I recently started work on a project that was doomed from the start.
As soon as the client sent over the product, I realized it is, frankly, shit.
So I wrote the client to say I could see two ways to move forward:
1) He could find somebody else to write the sales letter, or
2) He could improve the product
He responded defending the product. And saying how it’s not the copywriter’s job to worry whether the product is any good or not.
I don’t agree. And if you like, I’ll tell you why.
Reason 1 is the time and effort I put in. If I’m working on this project, I will not be working on other, more promising projects. An hour or two promoting something hopeless might be ok. A week or a month is too much, at least in my book.
Reason 2 is the question of a success story in my portfolio vs. a burning barn filled with screaming cattle, which I think this project would have turned into.
Reason 3, if you need it, is simply the ethics of helping sell something that’s below a basic standard of quality.
But anyways, I’m not here to cry over spilled copywriting milk.
I just want to suggest that, as a copywriter, you have a stake in the outcome of a project, even if you’re not getting paid royalties or getting a share of the revenues.
That’s one thing.
The other thing is a bit about negotiation.
Because this client fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is, “Never get involved in a land war in Asia.”
But only slightly less well known is this, “Never double down when you’re trying to convince somebody who has serious doubts.”
So was there a better negotiation strategy that this client could have used?
I believe so.
In fact, I think he could have sucked me back into working on this project, without making many real changes to the product itself.
I’m gonna go over this strategy in my upcoming guide to negotiating for freelancers (yes, freelancers can also learn something from a client’s mistakes).
This guide will be one of the free bonuses to go with my revamped book on succeeding on Upwork. If you want to get notified when I finish this up and publish it, you can sign up here: