5 surefire signs you need to hire a writer
It’s no longer enough to be a brand. These days, you also need to be a publisher.
That means coming up with a strategy for content, writing it, and posting it on a regular basis. It helps you rise to the top of search results, provide value to could-be and current customers, crank up your influence, and expand that reach.
That’s not news to you. You know the benefits of solid content, and if you don’t, the data is only a short search away.
But creating and putting a plan into action? That’s another story. For some reason, you just haven’t gotten that blog off the ground, or that website rewritten, or that ebook published.
Here are five signs that a little extra help can go a long way.
Does this sound familiar?
1) You hate writing
You dread putting pen to paper, or words in a word processor. In fact, you’d rather bathe 1,000 cats without protection than write 1,000 words from nothing. You put it off until the last minute or rush through it so you can do something that doesn’t suck.
(That’s okay. We can still be friends.)
If you loathe the activity, it’ll come through in the result. Why put yourself through that torture when there are talented people out there who would jump at the chance to write for you – and pour love into every single word?
2) You don’t have time
Let’s face it: you have a busy schedule. You’ve got a sales meeting at 10 a.m., then a budget to draft for 2 p.m., a presentation to give an hour after that, and a stakeholder report to send by the end of day. Those things are way more important than writing that next blog article.
It’s not just you, either. Your whole team looks like this. But the deadline keeps creeping toward the end of the month and into the next, and now your whole posting schedule is a tangled mess. A writer can crank that article out in a matter of hours and keep things running in the background – meaning one less thing for you to manage.
3) You’re not great at words
You can program a computer to do anything you want. You can crunch numbers all day without skipping a beat. When a problem pops up, you think of a million possible solutions. But sit in front of a blank page in a word processor, and you might as well be a monkey at a typewriter.
We all have strengths. We also have weaknesses. When we grind at the things we aren’t good at, we lose confidence and feel frustrated. We also waste a lot of time and energy doing a lot of work for little to no return. Focus on your strengths, and use the strengths of others to your advantage.
4) The stuff you have isn’t working
We all have goals, whether it’s your quarterly numbers or climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Your content has goals, too (or it should): things like ranking higher on search engines, driving new leads to your sales team, or building relationships through engagements. If your website, blog, social media, ebooks, ad copy, and video campaigns aren’t making those goals a reality, it’s time to call in a little help.
Not only does a content expert bring with them the ancient wisdom of the word, but they live this stuff day-in and day-out. They’ve poured hours into studying what works and what doesn’t, and can bring a fresh perspective into a project you’re too close to.
5) No one else on your team can do it
Sure, you’re busy, but there must be someone else on your team who can craft content, right? Maybe. But if your team’s already at capacity, or if there’s no one on deck who has a knack for writing, you’re back at square one.
In some cases, that’ll mean hiring someone on your marketing team on a part-time or full-time basis. In others, when it doesn’t make sense to bring in a permanent member of the team, a freelancer can get to know your business and deliver on a schedule you agree on, just for the work you need.
It’s time to find help
If any of this made you think, “Yep, that’s me,” I’ve got good news: there are writers all around you. (There’s even one writing and posting this article, and I’m always happy to chat!)
But how do you comb through the ocean of content creators to find the writer of your dreams? Good question. It’s such a good question that my next post will cover all the details for you. So stay tuned!
Photo credit: Jonny Caspari via Unsplash