How can a professional writer help your writing project? Why shouldn’t you just use in-house staff or write copy for yourself.
If you’re thinking about using non-writers to create your marketing or business copy, stop. You won’t get the same results from your non-writing staff as you would get from a professional writer.
Here are ten reasons why a professional writer can add value to your business:
1. They will take the time to do the job right.
Sure, maybe you can write well or somebody on your staff can write well. If writing is not your full-time career, do you really have the time to write what you need? A professional will make the time for your project.
If you let Joe from the accounting department write your copy, guess when the copy is going to get written? That’s right, it will get done after Joe finishes all of his accounting work. (Is Joe ever finished with his accounting work?)
2. They will use their skill and knowledge to your advantage.
Okay, maybe grammar and spelling are not your strongest areas. Maybe you were absent the day that they covered punctuation and capitalization at your school. You’re afraid the copy that you produce will make you look stupid.
With a professional writer, there’s no need to have these fears. A writer will clean up your copy and give it a polished, professional appearance.
3. They can help you target your writing for your intended audience.
Do you know who needs to read your copy? Let a writer help you find out.
Maybe you have a complex concept that you need to explain to the general public. A good writer can create copy that can be easily understood by anyone. Maybe you need to reach a specific group. A writer can help you hone in on the individuals that you need.
4. A professional writer can help you develop ideas.
You know what you need to have written, but you just can’t put it into words. You’ve started and stopped your writing project a dozen times, or more.
A writer can help you develop that idea and turn it into exactly the copy that you need.
5. They can help you avoid clichés and overworked angles and find a fresh way of describing your information.
Can you recognize if a copywriting angle has been used too often? Ideas and words that are used too often lose their effectiveness.
A writing professional can recognize overused and overworked ideas and help you find a fresh and unique slant for your specific needs. Don’t let yourself get stuck with the same old thing.
6. A writer provides a second set of eyes.
It’s easy to make a mistake when you are working alone. A professional writer is trained to look for mistakes and for sentences that can be misunderstood.
You don’t want mistakes in your copy. Even a single misplaced decimal point can hurt your business. There’s a big difference between $25.00 and $250.00!
7. A good writer can identify missing material.
You know what you want to say by heart. Maybe you know it too well. Maybe you’ve left something out.
Let’s say that you need copy that explains how to do something. If a step is missing from your material, a writer can point it out and correct it for you.
8. A good writer can suggest ways to streamline your writing process.
You’re trying to gather information “the old-fashioned way,” but it seems that you are always behind. A good writer can suggest ways to streamline your copywriting process and help you stay ahead of the information flood.
9. A good writer can help you project a consistent image through your writing.
Does every document you produce look like it comes from a different source? Does your copy stand out from the rest?
A good writer can suggest a unique style that is right for your business. Having a unique voice in your writing can help you brand your business.
10. A good writer is familiar with all the media available to communicate your ideas.
Do you want to produce printed copy for mail outs? Would online materials work best for you? Do you know?
With the variety of media available today, it’s easy to be confused about what’s best for your needs. A good writer can suggest the right media for your needs.
A good writer may be just the edge that you need to stay ahead of your competition. So, why not turn your right needs over to a professional today?
Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.
34 responses so far ↓
1 Walter Burek // Jun 21, 2007 at
Well said, Laura!
2 Lillie Ammann // Jun 21, 2007 at
Excellent points, Laura.
#1 is often overlooked, but one of the most important skills of a good manager is to focus on planning and growing a business and delegate the rest. Some of my clients are excllent writers, but they are slow. The time it would take them to write something could be better spent doing something more productive.
3 Laura // Jun 21, 2007 at
Thanks Walter!
Lillie, you are so right. People are busy. If writing isn’t their job they usually don’t get around to it.
4 GROW YOUR WRITING BUSINESS - For Freelance Writers Who Mean Business » Blog Archive » The Web - Your Partner in Promotion // Jun 22, 2007 at
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5 Laura // Jun 22, 2007 at
Yvonne,
I’m really glad that you found this helpful. I have a feeling that I’ll be using this piece often.
6 Mihaela Lica // Jun 23, 2007 at
Excellent! 🙂
7 Laura // Jun 25, 2007 at
Thanks Mihaela!
8 Vivienne Quek // Jun 25, 2007 at
Over the years, I have came across some clients who would not pay for a professional copywriter. They would simply asked us to edit the grammar. It was a challenging but necessary process to highlight that a make-over and a surgery yield different results. For clients who are willing, they somehow do not know how to brief a copywriter . And that prompted me to use another professional writer’s 24 questions as a guide. Let me know, in your professional opinions, whether more questions should be included to elicit better answers from a client.
