Award-winning journalist and freelance copywriter, Susanna K. Hutcheson, presents news, thoughts and ideas on the world of business, marketing, copywriting and much more.

Offline Media Readership Down But Online Publication Readership Explodes

More people are getting their news online. They're dropping their offline magazines and newspapers. If you doubt that, BusinessWeek took one of its top editors, John Byrne, away from the print edition and put him at the helm of BusinessWeek.com.

"BusinessWeek.com is an essential part of our future and our franchise and no one is more qualified than John to run it," editor in chief Stephen J. Adler said in a statement.

The average number of monthly visitors to U.S. newspaper websites rose by nearly a third in the first half of 2006, a study released on Wednesday said, though print readership at some larger U.S. newspapers fell.

Online newspaper readership is up 31 percent. That's huge.

What does that mean to you? If you're an advertiser, you need to add online publications to your advertising budget. Your message should be where the eyeballs are.







Susanna on 06.16.07 @ 04:49 PM CDT [link]

Copywriter's Fees and the Clients Who Loathe Paying Them

I'd been in New York for a week. I was tired from directing three television commercials I'd written. While there I went to Boston for a day to visit another client. Then back to my office via my client's company jet.

I wasn't quite ready to face things yet. I had a dirty office, unanswered email and snail mail and phone calls. But that could wait. I just wanted to go to bed.

Well, the next day I was ready to get going. First thing was to check the email. After quickly eliminating the spam, I was left with the rest of the stuff. I get requests for quotes daily so I had a lot of those. One especially stood out. Here's why.

The man filled out my regular request for a quote form. That form states in no uncertain terms --- terms that a child could understand --- that my minimum fee is $3,000. Could it be plainer? Short of having a sound recording come on and blare it out I couldn't make it more clear.

So he fills out the form. He acknowledges that yes he understood my minimum fee is $3,000. So I assume he's a reasonably intelligent human being and I phone him. But first I notice he'd written on the form, "Can't pay much money but this would be a job you would love. Lots of fun."

Like I'm working for fun! Like in lieu of pay, I'll settle for fun. At my age fun is a lower cholesterol number --- not poverty. I worked for fun when I was young. I was poor but had a lot of fun writing morning to deep into the night. But having been poor and having gotten over it, I can tell you that having money beats the hell out of having fun and being poor. So this ol' boy ticked me off right from the get-go.

But, as I said, I called him. I asked him about his project. Then I quoted him my fee. "That's way too much," he said.

The fee I quoted was just a hair over the minimum. So I asked him why he was surprised when he saw my minimum and acknowledged understanding it.

"I couldn't find a lower figure on the page," he said.

"That's because there wasn't one," I offered. This guy must have been educated in one of the poorer government schools. I was still tired from my trip and I was now tired of this person.

So I closed the phone call. He then quickly shot me an email. "You're rude," he opined.

Well, yes, I can be rude. But in this case he was embarrassed that he'd been caught at being dumb. And being cheap.

People who are less than successful hate paying copywriters. So they settle on cheap copywriters who are young and just starting out and probably are not quite sure what they're doing. Nothing wrong with that. I was there once myself.

Trouble is, these inexperienced copywriters don't get these people any clients or customers --- no sales. So the client ends out having to hire a real copywriter to clean up the mess. He ends out spending more than he would have to begin with. Or, he ends up out of business and a bucket of unpaid bills.

I know a lot of copywriters read my column. To you I say this --- charge what you're worth and what the going rate is for your experience level. Don't undercharge. The same people who are loathe to pay what's right, will chafe at paying far less just as much. In addition, those people who pay less always want more and are very troublesome clients. People who can afford a seasoned copywriter and expect to pay what's right are generally a pleasure to work with.

Try and reach a class of client who understands that he gets what he pays for. And whatever you do, don't mess with people who either can't afford to pay you or refuse to pay what you're worth. Let the young, inexperienced copywriters deal with these folks. That's where we all have to start. Lord god almighty, I wouldn't want to go back to that god-awful place again!

When a person offers you a job that will be just an awful lot of fun but won't pay much, tell him that fun doesn't pay the bills. Tell him that you'll find your own form of fun, thank you. Then tell him to bug off.

Oh, and by the way, writing is fun. It's great fun to a real writer. In fact, it's a joy and a wonderful way to earn your living. But it's only fun when you're paid what you're worth. You do a better job. The client is better served. If you want to write for pure joy and not get paid, buy a Moleskine and keep a journal.

"I don't intend to build in order to have clients. I intend to have clients in order to build."—Howard Roark, hero of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead .

"Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to become the means by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of other men. Blood, whips and guns--or dollars. Take your choice--there is no other."