Three things to expect when you hire a writer!
Okay, so you decided to hire a writer to blog about you, your work, and your landscape and lawn care services. You’ve learned that hiring a marketing writer doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
Smooth sailing, right?
Well, don’t think that you’ve washed your hands from the project. You’re still the boss and you need to provide some direction to your marketing team, which includes that writer you recently hired.
Here are three things to expect from your freelance writer when she writes blog posts for you:
- Introductory questions: Most market-savvy writers will know to ask you specific questions about your blog goals. But if you hire a newbie writer, she may not know what questions she should be asking you:
Who is your ideal client?
What type of people do you serve (upper class, upper middle class, commercial, or just residential)
What climate and growing zone do your clients live in?
What’s your business’s cycle? For example, if I have a client in a temperate zone, say in Florida, then I need to know what their growing cycle is like since I’m from Pennsylvania.
What does your business do: hardscaping, landscaping, lawn care, or a combination of all three?
What makes your business stand out from the crowd?
How often do you want to publish your blog–once a month, biweekly, or weekly?
How often do you want to pay your writer? After each blog post, once a month, or on a quarterly basis?
And do you want Q&A- (Question and Answer), how to-, or informational blogs? Or a mixture of all three?
- The editorial calendar: You’re probably thinking, the editorial what? But the editorial calendar is essential for a streamlined relationship with your writer. And an editorial calendar doesn’t have to be formal. I have clients who want me to focus on a theme, like lawn diseases, for a couple of months and others who’ll give me general topics to focus on for one month. I’ll do some added research, if needed, and then, write the blog.
- Your feedback:It’s imperative that you look at the blog draft before it goes online. You should also feel that your copywriter is approachable to fixing any mistakes–including the grammatical and spelling ones. And a copywriter shouldn’t charge you for revisions–at least not for the first two revisions. After more than two revisions, you and your writer may need to work out communication kinks or decide to part ways.
Look, I know writing can be intimidating. Yet, you can feel comfortable that there are competent writers out there–including ones who specialize in the lawn care/landscape industries–who’ll write blogs for you at a reasonable rate.
Do you want to post a regular blog for your clients and prospects? Then call me at 717-381-6719 (EST) or email me at wendy@landscapewriter.com to collaborate on your landscape or lawn care blog.
