A colleague shared with me the other day how frustrated and disappointed she was with hiring freelance writers and marketing consultants to help with her business. I asked what she thought the problem was and she shared some very specific things with me.

What she said neither shocked nor surprised me. Unfortunately, I hear it all the time from clients who hire me to fix or clean up the aftermath of hiring the wrong person.

Let me say upfront that some freelancers are just plain awful at their craft; others are well intentioned; and still others make excellent partners. And just because someone is good at what they do, does not mean they’ll be the right partner for you.

I could literally write a book about when and how to hire a freelancer — and when not to. So, for brevity’s sake, let’s just look at the topic based on what my colleague shared.

Here’s what she said made her blood boil:

Freelancers who are copywriters but try to be marketing consultants

Marketing communications “consultants” or “coaches” who recommend the same cookie-cutter approach for B2B that they recommend for B2C

Those who are so into social media that they make social media the focus of their conversation before they really understand my business

Yikes. I winced at those. It’s embarrassing to me as a consultant/coach/freelancer to have others tarnish my beloved profession.

As a consultant experienced in both B2B and B2C marketing and communications, I know how challenging it can be to distinguish the two. In fact, I’m working with a client who is using a big, fancy New York agency and we’ve had to repeatedly remind them that our end-customer is not the consumer. The distinction can be a fine line, and I’m of the opinion that social media and e-communication is changing even the B2B space. (More on that another time.)

But, that’s no excuse for delivering shoddy, ineffective copy. And there’s never an excuse for delivering templated anything.

So, here are my suggestions for avoiding what my colleague had to endure:

1. Find and qualify. Get referrals from peers and colleagues, networking groups, etc. But don’t stop there. Do some additional research. Visit their web site, Google their name, set a Google alert, pre-screen by phone before meeting them face-to-face, do a reference check, compare them to others, etc., etc., etc. Be thorough in your research. My own toolbox contains a simple pre-screen questionnaire that I use to qualify clients. Know what your  expectations are before you start looking for someone who can meet them. And remember, it’s rare to find someone who can “do it all.” You may need multiple partners to accomplish your goals. For example, I know some about social media, but it’s not my area of expertise — and I tell my clients that. If your potential partner says, “yes, yes, yes” and claims to be an expert in anything and everything, run for the hills … at least be sure to do additional research. Do they know the difference between PR and publicity? Are they accredited in their niche? How long have they been offering the service and in what capacity? Interview them and research their background thoroughly. Of course, balance that with the fact that until you’ve hired them, there’s a limited amount of time they can invest with you. Be respectful of their time and circumstances while you do due diligence.
2. Perform a gut check. If their web site copy sounds like hype, perhaps it is. If you hear nice things about them with an underlying “be cautious” tone, don’t ignore it. Do not talk your way into or out of a partnership. You should be genuinely excited about who you’re going to work with. In my own business, I only work with people who seem as though they’ll value my contribution and respect my time. I’m not in the business of doing rush jobs, for example. There are plenty of great freelancers who cover that niche. I’m not one of them so I would not be the best partner for a client who has a hurry-up need. If a potential client tells me it’s not a rush job but I still get the sense that it is, I heed the warning. Doing a gut check saves me and my potential client a lot of heartache. Here’s another example from my own business: Like many freelancers, I typically invoice new clients one-third of estimated hours and wait for payment before getting started. Clients who balk at my terms are a red flag for me. Now, I’m not saying every freelancer should do that, but it works well for me and, more importantly, it helps me vet my clientele.
3. Do your part. Sometimes, like it or not, the issue is with you, not your consultant or freelancer. How’s your communication? Do you hand off work and disappear, only to come back at the 11th hour? Touch base, schedule status updates, set guidelines and milestones. Your job is to manage the expectations of the project. Even the most independent professional cannot operate in a vacuum. I recently ended a client relationship for that very reason. My client simply would not engage with me, nor would she delegate that responsibility to someone on her staff. While I’m very flexible in how I work with people, I will not sit idly and listen to the sound of crickets. It’s a deal breaker for me.
4. Remember you get what you pay for. While price is not necessarily equated to quality, it can be an indicator. Great partners charge a fair market rate that’s probably on the high end. While my hourly rate is competitive, I’m certainly not the lowest priced freelancer around. Why? Because I’m worth what I charge. I write fast. Very fast. I write well. I deliver results. And I charge accordingly. When considering hourly  or project rates, consider the time your project could take. A $45/hour freelancer may take three times as long as, say, a $90/hour freelancer. (Not always, of course, but keep it in mind.)

Okay, so I could keep going and going. I have opinions about these things! :)

Bottom line? Do your research, trust your gut, set and manage expectations, take the plunge and learn from your mistakes.

Share your freelance/consultant horror and success stories with me by leaving a comment.

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After a short spring break, I’m back today to continue my series on relevant content.

Let’s take a closer look at the second of my four characteristics of relevant content: timely.

There are plenty among us who subscribe to the belief that, when it comes to content, “once done, always done.” By this I mean they seem to think that creating content and posting it for all eternity is a good idea. I suspect that’s because they think of content as a one-time investment.

