Writing is hard. Communication is difficult. Why is it so often sloughed off as a trvial task that anyone can do well? This is bullshit.
I wouldn't tell the contractor building my new home that, "I can handle installing all that sheet rock and insulation. No problem." Sure, I could do that work, but I probably wouldn't do it as fast or as well. And after I finished making a mess and wasting time and energy, I know I wouldn't have the cahonés to hold the contractor accountable for the delay.
So why do people think writing good content is easy? Well-written comments only please.
UPDATES:
It appears that others feel this pain at AdPulp and Ads That Suck.
Great question.
Most people, much less clients, haven't the first clue about copy or copywriters. People who do have a slight clue often think we place words in their ads.
We do. But doing so is the last step in a long process. Real copywriters condense abstract business strategies into tight, memorable prose, any consumer can understand and act on.
I just wonder if the client wants a sense of authorship or if he simply underappreciates the medium.
That's a good point that Evan just made.
Evan and I went to a lunch a week or two ago where John McCann (don't let the picture fool you) gave a great speech on sales, etc.
An interesting point that he made was that people always want to add their two cents. His example was, "if you walk into a room and say, 'wow, this ceiling is 15 ft tall.' The guy next to you will almost always say, 'nah, it's 17 ft if it is an inch.'" People want to feel like they contribute.
Mike D. made a similar point on Keith Robinison's blog.
This of course happens with copywriting, design, house building, no matter. It's a bitch but it is life. There are always those people that say, "You're the expert and I trust you,"and God love those people, but there are a much larger number of people that want to add their two cents into every aspect of life/business.
PS: The second thing I took away from John's speech was the phrase, "It's the best thing since they took the bones out of chocolate ice cream." Which is going on my Bear Approved list of sayings.
[...] This idea was mentioned in our last post, but I want to explore it a little bit more. How hard are you suppose to fight for an idea? As an agency (design, marketing, advertising, law, etc) you are paid by a client to tell him what to do. Clients rarely like this idea. They want to be involved in the process, they demand to be involved in the process. They are writing the f’ing check. [...]
I said it before, writing isn’t easy. Here are a couple hundred reasons why. If you’re strapped for time, here are a couple dozen...
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maybe I am the wrong person to be replying to this post.....;-)