Clear Communication Ensures a Successful Working Relationship
Communication is essential for a productive relationship. This is true in personal relationships, business relationships, and the freelance writer-client relationship. Effective communication ensures that your wishes are properly conveyed and understood by your writer. Taking the time to clarify your goals and clearly communicate your expectations reduces the need for rewrites.
Be sure to clearly convey your expectations and requirements. Don’t assume that the writer knows what you need. Each client has unique requirements, even when the projects or type of content are very similar. Provide details about the information you want included, the approach, tone, voice, and any other requirements or expectations you have for your project.
Good communication in the early stage often prevents the need for revisions. Before the work begins, state your specific requirements, how you want the information conveyed, the details you want included, and any other pertinent information to help the writer understand what you need. Clear communication is the best way to ensure a successful project.
Everyone has preferences for how they like to communicate. Some like the phone. Others prefer email. This often works well for communication with a freelance writer, since your notes and thoughts are in writing and easy for the writer to refer to when working on your project. It also creates a record of what was discussed and reviewing the emails may show where information is left out or more detail is needed.
If you like to have an initial conversation by telephone, you may want to follow up phone calls with an email. Your writer may send an email that recaps what was discussed. You can read through it and possibly remember something that you forgot to mention and easily respond to the email to make sure the writer has the information needed to complete your project.
Your freelance writer is likely send you a questionnaire to fill out with information about your business, what makes you unique, and sets you apart from the competition. Whether you are hiring a blog writer, web content writer, or grant writer, specific information will be needed to complete your project. Your writer will convey this to you and make sure to gather all the material and resources needed to produce quality content that suits your specific needs.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions at the start of the project to make sure your requirements are clearly understood by the writer. Your freelance writer will probably ask additional questions based on the information you provide to clarify any details that may not be well defined.
Working closely with a freelance writer allows you to seek advice on other topics. For example, if you hire a writer to create blog posts, but then realize you need a white paper or case study, you can get guidance and valuable tips. An experienced writer will often be able to provide information on how you can use certain material to further develop your content marketing strategy.
