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Web Builder, Web Master, AND Web Writer
A little over a year ago, I was speaking with one of my best longtime copywriting clients. We were working on their Annual Report, when she asked me about working on their new website.
I discussed what I could do for them and strongly encouraged her to use me, especially because I had developed skills as a web content copywriter and was knowledgeable of Search Engine Optimization strategies.
“Can you build the website?” she asked.
“No. I don’t do that,” I said. I quickly added that I could work with any developer or designer she hired.
But, inside, I knew I had lost the sale.
She said she would get back to me, but months later, I learned they were in the midst of developing their site, and I wasn’t in on the game.
This had happened to me more than once. But, after that particular experience, I thought, “No more.”
I had been maintaining my own website on GoDaddy for some time, so I had confidence I could build a similar site for someone else. I knew that if I encountered a problem, help was a phone call away 24/7.
I realized that there was no reason that as a web copywriter, I couldn’t also be a Web Master, too. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became. I vowed that the next time someone asked if I could build a website, I would say, “Yes!”
Become a Web Master for Your Web Copywriting Clients
Maybe you’ve had a similar experience—losing a client because you couldn’t write and develop or update their website. If you’ve hesitated to add web mastering to your skill set I encourage you to take the plunge. This single step has dramatically increased my income and made me more valuable to my clients so I get more repeat business.
True, I was a little scared at first. But within a month, I received a call from a small company in another state. The owner wanted me to write and develop two new sites.
I was honest with her and explained that I could build a simple template site using GoDaddy. I told her that while I wasn’t a designer, the templates were well-designed and we could modify the colors.
I also told her that the benefits of going with a template system like GoDaddy’s was that she could go in at any time and make modifications herself, with the help of their excellent phone support. She could have complete control and not be at the mercy of a sophisticated web developer. She liked that.
Control is very appealing to smaller business owners, who have often been burned by their web developers. Web developers are notoriously slow to make changes and with as fast as things move in today’s web-based markets, an untimely website update is often useless.
Within a short time, I built my client a simple six-page site for a new home improvement store and optimized it as well. Since then, she has gotten so much business off of it that we still haven’t started her second site, though she’s paid me a nice advance for it. She really wants to do that second site … but she’s so darn busy!
That experience proved I had what it took to offer this new service and it underscored for me how valuable such a service was to my clients. With my new confidence in my own value, I next found that some clients wanted me to write and load copy into their current systems.
Test Your Comfort Zone
Not long after, one client wanted me to work with his “storefront” websites (he had three). A storefront website is a pre-packaged website for a retail store with a ready-made catalog.
Storefront sites are good sources of potential revenue for copywriters, as they need to have their pages customized to tell readers about the individual stores. For example, the Home Page needs to be customized along with the About Us and Staff Info pages.
A lot of the web tools used on the systems that support these pre-packed sites are similar to the template website systems. What I discovered is that once you learn how to work in basic website templates, your learning curve for new systems gets shorter and shorter and so it becomes easier and easier to reach an expanding market of potential clients.
For example, if you can handle updating and maintaining a storefront website, you’re certainly capable of managing “microsites.” These are the sites that franchisors sometimes offer to their local franchisees. These often have pages that should be customized like the storefront sites for the local customer. Being able to offer copywriting and web mastering services gives you an edge when you’re pitching for these kinds of jobs. It just makes things simpler for the client to not have to deal with two separate companies on the same project.
Web Mastering in a Nut Shell
Web mastering means you would upload the copy and anything else the owner might want like pictures or coupons. The storefronts and microsites are pretty easy to use as they are designed for retail owners. And if you do run into a problem you can phone the support desk, and they will walk you through the process.
What’s nice about pairing web mastering with copywriting is that if you don’t like the way a headline looks after you load it, you can quickly make changes, you don’t have to wait for a web developer to handle it.
I’ve also done some web mastering for DreamWeaver, WordPress, and Joomla sites. I am by no means proficient in working with these systems. I often have to ask for help. But, you eat the elephant one bite at a time.
