Ok. I have began sending out inquiry letters and have gotten more response that I thought I would on my first attempt. I decided to target a small group of businesses in my area that I have background knowledge. I got 8 responses from 19 letters sent. Since these are small businesses and I am new, how should I address the question of printing? I took advice from several other copywriters and solicited small area businesses but they need someone to do all the ad work. I do write well but am not much of an artist or designer (although I can help with layouts). Should I find a printer and include it in my fee or suggest they find a printer for the final work? Thanks.

Hiya Big Tex.

Fortuitous question. I don't know how others handle this. I have
never asked, and my copywriting experience never involved printing
anything with the possible exception of uh, you know, my own copy
to send off to the client.

That seems to me (and I could certainly be wrong) a marketing
task for the most part. Sorry I cannot be of more help in this
arena.

I would love to see some informed responses on this particular
subject though as I have been approached a few times regarding
this same issue. I do artwork and logos every now and again for
print ads but have not had a hand in finding a printer and worrying
about how to charge those efforts back to a client.

I do have printed items done for my own businesses and some of
that is local and some is not. Business cards are done at
www.vistaprint.com and few other miscellaneous items. I have pens,
calendars and promotional items done at www.nationalpen.com.
I have always been satisfied and happy with the results from both.
And the price is right at both companies for my own business needs.

I am sure that will not help, but it is all I know, which is uh, not much.
My .02 worth anyhousen.

Hope you get some really informed responses.

Blessings,

Verb

Hi.

My suggestion is that you do both. Find a printer and talk to him
about the different work you might be sending him and try to
work out a commission fee for the referrals.

Then simply talk to each customer and offer them both options.
Some clients may already have a trusted print shop to do their
work, but some will take you up on your offer and that can end
up pocketing you some extra dollars.

All the best!
Miguel Alvarez
Copywriting.com

P.S.-
Make sure you talk to a few printers before deciding up on one.

you might be able to outsource some of the art work on sites like rentacoder.com or elance.

there are a lot of people with some impressive portfolios that work pretty cheap.

however, you may need to give the artist a conceptual framework and text/taglines to work with.

I don't do too much offline copywriting, so I'm afraid I can't give advice. I did have another question however.

Isn't a copywriter's job to write the copy? I never imagined it included printing or graphics design. I suppose ad and logo design would be a beneficial add-on to your business, but is it necessary?

First of all . . . congratulations on launching your writing business. It seems we always end up with dilemmas like these when we start out because it is hard to plan for every scenario beforehand. I strictly do writing and make that clear at the outset, so you may wish to do the same in the future if you don't enjoy dealing with these other add-ons. Given your current need to satisfy potential clients, however, I would suggest working with a local printer and adding printing costs into your invoices.

Yes, this is what I thought, too. The copywriter writes the copy and the client uses printers and webmasters for the brochure or website, but the copywriter isn't responsible for being the webmaster. If you're taking over an entire brochure or something, I really can't answer this, either, but best of luck with it!

I don't think many clients would expect you to be responsible for this aspect of the job, however if there is any way you can offer a client more and reduce the hassle for them it can only improve your chances.

It might be worth building a working relationship with a graphic/web designer who you know is good/reasonably priced. That way you can tell your client you can arrange the design for them or simply set up an introduction.

I also work in web design/development and I find a number of jobs on freelancers.net