Why would I want a staff writer in my company? What can he do? Anybody can write, we all went to school and had English classes, right?
This is what runs through the managers’ minds when they think about the possibility of hiring a professional writer for their company. Especially, when we talk about smaller businesses. Sure, some companies can do without a staff writer. Yet, as the company grows, it develops the need for at least one special employee who would be responsible for all the writing and writing-related activities. But how do you know that the moment has come?
Why Your Small Business Needs a Professional Staff Writer
There are certain signs that indicate that the time has come for you to look for a professional writer to hire full time. Here are some of these signs:
1. Nothing is ever written on time
Suppose you are good at writing yourself. Or, suppose Anna from the accounting writes well. So, you ask her to write, say, a post for your company blog. You have trusted her with this assignment because you are confident that she, of all people, is capable of doing it right. What you need to keep in mind is that Anna works at the accounting. She was hired there to perform certain duties which she most probably has in abundance. So, even if she is such a good writer that you think she is, she will only write when she is done with her primary duties, which is probably not very often.
So what happens next? The blog posts are not written on time, they are not published regularly, your audience loses interest, and your blog is a wreck. This can easily be avoided, if only you hire a staff writer.
2. Your writing gets stuck at the initial stage
Say, you want to write a press release. You have gathered the information and sat down to writing, you have almost finished your text, but something new has come up. So, you have to adjust your almost ready press release. As you do it, something new pops up once again. And so on, and so forth… As a result, the work on that little press release goes on forever.
This means that you need a writer who knows how to handle such process (it’s called streamlining).
3. People point out your mistakes
We mean, of course, mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. Even if you had a good grade in your English class at school, it is not your profession. You probably don’t write too often, and when you do – you probably forget to pay attention to grammar and stuff. Why? There are two reasons: (1) your main goal is to make yourself clear, and (2) you are not a professional writer.
So, the texts that you write will have those annoying little disadvantages here and there. You can be sure that people will not be reluctant to point it out to their friends. Thus, you get the reputation of some illiterate redneck. This is not good for any business. And staff writers are.
4. You know your mistakes, but you overlook them
If you write everything yourself, it gets complicated to look at your own text critically. You just don’t notice the mistakes that you make in your own text because you most likely were not trained as a professional writer. The good thing is that you know who was. Professional writers know what mistakes are the most typical, so they can avoid them or spot them instantly.
5. You have issues putting ideas into words
It may happen that you know what you want to say but just cannot find the right words. Well, it is no wonder. The chances are that you were not trained as a writer, so it’s not your profession to put ideas into words. Consequently, you need someone who was trained as a writer and who puts ideas into words for a living.
6. Nobody understands you
Every field of work has its own slang and professional terms, regardless of what exactly your company does. Professionals in a particular area grow so used to this slang that they take it for granted and use it without noticing. So, a text written by a qualified specialist will most likely be rich with such slang.
The general public, however, does not have to be familiar with all those peculiarities. Hence, a text which is written by a specialist has a good chance of confusing the general public. A writer, on the other hand, is not a specialist, so s/he will “translate” the information to the common tongue.
7. You miss pieces of information
If you are good at whatever it is that you are doing, then you know it by heart. This is exactly why many details about your work will seem so obvious to you, that you will most probably overlook them in your text. This may lead to drastic consequences. A writer’s advantage here is, once again, that s/he is a common folk, not a specialist.
8. You are getting trivial
Whenever you try to describe something in written form, you feel like it has all been done before. It is all cliché, and you just cannot think of something fresh and new. Guess what, writers can do that because it is also a part of their job.
9. Your texts look like they are all from different places
For example, you look at your blog, and it feels like every single post was written by a different person. It’s not illiterate or anything like that, but the company image lacks a unique style. It takes a professional writer to develop such a unique style and voice to make your company more recognizable.
10. You get confused when picking the media and end up picking it at random
Clearly, some information is better conveyed when reading from a screen. Other information is best conveyed through a video. How to know which is which? A professional writer will most likely have just the insight to share in this regard.
Related: 10 Free Content Marketing Tips For B2B Organizations
Author Bio: Richard Nolan is a writer, sharing his experience in spheres of writing, entrepreneurship, team building and psychology. Richard writes for numerous blogs and gives useful tips for bloggers and students. Currently, Richard works as a general blog editor for EliteEssayWriters
