Copywriting Tips – Does It Pay To Offer Discounts?
There is one very big downside to copywriting, which is why I won’t ever allow it to be my main source of income. If you don’t write, you don’t get paid. It’s a service industry. And as with any service industry, in order to make money, you have to provide the service, unlike ebooks that can sell even while you’re sleeping. So, when a potential client asks you if they can get a discount on your service, does it pay to give them one? This article is going to explore this issue. You can make up your own mind on what to ultimately do.
First thing we have to take into consideration is how long you’ve been doing this. If you’re just starting out and you need some testimonials for your work, then offering a discount on a sales letter might not be such a bad idea. In fact, you should probably offer your service to X number of people for a very low price in order to build up, not only a portfolio of work to show people, but a portfolio of testimonials as well. The more people that you can show were happy with your sales letters, the easier it will be for you to get more clients.
Another thing you have to take into consideration is what your time is worth to you and how long it takes you to do an average sales letter. I can usually crank out one in about a week working about 8 hours a day. If my time is worth at least $100 an hour and I’ve put in 56 hours into doing a sales letter, I’m going to want at least $5,600 for that sales letter. I might go as low as $5,000, but that’s it. Now, if your time is worth less to you, then you’ll charge less. And any discount should be based on the minimum you’ll be willing to work for.
Finally, you probably want to take into consideration your relationship with the person asking or potential long term relationship that could come from writing the sales letter. If it’s a friend, or at least somebody who you’ve had a prior relationship with, you might be more willing to consider offering a discount as opposed to somebody who is a total stranger. I know there are some people out there who I would write a sales letter for dirt cheap, if not for nothing.
Anyway, these are the factors you need to consider when deciding on offering a discount for your work. Ultimately, it’s YOUR decision and only YOU know how comfortable you are with doing this. There are pros and cons to offering discounts. On the one hand, you’ll probably get more work. On the other hand, you’ll be working more for less money.
Somewhere in there you need to strike a balance.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
