I have two extremes of clients/prospects: those who want nothing to do with the writing, and those who will not let go of it. Honestly, I get rid of the first. If they want nothing to do with their content, then they tend not to care. They also tend not to respond. The folks who hold on too tight can be equally frustrating, yet it tells me that they care – about a lot of things. And I want my clients to care.

Care About Your Business

Frequently, business owners believe that no one else can care about their business as much as they do – and they’re correct. While I cannot care about someone else’s business as much as they do, I care about mine. My business is about creating content for business owners that they love and would create for themselves, if they had the time/inclination/skill set. I’m confident that others who do what I do, if they are at all successful, feel the same.

The mindset I wish people would adopt is, “I care so much about my business, I’m going to have a writing specialist manage my content.”

Another mindset that works for me is, “I didn’t go into business to write, let me find someone who did.”

Care About Your Image

Content put out under the banner of a business reflects on the business. A business’s image – it’s brand – is crucial and not to be besmirched. (I love that word.)

Good writing becomes a brand. Hiring a good writer allows a business owner to monitor content for brand consistency without having to worry about the time/inclination/skill set required to create it.

Care About Your Expertise

Presumably, the business owner is an expert in their field. That’s most likely why they went into business.

However, and I’ve said this more than once, sometimes the worst person to write about a topic is an expert. Business content needs to be understandable to the audience – who are regularly NOT experts. Content understandable for non-experts can be extremely difficult to create for people who are so good at what they do they’ve forgotten how they do it.

Personally, when I’m looking for an expert, I don’t need to understand everything they do. I just need to understand enough to know if they are the right expert for me. Content designed to attract clients needs to explain the expert, not the expertise.

Keep Caring – Let Me Do My Job

I love working with people who love their business. Their excitement is contagious, and it makes my job that much easier – when they let me do my job.

While not all writers are the same, there are some basics that will make the business owner/writer relationship much easier:

• Be prepared to provide the writer with the basics of your business more than once. We need to learn what you do before we can write about it competently – help us learn.
• Be prepared to provide the writer with topics and your thoughts on those topics. We are acting as your written voice, the content we create needs to reflect you and your opinions.
• Be prepared to give the writer time and space. Once we have what we need from you, it is OUR job to write it up.
• Be responsive to the writer. We are not mind readers; we need to know what you think of our product. I, for one, do not consider a product finished until my client says it is finished. If I don’t hear back from a client, about a question, clarification, or draft, there is nothing more I can do.

If I’m your writer, be prepared to laugh.