Copywriting & Content Strategy Proposal Template
Copywriting is the easiest service to underprice, because the client is buying words and counting them. This template moves the conversation to the work that actually takes the time — the voice audit, the messaging framework, the competitor read — and scopes the deliverables by page rather than by word count.
Take the whole thing
The scope, deliverables, timeline and client questions — as plain text you can paste anywhere. No signup.
The scope, as written
Words that work. I'll audit your current messaging, define your brand voice, and write copy that speaks to the customer you actually want — from the homepage headline to the emails that follow up while you sleep. Scope is set by page and by asset, never by word count, and the revision rounds are defined below, because vague copy scope is the single most common way these projects go wrong.
How to price this work
We looked for survey-grade pricing for this kind of work across our markets — India, the UAE, the UK and Brazil — and did not find any we would stand behind. What is published is mostly agency price lists, which quote the agency, not the market. Rather than average those into a number that looks authoritative and is not, we have left this blank.
What we can tell you is how to arrive at your own number:
- Start from hours, not a feeling. Estimate the work in the deliverables below, add the revision rounds you actually grant, and multiply by the day rate you need to hit your yearly target.
- Add the invisible work. Calls, briefs, feedback rounds and project management are usually a third of the real time and the first thing left out of a quote.
- Price the outcome where you can. What the work earns or saves the client is a better anchor than your hours — the hours are your floor, not your price.
- Quote one number, then hold it. The scope below is what protects that number; discounting a vague scope is how a profitable project becomes a loss.
What's included
- Brand voice audit + competitor messaging review (up to 4 competitors)
- Messaging framework: value proposition, taglines, key differentiators, proof points — signed off before any page copy is written
- Homepage copy as one page: hero, about, features and CTA sections
- About page copy as one page
- Email welcome sequence: 3 emails, subject lines included
- One round of revisions across all deliverables, where a round is one consolidated set of written feedback from one named person
- Not included: additional pages or emails beyond those listed, SEO keyword research, blog articles, ad copy, design or build of the pages, and translation — each quoted separately
Worth adding for this kind of work
- Scope stated per page and per asset, never per word — word counts reward padding
- Research and interview time itemised as its own line, because it is where the hours go
- SEO keyword targets agreed up front when the copy is meant to rank
The timeline
- Sign proposal & pay deposit
A 50% deposit confirms the project and is non-refundable — it books writing weeks I turn other work away for. Payment details sent on WhatsApp.
- Brand + audience brief
A questionnaire on WhatsApp about your customers, objections and the sales conversations you have most. If you have call recordings or old enquiry emails, send them — they are worth more than any brief.
- Messaging framework delivered
Framework shared for approval before a single line of page copy is written. Approve within 5 working days; the writing schedule runs from your sign-off, not from the delivery date.
- Copy drafts delivered
First draft of every page and asset in one document, with comments explaining the choices. Shared on WhatsApp.
- Revisions + final delivery
One consolidated revision round, then final files. Please gather everyone's comments into the single document and send them from one person — feedback arriving as separate WhatsApp messages over several days will be treated as a second round.
- Handover + implementation support
Final invoice sent on WhatsApp; copyright transfers to you when it clears. For 14 days after that, I'll answer your designer's or developer's questions on WhatsApp free of charge so the copy lands on the page as written.
Where this proposal usually goes wrong
Pricing per word.
Price the page. A tight 300-word homepage is harder and worth more than 1,200 loose ones.
Starting to write before the voice is agreed.
Put the messaging framework in as a sign-off gate. Rewriting to a voice nobody defined is unpaid work.
Accepting edits from everyone who reads it.
One consolidated set of feedback per round, from one person. Say so in the proposal.
Questions clients ask about this work
What if I need more pages or assets than the scope covers?
I'll quote them before I write them, not after. The scope above counts pages and assets — one homepage, one About page, a three-email sequence — because that is what you are actually buying. I don't price or cap by word count: a tight short homepage usually takes longer to write than a long loose one, so a word ceiling would reward me for padding and punish me for editing. If you need a services page, a fourth email or a landing page, tell me and I'll price it as its own asset. And if a page seems to need endless copy to explain the offer, that is usually a positioning problem no amount of writing fixes — I'd rather say so than sell you more words.
Who owns the copy, and when?
You do — full copyright, worldwide, for any use, transferring on final payment. Until then I retain it, which is standard and protects both of us. I keep two things: the right to reference the work in my portfolio, and my own frameworks and templates, which were never yours to begin with. If the project is under embargo or NDA, say so upfront and I'll treat everything as confidential indefinitely and leave it out of my portfolio.
What if I read the draft and simply don't like it?
Tell me plainly and tell me why — "this doesn't sound like us" is useful, "make it pop" isn't. The revision round exists for exactly this. If the voice is off, that's usually my error at the framework stage and I'll rewrite it without charging a round. If the strategy shifted after you approved the framework, that's new work and I'll quote it. I'd rather say that now than pretend an unlimited number of rewrites is included; nobody writes their best work under a process that never ends.
Can you guarantee the copy will increase my sales?
No, and be sceptical of anyone who does. Copy is one input alongside your offer, your pricing, your traffic quality and the speed at which you follow up leads. What I can commit to is copy that is clear, matched to how your buyers actually talk, and structured against real objections — and to telling you if I think the offer itself is the problem, even though pointing that out means recommending work I'm not being paid for. That conversation has saved clients more money than the copy did.
What if I need to pause, or cancel?
Pause up to 30 days at no cost — writing needs a running start, and beyond a month your slot goes to someone else and re-entry depends on my schedule. If you cancel, the deposit isn't refunded and I invoice for the stage completed: framework only, or framework plus drafts. You keep everything you've paid for in full, with rights transferred.
What if an invoice goes unpaid, or you become unavailable?
If an invoice passes its due date, work pauses and final copy stays unlicensed until payment clears — meaning it isn't yours to publish yet. I'll always message you on WhatsApp before pausing. If I become unavailable, you hear from me within 24 hours with a revised date; for anything longer than a week I hand over everything written so far, brief and all, to a writer I'd hire myself, at no extra cost to you.
A template gets it written. Tracking gets it signed.
You already have the document — copy it above and send it however you like. What a copy cannot tell you is whether anyone read it. Send this same template from ClosingMoment and you will know the moment your client opens it, which sections they read, and how long they spent — so you follow up while they are still deciding.