Top 5 Reasons to Delegate Your Content Marketing to a Professional Freelancer

Ask any editor: no professional talent attracts as many amateur delusions of grandeur as does writing. "I got A's in grade-school English; why shouldn't I be able to write a bestselling novel?"

Writing that comes out of business offices often fares little better. Particularly now that "content marketing" is an everyday phrase, effective business writing doesn't just have to be comprehensible: to serve its purpose, it has to be as entertaining, useful, and quotable as its popular-writing counterpart on the bookstore shelf. And if it comes in blog form, as regular and recognizable as its counterpart on the drugstore magazine rack.

If you're thinking of doing your content writing yourself to "save money," read the following list and see if it doesn't convince you that hiring a professional freelance writer is a better idea and the real money-saver. (Full disclosure: I am a professional freelance writer, and this article is part of my content marketing.)

1. Believe It--Writing Is Work

If you (or anyone on your staff) has experience writing for the public, enjoys writing for writing's sake, and has time to add content writing to your other duties, fine: go ahead and save your hiring-out budget for other things. But if you try to do the writing yourself just because it looks like the easy way, you'll end up frustrated, short on ideas, and ready to quit within a few months because "it isn't working anyway."

Content marketing doesn't work--unless it's done by someone who knows more about writing than how to spell. And who also knows something about marketing in general and your desired audience in particular. Anything less is forgettable and futile.

2. Your Content Reflects on Your Business

If your content is misspelled, inaccurate, irregular, or just plain boring, potential customers/donors/publicity sources won't find it worth reading. And if they don't find it worth reading, they won't follow you or tell others about you. Worse, they may conclude that your primary business is as boring, sloppy, and/or untrustworthy as the content that's supposed to be showcasing it. (You've probably heard that sloppy writing is one mark of "spam" emails; the last thing you want is to look like a spammer.)

3. You've Got Other Things to Do

Even if you are personally an excellent writer, do you really have time to write three 1,000-word blog posts a week and still keep up with your other business responsibilities? Does your administrative assistant? Often, a specialist can do a better job simply for having more uninterrupted time to do it in--that's why people hire outside services to wash cars and clean houses. By paying a writer to do what they do best, you can free up more time to do what you do best.

4. Outside Writers Speak Your Clients' Language Fluently

One common problem with both technical writing and content marketing is "jargonese"--assuming that everyone reading the piece is intimately familiar with the language and practices of your business. Often, it's all a foreign language to the lay client. Or, worse, advice that didn't work because a critical step was taken for granted (i. e., left out of the written description). Freelance writers, having outside perspective and being closer to the public they're writing for, are at an advantage for producing effective results.

5. Your Business Deserves a Good Investment

Close cousin to trying to save money by doing your own writing--and often even more disastrous--is trying to save money by hiring the cheapest writer you can find. "Content writers" picked up for under $100 (or $20) on ad boards are always a risk. Some of them do excellent work (though if they do, they'll probably wise up soon and raise their rates), but with many others, you get what you pay for. You wouldn't use a dirty, rusty delivery truck just because it was cheaper. Why risk your business and professional image by being a race-to-the-bottom bidder in other areas?

Your business deserves the best attention, the best investments--and the best content writing. Go to the pros and you'll soon find the investment pays for itself.

Katherine Swarts is a professional content writer specializing in health topics. Visit her website at www.positivecontentfactory.com.