Hiring Writers IV

Writers: What to expect from your new hire

By Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, SEO strategist

We all know what we want from a new writer: competence. But what exactly is that?

Presume she knows the basics...

Let's presume for a moment that your new writer knows the basics: her grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It would also be nice if she had a flare for words, could turn a phrase and knock out a tag line, select a meaningful quote, so let's give her that, too. Let's also give her the benefit of the doubt about sentence and paragraph structure.

What makes for a good -- no, an excellent -- writer is when he can add value, when he can contribute to the project by advising you beyond the basics.

Tap into his experience...

Your new writer should bring all his business experience to your aid. That's true, whether your project is a website, brochure, or a business letter.

I have developed business websites since 1994. That includes, writing, editing, site mapping, navigation design, project management, content management application integration, search engine optimization, and more. I have also been a privacy officer. All that has taught me to look beyond writing when I integrate with a client developing content. When I go into a website project, I always have a lot of basic business-decision questions that I find many businesses haven't thought through that can have an impact on copy or site structure. Clients always appreciate it.

In addition, I have worked on hundreds of print projects over the years. I know about design and production issues that can help guide a project to successful conclusion, and I know that decisions that are made early-on can have a huge impact on later work on the project. I don't hesitate to advise clients on things beyond copy that will make a project communicate better.

This is all to say, your new writer should be able to provide insight into more than copy for a project, and don't hesitate to ask him questions or listen to suggestions. Make sure they make sense before accepting them, of course.

You should get what you pay for...

How much you're paying for her work may determine how much she's willing to provide in "extra" advice. However, as with any professional, most writers will try to provide as much value as possible. After all, they would like you to return as a client and refer them to others.

Keep in mind, there is a division of labor in the editorial world that might make it more useful for you to hire an editor than a writer if what you really need is an editor. An editor has made many more editorial decisions beyond simply writing ones. She has headed a project, dealt with writers, designers, and production (or developers for websites), and done battle with accountants over budgets. In a sense, a writer has to worry about a page, an editor has to worry about a whole book.

Look me up on Twitter:

Personal: @alaneggleston

Professional: @a_copywriter

Hiring Writers II

Writers: Do you hire a specialist or a generalist?

By Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, SEO strategist

A great mentor once told me, a good writer can write anything. At the time, I doubted him, but I came to see through experience that he was right. Although subjects and formats and often the way you carry a project out are different between jobs, all writing is essentially about communicating facts and truths. A good writer, with a little research and toil, can write anything.

Answering the question I have posed would seem simple, then: You can feel good about hiring a generalist writer for any project. Yet, I think you can make plenty of cases for hiring a specialist, too.

When You Should Hire a Specialist

A specialist writer, like a specialist in any occupation, is one who works almost entirely in one discipline: a poet, a sci-fi/fantasy writer, a Web writer, a direct mail writer, a video writer, an audio writer, a DVD or or other interactive media writer, for instance. He or she has gotten so good at the craft and is so effective at it, that he or she can concentrate on that form of writing and make a good living at it. He or she has a reputation and clients have formed a line to tap his or her services. These professionals have tapped into niches that many other writers either haven't dared to try or haven't had the opportunity to do. They have honed skills key to mastering some very difficult or very intricate art or science.

I would hire a specialist when this is the sole project I'm going to do or when it is so key to my campaign or upcoming season that to fail would cause irreparable harm to my business. Or, I would hire a specialist when I don't feel confident the generalists I usually hire can or will do the project well.

When You Should Hire a Generalist

I would hire a generalist when I have multiple projects and he or she is so talented or skilled that I feel he or she can handle multiple formats. Or, I would hire a generalist when there are multiple elements to a campaign and you want to make sure the elements and messages hang well together between them, that they sound like they're part of one campaign. For instance, you may have a multi-tiered campaign involving letters, brochures, websites, post cards, radio ads, and mall kiosks, and you want the same theme and messages to run throughout them. A generalist will bring you unity across a range of collateral.

You may also have worked with a specialist who can handle a wide range of projects. For instance, I specialize in websites, but I can also write letters, brochures, event programs, blogs, social media, DVDs, post cards, videos, audios, ads -- you name it. Such a writer should be more than happy to help you with any project, even though he markets himself in a special niche.

The thing about writing is, the more you do the more you come to realize as a writer that a good writer can write anything. The goal is always good communication.

Follow me on Twitter:

Professional: http://twitter.com/a_copywriter

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Hiring Writers

Writers: Hire local or outsource?

by Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, SEO stragetist

As a writer, I would write for just about anyone. And as a writer, I can write just about anything. Thus, I would hope that if you needed a writer, you would consider hiring me. However, it's really a completely different matter from your perspective.

When to Hire Locally

I always encourage clients to hire locally. In this economic client, they shouldn't feel guilty about trying to hire writers in their community -- it's good business. It's also good social policy. After all, if they were going to buy whatever you offer, wouldn't you hope they would look locally first and consider buying from you? In addition, there are thousands of writers, many of them good ones. It's very likely there are a few good ones in your area who would like to work with you.

It makes especially good sense to hire locally when you need or want to collaborate closely with the writer, or if you need or want the writer available for meetings or to be able to stop in to look at proofs or work closely with a designer or developer. Certainly, some aspects of this work can be done online, but some clients like to work face-to-face. And some work is on such tight deadlines that it is important to be available locally to stop by to pick up hard copies either as research or layouts or proofs.

My local clients are often big companies with whom I do a lot of work and with whom I meet face-to-face frequently, or small businesses that do not have the resources to deal with long-distance writers. Small businesses often benefit from coaching or mentoring in marketing or communications topics and will like the writer to be right there for them.

When to Outsource

It makes sense to outsource (or hire outside your area) when your budget is tight and you can save money doing so, or when work can be handled electronically and you don't need any face-to-face interaction. Also, it makes sense when an outside writer is either highly recommended or is a specialist in an area that you need.

I have accepted work with clients in neighboring states or some distance away because we can stay in touch by phone and e-mail, and because we can handle copy by e-mail or Google Documents. One potential client interviewed and hired outside of their area entirely online because they needed someone with a certain expertise.

A Caution About Cost

Some clients will be tempted to open jobs for bidding on a service like elance.com. That's all right for some projects. However, bid sites are often frequented by unestablished writers looking for a way to get some work to add to their resume. You will get low-bid jobs but you may also get poorly written work. If you go that route, make sure you also involve a good editor! Don't hire someone just because they bid cheaply, however. Look for quality work.

A Caution About Location

You may receive e-mails offering writers from overseas. I have seen some pretty good writing from India, but I have also seen some terrible writing from India. And I have seen some terrible writing from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Before you hire, look at their websites and ask for samples. Don't hire anyone whose site or samples show substandard work, because very likely that's exactly what you're going to get. And be prepared for UK-standard English spellings -- words like programme (instead of program), catalogue (instead of catalog), odour (instead of odor), whilst (instead of while), etc. -- from these countries. Also keep in mind that many UK-related countries tend to write longer sentences and paragraphs than do we in the U.S., so to suit U.S. audiences you may need to do some editing. Don't overlook these!