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In commercial life there are the ‘amateur’ writers, the managers for whom routine writing is just one activity (and often not their core skill). And then there are the professional copywriters, both employed or freelance. They can all claim to be ‘business writers’ or ‘BWs’; but what can such a writer bring to your organisation?

How professional copywriting can help you

Most working people can write. If all you do is draft routine reports and emails, your basic writing skills should be sufficient. Most of us drive cars too, but we’d be rubbish at the wheel of a Formula 1 car. It’s the same for specialist commercial writing (for instance, press releases, website SEO copywriting, or technical copywriting). For best results leave the Grand Prix to Lewis Hamilton and your copywriting to a specialist writing partner.

A good professional writer complements your skills

The right choice of writer brings valuable specialist skills and experience to your company. How often have you wished you had more time to get words working for you? Whether you need search engine friendly SEO website copy, or a client case study, a good copywriter can help you get promotional ideas off your to-do list and working for you. Furthermore, their input frees you up to add more value for your organisation. And if they’re freelance, you’ll get writing power when you need it, but without the overhead when you don’t. Just as you’d hire a Cheltenham based accountant, printer or legal adviser, hiring a specialist makes sense for your copywriting too.

What do business writers do?

Whether employed or freelance, ‘BWs’ are professional communicators. Based on your brief they’ll create or manipulate written information (often working with local website designers and other creative professionals). Whether they’re writing for a small local company or a multinational with a local presence, these commercial writers emphasise product and service benefits and provoke responses. Anything, in fact, from helping customers understand what you do to helping them decide to buy. Ultimately, as professional copywriters we’re all writing to sell.

What background should my writer have?

As a Cheltenham, Gloucestershire based business copywriter with more than 25 years’ experience, I’d suggest that the best commercial writers also have substantial career experience beyond crafting words. In my particular case it’s a unique combination of technical sales, marketing management, technical writing, PR and copywriting experience – allied to an unbridled passion for written communication and writing in general.

So, whether you’re promoting Gloucestershire, a Cheltenham start-up, or a brand as big and prominent as Toyota (I’ve written for all three), isn’t it time you enjoyed the benefits of your own professional writing partner?

Find yours now!

Is time management difficult for you? Most writers aren’t as productive as they could be; procrastination is a challenge. Task triage can help.

Let’s look at three tips which will help you to manage your time, so that not only do you have more time for your writing, you get more done.

Choose Your Goals and Commit

Your first step is to choose goals and commit to them.

Successful writers take their time in setting goals, but once they’ve set them, rarely change them. For these writers, setting a goal is a commitment to themselves.

Struggling writers set goals quickly, and forget about them just as quickly.

Therefore, take your time in choosing at least one goal. Then, tell yourself that barring serious injury or death, you will persist until you achieve the goal.

Triage Tasks: Only Do What You Can Do

Once you’ve set a goal, you need to chunk it down. For example, let’s say your goal is: “I have a Web site by ___________ (a date three weeks from now.)”

You need to chunk this down, because you can’t “do” a goal, you can only do tasks.

Just make a list of tasks: “buy a domain name, get hosting, write the content for four Web pages, create the site, get it online”.

Add each task to your calendar or diary, with an estimate of the time the task will take.

Certain tasks, such as “write the content for four Web pages” will need to be chunked down even further, so that each chunk takes less than half an hour. Efficient chunking, slicing up tasks, is the secret to eliminating procrastination.

But what’s triage? Triage means only doing what YOU can do, and outsourcing or delegating the rest. In our example, you could outsource everything except the writing.

Just Show up Every Day: Results Are Cumulative

“Time management” is exactly that; managing the time you have. Once you’ve set a goal, keep going until you achieve that goal.

If you do, then goal setting and achieving will become a habit, and your life will become easier for one reason: you’ve taken control of the only thing you can manage in your life — yourself.

Avoid second-guessing your goals once you’ve set them. You’ll find that if you just keep completing your tasks, that everything you do is cumulative. It’s like a snowball rolling down a hill. It starts small, and then gets bigger.

