So you’ve decided to hire a freelance copywriter.
Your staff is overworked, or you’re entering a growth phase, or a huge new initiative just dropped on you, or you tried to do your own copywriting and said “Eek!” and you want to call in outside help. Congratulations! You’ve made a big decision or, alternately, made one that’s NBD because you’re an ad agency and you hire freelancers all the time.
Even if you’re used to working with freelancers, though, hiring a new one can be a delicate process, and the freelancer/client relationship is a big one. This is someone you’re going to be trusting with your image, whether they’re doing work directly for you or for your clients (which, obviously, reflects back on you). It’s like hiring a babysitter for your boss’s kids — it’s one thing for your own kids to drink Red Bull and stay up past their bedtime, but if your boss comes home to find a bunch of toddlers bouncing off the walls, it could reflect poorly on you.
You should be able to expect your babysitter to respect your wishes, care about your kids, and have the sense to keep it to no more than one espresso per child with dinner. In that same vein, here are a few things you should be able to expect from your freelance copywriter.
Clarity
Before you get started with any project — even a seemingly minor one — you should have a good idea of what you’re going to be paying, what you’re going to be getting in exchange for that payment (also known as the “scope of work,” for those of you who are unfamiliar), and when you’re going to be getting it. What deliverables are going to be delivered? What format? How many iterations? How many rounds of revisions? Paying by the hour, by the word, by the project, or something else? What’s the timeline? Milestones? Drop-dead? Invoicing and payment? Who will their point of contact be with your organization, and who will be the final decider when decisions need to be made? What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? How will additions to the original scope of work be handled? These are things to figure out in the beginning, before all the moving parts start moving.
(You, of course, have a role in this, too. Be as responsive as possible in providing any materials your freelancer might need to give you a reasonable estimate, and don’t agree to any terms or requirements that you don’t intend to follow through on.)
Communication
From the beginning, establish how communication is going to work — meetings? Check-in calls? Skype? Slack? Email? Your project management system of choice? Laying out a preferred method and timetable for communication makes it easy for you to get, and give, any information necessary to get the work done. You should be able to expect your freelance to respond in a timely manner and give clear, thorough, informative, nonevasive answers to any questions you have. And you should definitely be able to expect them to show up to any meetings or calls on time and submit any scheduled updates on deadline.
That doesn’t mean you should expect them to return your texts at 5:00 on a Sunday morning — be reasonable, now. (Unless they specifically said, “Hey, if you have any questions at 5:00 on a Sunday morning, shoot me a text, and I’ll get back to you right away.” In which case… wow.) Or that you can expect them to drop everything and reply to your email in the middle of a meeting or a medical procedure (unless, again, they promised you they’d do that for you). But this is your baby we’re talking about, and you should never have to sit by the phone, worrying that said baby has escaped through the dog door and is out digging through your neighbor’s recycling.
Transparency
Your freelancer should be honest and up-front about their ability to perform the work you need, to the quality you need, in the time agreed upon. There’s ambition, and then there’s delusion, and then (occasionally, unfortunately) there’s flat-out lying. The last two, to be perfectly clear, are very bad.
And if anything changes, they should be honest and up-front about that, too. Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes conflicts emerge suddenly. Sometimes projects end up being a lot harder or more time-consuming than either of you expected, sometimes complications arise from choices you made or they made, and sometimes unavoidable economic forces put a strain on project budgets. If things change, your freelancer needs to get in touch with you as quickly as possible to keep little challenges from turning into huge disasters.
Partnership
Creative work is a team process, and your freelance copywriter will, to some extent or another, become an extension of your team. That doesn’t make them an employee (they’re specifically not an employee, that being the point, so don’t fall into the trap of pretending they are), but it does give them many of the same responsibilities.
They should be able to take feedback gracefully and respectfully, understanding that it’s your business they’re handling and you have a lot riding on it. But they should also be able to offer feedback and advice gracefully and respectfully — you hired them for more than just their ability to bang computer keys until words come out, and if they see you heading in a suboptimal direction, you should be able to trust them to speak up. Many an advertising flub has been averted by a creative saying, “In my experience…” Or “Have you considered…?” Or, “You do know that’s way racist, right?”
They should also share your image of a successful project and be committed to said image. And the thing about freelance copywriters is that they’re always actually working toward two goals: to give your client what they need, and to make you look good in the eyes of your client. Sometimes, honestly, that can be a challenge (and when the two goals appear to be in conflict, that’s where the “offer advice respectfully” frequently comes in), but your freelancer should always have your best interests and your concept of success in mind.
And what your freelancer should be able to expect from you
All of those things. I mean, that’s what this industry runs out. Lay out and agree upon expectations early on, respond to communications in a timely manner, give your freelancer the materials and feedback they need to get your job done to your satisfaction, and be a good partner. (And definitely get their invoice paid on time.) Be nice to your freelancer, and they’ll be nice to you.
Congratulations again on your smart choice, and best of luck with your new (albeit self-employed and possibly remote-working) team member. Now it’s time to hand over that baby and hope for the best. You’ll be glad you did. (Probably.)