What’s the difference between a copywriter and a mechanic? Don’t worry, this isn’t a setup to a bad joke – although I’ll admit that it sounds like a daft question. Copywriters and mechanics… They couldn’t be more different, surely.
To prove that the two professions are remarkably similar, I’m going to tell you a story.
The story of Eric and his car
Let’s imagine Eric. He has a car. In fact, Eric’s entire income relies on his car because Eric is a taxi driver.
Disaster! Eric’s car is playing up. It’s probably the spark plugs or distributor, but the brakes are a bit dodgy too… and there’s a strange creaking noise.
His passengers are starting to notice. They don’t trust Eric to get them from A to B.
Eric’s car needs fixing.
This is a potentially expensive problem. What’s the solution?
Eric fixes it himself
“I know”, thinks Eric. “I’ll do it myself. I can drive a car. It can’t be that difficult to fix an engine.”
Anyone can open a car bonnet. Eric has a spanner. Eric feels pleased about saving money on mechanic fees.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
OK, back to the car.
Eric might be able to fix his spark plugs. He may even have the ability to replace the brake pads. But here’s the thing:
It will take him 5 days.
Meanwhile, Eric is losing several hundred pounds per day while he faffs around under the bonnet breaking things.
Can you tweak it a bit?
Finally, after a great deal of time and effort, Eric realises that he’s done something terminal to the engine. The car will no longer start.
He calls a mechanic.
Eric: Can you tweak it a bit?
Mechanic: I’m afraid not, sir. Your car needs a new engine. Also, your brakes are about to fail.
Eric: But surely, if you just tweaked the engine that’ll fix the problem.
Mechanic: *deep sigh*. Let me explain…
How much???
Eric reluctantly agrees that his car – the tool he relies on for his income – needs more than a tweak.
Eric: How much will it cost to fix my car?
Mechanic: £3,000.
Eric: I only have £300. Can you do the job for that?
Mechanic: No.
Eric: But it won’t take long. I reckon you can do the job in about 10 minutes.
Mechanic: Bog off.
In reality, most people wouldn’t try this with a car mechanic. They are, after all, skilled professionals. They know what they’re doing. They recognise the value of their work… and they know how long each job will take.
What if you just fix half the engine?
Eric remains sceptical. He recognises that his car needs a new engine, but he doesn’t want to invest £3,000 in it.
Heck, why should he pay that much?
At this point, he has an idea.
He’ll ask the mechanic to fix only half of the engine – the parts which, in Eric’s opinion, are the most important.
Eric: To save money, I’d like you to fix only the important parts of the engine. Look, I’ve made a list.
Mechanic: If I do that, your engine won’t work. Also, the brakes will fail.
Eric: OK, but I still want you to fix only the important things on my list.
Mechanic: If you insist, sir.
As instructed, the mechanic does half the job . When Eric turns his key in the ignition, the engine splutters to life. A few days later, the strange creaking noise starts up again… and then the brakes fail.
Eric is an idiot
Obviously.
But the fact is that copywriters often feel like Eric’s hapless car mechanic – especially SEO copywriters.
Anyone can write. They may procrastinate for 6 months before writing their own content – and it may take a further 6 months to finish it… But hey, by fixing it themselves, they’re saving money.
In the meantime, they’re losing a fortune in new business because the website is invisible to potential customers – and the content itself is failing to convert.
Asking an SEO copywriter to tweak your website content is like asking a mechanic to tweak a broken engine. You’re expecting a great result from only half the job.
Yes, we can move a few words around and improve the grammar. Will this help you get found online? Will it persuade website visitors to get in touch?
No, it will not.
Paying for properly optimised website content is an intelligent business decision. It will draw traffic to your website and bring in new business.
How many new clients do you need before the content pays for itself? One client? Half a client?
In short, look at website content as a business investment, not a grudge purchase.
