heard of the phrase: God lies in detail, haven’t you? Ask your potential candidate specific details about how long it took them to write the ad copy, who did they work with? Who was the designer on the project? All these questions will put them under the spot and will it make it harder for them to get away with copied work.
3. SEEK REVIEWS/TESTIMONIALS/REFERENCE CHECKS. As with most service-providers, reviews, ratings, and testimonials provide a fairly accurate picture of what to expect from your future copywriter. Most people don’t know this, truly talented freelance copywriters are happy to connect their prospective clients with their past clients (I know I am), because they have nothing to hide.
Whether you are a digital marketeer, a small business owner or a project manager at an ad agency, I strongly urge you to read what other people have written about your potential candidate. Search them on LinkedIn, look up their Google Business Profile, talk to people in the industry and even speak to their ex-client. Remember: Information is your arsenal.
4. FIND OUT YOUR WRITER’S NICHE, INTERESTS AND PASSIONS: While an experienced copywriter knows how to adopt a different tone of voice when writing for different industries, it makes sense to hire a copywriter with a niche.
For instance, if you want a financial report made, it’s probably better to hire a writer who specializes in financial writing. Having said that, at the end of the day what matters is whether your writer is passionate about your project, shows keen interest or not and has similar values and goals as yours.
Personally speaking, some of my best work came out when I felt challenged to research and write about an industry that was new to me. In such a scenario, you can always negotiate a lower rate as you’re offering the writer an opportunity to widen their knowledge about a niche industry.
Hope you find these tips helpful in your search for an amazing freelance copywriter in Singapore.
Should you need help with content for your Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Website, web banners, brochures, emailers and other digital marketing assets, get in touch!