Asking a freelance writer to create content for your business may feel counter-intuitive. How could they know your business as well as you do? How do they know your customers and what to say to them? But without the independent, objective view of a professional outsider, you could be missing an important opportunity to drive your content marketing.
You’ve got the will but how about the time and skill?
When I talk to clients about their content needs there are usually a number of common reasons that prevent them from writing their own words. Often, they don’t know where to start or what to write about. When they do get an idea, they struggle to find the time to write and when the do start writing, they worry about the quality of their content, particularly the grammar and spelling.
It is right to consider these challenges. If you’re running your own business, is your time best spent writing your blog or acquiring the skills to? If you need a specialist skill in any other part of your business, you wouldn’t think twice about bringing in a specialist, so why not an experienced wordsmith?
Enter the writer
Whether it’s blogging, website content, sales literature, social media, emails, etc. it is important to get the style, tone and message right. A poorly written piece that’s unclear in its messaging or littered with errors reflects on the business. It will make all but the most determined visitor move on to a more professionally written website instead.
Businesses work with external writers all the time to help them decide what information needs to be communicated, to turn it into a compelling story, and to find a style that reflects their business. The skill of a writer is to draw all of that that out of the client before turning it into carefully-crafted, grammatically correct content.
What effect should good content have on your business?
Regularly creating great online content about the products or services you sell, whether for your loyal customers or to new audiences, is one of the most effective marketing actions you can take in a world where 4.5 billion people are active online and 3.9 billion are social media users. It’s relatively cheap and it hasn’t been impacted by lockdowns or other Covid19 restrictions like other forms of marketing. Professionally produced content should:
- Increase you SEO with regular, relevant content that generates more sales leads
- Establish a strong brand identity
- Encourage customer loyalty by providing content that informs, engages and keeps people coming back
- Give you a competitive edge over businesses that don’t update their websites regularly
- Demonstrate your expertise to build customers trust in your products and services
Working with an external writer removes all the barriers that busy businesspeople like you face that prevents you from carrying out your content marketing strategy at a time when marketing has never been so important.
