Jeff Bullas recently produced an outstanding list of what to look for when hiring a copywriter. I couldn’t have said it better, myself.

Before I link to it, I did want to add one more thing.

This “one more thing” is something that every great service provider will do. It’s not just for copywriters but for web designers, interactive agencies, IT teams, plumbers, hairdressers… you get the point.

Most service providers are in a rush. Many just want to push their solution through so they can get on to their next task.

But the ones who are worth their weight in gold actually do two things:

They ask the right questions.

And they listen.

The right questions need to be asked first.

What are the right kind of questions?

They go beyond the initial “what is it you need?”

These “Gold Copywriters” ask their clients to essentially tell them their marketing story.

What have you done so far? What worked? What didn’t? What do you hope to achieve with your marketing and sales initiatives? What’s your full-game strategy? Once you get a lead, what do you do with it?

You can tell when someone cares, too. I’ve had service providers ask me questions and it was obvious they were just going through the motions. That’s not the type of copywriter you want.

You want someone who deeply cares about your satisfaction and getting results. A Gold Copywriter seeks to be your partner for success. They are most definitely interested in knocking your project out of the park. But they’re also interested in follow-up. They want to know what your experience was with the finished copy.

What were your conversions? Did you open rates increase or decrease? Did you get as many sign-ups for your webinar as you wanted or less? Has opt-ins increased for your mailing list?

This area of follow-up may be worth a blog post on its own, but it is a necessary part of marketing.

Too many businesses spend thousands of dollars on marketing initiatives but do very little with the follow-up. Contact information that was collected is left collecting dust. Surveys taken lie stacked in some trade show box without any evaluation or implementation of the information given.

When you work with a Gold Copywriter, she will follow-up with you to check the results. Of course it’s up to you whether you respond to that follow-up or not but it’s a sign that your copywriter cares. Not all of them do. Often copywriters get caught up in other projects and it’s easy to overlook checking in with the client one more time.

Gold Copywriters care about their clients and show it by asking the right questions, listening, creating strategies to reach their goals, and then following up later to see how everything worked out.

As you can imagine, Gold Copywriters aren’t easy to find. If you do find one, hang on to her. Chances are she has a waiting list for her services. But she’ll be worth the wait and the investment.

Meanwhile, check out Jeff Bullas’ checklist, “50 Attributes of a Great Copywriter.” You’ll find plenty to keep in mind when searching for a copywriter to make your next project a success.