One thing that makes me the most proud about my business as a freelance technology writer is the long-term relationships or LTRs I have developed with many clients.
Month after month, year after year, they come back to me with new assignments. And over time, they have come to trust me with the most highly visible and sensitive marketing communications.
I’m certainly grateful for this trust and these long-time client connections. And I believe that similar LTRs with freelance writers can bring many benefits to you:
- Knowledge of your corporate vocabulary and writing style means no dissonance among your marketing materials.
- Insights into your company’s culture helps the writer work appropriately and effectively with your subject experts and customers.
- Ideas from the writer’s broad experience can improve your sales materials and marketing messages.
- An understanding of your preferences simplifies work tools and processes, frequency of contact, how to handle issues that come up in the project, etc.
Once you have found the right freelance writer, here are some of the ways you can cultivate a sustained relationship.
- Consider your favorite writer not only for new projects, but also recurring projects such as case studies, blog posts, and email newsletters that always seem to be “lost in the shuffle” of more immediate tasks and deadlines.
- Develop the writer’s subject focus—such as technologies, issues, audiences—and leverage that focus over multiple projects.
- Give the writer new types of projects as a way to maximize your investment. For example, a technical copywriter who has not previously written a video script, but who knows your products and company, may be a better choice than an experienced but generalist scriptwriter who lacks the technology knowledge.
And perhaps the greatest benefits of a LTR: Cost-effective projects, faster schedules, and easier reviews as the writer needs to spend less time in developing your content and can apply knowledge across multiple documents and media.
Like any relationship, working with a freelance copywriter takes time, open communication, and a receptiveness to new ideas. But the reward of this effort will be great marcom and PR materials and a productive, reliable copywriter you can work with on many projects, for many years to come.
What do you think makes for a successful long-term relationship between a freelance writer and a client?
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