3. 4 reasons to fire your copywriter

4) When the copywriter's ego gets in the way of acting professionally

Some copywriters are totally convinced they are always right. They raise themselves above the client and take a position where they are the "expert," and the client's job is to listen and learn.

Copywriters with too much ego are a pain, as are those who, in the face of criticism, raise the defence of being "artists."

That said, there are certainly times when a copywriter really does know best.

This is where a very experienced, senior copywriter takes on the mantle of a consultant.

But the "copywriter as consultant" needs to be worthy of the title, needs good people skills and needs to establish a strong level of trust with his or her client.

When the copywriter really doesn't deserve to be fired

Sometimes clients expect miracles from their copywriters and become disappointed when they don't deliver.

This response from a marketer/entrepreneur describes the problem perfectly:

"I'm in the process of partnering with a copywriter for work on client web page copy. Our philosophies and methodologies for copywriting are very similar, and she seems to be really on top of things. Prior to outsourcing this work, I would end up doing it myself, so finding a competent person to work with, and one who understands me and the way my business works, is very important to me.

"She offered to write one page for an upcoming project for free so I could get a feel for her writing and we could fine-tune our process for defining and completing projects. Unfortunately for her, I'm in the midst of starting this new company and don't completely have my act together yet. I was vague in my requirements and ended up feeling frustrated when she didn't just 'know' what I needed from her. At one point, I had almost decided just to continue doing the work myself.

"Luckily, she stuck it out, and we have established a good working relationship. The moral: unless the person hiring the copywriter has a well-defined idea of what he or she needs, the copywriter is going to be at a loss. Copywriters are not mind readers. And while you may be looking for someone's creative input, that is not the same thing as dropping a poorly defined project in his or her lap and expecting the person to run with it."

Copywriters need a clear and comprehensive briefing every time.

If you get frustrated with the copy you get, but you don't provide strong briefings, then the blame lies with you, not the writer.

Online, the question of providing briefs can be a little complicated. While in the offline world copywriters are usually included in meetings at the very beginning of a project, this doesn't happen so much in the online world.

All too often the marketers and designers do the early work on a web page, group of pages or email campaign, and then finally bring in a copywriter to "add the copy."

This approach will almost always lead to disappointment. And you may end up firing the copywriter for no good reason.

Bring the copywriter into the meetings sooner, so the person has a thorough grounding in the project and is able to contribute some thoughts at the early stages.