The Crushing Costs of Not Hiring a Copywriter: What Managers Wish They Knew Sooner
DIY copywriting isn’t free, it just sends you the invoice later.
-
5 out of 5 business owners and/or marketing leads underestimated the time and cost of writing their own copy.
Average time spent per project: 44+ hours
Average revenue lost per project: $5,000+
The copywriter fee? Often a fraction of the loss.
For small marketing teams, writing in-house feels like the practical choice. After all, you know your product. Your team knows your audience. Why bring in someone else when you can explain it yourself?
But that logic costs businesses more than they realize (sometimes in the 4 and 5-figure range).
The copy ends up being accurate but uninspiring. Campaigns launch late. Pages underperform. Meanwhile, leadership has spent hours – often days – writing, rewriting and second-guessing every word.
I recently spoke with five business owners and/or marketing managers who originally opted to write their own copy, rather than hiring a copywriter. Being a copywriter myself, I understand the value my services can bring to clients, but hearing directly from these individuals put a number on the actual losses businesses can incur when they opt out.
In this article, you’ll hear directly from five founders and marketing leads who learned this the hard way. Each thought they could write their own copy. Each ended up spending too much time, losing money and hiring a professional anyway (after the damage was done).
Their stories illustrate a consistent truth: the most expensive copy is the copy that doesn’t convert.
The Cost of Writing Copy without a Copywriter
For many small-to-medium business owners and scrappy marketing teams, the decision to write their own copy stems from logic: Who knows the product better than you? Why pay someone to explain what you can already explain?
I asked business owners and marketing managers to quantify the time it took them to write their own copy, the performance results of that copy and what revenue they earned, lost or saved by doing it themselves.
Here are their stories.
The Writing Was (Technically) Okay, But the Conversions Were Not
Jason Rowe, Hello Electrical
Jason Rowe is a business owner who understands his services better than anyone. That’s why, when it came time to rewrite his website, he decided to handle it himself.
Over three weeks, Jason clocked 40 hours writing and editing. But after publishing, the data told a different story: bounce rates increased by 15%, and online lead form submissions dropped nearly 20%. That translated to an estimated $5,000 in lost revenue in a single month.
“The fallacy lies in treating knowledge as a synonym of communication skills. Successful copy needs to be tactical in its clarity, an aspect that only a skilled writer can provide.”
Jason Rowe, Marketing Specialist, Director and Founder, Hello Electrical
His biggest realization? Customers weren’t looking for technical details about voltage. They wanted to know how smart home features could save time and money.
Jason eventually brought in a professional copywriter, who charged $1,500 and turned the project around in less than a week. Leads bounced back (and so did his belief in outsourcing).
Jason's Story: Revenue Lost vs. Hiring a Pro
60 Hours Writing. Thousands Lost. One Lesson Learned
Alex Smith, Render 3D Quick
Alex Smith thought no one could describe his services better than he could. So he set out to write copy for his site.
What was supposed to take a few days turned into 60 hours spread over four weeks. He wrestled with the tone, trying to sound professional without losing the human element. But no matter how many times he revised, something felt off.
When the new site went live, results fell flat. Bounce rates increased by 10%, and conversions steadily declined over the next quarter, ultimately costing the business more than $5,000 in missed inquiries.
“I had the knowledge, but not the knockout punch. The copy didn’t convert.”
Alex Smith, Manager and Co-Owner, Render 3D Quick
Finally, Alex hired a B2B copywriter for $1,500. Within days, the job was done: the messaging was sharper, clearer and better aligned to his audience. Within a month, inbound inquiries jumped 15%.
Alex's Story: DIY Copywriting vs. the Pro
A Technical Rewrite That Cost Leads (and Mental Energy)
Adam Bushell, AB Electrical & Communications
For Adam Bushell, when it was to revamp five key service pages, he shouldered the task himself. Over three weeks, he spent 30 hours working on the new content.
His goal: make the business sound technically advanced. He filled the pages with terminology and expertise meant to convey authority.
