Small business owners know exactly what they want to say about their businesses.  But they don’t know how to write it effectively, efficiently, briefly, succinctly, compellingly, or strategically.  Usually.

Not all of our customers buy content from us.  But I wish they did.  Pro content writers help businesses in big ways.

There are lots of reasons to buy content.  I know because, before I started writing for a living, I investigated them.  If I was going to take the leap from outdoor pro to freelance writer, I had a lot of questions to answer.

Here’s what I came up with (and, btw, I did make the leap successfully- thanks to all who’ve helped):

-Time The one thing business owners need above all others is time.  There’s never enough of it.  Entrepreneurs and small business owners work 16 hour days and could easily make 24 if biology would quit getting in the way.

People have time to write memos and emails.  They don’t have time to write brochures, web copy, folders, press kits, and sometimes, yes, their blog.

-Quality Using a professional writer makes a difference in quality.  It’s like hiring a graphic designer; there are things that professionals do that others can’t.  What’s tricky is that, while not everyone can draw, everyone can write.

But that’s a strictly utilitarian sense of the word “write”.  Not everyone can write professionally, and pros do a better job.  If an important project comes up- not email, not memos- and quality counts, hire a professional.

-Focus This speaks directly to the first line of this post.  Professional writers mold and shape content.  They add nuance and style.  They add hooks.  They tell stories.  They can (or, should) make your message sticky.

It’s one thing to know a business inside and out; it’s entirely another thing to write about it.

-Cost To assess the cost of hiring a professional writer, think big.  Imagine a big project, like an important speech or a new website:  Why is it being created?  Big projects are created to make conversions.

Conversions of money.  Conversions of mindset.  Conversions of information. The written word, if used properly, can do whatever we want it to do.  That’s worth a lot.

So there’s my “Why Buy Content” mini-festo.  Do you disagree?  Do you know some good writers you’d like to plug?  Feel free.

Tags: content, content marketing, marketing strategy, project management, writing

This entry was posted on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 11:53 am and is filed under Content Creation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.