If you’re a small business owner, you probably do everything yourself—from product development, to marketing, to sales. So when do you have time to write all the content you need to serve your customers and grow your business?
Maybe content writing just isn’t a high priority for you. Or, you give your staff all the writing assignments—product instructions, quick reference cards, webinars, animations, infographics, FAQs, web content, marketing collateral. But is that the best use of their time and talent?
Here are some criteria to help you decide when to hire a writing consultant.
You Want to Save Time
The biggest reason for hiring a professional writer is no one in your company has time to do the work.
While in start-up mode, you managed somehow. But as you grow, you want everyone to focus on his or her core functions. If writing isn’t one of those core functions, you are wasting time and precious resources.
A writing consultant can work quickly and without supervision. Then all you have to do is review the deliverables so they’re the way you like them.
You Want Someone with Expertise to Guide You
You already have content. But will it help you achieve your goals? A content audit by a professional can help you decide if you need to make changes.
A writer can also help you plan your inbound or content marketing campaign. With a plan, you will have a system in place for measuring your progress.
Additionally, a writer can guide your staff and other consultants by creating in-house style guides and templates.
You Want Someone Who Has a Different Point of View
Small business owners can get so caught up in running a business, they can lose sight of who their customers are.
So it’s a good idea to bring someone in with a fresh perspective–someone whose job depends on knowing your audience.
You Want to Save Money
Professional writers can help you save money.
First, your content writing projects have a better chance of being completed on time and on budget when you bring in a professional to do some or all of the work.
Second, just planning writing projects with a consultant can save you money. Often, people call writers as an afterthought. Guess what? Your written content is a part of the whole user experience.
So, a professional writer can help you plan your project’s full scope of work, reducing the need for change orders and preventing cost overruns and communication problems with staff and other consultants.
When a customer lands on your site, you want to be prepared. So make sure your content is working for you before you build.
You might also like: Editorial Calendars and What You Need to Know about Them and Signs Your Web Content Needs Some Tender Loving Care.
