Qualities of a content writer who can deliver
A lot of people who leave a message using my website’s contact form want to work with me as content writers.
I really admire their courage and confidence as, when I was trying to establish myself as a successful content writer on the web, I could never muster enough courage to approach another content writing website to give me work.
Even now, I cannot approach clients.
I simply promote myself on Google and social media websites like LinkedIn through constantly publishing content on my website and blog.
I maintain my visibility and I like it this way, even prefer it this way.
Nonetheless, when I receive queries from writers/people who want to make a living writing content or copy for other websites and businesses, I can’t help noticing how they have written and what it tells me about what type of writers and content writers they are.
No, in this blog post I’m not analyzing the writing styles of people who approach me for work.
I’m just creating a context and, in the process, if these people can read this particular blog post, I hope in some manner it will help them become better content writers.
Listed below are 5 qualities of a content writer who can deliver results – whom clients would like to hire and pay.
Remember that ultimately it is not about your writing abilities, it is about your ability to help your client grow his or her business.
Here they are…
1. Develop an understanding of the web medium
As a professional content writer, you will be writing for websites, blogs, email marketing campaigns and social media updates.
These are web entities.
Your writing will be accessed by people surfing the Internet through their PCs-laptops and mobile phones and tablets.
Mostly mobile phones.
Write for an Internet audience.
Develop an understanding of how people on the Internet read content.
Remember that the Internet is a buzzing ecosystem.
There are constant distractions whether these distractions originate from the surrounding environment or from within the device.
When someone is reading your writing on a mobile phone, the reader might be traveling in a car or a bus.
He or she might be standing in a queue or walking on the road (not advised).
He or she might be sitting in the park while keeping an eye on his or her kid in the play area.
He or she might be watching Netflix while trying to pay attention to what you have written.
There can be a zillion distraction in the physical world when a person is using a mobile phone.
Unlike reading a book or a magazine or a newspaper, or even sitting in front of the TV, there is no dedicated time or space for a mobile phone.
And what about distractions within the mobile phone?
There are notifications.
There are other mobile apps.
There are phone calls and video calls.
Amidst all that, you want the reader to pay attention to what you have written.
Write keeping that in mind.
Don’t beat around the bush.
Write shorter sentences.
Express one thought in a single sentence.
In most of the cases, write one sentence per paragraph.
Use shorter words unless it is absolutely necessary to use longer words.
2. Know how to strike up a conversation through your writing
Many writers who approach me want to impress with their writing and hence, end up writing staid sentences.
Although I can understand someone’s tendency to go to extra lengths to prove that he or she writes very well, the more effort you put into your writing, the less conversational it gets.
As a professional content writer who delivers results, your job is not to prove how well you write, your job is to engage your readers and convince them into taking the action you want them to take.
The same happens with every type of communication.
When you purposely use compound sentences and heavy words (by the way, I love heavy words) it shows that you are not comfortable in the language.
Write like you talk.
There is no harm in using very simple straightforward sentences.
Your job is not to impress but to engage your readers.
You don’t want to intimidate them.
You want to talk to them like a friend, like a well-wisher, like someone who wants to inform them and educate them and help them make a better decision.
3. Gain mastery over your skill
You will be able to write simply AND effectively only if you are totally at home with your skill.
Practice your art all the time.
Even when you are not working on paid assignments, keep writing.
Have you seen a maestro playing his violin?
Have you seen a classical singer?
Or a painter working on his or her masterpiece?
There is a mesmerizing rhythm.
This rhythm comes when you are totally comfortable with your skill, with your art.
When your skill and your art have become muscle memory.
When I want to express something, I don’t have to think about the words or the sentences.
It just flows out of me.
I’m not a Schumacher but if I want to go on a leisurely drive (in a car called writing) I can easily do that.
I’m not a Dostoevsky but I don’t have to pause and think of how to create the right sentences when I want to express myself.
This is because I practice every day.
Not a single day goes by when I don’t write.
If I’m not writing for a client, then I’m working on a journalistic article or an essay.
Write, all the time.
4. Constantly educate yourself and keep yourself informed
Knowledge gives you intellectual muscle and flexibility to be yourself when you are writing.
It gives you conviction.
It gives you authority.
Even if you don’t have to use a particular piece of knowledge in your content writing, it gives you the needed stability.
Even your clients will appreciate when you work for them as a professional content writer.
When you interact with them, when you write for them, it comes out naturally.
People can read between the lines.
Knowledge and education also make you more confident, so you don’t want to impress people just for the heck of it.
This again has a bearing on your writing.
Educating and keeping yourself informed was never easier.
Interact in online forums.
Read relevant news.
My field is content marketing and content writing and I am constantly reading about content marketing and content writing, and online copywriting.
Whether it is how to write well, or how Google is constantly changing the ranking algorithm, or how content marketing is constantly evolving or how the new tools and services are coming up…everything.
Are you keeping yourself updated on how the corona virus is spreading?
What about the impact 5G is going to have on Internet of Things?
Spend at least one hour every day on learning and doing new things.
5. Learn to empathize and think from the perspective of your readers
As a professional content writer your job is to convince people into doing business with your client (or with you).
Frankly, nobody is interested in knowing how great your client is.
But people are definitely interested in knowing how your client can improve their lives.
For that, you need to know what problems prospective customers and clients of YOUR client have and what sort of solutions they are looking for.
You see? How you write doesn’t matter.
What matters the most is the difficulties and problems being faced by the customers and clients of your client, and how much business your client can generate because of your writing.
You need to learn to how to empathize with not just your own client but also customers and clients of your client.
When I’m providing my content writing services to my clients I write for them as I write for my own business.
This is why, clients who don’t give me enough information put me off because this shows they themselves are not interested in getting good content for their own business.
I need to feel passionate.
If the client doesn’t feel passionate, it becomes difficult for me to write.
I need to be able to empathize with him or her and then, with his or her customers and clients.
In the end, by default you should be able to write well.
When you want to work as a content writer who delivers results, how you write doesn’t even figure.
What matters is, how well you communicate.
