I’ve come under fire this past few weeks after winning a few freelancing awards. Of course with the good, the bad will follow, however although I have no need to defend my title, I do think I should clarify a few points, and who knows maybe these frustrated freelancers will learn a thing or two.

Their angst has been directed at me because I have a huge portfolio of clients that they believe should be theirs. They also believe that they are better writers and so should be winning the awards, rather than being left twiddling their thumbs with no work on the books.

They slate my affordable prices, whilst trying to find fault with my copy, attacking me professionally quite simple they scream, “It should’ve been me!”

These freelancers don’t understand why they’re not receiving the same workload or opportunities and have decided that I must be putting every client into some sort of magical trance in order for them to choose my copywriting service above all else.

However, it’s quite clear from my feedback and reviews along with my simple succinct copy that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

If there’s one type of person I’ve grown to hate over the course of my life it’s this one. There seems to be quite a few personalities out there that truly believe they deserve success with no effort on their part. When the clients don’t come rolling in, or they don’t experience the opportunities of others they turn to slander and blame, finding any reason at all to pass the buck, telling anyone who will listen that it’s always somebody else’s fault and never their own.

They never dream of looking at their own methods or adapting the way they work, instead they build up a barrel of hatred and direct it at anyone that seems to be doing better than they are. They hate the world around them and constantly moan that life is just, “so unfair!”

I can’t comment on their quality of work as I’ve quite simply no desire to see it, with such an unprofessional apathetic attitude I fail to see how it could benefit me in any way, however, as they doubt my methods behind my success I’d like to give them a few tips.

Be Professional

Telling anyone who’d listen how unfair life is will not bring the clients to the door. Clients will research a freelancer before hiring and if you’ve been ranting on a forum, they’ll simply move onto to someone else.

Use your Business Brain

Being a copywriter is not just about being a good writer. There’s a league of difference between writing a blog and constructing copy for a website. A background in business and sales is essential as you will be responsible for bringing buyers to the sales button and clicks to that contact page. There are many copywriting secrets a trained copywriter will use in the copy to pull the visitor in, lowering bounce rates and making the visitor want to buy the product. If you can’t sell on a market stall, you can’t sell on the web, simples.

Sell Yourself

You could be the best freelancer in the world, however unless you can sell yourself in your contact with the client, you’ll be moved to the slush pile without ever being given a chance.

Small Profit, Quick Turnover

Many freelancers slate me for offering affordable copywriting, however, in business, what’s best? Selling copy for 3 websites at £2000 each over the course of 3 months, or selling copy for 10 websites at £500 over the course of one month?

In my business history, from antiques, to health food shops, bookshops, and being an author, I’ve always believed that small profit, quick turnover is the way to go. Many businesses have a budget and it’s good practice to always leave them with a little left over so they can profit too. Quite simply if you make their business bust with your fees, your copy will never see the light of day.

Greed is behind these high prices, and if you have chosen copywriting, or writing as a career, you will have chosen it for the enjoyment it brings as you start work at your desk each day, not for the money it makes.

Think about the Future

I’ve employed people recently who think it’s quite ok to talk to my PA like rubbish when a job has come to its natural end. Because we have nothing left to offer for the time being, they think they have nothing to lose. However if you treat every client with respect from the beginning to the very end, you will be referred to others who need your services and also be used for future work. 90% of my work is through word of mouth, a client happy with the copy will tell an associate and hey presto one job follows another.

They will also return in a month when their business has more funds, and if you’ve left them on a sour note they won’t use your services or recommend you again. I know for a fact that I could have quite easily made sure this writer had work enough for a full time job, however it’s more than my reputation is worth to pass her details to anyone, as if she treats me this way, and my staff, she’ll do it to somebody else.

Embrace the Feedback

Working as an editor for a publishing house for years I understand how precious writers can be about their work. Many believe that it’s always perfect and doesn’t need changing at all. However by listening to negative feedback you can learn and progress making sure you develop as a writer and never make the same mistakes again.