And your clients don’t care if you’re a whiz at various systems. They are just grateful you are getting the job done, and that they don’t have to look for a second person to hire!
By the way, I always tell my clients if I have a learning curve on a new system. They pay me for my learning time. I also tell them I’m a fast learner, and that once I get their system down, things move fairly fast. I’ve never had someone say no.
My rule of thumb for taking on either building a website or web mastering is that I have to have access to phone support. With a template system like GoDaddy, there’s no question that I can do it. Recently, when I took on a Joomla site that doesn’t have phone support, I simply made sure I had phone access to the person who originally developed the site.
Sometimes I make an exception and work on a site without phone support. Then I have to look things up in the help menu. It works, but it is tedious. On the other hand, I get more and more proficient when I do this, which means it takes me less time on future projects.
For web mastering plus copywriting, I often charge an hourly rate, as usually the scope is difficult to determine. It’s great bread-and-butter work that helps keep your cash flow healthy.
Last year, half of my income came from clients that I did technical work for as well as copywriting! Imagine how much lower my income would have been if I had said no to web developing or mastering!
The best way to build your confidence is to get experience building and maintaining your own site. I recommend Register.com, GoDaddy, and 1&1. But there are many more out there. If you’re really brave, you’ll learn WordPress or Joomla, both very popular systems that will increase your potential job prospects enormously.
It might seem scary, but you need to push yourself and not be afraid. If you can do Microsoft Word, you can work with these systems.
I’ve learned so much from working on websites. It’s given me incredible confidence.
Remember, every bit of new skill you acquire will be helpful. Every bit of knowledge you gain will be power. And money in the bank.
A Final Thought…
One of the best things about learning how to work with websites is the amount of knowledge you will gain, so that when you do have to work with a web developer, you’ll know something about the inner workings of websites. You’ll know about inserting HTML code, the pixel width of images or columns, best file size for images, HEX colors, and more.
Katherine Andes is a consultant who specializes in web content development, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), writing key web pages, and online web marketing. You can phone her at 559-589-0379 or email at kathy@andesandassociates.com
I discussed what I could do for them and strongly encouraged her to use me, especially because I had developed skills as a web content copywriter and was knowledgeable of Search Engine Optimization strategies.
“Can you build the website?” she asked.
“No. I don’t do that,” I said. I quickly added that I could work with any developer or designer she hired.
But, inside, I knew I had lost the sale.
She said she would get back to me, but months later, I learned they were in the midst of developing their site, and I wasn’t in on the game.
This had happened to me more than once. But, after that particular experience, I thought, “No more.”
I had been maintaining my own website on GoDaddy for some time, so I had confidence I could build a similar site for someone else. I knew that if I encountered a problem, help was a phone call away 24/7.
I realized that there was no reason that as a web copywriter, I couldn’t also be a Web Master, too. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became. I vowed that the next time someone asked if I could build a website, I would say, “Yes!”
Become a Web Master for Your Web Copywriting Clients
Maybe you’ve had a similar experience—losing a client because you couldn’t write and develop or update their website. If you’ve hesitated to add web mastering to your skill set I encourage you to take the plunge. This single step has dramatically increased my income and made me more valuable to my clients so I get more repeat business.
True, I was a little scared at first. But within a month, I received a call from a small company in another state. The owner wanted me to write and develop two new sites.
I was honest with her and explained that I could build a simple template site using GoDaddy. I told her that while I wasn’t a designer, the templates were well-designed and we could modify the colors.
I also told her that the benefits of going with a template system like GoDaddy’s was that she could go in at any time and make modifications herself, with the help of their excellent phone support. She could have complete control and not be at the mercy of a sophisticated web developer. She liked that.
Control is very appealing to smaller business owners, who have often been burned by their web developers. Web developers are notoriously slow to make changes and with as fast as things move in today’s web-based markets, an untimely website update is often useless.
