"We just don't have the budget for it …"

The biggest communication issue many of you face is that you simply can’t afford to outsource your much-needed writing project, so you (a) don’t do it (b) do it yourself or (c) give it to the intern.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these options …

Don’t do it — Bad idea if you lose potential customers, income or credibility because you failed to communicate something important. Good idea if the project wasn’t thought out very well or execution would be poor.

Recommendation: Make an old-fashioned paper list of pros and cons and weigh the return on investment before deciding whether or not to move ahead.

Do it yourself — Bad idea if you have to kill yourself to get it done in addition to all your other work or if you’re unable to produce clear and compelling copy. Not so bad idea if this is your forte and you have the time to do it.

Recommendation: Err on the side of caution here and don’t do it yourself if you can help it (unless it’s your job!). Remember that most people write better than they say they do but not as well as they think. :)

Give it to the intern — Bad idea if the intern is clueless. Smart idea if you have an energetic intern who can create copy that’s worth the read.

Recommendation: Hire interns who have interest and experience in writing, explore the creative capabilities of your existing staff, hire a professional who can give voice and tone to your company/brand and then see if the intern can mimic the style.

Now for my little commercial …

Wouldn’t you agree that investing time and money into long-range planning, staffing and technology resources, and revenue generators is a good idea? Of course! Savvy professionals (like you ) know there’s no substitute for quality. A client of mine ended up outsourcing their web content to me last-minute because they used someone who didn’t understand the strategy or the medium. Though my client inched over budget a tiny bit by having to have the work redone, my quick turnaround time and on-message copy resulted in one of their most successful product launches.

By JanO on 1/8/08, In Uncategorized, Tags advice, dialogue, great copy, hate to write, how to write, how-to, ideas, non writers, self-publishing, shortcuts, typing, writing mistakes