MY WRITING AND COMMUNICATIONS POLICIES

It is important to me that we have an excellent communication stream in place from the get-go. I hope you feel the same. I understand that your time equates to money, so promptness and ease are my targets. 

My schedule of availability during our project will be from 9 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday EST.  I can be contacted by phone, text, or email. Calling or texting at the number below is by far the easiest ways to contact me and will receive the fastest reply. If you send an email, I will get back to you within 24 hours. My goal is to be able to answer any concerns and be there for you so we may have a rewarding business relationship and you a package that exceeds your expectations.

Call or Text 941-313-0880

Email diane@4dscopywriting.com

DISCOVERY QUESTIONNAIRE

To get started on your project, I will send you a complete Discovery Questionnaire through google docs. If you prefer, I can send it as an email  document attachment, but  let me know if you’d rather I send it this way. This will help both of us define the scope of the project and ensure maximum results. 

Please return the questionnaire to me as quickly as possible—for most clients this takes between 1 and 3 business days. After I receive the Discovery Questionnaire, I review and study your answers. If needed, I may also be doing some initial research that may be necessary to move forward. 

From there, I will outline a Project Roadmap. It will help to save time and help you see that I fully understand the project. It will also be the basis for our Launch Call. 

Three(3) to Ten(10) days after I receive the Discovery answers, we will schedule a 20-minute Launch Call. During this call, we will discuss the Project Roadmap. I will listen to any additional directions and insights you have on the project. 

For example, if you use your own Offer, this would be the time to let me know. Anything  your company has requirements for or if there are special needs to be met it should be discussed at this time.

Following that call, I will draft and send you an Agreement. If your legal team has an Agreement, we can use that. If we are using your agreement, please send it to me when you submit your Discovery answers. 

INVESTMENT AND GETTING STARTED

The Agreement will contain all the specifics on exactly what I deliver, including project deadlines. It will also list your investment for the project and terms of payment. Please note: I require 50% of the project total to begin. Most of my clients prefer to pay by bank wire or an overnight draft. Once we have both signed the Agreement, I will start working on your copy as agreed.

Research 

My research process is very comprehensive. Depending on the type of project, I may start with a review of your website. I will always examine and consider any materials you’ve sent to me. 

During and often before the information collection period, I will research the market, including your competitors. 

In some cases, I will ask to visit with your customer service team, past clients/customers, and different department heads, especially the person who knows the most about this particular type of project.

As needed, I will reach out to you for additional details, product samples, and other resources. 

You can be confident that I’ll quickly and efficiently understand your product, your voice, and your customer’s core emotional purchase drivers.

 

COLLABORATION

As we work on this project together, communication is critical. Some of my clients are very busy and prefer to hand off the project to me and review the first draft, with very little interaction in between. Others like dealing with me on an almost daily basis, being involved in nearly every step. Which are you? 

Please send me an email and let me know how often you’d like to communicate and what the best way is to reach out to you (i.e., email, phone, text, etc.). One other point: I require that you assign me a single point of contact on your team. I will communicate directly with that person, and they will deal with your other team members as needed to obtain information and approvals. Finally, I  encourage we use Google Docs for the word processing tool on your account. It is an easy way to communicate in real time. It allows us to track changes, comment, and collaborate and can be shared with team members. The working document is always the current document—no need to worry about sending wrong files or things getting lost.

If you don’t want to work with Google Docs, I can work with Word using the Review/Comment tab to communicate changes. I have nightly backup on my computer, and I work saving on a thumbdrive so your content is protected either way. If using Word the project will be sent by email attachment. Please let me know at the start what works best for you. 

REVISIONS

After you’ve reviewed the first draft, it is possible that you’ll want some things changed. Please note those changes using the comment feature inside of Google Docs or Review/Comment in Word (whichever you have chosen to use).  I will send the original to you both ways for your convenience. If you decide to use it as a Word document you can email any changes to me as an attachment.

I will review all your suggested changes within 24 hours of you submitting them to me. I will make my adjustments within 2—4 business days, depending on the breadth and complexity of your suggested changes. In all cases, I recognize that these are your customers and will defer to you as much as possible. Sometimes, there are cases where my clients make suggestions that I know will not work and will hurt profits. In those cases, you can expect me to be bold and direct in my feedback. When clients insist on changes that I feel will not work, I always recommend a simple A/B split test. This is the best test because it lets the market decide.

Review of First Drafts 

Typically, you’ll receive the first draft in 10 - 14 business days, depending on the project size and scope. Long copy and booklets can take longer and I will let you know a time frame after our first meeting. When you get the first draft, please review it carefully. Also, have any appropriate team members discuss it. The most important thing at this stage is making sure that the tone, message, and offer are right. We’ll fine-tune during the second draft, as needed. 

Additional Reviews 

After the first round of changes, there may be some extra fine-tuning needed. You can be confident that I’ll gladly work with you until you are delighted with the copy. In most cases, my clients find that one review volley is enough. When more is needed, it is usually just one or two, and the process goes quickly. Typically, we can get a final copy within 1—3 business days. 

FINAL APPROVAL 

Once all revisions are done, you will receive a final draft. You approve the copy by sending me an email stating that everything is ready for distribution. Once I receive this final approval, I will invoice you for the remaining 50% of the project investment. The invoice is due upon receipt.

I will make every effort to be prompt in responding to your requests and assume that, as a professional, you will do the same with my invoices. In most cases, the final copy is sent to a designer for formatting. I strongly encourage you to send me a PDF of the final version. 

I will double check that any graphical elements added by your design team enhances the copy and will continue to bolster its efficacy. If I see something that is distracting and may hurt your response rates, I’ll be direct in letting you know. If requested, I’m happy to work with your design team to make any changes needed to make the end version as productive as possible.

New Projects 

At the end of the project, I provide all of my clients with a complimentary follow-up consultation. We’ll spend a few minutes on the phone discussing our completed project…what went well, and where improvements might be made. We will review the Discovery Questionnaire and consider additional ways to uncover new profits, building on the momentum and capturing all avenues of income available to you. When appropriate, we can map out a new project to ensure that you continue to have an excellent copy that meets your goals and grows your business.