Copywriting Crisis #1: Upload my Copy Already!

As a copywriter who seemingly moves from one minor crisis to the next at the moment, I thought the logical thing to do was to create a blog series called Copywriting Crisis – there’s nothing too cryptic there – to share the daily dilemmas that are standing in the way of progress.

In this first instalment, I’m going to rant about critically discuss the glacial speed at which some clients put my seminal, earth-shattering copy live. So buckle up, please, for easily the most boring 120 seconds of your day. Here we go!

A train to nowhere

An agency I’ve worked with since I was a fresh-faced freelance copywriter – I’m now haggard as all hell and can’t find my nail clippers or beard trimmer anywhere, so things are getting gnarly – asked me to write some copy for a client of theirs.

They wanted some landing pages written for a national train network, so I willingly obliged. We agreed the rate 🤑, they sent over the briefs and I started typing away. The world was at peace.

The long pause

I was really pleased with the landing pages I wrote. It was only five pages of copy, but at 1,000-2,000 words each, they were pretty hefty and did a lot of informational heavy lifting.

I sent them to the agency, which passed them on to the client. Zero edits were required, and I was paid promptly. It’s fair to say that everyone was chuffed to bits. But this was several months ago now, which leaves me wondering:

For the love of God, can’t they put my content live already!

Why do I care? I hear you ask. Allow me to explain.

I want to beef up my portfolio

Now, I hate a brand name in my personal life. Let’s face it, you’re paying extra for nothing.

My skincare – yes, I moisturise – is strictly Aldi, and it comes in at £1.69 a tub. My clothes are as plain as can be, full of holes and completely brand-name-free. And the food and cleaning products I buy are as supermarket own-brand as possible (whisper it – I am partial to a McCoy’s crisp).

My wife, not so much. She loves the smell of Ariel washing tablets, and it just has to be Heinz tomato ketchup. It’s a recurring source of marital tension among many other recurring sources of marital tension.

But the one place where I don’t mind a big name is in my copywriting portfolio. Working with a big brand has to play some role in building trust and credibility in the minds of new clients, and I was proud of those pages.

What am I trying to say?

I finished those landing pages about three months ago now, and still there’s no sign of them going live. Is it a big issue? Absolutely not. But my lord, some of these big companies don’t half move slowly. And it seems to be a recurring theme.

Why does this all matter? Well, the first thing to say is, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t. I guess the point I’m trying to make, though, in a very roundabout way, is that freelancing isn’t just about doing the work. There are all these little things outside your control that can scupper your progress (I think what I’ve probably just described there is everyday life).

Has this ever happened to you?

That’s very much a rhetorical question. I don’t allow comments on my blogs as 99.9% of them are the very worst kind of spam.

Photo by Sugarman Joe on Unsplash