About Me
Frequently Asked Questions About My Copywriting Services
It’s an interesting question because I’ve been writing in one way or another all my life. I made the decision to make a career of writing in late 2018. Before that, I was in a corporate job where I had to communicate with people all over the North American continent in oral and written form.
I worked in the trucking industry for about 13 years. My job required superior communication skills. We had freight moving all over the North American Continent, and I had to write to and speak with people everywhere.
And I got high praise for my communication skills in my performance reviews. My supervisor said, “You are clear and concise in your communication,” and also, “Your work shows passion for excellence and that is contagious.”
When I studied at Texas Christian University, each semester I had to complete several research projects. Some were for a course on business communications. I usually got an “A."
I did get a “B” once. I was assigned a writing project to review Studs Terkel’s The Good War. The course was part of the Military Science curriculum required for my ROTC scholarship. The professor was an Army major.
One thing’s for sure. He read the entire paper. There were red marks and comments on every paragraph. Other professors marked my papers with a grade and one or two comments if any.
One of the comments really stood out:
"That's an interesting approach. Is this plagiarized?"
On the one hand, I was insulted at the accusation. On the other, it looked like my writing impressed him. I imagine he was thinking something like:
"Wow! Cadet Mitchell is smarter than I... Nah, couldn't be."
Frank Mitchell attended Texas Christian University on an ROTC scholarship and served in the Texas National Guard
I’ve been writing as a professional copywriter since January of 2019. I've always had a knack for spelling and grammar, and I break the rules on purpose sometimes.
But to really serve my clients, I needed more than the ability to string words together. I needed to write sales copy that gets results.
That's why I joined American Writers And Artists, Inc. (AWAI) and signed up for their Masters Copywriting course. The course materials were developed by some of America’s top copywriters, and seasoned professional copywriters scrutinized my work.
Blog posts are in great demand, and I enjoy writing them a lot. However, I like email funnels/ autoresponders more. Why? Because you can measure their effectiveness.
- The open rate
- Click-through rate
- Conversion rate
Don't get me wrong, content marketing is extremely valuable. It gives potential customers a way to get to know you. They will come to like you and trust you.
And people like to buy from those whom they know, like, and trust.
But it takes a long time to see the results. With autoresponder emails, you can see the results right away.
Frank Mitchell Worked in the Trucking Industry for 13 Years
During a creative brief, I may ask questions like these:
- Do you have any buyer personas? If not, maybe I can help.
- What style guide do you use? If none, I use AP.
- What is your workflow?
- How can I make things easier for your designer?
-How do we measure success?
- How will you repurpose my piece? How can I help with that?
Some projects are more complex than others. It also depends on when I’m available to start.
An 1800 word blog post I can usually complete in a day or two. A white paper, which requires extensive research will take me a month or more.
You can request my rates schedule from the Let's Get In Touch page. These are ballpark figures based on the current market to help you budget projects.
I don't charge by the hour - that punishes efficiency. It also leads to billing disputes. If I turn in a timesheet to you, you shouldn't have to wonder if I was spending that time watching cat videos.
I do take into account how many hours I expect to take to research, write, and edit the project.
I don't charge per word either. That encourages a lot of useless filler. I want to deliver content that gives your reader, a potential customer, value in every paragraph.
I do take expected length of the project into account.
For projects valued at $1,000 or more, I request a 50% upfront payment before I start the project.
I invoice the remaining 50% when you accept the project. The invoice terms are net 15.
You'll receive an electronic invoice with a secure link to make a payment by ACH, debit card or credit card.
The invoice also includes a mailing address if you prefer to pay with a paper check.
