5 Reasons to Hire a Writer

I had a new business meeting yesterday with two guys who knew exactly what they wanted and seemed to have the communications skills to write a white paper themselves. I asked them why they were interested in hiring a writer to get the job done and they replied that it would save them time. Great reason. Here are what I consider the five top reasons why my clients hire a professional writer:

1. Time: How is your time best spent? Agonizing over marketing copy, press releases or web content, or leading a company? Hire a writer to save yourself time.
2. Clarity:  You may know your topic so well that you forget that readers aren't as knowledgeable. Sometimes it takes a third party to write clearly about complex topics.
3. Finesse: It takes talent and skill to write copy that engages the reader and makes the most of a marketing opportunity. Everybody can write, but not everybody can write compelling copy.
4. Knowledge: The medium, audience and message should dictate the writing style. Those rules you learned for academic writing are no good when it comes to online writing or a great sales brochure. A professional writer knows how to adapt styles to write persuasively no matter what the medium or audience.
5. Motivation: Has a project been languishing on the back burner for months because day-to-day tasks get in the way? I have been hired countless times simply because a client needed to get a long-standing project off the "to do" list. My job is to make sure that deadlines are met and projects move forward.Writing is just part of the package.

New Projects

Here are a few of the projects that have been occupying my time in the past few weeks:

• Rewriting content and coordinating an updated website design for a marketing firm
• Editing an executive report for a business consultant
• Ghostwriting an article for a leadership training company
• Writing an e-mail announcement and press release for a manufacturing company
• Developing a media list and outlining a publicity campaign for an importer of wholesale leather goods

Work is slowing down for the holidays, but January is a big month for new plans and projects. Contact me if you need a writer in a hurry!