Hiring a Business Writer

Posted by Terence P Ward Jun 22, 2008

The internal documents of any business (business and marketing plans, press releases, corporate documents) are best drafted by an writer that has a familiarity with the industry. Focusing too heavily on either the writing or industry experience generally causes weaknesses in the documents, such as:

• Poorly organized writing
• Bad assumptions about the audience's prior knowledge
• Common grammar and spelling mistakes

. . . if written by the insider without writing experience, and

• Poor understanding of jargon
• Tendency towards vague, generic writing
• Documents that miss the mark in terms of message or audience

. . . if a more seasoned writer without the specialty knowledge of the business is brought in. Either imbalance can be addressed with planning.

Larger companies are more likely to yield employees with writing experience. Obtain writing samples to get a sense of the employee's writing skill and voice.

On the Job Training for Hired Writers

Freelance writers should also be interviewed, of course! Select one whose skill with language and deadline suits your needs, and then make sure your writer is up to speed on your company's culture. Before putting a writer to work on documents that require a level of understanding of the industry, hire him to fill other needs, like a new business card, newsletter column, or how-to article. Other projects will give your writer the perspective necessary to work on business plans and the like with the proper perspective, while making use of the time it takes to learn those nuances.

You can also just let your new freelancer do independent research and interview key employees to get this information, which is something that will have to happen anyway. Learning by writing, however, will result not only in accurate documents, but in ones that reflect the sense of your corporate culture in a way that research will never reveal.