What the hell is a “cost effective” writer? I freelanced for 25 years, and the only thing that made me cost effective was the client refusing to pay my invoice. There was a book published back in the 70s called “The Care and Feeding of Creatives.” It was a good book—but clients didn’t read it. The emphasis was all wrong. They wanted “The Care and Feeding of Clients.”

Here’s the biggest problem with hiring freelancers. Clients think writers work by osmosis. You ask for detailed information, they give you a muddle of documents, none of which give you a coherent start. I’ll say to clients “Tell me what you want me to say and where you want the emphasis.” They’ll respond with “Write the stuff and I’ll tell you if it’s right or not.

If you want good copy, it won’t come from expecting the writer to read your mind. And saying “I’ll know when I see it” only shows how absolutely ignorant most clients are of the creative process. Then again, as one client said to me once “I don’t want creative, I want to see product.”

So many clients couldn’t brief to save their lives, yet they’re the ones complaining about “shit work.” One client refused to pay me, and bad-mouthed me, apologizing later when I showed her the brief I’d been given. “Oh, I fired her,” she said, but still refused to pay my invoice.

That’s my rant for today. If you want good copy, brief properly, explain what you need, give good information, and stop saying “I’ll know when I see it.”

If that’s your attitude, write the copy yourself. Scares the crap out of clients when you say that, but it’s true.