Prevent Micromanagement at your Copywriting Business
There are no second opinions about the fact that copywriting has gained immense popularity in recent years. Unfortunately, so has micromanagement. It is for this reason that online learning platforms even compile lists of the top copywriting course that can help interested people get started with copywriting.
Copywriting piques the interest of countless people for several reasons. For starters, you can try your hand at anything from writing blog posts for clients sitting thousands of miles away to writing ad copies for the behemoths of every industry. What’s more, there’s really no limit to how creative you can be and experiment as much as you’d like with your writing style.
And that’s great news for entrepreneurs.
Since so many people with different writing styles, interests, and experiences are now learning how to write better copy, it’s unsurprising that we now see more copywriting agencies and firms than we ever did in the past. That said, since copywriting agencies are still relatively new, not many people understand how they’re supposed to go about managing their in-house copywriters and freelancers. As a result, they resort to micromanagement leaving the writers agitated.
How to Prevent Micromanagement
Does all of this sound too close to home? If yes, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to find out how you can prevent micromanagement and increase engagement at your copywriting business.
Maintain a Schedule
We hate to break this to you but copywriting is difficult work. This is because copywriters don’t just write; they have to think of new and innovative ways of saying things that have probably already been said before, follow a meticulous process to ensure that what they’re saying resonates with the target audience, improve the readability of their work, and ensure that it’s free of errors – grammatical or otherwise. As you might have guessed, that can be extremely challenging for even the most seasoned of copywriters — and the last thing that will help increase efficiency for these employees is micromanagement.
Copywriting involves a lot of thinking and a lot of creativity. Therefore, it’s best to maintain a schedule and take regular updates only at times that both you and the writer have agreed on. What we mean by this is that instead of asking them how their script for the new Coca Cola ad is coming along every half an hour, you should set a time when they tell you everything you need to know about the work that was assigned to them. This way, they’ll be able to write meaningful copy that’s actually effective and you’ll be able to spend your time completing other time-sensitive tasks as well.
At the end of it all, you might just notice that the less you run after them with deadlines on something like writing the next HR manager job description, the more they keep you in the loop.
Encourage Ownership
Like we already mentioned earlier, a copywriter spends a lot of time and effort creating effective copy. They certainly deserve credit for that. So, next time you feel like calling your writer out for something they wrote if you feel like their heart wasn’t in it, try to encourage them to take ownership instead.
This, again, will do two things for you. Firstly, when you try to make your writer take ownership of their work instead of resorting to micromanagement at every step, they will automatically be more interested in what they are doing. They will treat the project like it’s their own and actually write meaningful, effective copy which is exactly what you want from them. Secondly, when your writers take ownership of their work, you’ll have to spend considerably less time tweaking and editing the content. This is since it’ll be near perfect when they hand it in.
What’s more, allowing and encouraging your writers to take ownership of what they’re doing will keep them motivated. In addition, it will reduce the chances of employee turnover.
Measure Results
Measuring results instead of focusing on tasks and deadlines is a surefire way to keep micromanagement at bay. The idea is pretty simple. Once your team knows that you’re looking for results —and you don’t care how — your writers will become a lot more engaged in the process. The 21st century is all about throwing rigid management styles out the window. This is your best bet at keeping your employees motivated, engaged, and interested in what they do while you get the results you need.
Bonus: Provide writers with access to credit and finance tracking tools such as Credit Karma, to help them take care of the financial aspect of their lives. Also, make sure you implement the right employment benefits, and create some smart benefits for your writers.
Preventing Micromanagement and Improving Your Copywriting Business
Start following these tips today to increase employee engagement and become the manager that your writers brag to all their friends about!