But when he checked his site analytics, the average time on page was less than 90 seconds. And what’s worse: contact form conversions dropped by 2%. Based on their $2,000 average project value, this meant about $400 in lost revenue per 100 site visitors.
“We were trying to save $1,500 on a writer – and losing way more than that in potential projects.”
Adam Bushell, Director and Electrician, AB Electrical & Communications
The real cost wasn’t just financial. The mental load of writing while running a business led to missed deadlines and mounting stress. Adam later admitted: “It was a great eye-opener. I knew our services, but not how to market them.”
Adam's Story: Loss of $400 per 100 Visitors
80 Hours. 250 Product Descriptions. A Sad 0.5% Conversion Rate
Benjamin Tom Working with an Ecommerce Startup
An ecommerce startup selling home energy monitors decided to handle its entire product catalog in-house. When Benjamin Tom began working there, he learned the company’s founder had written 250 product descriptions over the course of three weeks, logging more than 80 hours of time.
The issue? The copy was factual but not persuasive. Pages explained specs, not benefits. They lacked persuasive appeal and had no clear call-to-action.
“People would come, read the technical specs but would hardly click to cart. This direct DIY approach to copywriting resulted in a 15% loss in business at the most important stage (launching) which cost hundreds of sales.”
Benjamin Tom, Editor, Utility Specialist and SEO Copywriter, Electricity Monster
The result was a dismal 0.5% conversion rate, well below industry benchmarks. During the most crucial stage of their business, the team lost the momentum they hoped to generate immediately post-launch.
Benjamin's Story: How Much Time the Founder Spent on Product Descriptions
In Summary: Time and Revenue Lost vs. Copywriter Fees
Let’s step back for a better look at the numbers. Below is a breakdown of time, opportunity cost, and revenue loss from the real-world stories above:
What Copywriters Actually Bring to the Table
Every situation we covered in the article was conducted by a subject matter expert. They knew their services, products and audiences inside and out. But knowing your products and services doesn’t mean you can sell it.
“I spent 60 hours. The copywriter fixed it within the week.”
Alex Smith, Manager and Co-Owner, Render 3D Quick
A Pinch of Psychology
Copywriters understand how people make decisions. They don’t just describe features, they highlight benefits that matter to the buyer.
Jason Rowe’s original smart home copy focused on voltage. What his audience actually cared about was ease, savings and security. That disconnect cost him conversions.
A Heaping Spoonful of Conversion Strategy
Between the words, formatting and structure, every ounce of good copywriting is optimized for action. Get them calling. Open the email. Click through the email. Add to cart. Add the upsell item.
Whether it’s a landing page, service page or email sequence, copywriters guide the reader with clarity and intent.
Alex Smith struggled to strike a balance between being “too technical and too persuasive,” a balance professional copywriters know how to hit.
A Dash of Emotional Resonance
Any marketing guide will tell you that emotion drives buying decisions. But executing emotional resonance with words is something the average business owner or marketer cannot do well.
Listing product features isn’t enough. Benjamin Tom saw this with product pages that lacked urgency, empathy and storytelling. Visitors skimmed specs and left. Without emotional triggers and calls-to-action, the copy simply didn’t move people to act.
Would You Rather Spend $5K or Lose $50K?
A website that doesn’t convert isn’t a placeholder, it’s a liability. Product descriptions that don’t sell are expensive. Emails that don’t drive action aren’t just underperforming, they’re leaving money on the table.
So if your copy still isn’t finished…
If your leads are flatlining…
Or, if your team has been writing the same landing page over and over again…
Remember this: The longer you delay hiring a copywriter, the more expensive it becomes.
Not necessarily for the copywriting services themselves, but for the losses and copywriting costs!
Hiring a copywriter isn’t about giving up control. It’s about gaining results. It’s about respecting your time, protecting your energy and investing in the parts of your business that create measurable return.
Experienced SEO Copywriter
If your team is stretched thin and your copy isn’t converting the way it should, let’s talk.
