May is Writers Worth Month and a lot of the online discussion has been centred around writers understanding their own worth and running their businesses in a manner that reflects this appreciation.
However, I've also been thinking about the worth of a good writer to an organisation. One idea that keeps bouncing in my head is that a writer is not a typist. Put like that, I know it sounds very obvious, and yet, over and over, I have dealt with clients who attempt to use writers as just that.
Here are two benefits for letting your writer do their job:
A writer brings a wealth of experience to your business. Many writers have qualifications, skills and their experience in their field of expertise. A writer's job also entails a lot of reading and interviewing people, some of whom are experts in their fields. This means that they have access to a wealth of teachers who ensure they understand their topics enough to be able to write about it.
Some of this information may have a direct bearing on your industry and the stakeholders you want to communicate with.
It cost you nothing extra to let your writer enhance your business with this information. However, if you treat your writer as a typist, you will never even know what you missed out on and how that information could have translated into effective communication that makes you more money.
A writer bring brings creativity and craftsmanship to your business. I've had clients who repeatedly told me that they are good writers and then proceed to tell me how I should do my job. Not just giving their brief for the job, which is essential for a writer to meet the client's needs, but telling me in detail how to execute this brief.
The issue is not whether the client is a good writer or not. You may be an excellent writer in general, but you are not "the writer"for this particular project, and forgetting that hobbles your writer, who is then stuck trying to do the job you would have done, instead of giving you his best.
I hope that the next time you hire a writer, you consider what value the writer can add to your project. If you harness that, you will be pleasantly suprised by the richness that will enhance your final product.
Share with us: what value do you think writers bring to projects?
3 comments:
Damaria, sorry for my absence. Thank you for promoting Writers Worth! It's such an important cause to me. I would have thanked you sooner, but May was also my busiest month and the month I go to an annual conference to find new clients. My timing is lousy. :)
No worries Lori. I'm glad businesss was busy for you. In my fantasy life, hundreds of writers and bloggers will post a little something about writers worth on their blogs we would never find them all in the month of May. I would be happy to see it grow legs like that.
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