Nobody’s perfect, least of all me, and although the majority of my clients embrace the copy on the first submission, I have some that quite rightly prefer to add their own personality. Listening to their every wish and translating it into the copy not only makes for a rewarding working relationship, it also ensures a broader spectrum of working capabilities.

Get Rid of the Green Eyed Monster

When you see someone else succeeding your first thought should never be bitter. I have many successful copywriter friends and I’m always proud and congratulatory of their successes. Never once do I wish to be in their shoes or wonder why they’re doing better than I am. Instead I realise that we all have our niche and no two writers are the same. It’s because of this that I regularly receive work from other copywriters. When a client asks them for a copywriter that specializes in my area, they send them straight over to me. I do exactly the same, making sure we help each other all of the time instead of trying to pull the other down.

This is what the people mentioned earlier don’t seem to understand, they would rather take the jealous route than become part of the copywriting community. By doing this they are quite simply cutting off their noses to spite their face.

So to all those freelancers who don’t think I deserve these awards, pah! I quite simply haven’t the time to understand your bitter psychology or pay much attention to it. For me, as long as my clients are happy (and I think my feedback proves this), I’m happy, and I’ll continue to provide affordable copywriting that always goes beyond the book.

There’s absolutely no way that I’m perfect and I still learn from others every day, I also understand that my clients could dry up tomorrow and I’ll be left with no work. It’s this that spurs me on to make sure I’m the best I possibly can be, whilst never becoming complacent or blaming others for my failings.

No doubt, I’ll be under the spotlight again with this blog for patronizing my way through my defence, however instead of starting a personal attack, maybe failing freelancers would like to spend their time perfecting their own copywriting skills instead.

Oh my! What a week and what a weird and wonderful few days we’ve had!

This week as a family we decided to make the move to go Facebook free in our personal lives.

The Martina Mercer copywriting services page is still there, along with the freelance writer fan page, and the groups and mobile phone apps, and I will be checking in to bombard you with news and special copywriting offers, however the personal life of MM and the gang or as one of my writing assistants named them, mini mercer-naries, is gone gone gone, and probably soon forgotten.

The decision cannot be attributed to any single factor, and if we must put a reason on the withdrawal from the book of face, or lay blame anywhere it lies solely at my feet.

I’m not against admitting I was a teeny little bit addicted, and although I didn’t spend hours of my time peaking at others status updates, I did check in quite a lot in between jobs, and could never resist replying to a comment.

Wearing my heart on my sleeve and calling a spade a spade works well in my personal life, I’ve never been one for grudges, sulking, silence or bottling things up, and this is where Facebook became my outlet for EVERYTHING that was on my mind.

Which, in fairness, and in reality I’d probably only share with one or two people maximum in the outside world. I hit the deactivate button just as my left hand twitched and itched to reveal a HUGE personal gift my husband had given me. I stopped and thought, “Would I shout it in the middle of a supermarket?” as that’s exactly what I was doing three times a day everyday about my breakfast lunch and tea.

This made me realise I had a problem and as I’ve not yet put a name to it, today talking with a dear friend who works in mental health I realised I’m not alone.

Over a cuppa I told her of my latest achievement, expecting a blank look and to ask why this was such a monumentous decision, yet the opposite was true. She almost burst with delight congratulating me, informing me that many mental health professionals are seeing a huge rise in the destructive nature of this household name.

So, here we are Facebook free and if you think I deleted you I apologise. Like most things MM it was an impetuous decision made at a moment’s notice and only now I’ve had time to stop and think have I realised how rude it must seem.

To those who I have the email or phone number I’ll be making contact very soon, and I’m sincerely hoping this departure sees you stopping for coffee or picking up the phone to find out about our daily life rather than being bombarded with it as a series of status updates.

The bit I may have omitted, on purpose, is that this is also an experiment for a magazine, being a big part of my life for 4 + years, I’m documenting the highs and lows, the withdrawals and angst for one Nerditorial, and you can follow me there if you wish.

But yes it’s been a wonderful week, and this has definitely contributed, however, if you’d like to know the Mercer news and views please pick up a telephone and call on 01347 868153 or pop round for tea. As you’ll know from the world of Fook, there’s always cake on the table and a warm welcome awaiting!

