Copify - The Professional Analysis

 

Larner Caleb’s take on Copify’s Marketing

Are you searching for the content mill Copify? Maybe you’re considering signing up as a writer? Maybe you want to take advantage of their rates? If you do, you might want to read this first. Because you’re going to be throwing good money at a bad service that won’t deliver for your business.

Some genuinely great business copywriters have weighed in on the whole content mill issue. So read on and inform your decision before you choose where to spend your hard-earned cash.

It’s a matter of record that professional copywriters believe that Copify:

a) Is set up in such a manner that clients receive rushed copy that isn’t as effective as it otherwise could be
b) underpay inexperienced writers to the extent that any work provided has to be rushed, leading to ineffective content

It’s also obvious that the consensus says paying a fair rate for a digital copywriter is a better investment than using a content mill. But there is a bit more to the debate, as we’ll see:

Copify – The Debate

603 Copywriting

Whilst not strictly about (but obviously inspired by) Copify, my post on Paying Copywriters by the Hour has a decent conversation attached.

Alexander S. H. Velky

Copywriter for hire Alex Velky decided to sign up for Copify to see whether or not it deserved the horrendous reputation it has with writers. And Copify does. Oh dear.

Ben Locker & Associates

Ben weighs in with what could be described as “cheap traffic bait” or “insightful comments on just how Copify have riled people up”. I favour the latter description, but judge for yourself: Copify, Unprepared to sell Cheap Copy?

ABC Copywriting

Fresh from his Guardian Liveblogging adventure, Tom gives us his two pence worth (if that’s taken literally, it’s much cheaper than 2p per word) and raises an interesting point regarding Google. Read his piece on the perils of content mills.

Lemondrizzle

Don’t think this is purely a copywriting issue. We’ve got comments from the world of PR too. Copywriters. Just how much are you worth?

Oh, and one last link. Just for giggles. Here’s what one half of Copify has to say about the web developer who designed their site.

Before you ask –

Yes, MJR Web is the poster who’s replying on behalf of Copify on the above blogs (with his official Copify email address no less).

No, I don’t know if he wrote his own testimonial or asked his business partner to do it for him, but I think testimonials say a lot about businesses. Don’t you?

If you’re looking for quality copywriting that will deliver a real return on your investment, you could do much worse than contacting me today.

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13 Comments comments for "Copify – The Professional Analysis"

  1. Tom Albrighton at 11:08 am

    Copify’s blog post of this morning is very interesting:

    http://blog.copify.com/2010/02/10/why-you-should-always-shop-around/

    This goes to the heart of what irritates many copywriters about Copify’s stance: the implication that ‘by the yard’ content creation and copywriting services are the same thing, and can be compared directly. They’re not, and they can’t. Apples and oranges!

    Phrases such as ‘changing the way people think about copywriting’ are aimed at furthering this elision. The idea is that everyone’s been somehow doing it wrong until now.

    In truth, I have absolutely no concern that any of my existing clients would switch to Copify – the idea is just risible. For many of them, I add far more value in meetings and consultancy than I do with the actual writing, important though that is. The rest simply could not get a comparable service from a content mill. This is an objective fact, not my judgement.

    You could argue that the level of comments make copywriters appear worried and defensive, which is way wide of the mark. In fact, I referred an agency to Copify yesterday, since they were enquiring about ‘by the word’ SEO copy.
    .-= Tom Albrighton´s last blog ..What copywriting clients won’t get from content mills =-.

  2. Alconcalcia at 11:15 am

    To be fair Tom, it does say that what you get paid is ‘dependAnt’ on your experience. Mind you, at those rates I couldn’t afford any dependants! They also say they have ‘vast experience’ – yup, just under 3 years each to be precise.

  3. Martin Harrison at 12:16 pm

    @ Tom, thanks for the referral. No-one is saying that what you are doing is wrong, but then is what we are doing wrong either? No, it’s just different.

    We acknowledge that some people will want the personal touch that you offer, while others will want the more cost-effective approach that we offer.

