Whether you’ve been working with a content writer for awhile, or you’ve just added one to your freelance team, it’s important to know what makes them tick.
Y’see, business relationships require some give-and-take. Freelance content writers aren’t employees. Instead, they’re contracted individuals who’re working with you to provide your business with high quality content that attracts and engages the ideal clients.
If you want a content writer who can provide you with the exact content your business needs, here are a few things we’d like you to know.
#1: We Aren’t Mind Readers
No matter how much I wish for that particular superpower, it’s never going to happen. It took me awhile, but I’ve come to grips with this reality (*hangs head in resignation*).
When a content writer asks a question, we need a direct answer. “I don’t know” or “I haven’t really thought that through” is not the correct answer when asked what your business goals are. We aren’t miracle workers and we can’t make something out of nothing.
A good content writer will ask questions that make you really think. And an awesome content writer will help you to refine your answers, because we want to write the best darned content that we can.
#2: We Can’t Stick to Deadline If You Don’t
Would you like three articles written in one week’s time? No problem. But if you can’t bother to look over the first drafts until 24 hours before the original deadline, then don’t expect your final draft to be done according to that original deadline.
The content writer you hire should be delivering their best quality writing every time, even on a first draft. However, there may be things you would like changed, added, or removed that fit the original scope of the project. If so, don’t expect major reformatting and editing in a 24-hour window.
We have other clients and other commitments. Please respect our time as we respect yours.
#3: We Need One Point of Contact to Do Our Best Work
While most content writers are all about collaboration, there should be one person within that group of collaborators who has final say. If I’m working with your company long-term, I would love to brainstorm with your team, but it’s impossible to produce the content your company needs if I’m expected to incorporate the suggestions and opinions of every team member into the content.
Decisions need to be made. We’ll gladly make those decisions if you’d like us to, but if you want minimal fuss and confusion, decide in the beginning who will have final say.
#4: We Don’t Need to Be Told What Your Content Should Say
Really.
Any content writer worth their weight can figure out what your company needs by going through the answers you provided to our questions. What many fail to realize is that content writing is an art form. As cheesy as that sounds, it’s true.
The content writer you should be working with will ask the right questions and understand the voice you’re going for because we know how to effectively communicate.
We take the time to get to know you, your business, and your exact needs. That’s why we ask such probing questions. And when you think we’re done probing, we probe even further. (Ignore the alien-esque images that sentence just conjured up in your head.)
That’s not to say we don’t like suggestions or feedback. But as professionals, we take our jobs seriously. I mean, you hired us so you wouldn’t have to write the content yourself, right? Hire a writer you can trust to convey what you’d like to say in the way you’d like to say it. Then you can spend more of your time doing what you do best, while we do what we do best.
#5: We Charge What We Charge Because We’re Worth It
Exceptional content writers don’t charge $5 because we don’t work for content mills. We work one-on-one to provide top-notch content that can’t be found anywhere else.
Would you like content that reads like it was chewed up and spit out by an overworked, underpaid writer? If so, go here, here, or here.
But I know you’re smarter than that, which is why you’re still reading this post and not signing up for an account at one of those mills.
Think of it this way:
Writer #1 makes $5 per 400 words. They have a weekly goal of $375 (before taxes). That’s 15-$5 articles per day.
Writer #2 makes $60 per 400 words. They have the same weekly goal as writer #1, but they only have to write 1.25 articles per day.
Which writer will do more research? Which one will write content that informs, inspires, and entertains? Certainly not writer #1 because they simply don’t have the time.
Bottom line: Keep the above list in mind and you might just become a content writer’s dream.
Let’s work together to create content for your business that knocks it out of the park!
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