What to Look for in a Professional Content Writer

What to Look for in a Professional Content Writer

Reader Comments (18)

  1. If you think you don’t have the bandwidth to add a Content Editor to your team, consider outsourcing that function. Every writer needs “a fresh pair of eyes,” and you should always let someone read it before your reader reads it.

  2. Wonderful guidelines for businesses looking to hire a professional content writer. I’ve been fortunate to work with one of your Certified Content Marketers, Tom Clifford. He’s wonderful and has taken the stressful job of creating copy and content off my plate. A comment on “voice.” I agree that a strong voice is a good quality to use as a hiring factor. As a branding strategist, I help find writers for my clients. I look for writers who have a strong voice AND can use that strength to communicate the brand personality and values of my clients. That consistent tone and voice will help build brand recognition through the content.

    • Jocelyn, thanks for sharing your experience working with Tom! It’s great to hear your first-hand perspective of what it’s like to look for the best writer for the job.

  3. Great article. Regarding this: “A strong, confident writing voice is essential.”

    If you are a professional writer for hire, your own voice doesn’t matter. It’s all about how well you can write to the client company’s ToV guidelines and in a way that resonates with the audience they ask you to write for.

    • That’s a terrific point, Stuart! When writers want to optimize their chances of finding great clients to work with, however, their own strong, confident writing voices can play a big role. If a writer displays his own unique voice throughout the content marketing he uses to promote his writing business, he shows potential clients that he’s capable. If the client finds the writer’s own content marketing materials interesting, he’ll likely feel good about hiring that writer to write for his audience and help with his own business’s goals.

  4. This was such an encouraging article, and perfectly timed, too! Just yesterday, I gave a 10-minute presentation to my referral networking group about how to help me find new clients. I sent this to the group as a follow-up.
    It was also a great confidence-builder! Though I was hesitant to read it, fearing that I might not fit the description, I found it was actually very affirming! I can now confidently say I am a professional writer – even according to Copyblogger’s criteria. Thanks for this and all the other articles you’ve shared to help us writers reach professional status!

  5. Spot on with this article.
    So many writers get caught up in the content mills and seem to lose their sense of creativity.
    If you can find a writer that thinks out side of the “tuna can” hold on tight!

  6. I think I need to read more blog about content writing and content marketing before writing next blog as i found few mistake in my earlier updated blogs.

  7. Wonderful post. I have a content agency with extremely high standards and vetted writers – across 5 years, we’ve consistently upheld a 99% project satisfaction (not easy). Could we apply to go through the Certification process, or is that only open to freelancers?

  8. Thanks for the excellent tips. After going with a content writer a business associate recommended last week, I was disappointed when the completed content arrived in my inbox this morning for first review. I’ll definitely refer to your article before hiring the next content writer!

  9. “A professional content writer has a solid grasp of spelling, grammar, and usage” Sadly, this is one I run into a lot. Not that mine is great either, but that is why I am hiring a professional in the first place ๐Ÿ™‚

  10. Everything said in this article has made me sit up and take note of things. In my place of work, we’re made to brush up our US English skills, fine-tune our grammar using Grammarly, add a fresh perspective to our content – articles, blog posts, infographics, PPTs, etc. with a variety of ingredients like stats, quotes, images, charts and so on. Moreover, our Project Manager has started conducting knowledge test and US conversation every once a week. Previously, he himself invested his precious time to test our grammar and English usage.

    So, as per your article, we’re being trained to fulfil all the necessary requirements of a professional writer. Thanks for the article, Sonia. It has reinforced my faith in my workplace system.

  11. Great post, thank you for sharing. We’ve seen ourselves that it’s truly quality over quantity when it comes to content!

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