Within a short time, I built my client a simple six-page site for a new home improvement store and optimized it as well. Since then, she has gotten so much business off of it that we still haven’t started her second site, though she’s paid me a nice advance for it. She really wants to do that second site … but she’s so darn busy!
That experience proved I had what it took to offer this new service and it underscored for me how valuable such a service was to my clients. With my new confidence in my own value, I next found that some clients wanted me to write and load copy into their current systems.
Test Your Comfort Zone
Not long after, one client wanted me to work with his “storefront” websites (he had three). A storefront website is a pre-packaged website for a retail store with a ready-made catalog.
Storefront sites are good sources of potential revenue for copywriters, as they need to have their pages customized to tell readers about the individual stores. For example, the Home Page needs to be customized along with the About Us and Staff Info pages.
A lot of the web tools used on the systems that support these pre-packed sites are similar to the template website systems. What I discovered is that once you learn how to work in basic website templates, your learning curve for new systems gets shorter and shorter and so it becomes easier and easier to reach an expanding market of potential clients.
For example, if you can handle updating and maintaining a storefront website, you’re certainly capable of managing “microsites.” These are the sites that franchisors sometimes offer to their local franchisees. These often have pages that should be customized like the storefront sites for the local customer. Being able to offer copywriting and web mastering services gives you an edge when you’re pitching for these kinds of jobs. It just makes things simpler for the client to not have to deal with two separate companies on the same project.
Web Mastering in a Nut Shell
Web mastering means you would upload the copy and anything else the owner might want like pictures or coupons. The storefronts and microsites are pretty easy to use as they are designed for retail owners. And if you do run into a problem you can phone the support desk, and they will walk you through the process.
What’s nice about pairing web mastering with copywriting is that if you don’t like the way a headline looks after you load it, you can quickly make changes, you don’t have to wait for a web developer to handle it.
I’ve also done some web mastering for DreamWeaver, WordPress, and Joomla sites. I am by no means proficient in working with these systems. I often have to ask for help. But, you eat the elephant one bite at a time.
And your clients don’t care if you’re a whiz at various systems. They are just grateful you are getting the job done, and that they don’t have to look for a second person to hire!
By the way, I always tell my clients if I have a learning curve on a new system. They pay me for my learning time. I also tell them I’m a fast learner, and that once I get their system down, things move fairly fast. I’ve never had someone say no.
My rule of thumb for taking on either building a website or web mastering is that I have to have access to phone support. With a template system like GoDaddy, there’s no question that I can do it. Recently, when I took on a Joomla site that doesn’t have phone support, I simply made sure I had phone access to the person who originally developed the site.
Sometimes I make an exception and work on a site without phone support. Then I have to look things up in the help menu. It works, but it is tedious. On the other hand, I get more and more proficient when I do this, which means it takes me less time on future projects.
For web mastering plus copywriting, I often charge an hourly rate, as usually the scope is difficult to determine. It’s great bread-and-butter work that helps keep your cash flow healthy.
Last year, half of my income came from clients that I did technical work for as well as copywriting! Imagine how much lower my income would have been if I had said no to web developing or mastering!
The best way to build your confidence is to get experience building and maintaining your own site. I recommend Register.com, GoDaddy, and 1&1. But there are many more out there. If you’re really brave, you’ll learn WordPress or Joomla, both very popular systems that will increase your potential job prospects enormously.
It might seem scary, but you need to push yourself and not be afraid. If you can do Microsoft Word, you can work with these systems.
I’ve learned so much from working on websites. It’s given me incredible confidence.
Remember, every bit of new skill you acquire will be helpful. Every bit of knowledge you gain will be power. And money in the bank.
A Final Thought…
One of the best things about learning how to work with websites is the amount of knowledge you will gain, so that when you do have to work with a web developer, you’ll know something about the inner workings of websites. You’ll know about inserting HTML code, the pixel width of images or columns, best file size for images, HEX colors, and more.
Katherine Andes is a consultant who specializes in web content development, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), writing key web pages, and online web marketing. You can phone her at 559-589-0379 or email at kathy@andesandassociates.com