Hello everyone, I am looking to find a copy writer who has done some work for other web hosting companies. Any ideas on where to look for this person? I am not sure which forms to look on but here is my issue. Currently, we have a web url but we need a website. Every graphic designer I speak to asks, "well, what do you want on your site". Is this something an experienced copy writer in my domain can answer and work with the designer to make something amazing or am I doing this all wrong? Please provide some insight. Thank you.
It sounds like you have some thinking to do before you contact anyone else. Have you laid out on paper what you plan to offer your customers and how you want to present that information? Do you plan on having a blog, a forum, help desk, etc.? A copywriter can help you make those decisions but if you don't have a general plan to start with, you will spend a great deal of money for consulting time, rewrites and coding changes. Break the website plan into what you have to have done to open the doors and what can come later. Share both with your designer and hopefully it will be easier to add Phase II when you are ready to do so. One of my biggest gripes as an online copywriter is that I'm often not brought into the project until after the site has been totally designed. Instead of utilizing my business and marketing skills to position the site properly, I find myself making the content of the site fit within an often poorly designed framework. Several projects left the client with the nasty choice of investing in hundreds or thousands of dollars for coding charges or leaving such basic things as About Us, FAQ or product pages off of their sites. And don't get me started on the utter disregard so many web designers appear to have about coding standards, code bloat and SEO. I'm impressed that your graphic designer wants to know what you want on your site. So many designers just make a pretty design without regard for your services or how you plan to describe and pitch them. Take the time to look at what the competition is doing. Check out their layouts and visit a site like TemplateMonster to see what sorts of designs you prefer. Do some research, make a plan and then try again to find someone to work with you.
There are also lots of templates available out there for website development plans, find one of those, fill it out and then talk to a designer and you'll be sitting in a much better position. I have experience with all of the above and would be happy to bounce a few PM's back and forth to help you get going.