What Can Good Writers Do for My Business?
Having a writer on your team who knows how to navigate the business environment can be a huge asset to your company. In fact, a good writer can save your business in more than one way. No matter how good your products or services are, you need a writer to:
- Promote your goods and services
- Connect with your target audience
- Make search engines take notice of your website
- Help potential customers find your business online
- Protect your company’s online reputation
So then the question becomes how to find good writers. You can find writers in every city, town and hamlet. You can find writers by the score online with a simple search engine search. But how to find good writers remains a problem for businesses that want to hire or contract them.
Want to Learn How to Find Good Writers?
While finding writers is no problem, vetting them is. But there are answers to this dilemma. When you’re ready to learn how to find good writers for your business, listen to your friends at Ray Access and employ tips that include:
- Review the writer’s portfolio, including not just quality, but specialties and breadth of work
- Interview the writer to ask pointed questions about process, favorite accomplishments and research techniques
- Ask for references and follow up on them
- Find out if the writer uses a style guide or can write in different styles, depending on need
- Ask about the length of time required to complete an average project
To find a writer who matches your business needs, you have to do your due diligence. Even after a writer satisfactorily answers the questions above, and you move forward to hire or contract, you must stay vigilant to ensure that the content the writer produces continues to meet your standards. Don’t let your writers get lazy or sloppy.
How Else Can I Ensure a Business Writer Meets My Needs?
It’s one thing to know how to find good writers; it’s another to actually find out if they’re right for you and your business. Ray Access as a business is always on the lookout for good writers to add to the team. Once a writer agrees to our terms, he or she is given a test assignment, usually a short blog for a client.
This is a paid assignment because the principals of Ray Access believe that no writer should work for free, and the point of this exercise is to actually produce something useful. If the writer shows enough promise, other assignments will follow. Otherwise, the writer’s paid for the work and told to find work elsewhere.
How Do I Keep Writers Delivering Quality Work?
A test assignment is part of the process for onboarding a new writer, but even after the writer is accepted into the position, the principals and editors expect to coach the new writer through at least several assignments. Coaching takes several forms, including sending:
- The article back with notes for a rewrite
- Constructive criticism of completed work
- The edited version of the article back to the writer to compare
- Occasional general tips to stop commonly seen issues
If writers continue to make improvements, Ray Access continues to work with them. Plagiarism is grounds for immediate dismissal, but if the quality slips badly or no progress is observed, the writer is warned and then dismissed.
Deadlines are extremely important to the editors at Ray Access, as they are to you. Missing deadlines without prior notice is as a dismissible offense. It’s a balancing act, but the ultimate goal is to have a team of writers delivering good quality work. If you’re not sure how to find good writers, contact Ray Access.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.