DIY copywriting isn’t in the same league as DIY dentistry or DIY auto repair, right? You won’t leave your website in pain or stranded on the side of the road. While you can write text for your site that fills up space, it is not as easy to create text that sells, that builds and promotes your brand, and that entices readers to take the desired action. Not only is the quality of text typically better when you use a professional copywriter, it can actually be a cheaper option for your business.
Is DIY copywriting never a good idea? If you write professionally and have the time to devote to building your website’s content, then yes, it may be a good idea. However, the majority of business people have other things to focus on, such as products, inventory, sales, marketing, budgets…writing text can be a time-consuming task that does not balance out in the cost/benefit equation.
How much is your time worth? If you bill out at $100 per hour for your services and then take four full days to write the text for your site, your DIY copywriting has cost $3200 – and that’s assuming you’ve put in only 8 hours per day, which small business people rarely do. You may find that a professional copywriter is able to produce quality text faster and at a less expensive rate. Copywriters charge wildly different rates, from $10 to $20 for a 500 word article to $10,000 for a full page of text. When you can find good writing at a good price, it makes it worth your while to pursue professional copywriting.
Another reason that DIY copywriting can backfire is that this is very specific, targeted text. It is meant to sell your visitors on a product, service, or idea. Many business owners focus their writing on the business itself, without considering the needs of the consumers. It can be hard for someone who pours his heart into his business to shift the focus. Copywriters are trained to do exactly this, however. They have the distance needed to accurately gauge the type of text that will help sell the business and appeal to customer needs.
Copywriting can be among the best investments you make in your business and well worth it in both the time and money it can save you.
