When negotiating a project or ongoing work with a new client, copywriters and content marketing writers often get asked to take a writing test. Is it worth your time to write something new in addition to providing writing samples? Sometimes.
A writing test or copy test is a sample exercise some companies ask for so they can get a sense of your writing style and proficiency. It helps companies because they can evaluate multiple writers who are covering the same topic. If it’s a specialized industry; say, B2B technology or health IT, the company may ask you to write on a topic specific to their niche to make sure you know the subject matter. If you’re marketing to companies in your niche, this is no biggie.
Experienced writers grumble at the writing test, myself included. When you have hundreds of clips, including dozens of clips in that client’s niche, those clips should be more than enough to showcase your expertise.
When you’re on a call with a prospective client and your contact says, “…and we have a writing test we’d like you to complete…” do you agree? Or do you say, “Here’s some clips. That’s enough.” Or do you ask them to pay you for the writing test?
I take an IFTTT approach. If this is a potential retainer client or client that would yield ongoing, high-dollar work, and the writing test isn’t that long, I do it. If it’s a client that’s offering so-so pay; they’re a new company that isn’t sure what they want; or it’s a one-off project like a white paper, I’d try to steer them away from the test, pointing to the strength of my existing clips and experience. If the client insists, I evaluate the long-term potential. Is there potential for ongoing work? How much time will this test take me? Can I do it over the weekend?
If the test is long and requires extensive research, and I’m not confident in the future potential of this client, I would decline. If it’s a recruiter that’s asking for the writing test, I’d also decline.
A friend/colleague of mine got approached by a recruiter for potential ongoing work in her specialty. The recruiter asked for a 1,000-word “writing test” that would involve extensive research, evaluating studies, etc. The recruiter wouldn’t tell her where she stood in the hiring process or even the name of the company. At this early stage in the process, she refused the writing test. And she never got a reply from the recruiter.
I think she made a smart move. The recruiter could have been collecting writing test from dozens of writers. Who knows? And who would have evaluated those tests – the recruiter or the client? Too many variables to justify spending a full day on a writing sample that may have went nowhere.
I recently agreed to a couple writing tests. One, a 350-word sample on a specific topic relative to that client’s work. I agreed because I really wanted to work with this client and it would have meant significant, ongoing work. I got the contract and our relationship has been awesome so far.
I agreed on a 500-word writing sample for another prospective client for similar reasons. They had interesting products, were in one of my niches (medtech), and wanted someone to create a substantial amount of content each month. Turns out they hired a full-time in-house copywriter. Bummer. I could say the work was for nothing, but looking at the positives:
• I made two new contacts in one of my niches.
• I asked for referrals, so there’s a chance one of the women I spoke with will make one.
• The experience inspired me to write this post!
Fortunately, I had some of the study information from prior work, which saved a smidgeon of time. I also studied the company’s website to get a good sense of their offerings and how I could tie in the writing test topic to those offerings. The contacts asked me to look at past articles by the CEO to get a sense of style/tone; otherwise, a general title was all I had to go on.
When do you agree to writing tests? Share your thoughts in the comments below! – Heather J