Wrong. I’m here to debunk that myth.

In order for content to be relevant (remember that relevant means meaningful, memorable and useful), it also must be fluid. It must change and grow and expand and shrink and live and breathe and … well, you get the idea. As I’ve said, people change and so should the content that’s geared toward those very same people.

Even content that’s relatively “static” — meaning the facts don’t really change – should still get a refresh now and then. Trust me, there’s more than one way to tell your “About Us” story.  A good writer can write it 15 or 100 different ways.

So, for the sake of argument, let’s just say that there is no need to keep content timely. What might that look like to a site visitor?

Well, a first-time visitor will likely not notice anything. But a repeat visitor, well, that’s a different animal altogether. They will notice same-old, same-old content. And because they look to you to be the expert in whatever field, industry or service you provide, you’ll look like a yam-head if you don’t. (And nobody wants that!)

By not refreshing your content, you’re essentially telling your site visitors that you know all there is to know and that there’s absolutely nothing new to know — or to share. That kind of thinking, I believe, is dangerous. It leads to your customers and potential customers thinking you’re out of touch or worse, not credible.

Blogs and social media are so popular, in part, because they provide fresh and TIMELY information. Not only do people want the latest and greatest news, product information, opinions and more, they EXPECT and DEMAND it.

Now it’s up to you to give it to them.

How, then, do you keep your content timely? Here’s my 3-step plan:

1. Dedicate resources. Everyone in the company ought to be charged with keeping up with trends and writing about them. Have an in-house or freelance writer/editor use their findings to create web copy, sales literature, marcom, etc.

2. Create a content strategy. Decide who does what, when, and why. How will you manage content, archive it and how often and when will you update it? All of this should be part of your content strategy.

3. Although this is an extension of my point above, I want to call it out special just in case you skip step #2. Conduct a yearly audit and refresh (minimum). Schedule time for your dedicated resource(s) to review content and revise it. Create a timeline and stick to it.

Remember, timely content is relevant content and it’s part of what will keep you relevant to your customers, readers, clients, whomever. It’s an opportunity to differentiate, to serve and to lead.

P.S. Here’s a link to a related post on making a commitment to your copy: http://www.janodaniel.com/blog/2009/01/old-new/.

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Here’s a question I asked on LinkedIn back in December and the subsequent discussion. I thought I’d share the dialogue since we talked about the “untalked about” such as:

• What impact regulatory review has on creating user-friendly copy
• Understanding the differences with online and offline content in a Web 2.0 world
• Optimizing copy for search without losing the human element/relationship component

Special thanks to my “guest bloggers” for their keen insight. These folks had a lot of great things to add to the conversation. Read on to see what they (and I) have to say, then continue the conversation by adding your comments and opinions to this post. 

My Original Question:

When it comes to web copy, what’s your (or your client’s) biggest challenge?

Answer #1:

In my experience, trying to get clients to understand that web copy is different than print copy is difficult. People don’t read copy in a web site they way they do a print piece and very rarely are they going to read it all! We’ve always tried to get clients to use headlines and bullets to separate content and make it easier for someone to find the information they are looking for when skimming pages. To add another twist, you need to have keyword rich content for SEO purposes. There are so many things to consider to write good clean copy that converts customers.

Answer #2:

Web sites often take a bad turn when user interface and web copy experts are not brought in to a web redesign process early enough and, therefore, appropriate use cases are not developed and planned for in the site. Use cases, for example, often don’t take into consideration where visitors are coming from and where they are in the education or buying process. It is easy to forget that we never sell anything … people buy things and we need to make that buying process as easy as possible. Design, copy and information architecture all has to work hand in hand, as a team so to speak. The process takes time and great thoughtfulness and one has to get to an outside-in view on their organization … not the typical inside-out view most organizations take. Anyone ever been to a web site that reads like a brochure — and a bad one at that?

My Reply:

Thanks for your comments and input. I couldn’t agree more with both of you. It is a delicate balance in achieving effective, readable copy that is optimized for search but, of course, it’s very doable. And I especially appreciate that you realize the value of bringing in web copy experts at the beginning of a project. In working with a wide range of clients to develop web copy that is on brand, on message and optimized for search, I find that clients typically overlook one very important thing: their customer. As you said, many companies take an “inside out” approach and I find this to be especially true when they speak to their customers. My goal is to help companies find and use their voice when communicating with their customers — both online and off.

Answer #3:

Wow. Big topic. There a lot of angles to copy that complicate it. Your question asks what’s the biggest challenge with copy. Its a tough question because there isn’t a lot of good advice or absolutes about it. It’s almost always a “depends on the situation.” Sure there are some web copy baselines, like ones mentioned above (concise where possible, use of headlines, etc.), but writing copy depends greatly on its application in a given site. I have a few questions that I use to gain greater insight to the context of copy’s role in a given place- it helps bring focus to the writing process:

~~What is content?~~
Big provocative question to start, but an important one. Often the web development process separates visual design from copy content, resulting in a site where words are most definitely working nearly on their own and can be written as such (assuming a good creative brief and IA have been completed).  But, in other cases a “high design” site will depend on the integration of copy with visual design. This type of content development requires a different process — designers and writers working o together with an interaction designer, many storyboards and pots of coffee.

