Every business needs content. Not the bland, me-too nonsense that frequently clutters up our inboxes and feeds, but genuinely useful, interesting content.
Content that helps a business stand out amid the clutter and noise. Content that moves prospects closer to a sale. Content that can become a powerful differentiator for your company.
And businesses often have a tough time finding the writers who know how to create that type of content over time.
One of the reasons I think organizations struggle is that they don’t always know what qualities will make for a genuinely productive, profitable hire. And as you might guess, I have a few strong opinions about that.
So, here’s what I think you should look for when you need to hire a content professional to create the marketing that will move your business forward.
A professional content writer has a strong, confident writing voice
A strong, confident writing voice is essential.
Strategy, marketing, and persuasion techniques can be taught (that’s what we’re here for). Voice, on the other hand, develops over time and needs to come from within a creative, intelligent, sensitive human being.
While a solid writing voice can be developed over time (here’s how), your writer won’t ever get there without a lot of passion and commitment. Talent doesn’t hurt, either.
Look for a writer whose work is interesting, funny, smart, perceptive, and convincing. Look for someone whose writing you just like to read.
Some have it and some don’t. Insist on hiring the one who does.
A professional content writer has a solid grasp of spelling, grammar, and usage
Unless you have the bandwidth to add a content editor to your team, your writer needs to have a solid grasp of usage, spelling, and all those mundane issues that can make us look silly when we get them wrong.
Your writing candidates should get their feathers ruffled when someone uses it’s for its. Every writer occasionally makes a typo — but for a professional, that should be rare.
A professional content writer finds the intriguing angle
Well-crafted content is important — but if it’s not wrapped up in a fascinating package, it probably won’t get read or shared.
Strong content writers are capable and creative. They think about your topic in interesting ways. (Mainly because professional writers think about their topics all the time. Occupational hazard. Probably why we’re such odd birds.)
A pro knows how to deliver the usefulness that audiences need, but also wraps it up in unusual hooks and angles that will capture attention and engage curiosity.
A professional content writer understands the elements of content that sells
There are plenty of writers out there who can write a pleasing sentence or paragraph.
But a content professional also understands how content can move prospects smoothly down the path from stranger to interested prospect to delighted customer.
She understands headlines and why content gets shared. She knows what type of content works well in blog posts and what’s better saved for a landing page or an email message.
A professional content writer lives and breathes strategy. Which brings me to my next point …
A professional content writer can articulate why she’s using a particular content strategy
If you have a writer working for you, that person should be able to tell you precisely why she’s taken a particular angle with a blog post, video script, or white paper.
She can explain how your content program ties into your search strategy and why she’s using the number 8.4 in the headline, rather than rounding it up to 9.
Give her a chance and she’ll talk your ear off about the structure of bullet point fascinations, benefits over features, and the call to action.
The people who revel in this stuff are the ones who create compelling marketing content that builds your business. Whether or not you find it exciting, your writer needs to.
She needs to be able to tell you why, so your entire organization moves in the same direction.
(And on your part, you need to take the time to listen to those explanations. Don’t hire a pro and then second-guess every move she makes. If you want great content, you need to give your writer the space to craft that greatness.)
A professional content writer has a commitment to quality and ongoing education
If content is important to your business, you need a professional, not an interested amateur.
And one of the hallmarks of the professional is commitment. Commitment to getting better over time, to staying on top of developments in the field, to a lifetime of learning.
Raw talent to write is important, and an understanding of strategy is important. But you also want to find someone who takes the profession seriously — as a profession — and continues to sharpen and refine his skills.
From search algorithms to social platforms to what types of headlines are performing well these days — professional writers need to stay plugged in to what’s changing in our profession.
A serious content professional also takes the initiative to become an authority in the topics he writes about. He interviews experts (some of whom might be within your company), performs independent research, pores over industry journals, and talks with customers.
You can find that level of dedication in a freelancer who specializes in your industry, or you can build a long-term relationship with a strong content generalist who takes the time to develop that depth of knowledge about your individual company.
What you don’t want is a pennies-a-word person from one of the cheap freelance sites. They simply can’t make the commitment to learning your topic the way a true pro can.
Where do you find these content professionals?
I cheated when I wrote this post — because I went to the guidelines for our Certified Content Marketer application evaluations.
These are the qualities we look for when we’re assessing the work of writers seeking our Certification — and these are the qualities you’ll find in the writers who earn that badge.
We have a whole page dedicated to them — some serving specific niches like real estate or healthcare, and others who write across several industries.
A member of the Copyblogger editorial team takes a close look at each applicant’s writing. (I’m on the evaluation team as well.)
We look for the qualities I talked about above: a great writing voice — first and foremost — paired with strategy, professionalism, and straight-up marketing chops.
If you’re looking for a serious content professional, this is where you’ll find her or him. But don’t wait too long.
The perfect writer for your business would love to get started making your content program more successful … don’t let her slip away to some other company.
Are you a writer who wants to become a Certified Content Marketer?
Our Certified Content Marketer training program helps writers position themselves and their offerings, so that they can build profitable freelance writing businesses.
Add your email address below to be the first to hear when the program reopen to new students.
Editor’s note: The original version of this post was published on November 12, 2014.
Reader Comments (18)
Michael LaRocca says
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.
Stefanie Flaxman says
Right on, Michael!
Rahul says
Great post…. It can help me to improve my content writing skills… ๐ Thanks
Jocelyn Ring says
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.
Stefanie Flaxman says
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.
Stuart says
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.
Stefanie Flaxman says
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.
Robyn Smith says
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!
Sarah Walker says
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!
Emi says
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.
Umer Prince says
A good and quality blog post with amazing information.
Thanks,
Vishal Jaiswal says
Finally, I got the way to choose responsive article writers for my blog. Thank for sharing this article.
Julia McCoy says
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?
Pamela Wilson says
Julia, I’d be happy to learn more about what you’re looking for to see if there’s a way we can help.
Just email me via support@copyblogger.com this week: I look forward to hearing from you.
Sally says
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!
Matthew says
“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 ๐
A Q Arafat says
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.
Steven says
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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