Every business needs content and corporates need more than most.
Looking beyond your website content, there are also:
- Brochures
- Emails
- Internal communications
- Whitepapers
- Reports
- Articles and blogs
- Scripts
- Case studies
It’s an uphill struggle.
To keep up with this demand, you can either palm tasks off on your already overworked staff that doesn’t have copywriting experience, leaving them desperately trying to keep their heads above water churning out substandard content because they don’t have the specific skills or time needed.
Or, you can do the smart thing and find yourself a talented freelance copywriter who can act as a virtual member of your team to be on hand to provide content as and when it’s needed.
Keeping a copywriter on hand
Content production takes time, but having a virtual writer on your team goes far beyond timesaving.
Copywriters spend years honing their craft. Because they are external to your business, they have the unique ability to empathise with your customers (and stakeholders) and speak in their language.
How?
They haven’t been indoctrinated in your organisation’s ways (and jargon-filled chatter), so they can explain concepts in plain English.
And if you think, after working with you for a while, this innate ability will be lost, it won’t. Their varied workload means they are continually identifying new ideas from other industries that could be used to refresh your content.
How to make a virtual relationship work
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Having your own professional writer to hand will make your life a whole lot easier. But how does it work in practice?
Fixed fee or retainer?
Professional copywriters usually work to fixed fees that are project specific.
Although all costs are set out up front, working this way inevitably causes delays and work because new quotes have to be created for every project.
That’s why, for ongoing work, it makes more sense to hire them on a retainer basis – you pay them to work with you for a certain number of days per month.
Some months you may have loads of work for them, others less – but across a year it will even itself out.
The benefit is that you gain a very flexible and responsive member of staff without having to provide a desk, holiday pay or sick pay – perfect.
You’ll get a constant flow of fresh, engaging content, new ideas and delighted customers and stakeholders.
Plus, because the average spend for copywriting is far below your procurement threshold, you can usually get an arrangement like this in place without having to ask the copywriter to jump through the usual red tape hoops.
Isn’t it time you looked into hiring a copywriter for your team?
Sally Ormond is a professional copywriter that works with a global client base. For an off-the-record chat about how she can work with you, get in touch.