Ta ta for now…

Hey clients and followers, just a brief blog to welcome you into a New Year of writing and to say I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Of course for some people, the words wonderful Christmas seem like an impossible achievement as we’ve lost some nearest and dearest that make even the brightest of stars seem dull without their presence.

A New Year too seems quite pointless, when these people can’t be brought back to life, and looking forward feels so much more difficult than the comfort of looking back and being soothed by the past surrounded by the delightful memories those we’ve lost left us with.

However, with children around growing up so fast at the blink of an eye, it’s impossible to hang on to better times, when they are creating the most breath-taking times right before our very eyes. It’s with this in mind that after nine whole years for the first time I removed my Dad’s gold chain from around my neck and placed it carefully in my jewellery box.

This is not so I forget, I could never forget, every time I teach the children something new, laugh at a funny joke on the TV, or see my smile staring back at me in the mirror, I remember, all too well, and all too painfully the man he was and how cruel it was that he was taken away so early.

Yet now, I can look at photographs and smile, whereas I’d look and cry, and I can begin to move on without worrying about forgetting. The reason for the removal of the bling was simple, after nearly ten years of continuous wear, a link was almost broken. As my baby daughter saw this chain as her own personal teething ring, I had visions of her swallowing a 24 carat gold memory, and so the chain was removed. Swiftly replaced by a handmade necklace made for me by my older two, and that’s when I realised it was time to embrace the future and stop wishing for what could have been.

This week I won the award for best copywriter of 2011, we’ve had a celebration and the support has been immense. As my mother put it, “if a shelf stacker worked as hard as you do, they’d easily win best shelf stacker of the year”, which may have removed the shine a little!

It’s not only a great feeling to have recognition for my hard work, it’s wonderful to have that validation, and as in 2011 I’ve helped a Dragon’s Den product, some private health clinics, an emotional intelligence product, food launches and many more, I feel proud to know that these amazing services have the absolute best in the business promoting their brands through the power of the written word.

Yet although friends and family that care tell me off for working so hard, I think the key to this recent success is that it doesn’t feel like work at all. With a love for writing, and wonderful clients that make coming to work every day a dream, I am very lucky to have chosen the one dream job that I thoroughly enjoy.

Nothing beats the adrenalin rush of seeing a new product fly off the shelves or gaining worldwide recognition for an astonishing new service, and watching these budding brands go from budget to brilliant makes every job thoroughly worthwhile.

It’s the combination of psychology, business acumen, PR and copywriting that means every client I encounter is on the same wavelength, we both want the same result and we both want to work as hard as we can to make the brand win.

Sharing daily life with likeminded people is truly a blessing, and I’m thoroughly looking forward to doing it all again, but better in 2012.

Days off are difficult, as even listening to the radio I realise promotion possibilities that have me scootering back to the computer to enlighten a client on the next steps we should take, whereas a walk in the park or a trip round the shops throws inspiration for the next marketing tactic.

However, I did it this year, four whole days off, with nothing but food, presents and family to entertain me, and after the initial withdrawal I have to say this truly was the best Christmas yet.

Now I’ve won the award, clients are expecting a price rise, as I like to keep copywriting affordable especially for budding brands on a budget. I could quite easily follow the trends and charge double or triple for my services; however for the whole of 2012 I’ve decided to cap my fees. That means no increase, no hidden extras, no price rises at all.

As Martina Mercer is a brand that stands for quality, affordability and efficiency and I see no reason for this to change. However with a few enlightenments, personal wise, I’ve made some New Year’s Resolutions, and bought myself a few treats so in 2012 I’m going to aim to:

• Find the perfect balance between life and work

• Finish each day whilst it’s still daylight

• Take One Day off a week

• Hire a PA to handle calls and invoices, leaving me more time to write and promote

• Hire a cleaner

• Hire an Office Manager

• And finally walk the dog before the start of work each day!