I’m going to link this article to my post. Thanks for an insightful post.
9 How to Select and Brief a Copywriter? · Versa Creations Marketing & Advertising Blog // Jun 25, 2007 at
[…] Does that seem complicated to you? It can be, even to those of us who do it on a daily basis. But open, honest communication is the key to success. Contact us if you need professional help with a marketing campaign, a design project or a copywriting task, and we’ll make it worth your while. If you are still contemplating whether you should hire a professional writer, read Laura Spenser’s Ten Reasons Why You Should Hire A Professional Writer. […]
10 Laura // Jun 25, 2007 at
Vivienne Quek, I’m headed over to your blog to take a look at your piece.
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13 Kristy // Apr 22, 2008 at
Even if you are good on writing “killer content” or good web copy it doesn’t mean that you can do it the way you really want it to be. You do have a lot of ideas but then you can’t really put it into words just like the professionals. Having them around you will have a copy that is understandable by the readers and have the tone that is appropriate for the type of writing that you need.
14 Reasons Your Business Should Hire a Professional Writer : Robust Writing // Oct 20, 2008 at
[…] freelance writer who runs the blog Writing Thoughts, has written a helpful post entitled Ten Reasons Why You Should Hire a Professional Writer. You should read the entire post, but I’ll list a few of her reasons that jumped out at […]
15 Jim Bessey // Oct 21, 2008 at
Great post, Laura.
Found you via Write to Done. You’re bookmarked now — good stuff!
~Jim
16 Why Do I Need a Professional Marketing Writer? « Novo’s Blog // Dec 15, 2008 at
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17 David Decker // Apr 30, 2009 at
Hi — I sure hope that you can give me some advice. For the past two years
Ive been writting a book, and now it’s almost finished. Since I never did
this before, I have no idea who to send it to who to have it rewritten,
check mistakes, the cost, and so on.
Title – A book about life
It has five chaptures and will have around 250 pages
please heip me with this matter.
thank you
email deckerdavid52@yahoo.com
18 Candice // Jun 19, 2009 at
Hi Laura,
I came across this post recently. Well said! I’ve reposted the article on my blog with credit to you and a link to Writing Thoughts. I hope that’s okay.
Cheers!
19 Laura Spencer // Jun 19, 2009 at
Candice,
I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for asking permission.
Also, thanks for acknowledging my authorship. However, I would prefer that you not post the entire article on your blog. Instead, please post only the first few paragraphs with a link to my blog for the rest?
Thanks for your attention to this matter.
20 Paul Lesieur // Jun 27, 2009 at
In regards to hiring a pro, I have been told my writing is fun because its obvious I’m not a pro. Thanks to the internet people like me who did not go to school can get an education on writing for fun or profit. I have been paid for articles and I have been hired to conduct a seminar in my area of expertise (home improvement),in part because I am able to get tips from pro writers.
21 Professional Writing - A Key Component to a Professional Image : WritingThoughts // Sep 19, 2009 at
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22 Lesly Bazelais // Mar 20, 2010 at
Hi,
I have collected materials from different sources which I tried to reword, but, I am a non English native speaker. Could you please give me an estimate for editing the attached? What will be the deadline?
If you need to visit the web site, please let me know and I will give you a username and password. You can contact me on my cell at 954 732 1162
Thank you
23 Laura Spencer // Mar 20, 2010 at
Hi Lesly,
I am sending you an e-mail with a few questions.
24 Should You Write Your Own Copy? : WritingThoughts // Apr 6, 2010 at
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25 Andrew // May 3, 2010 at
I have a story. How do I engage your service of writing a book?
Andrew
26 Laura Spencer // May 3, 2010 at
Andrew,
Contact me at laura@writingthoughts.com to receive a free custom proposal for your next writing project. (Be sure to put the phrase “writing project” in the subject line so that my spam filter doesn’t stop your message.)
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32 Daniel Mark Wheaton, Professional Writer // Dec 17, 2013 at
An excellent list, Laura! As a fellow professional writer, I can relate to the need to explain to clients just why they should hire someone to write for them. After all, 99.9% of our clients know how to read and write. But it’s like anything you hire someone else to do, from plumbing to oil changes to investment advice. We hire people to do things not because we couldn’t figure it out on our own, but because it makes more sense to focus on what we rock at, and leave the rest to others.
I’ve linked to your post from my website. Cheers!
~ Daniel
33 Laura Spencer // Jan 5, 2014 at
Thanks Daniel!
I’m glad you liked the post..
34 10 Useful Posts You May Have Missed // Dec 22, 2014 at
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