Over the last 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with a range of clients on things like marketing, copy editing, website content creation, and content marketing.
So, I created a mind map of what I’ve learned, just in case you’re looking for a guide or some inspiration.
Here's what the mind map says...
1. What problem does your client need to solve? Often, this isn’t the writing. For instance, they may not have identified their target audience or even their USP (Unique Selling Proposition).
2. Who is your client selling to? More than ‘demographics’ (age, income level, location, etc.), look at ‘psychographs‘ (their values, beliefs, world view, goals, etc.
3. What is your value add? Now comes the fun part. You know the problem, and you know the audience. So, how can you help? For instance, if the audience is parents of neurodiverse children, then your value add could be to learn about these children and write informed blog posts about them.
4. What’s the ‘story’ going to be? A mother of a neurodiverse child will have a story with clusters of worries about her child’s difficulties. Instead, we tell an intertwined story, recognising the challenges but countering them with how our client can help. Keep the story as visceral and visual as possible, using a hook to draw your audience in. This is where the magic lies. How us marketers can really make a difference.
5. How will you price your services? There are 3 ways to charge your client. (1) Look at what everyone else is charging. (2) Look at how valuable your services are to your client. You’ll need a rough estimate of how ‘cash rich’ they are. (3) Charge based on the ROI you can promise. You’ll need to go through Excel sheets to figure this out, though. (4) Charge by the hour. This is the worst option because it encourages you to slow down and scares the client because they don’t know how much the final invoice will be.
6. How will you measure your results? What are you going for? Website visits? Google search results, new customers? Choose one or more metrics and track how well your content checks these boxes.
7. Stay in touch with your clients — sharing new work opportunities and creations. If they were fun to work with in the past, they’ll likely be fun in the future, too.