Agency copywriting vs. a Freelancer

I recently got a call from a would-be client I met at a tradeshow. Initially, instead of using me for their direct response copywriting, they had decided to use an agency they knew of.

Results: Disasterous. Lots of money lost.

Now, believe me, this is not first time I've lost a client or project to an agency, only to have them crawl back after a disaster and say they made a huge mistake. (While I swallow the huge "I told you so" that is trying to escape from my mouth!)

I've seen it happen time after time ... a company hires a DM Agency with the promise of great results, (usually at a far higher cost because they have so much overhead ) and then the results are so poor they feel shellshocked. Why is this?

The answer is easy ... Experience. Guaranteed ... if you went into most DM agencies, they will tell you, absolutely, they do direct response mail (copywriting), email, space ads etc. They really don't. They "can", but they shouldn't. As in I "can" perform surgery or do your taxes, but I shouldn't.

While agencies are full of great, smart and talented people, and serve a valuable function (all services under one roof), if you want to see excellent results, don't use an agency to do your copywriting, or at least do your homework. They simply don't have the people with the expereince or skills you need to do correctly. (FYI: The really good writers don't work for agencies)

Usually, they have a Creative Director with no DM copywriting experience, who is giving the assignment to a junior (cheaper) copywriter with little or no DM experience

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, as you will then spend tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars on printing and postage. And when it tanks, now you're really stuck.

This is exactly why I have been hired by the world's largest ad agency to write DM pieces for them. Why? Because among the thousands of employees they have worldwde, they still don't have anyone with my skills and experience to get results. They are smart enough to take the job, then go hire a pro to do the copywiting. The fact is, I get hired by many agencies who know better than to tackle the writing themselves.

I'm not trying to knock agencies, only to save you time, money and hassles. It happens a lot. Promises of "we can do it all" but it doesn't work out. If they say they can do the writing, you'd be best serve by asking "who" exactly is doing it and if they're really qualfied.

No marketing effort is guaranteed to work. I can't guarantee results. But having written literally thousands of DM pieces, your chances of success are far greater with me or another top writer, than with most DM agencies. I only hope someone reads this and saves themselves time, money and complete disaster by hedging their bets with a experiened copywriter.


Stephen Kimball
Freelance DM Copywriter
www.skcopywriting.com