Just show up and complete your tasks.

Setting goals and task triage is the secret of successful time management for writers.

As a marketing communications or public relations manager, you may work with freelance or agency copywriters. Some of these relationships are likely to be very smooth and synergistic, while others may be frustrating or challenging for both you and the writer. You want to know:

“How can I choose the best writer for a project?”

“How can I improve the working relationship with writers?”

And, “How can I get the best work from a copywriter, from first draft to final edit?”

Read on for guidelines that will help you choose the right freelance writer for your project and create a positive, collaborative, and fruitful working relationship.

Selecting a Freelance Writer

Before evaluating potential writers, identify what you want from a writer and what your projects need. For example, do you need someone to handle just the writing, or someone who is more of a communications strategist? Do you need a project manager who can handle all aspects from planning and writing to design and production? All of these roles involve very different skill sets.

If you have determined that you truly need a freelance copywriter, consider the style and content demands of your projects. Do they require a high level of creativity, such as a cutting-edge advertising campaign? Or do the projects involve more of a technical or formal corporate style? Different projects require a different mind-set of the writer, and not every writer can produce good work in every style. Indeed, many copywriters focus their work on certain types of projects, industries, or media.

As a manager, you probably won’t be able to find just one writer who can handle all projects. Instead, you will likely work with several writers: one who handles brochures and articles, another who writes presentation scripts and speeches, yet another who writes direct-mail materials. Although these multiple relationships require more time to develop and manage, you’ll benefit from the higher quality of work that specialist writers can deliver. And, when launching a new communications program, you’ll appreciate having multiple resources who can develop several projects simultaneously.

Factors to consider when selecting a freelance copywriter include the following:

Skill level and orientation. Does the project require a writer with extensive experience? Should the writer have an analytical or creative orientation? 

Knowledge. In-depth knowledge of the subject matter may be paramount for a project because it would require too much time and effort to train a new writer. For example, technology knowledge is especially important for projects that promote a high-tech product or service. In other cases, it may be important for the writer to be very familiar with the audience you’re trying to reach.

Strategy and planning skills. Project management or program planning skills may play a part in identifying the best resources for the project.

People skills. Consider a writer’s interpersonal skills, because it is very likely the writer will interact with customers or community members, journalists, executives, subject experts and of course, your marketing and PR colleagues.

Tools knowledge and skills. If the writer must work with particular software, content management systems, or other tools, specify your requirements.

Experience in particular media. The skills needed for Web content or electronic media projects are somewhat different than those required for print materials.

Reviewing Portfolios and Samples

When you have a candidate in mind, typically the next step is to conduct an in-person or telephone interview and review the candidate’s portfolio. The following factors will help you make a better assessment of the candidate’s writing skills when evaluating samples:

Are the materials similar to your projects? 

Are the style and tone in the samples similar to those of your projects?

Is the depth and complexity of content comparable to that in your projects?

Is the text well organized, readable, and free of errors? Even if you have no knowledge of the subject matter in the sample, you should be able to get a sense very quickly whether the writer can produce clear, interesting, and correct copy.

What was the writer’s actual involvement in the project?

Sustaining the Relationship

Once you have found the right freelance writer, you can benefit from cultivating a sustained relationship. First, consider freelancers not only for new projects that come up, but also recurring projects such as newsletters that always seem to be “lost in the shuffle” of more immediate tasks and deadlines.

Develop a writer’s subject focus—such as technologies, issues, audiences—and leverage that focus over multiple different projects.

Give the writer new types of projects as a way to maximize your investment in the writer’s knowledge. For example, a writer who has not previously written a video script, but who knows your products and company, may be a better choice that an experienced scriptwriter who lacks that knowledge.

When working with a freelance copywriter, remember to send samples of the published work. It’s both a courtesy and a way for the writer to learn from any changes that were made between the final draft and published document. Most of all, when you choose the right freelance copywriter, you can look forward to a long, positive collaboration and great materials!