Each point should make me more efficient, more focused, and more determined to deliver what MM has been delivering throughout 2011.

So a Happy New Year to all, and please let me know your NY resolutions.

Remember, the pen is mightier than the sword, but the keyboard is mightier than the gun!

This week was a mixture of business and pleasure. Starting on Friday, I dragged mum along to a business meeting in Belfast where my client promised to treat us with complimentary Botox and lip enhancement.

On our arrival at the Ramada Plaza hotel, the general manager, having heard of me, greeted us personally and then we were shown to a delightful room complete with champagne, free facials and a basket of fruit. Already we felt relaxed and pampered, and a meal in the restaurant threatened to ensure we’d be leaving a little plumper round the waistline too.

On the Saturday Dennis from Hylagen picked us up after a morning of manicures, pedicures and hair styling in the hotel, with a lovely drive through the green green grass of Ireland we arrived at the Hylagen clinic and were put at ease as the fabulous staff performed their magic. WE returned to dinner a firework display and a guest visit from Rihanna, our weekend was absolutely marvelous.

My WI FI was free as the hotel understood I’d be blogging about my adventures, and on Sunday I took the savings they gave me and spent up in ST Georges market and the airport, investing in Prada and Lancôme, with some new Clinique lipstick for my new plump lips. What a beautiful end to a beautiful few days.

Arriving home to a family of thrilled people, I gave out the presents, and declared I’d booked us a family trip to Alton Towers in just a few days’ time. It sounded too good to be true. A 3 star hotel (when the other was four star and MORE than ample) with tickets to the theme park and two nights stay with breakfast, dinner included on the first night.

Would you believe this package cost the same as the two nights in a room that sleeps 4 in Belfast, where we were made to feel like princesses throughout – now I was certainly knocked down a peg or two and treated like poop on the receptionist’s shoe!

On entering our room the first thing that hit was the smell. Urine, damp and mould made us all gip as the children declared they didn’t want to go in. I wish I’d listened. On entry we saw stained carpets, wires hanging from the walls, damp patches everywhere, stained bedding with pubic hairs on it, sticky surfaces, mould and feces encrusted bath tiles, and that’s not all.

The mattresses had springs poking out; the brown rings looked dubious, whilst there was only one towel for five occupants, and no cot for the baby.

Only one light worked, as it literally sparked to life and the TV belonged back in the seventies, as did the channels on offer. The promise of access to pay per view was obviously a lie just like every single one of the stars they claim to hold.

Not wanting to show my face just yet, I asked my husband to complain and we were moved to a room exactly the same with holes in the pull out sofa, still no cot, bedding or adequate towels, and a spa bath that choked through one hole when stepping foot near it.

Hardly the relaxing family pamper weekend I envisaged.

When a hotel advertises, “Excellent food, room service, pay per view, spa bath, full use of leisure facilities and treatments,” silly me I imagine something akin to earlier in the week, not the set of Bottom.

In search of the treatments I found a locked door that offered one sports massage if only I’d text the number. Dreading hiring a prostitute by mistake I left well alone and refused to let the family enter the pool for risk of disease.

Starving after our journey we all declared that the food must be good to warrant such a damp, disgusting and life threatening disgrace, however after a twenty minute wait we were served with supermarket branded battered fish (not fillet), with frozen oven chips and cold peas and sweet corn. Our trip to Alton Towers was ruined through stomach upsets and dread of what we were returning to.

I have had to go to the doctors today and spent the entire day trying to write articles whilst doubled up in pain.

Never in my life have I stayed anywhere as dire as this. Even in my student days cleanliness was much better, my boyfriend’s cleanliness was better, and that’s saying something. So now with the assistance of the BBC and countless other media outlets at my fingertips I am campaigning to have them shut down.

I will not rest until adequate steps have been taken, as they took what should have been a glorious family holiday and turned it into a weekend of hell.

My time off is precious indeed, and I worked 20 hour days to secure a laptop free holiday, and the Quality Hotel or Princes Hotel (they can’t make up their mind, but read both sets of reviews) took away time and enjoyment from my children that we will never get back.