~~Who is your user?~~
It was mentioned above. You can’t forget your user. Of course, everyone talks about their user, but do you know what motivates them? What kind of language resonates with them? Also, “them” represents a potentially diverse set of users who have varying motivations, purposes for visiting, etc. Finding the right way to message to a diverse group is at the center of “all things web strategy.” The way to deal with this is probably in a book-to-be-written, but for the sake of this discussion, I’ll just say its important to (1) identify whether you have a diverse psychographic user set and (2) prioritize them demographically ahead of time for the sake of conflict resolution with your team.

~~Why is copy important?~~
It seems silly, but I always ask the question. It seems defacto to believe carefully crafted copy is important to the success of the site, and most of the time it is. Sometimes though, its not worth putting resources at something that success if not dependent on. Fact of the matter is that some sites don’t have or need a lot of copy, or copy is generated by some of other means, such as the users themselves, dynamically aggregated, etc.  Copy is sometime most important for its impact on SEO. Of course another complicated beast, but when your search engine performance is crucial, resources need to be committed to well-planned copy. Keyword density, linking and content order need to page addressed on a page-by-page basis. And, often pages that do not seem important, actually are because of their impact on how search engines see your site.  When writing copy, know why you are writing it. Sometimes its to persuade people, sometimes its to persuade Google Bot. And sometimes, its guide the user and not get in the way.

~~Where are you?~~
Most content is written on a page-by-page basis. I think this is a great practice. Not just because its logical and manageable, but because it allows the writer to address the unique needs of each page. A writer should ask before each page, “Okay, where am I?” It’s critical to realize that when writing a page of content, the page lives in an environment. Not all pages work on their own; rather they work together in sequence with one another in a network of only slightly predictable user paths. A good exercise to make sense out of this is for each page, ask (1) who SHOULD visit this page?, (2) why did they arrive here? and (3) where might I want to send them next? You can probably think up others, but hopefully you get the point — good copy is dependent on its ability to serve the situations a page acts. 

SO, what is the toughest challenge in web copy? Dealing with these dynamics and their effects on the writing process.

Answer #4:

Years ago at AOL/CompuServe/Netscape in Columbus, I worked with financial content and Forbes.com, which was one of my biggest providers. They quickly learned that their usual 14-page magazine articles were a total yawn on the Internet, so they’d massively edited them down for the web and we were very successful with those articles — especially “top 10″ lists. The web has attention-deficit disorder, so you’ve got less than 2-3 seconds to capture the user, so you better make it immediately worthwhile. Waste the user’s time and he’s gone to the next thing an instant. To answer your question as it pertains to me now, the challenge is to meet the above demands plus what the others above mention, and to also pass medical, legal and regulatory reviews.

My Reply #2:

You bring up an interesting challenge and one that I think is rarely talked about. You’re exactly right when you say users are more prone to clicking away if there’s no immediate payoff. That’s why companies need to understand (or remember) that interactive is both a “push” and a “pull” medium.

Our job is to create compelling interactive experiences rich with content that users both want and need. (Of course, content is not just copy, it’s also video, audio, PDFs, data, downloads, charts, music, presentations, etc.)

I hear you about the medical, legal and regulatory reviews … one great thing about the interactive space is that you can make those necessities available but non-intrusive, meaning that you can put a privacy policy, legal disclaimer, contest rules or T&C in a place where site visitors can see it or agree to it without cluttering up what they’re trying to do.

Remember, interactive is a task-oriented medium, so we must help them accomplish their task in a way that’s both engaging and easy. Still, we live in a litigious society, so medical, legal and regulatory reviews are all the more important; however, they must be balanced with the user experience.

I suspect, perhaps, that as a whole, we’ve kept an “us” and “them” mentality, with interactive services on one side and medical/legal/regulatory on the other. Wouldn’t it be interesting to open up a dialogue between the two sides and start looking at a holistic solution that serves the user and satisfies the regulatory side?

From my experience working with legal and medical review, we are often forced to acquiesce on content, sometimes to the detriment of the user experience and project goals. I’d love to see a more collaborative relationship between these two oft-times opposing sides.

And, with the explosion of user-generated content and social media influences, don’t you agree that it’s well past time we loosened the reins just a tiny bit on the “we can say this, but not that” mentality that’s pervaded the content approval process since before the internet age?

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The answer is simple. Irrelevancy.

Self-serving blog posts (and other types of internally focused interactive content for that matter) do nothing to engage and inspire.

Now I’m not saying that corporate bloggers can’t talk about themselves at all; I’m simply saying that when they do talk about themselves or their products, they must do it in a way that’s real, transparent and relevant to their readers. Only then can they build relationship and boost credibility.

Read this AdWeek article for a recap of a Forrester Research study that found less than 20 percent of consumers trust corporate blogs, then share your thoughts here.

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