  4. Tom Albrighton at 1:55 pm

    @Martin

    I appreciate the polite tone you’re adopting, but your point is disingenuous at best. Only today, you’ve blogged these words:

    “Different businesses charge differently for providing the same services. The same principle applies to Copify. You will find plenty of copywriters who will happily charge you 3, 4 or even 5x the amount you would pay from us. Would the quality of work or the end result reflect this? Probably not.”

    Rather than ‘acknowledging’ the difference between the ‘personal touch’ and the ‘cost-effective service’, you’re explicitly saying that both offerings are exactly the same, except that yours is far cheaper.

    The point, as I’ve exhaustively explained elsewhere, is that a pro copywriter brings a lot more to the table than words on the page. Copywriters naturally object to the implication that research, consultation, discussion and consideration (which account for higher prices) are utterly worthless.

    It’s a bit like saying a doctor should just get on with the operation – the hands-on bit – and forget all that tedious diagnosis beforehand.

    I don’t really blame you though. If I was promoting your service, it’s probably the line I would take. You can always position yourself as the customer’s champion if you sell on ‘best price’. But bear in mind that if someone cheaper comes along, your USP goes down the pan.
    .-= Tom Albrighton´s last blog ..What copywriting clients won’t get from content mills =-.

  5. Stephen Da Cambra at 2:51 pm

    Tom, Thanks for putting much of the off-Twitter debate into one place. This is an important issue for all copywriters, new and old, and having a bit of a digest helps.

    I too took issue with the “changing the way people think..” point. To me, that statement shows what Copify is truly about, not what they have been saying in their blogs and responses.
    .-= Stephen Da Cambra´s last blog ..Whatever You Do, Remember Your Brand =-.

    • Andrew at 5:06 pm

      It’s a great post. One issue though, and I did raise it on your blog.

      1) You’re based in the same building as Copify
      2) One of the Copify founders used to work for you
      3) At no point in your supposedly unbiased and fair review do you point out either of the above.

      Why are Copify so desperate for me to give them their blessing, to the point that they’ll get some sock puppet account to send me that link on Twitter, then leave two comments about it on my blog? I don’t really like their concept. Getting their mates to write a glowing review (which amounts to “Copify produced something that we say is as good as an un-named freelancer we picked from Google, but were cheaper and quicker because the guy did 4 hours of research) isn’t going to make me change my mind.

      I’m not going to give them a big ol’ hug and apologise for not having faith in them.

  6. Martin Harrison at 3:45 pm

    Hi Andrew,
    As much as we’d like a hug from you, that wasn’t the reason why we brought this to your attention.

    The first round of debate was conducted without anyone really bothering to test the site to assess the quality of the work. A lot of people made comments about the site, and the quality of the copy, which amounted to little more than assumption.

    Hopefully this blog goes some way to disproving this theory that the quality of content from Copify is much less than that of a traditional freelancer.

    As for the Copify and NuBlue are bedfellows argument, this isn’t strictly true. In fact, Rob left NuBlue (albeit on good terms) to set up a rival company, so it’s not easy to see why they would be so keen to do us a favour.

  7. Matt at 12:07 pm

    Wow this is direct! 3 years later I’m experiencing the same thoughts as you did when you wrote this. Ugh! I even used the service when I was first putting my website together, assuming that the quality would be decent. Hmm… I wonder what will win the race – 1) writing becoming obsolete, 2) cheap outsourced writing reaching a high quality level.

  8. Charlotte at 5:33 pm

    I honestly don’t get the problem! I signed up and started work today and I’ve already made £60… I had to wade through a few £2.50 briefs but the pay soon went up.

    Note: A quick search for the details Charlotte used to post this comment suggests that she’s not actually a copywriter. It’s a new spin on the old phrase. “Pay peanuts, get a crystal healing practitioner looking to make £60 on the side.”

  9. Nick Hall at 4:15 pm

    You know I went looking for positive reviews of Copify as I´m writing my own piece that will be up soon. I found two. One was the ‘case study’ and the other was a short and glowing write-up from the WordPress Doctors.

    The review was posted by Dan Harrison and there seemed to be a passing resemblance. This is just a wild stab in the dark, would Dan be your brother Martin?

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