Fees

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Sig Rosenblum

Direct marketing copy that works

WHAT DOES COPY COST?

It must be perplexing to someone who is shopping for copy for the first time. Because the fees are all over the lot, without seeming rhyme or reason.

One writer charges $25 a page for sales letter copy. With a click, you discover a PhD in English, who claims "mastery" of the copywriting skill and will scribble in your interest for $40 an hour. Another asks a minimum of $6,000 for a one-page letter project. And another, who works on a royalty basis, appears to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars for a minimum effort. What's going on here?

Call it the free market. There's nothing to prevent writers from asking and customers from accepting the most outrageous prices: Laughably low. Or obscenely high.

But if you do some research, you will discover a mid-point in all this excess. And if you reduce it to a graph, you find that the fees of most--not all--of the senior, serious, experienced copywriters cluster somewhere around the fees quoted here.

Can you pay less? Sure. Can you pay more? Easily. But these fees are pretty much the average. And they are the fees actually paid by responsible direct marketing managements who know what's "out there" in the marketplace. And what it takes to get results.

What about counsel? After all, copy isn't written in a vacuum. And it often takes more time to target the right strategy than it does to write the copy! There's no extra charge for counsel in most cases. The copy fee covers it all. And no charge for revisions, either.

It would be a pleasure to discuss your project in detail--without cost or commitment, of course. But before we do, you might find a review of copy fees helpful. Not every format or medium is listed. But this will give you some idea of creative costs.

Letter copy: $750 for each 8 1/2" X 11" page. Includes envelope teaser and regular reply element.

Brochure copy: $1,000 for each 8 1/2" X 11" page. Includes keyed copywriter's rough.

"Live" reply element: Essentially a two-sided, "set-solid" recap of offer, benefits, guarantee and premium: $500.

"Lift" memo: $250.

Some effective package formats and fees

Four-page self-mailer: $3,000

"Standard" package: Envelope teaser (no charge); 11"X 17" sheet with three-page letter ($2,250) and fourth page of brochure copy ($1,000); regular reply card (no charge). Total: $3,250.

"Classic" package: Envelope teaser (no charge); four-page letter ($3,000); two-page brochure ($2,000); "live" reply card ($500). Total: $5,000

"Expanded" package: Envelope teaser (no charge) ; four-page letter 9$3,000); four-page brochure ($4,000); "live" reply card (($500). Total: $7,500.

Like to discuss a project? There's no cost and certainly no obligation implied. It would be a pleasure to chat with you. Why not e-mail me now?

Home | Articles | Clients | What they say | Sample letters

About Sig | Fees | How many pages? | To discuss a project | Contact Sig