The rising demand for online content, whether they’re blogs, Facebook posts, articles, press kits, or other materials, has created a void in the writing community. There’s opportunity abound for those wanting to make a living writing for the online infosphere and outside of scrambling around looking for a journalism job.
Freelancers with print/online journalism experience, however, make perfect content creators and curators for businesses. They’re not the only ones that excel at the task, either.
Do I Want to Be a Web Writer?
Do you? That question isn’t easy to answer, though there are a number of commonalities between content creators and media experts. These writers, for instance, have a wide range of interests. Most companies they work for offer services to construction firms, lawyers, universities, craft stores, organizations, and virtually cover every industry. There is no limit to diversification in the face of content writing, which means you, a potential Web writer, need to be completely flexible and open to publishing un-encountered information.
Web writers are or may also be…
- Interested in online marketing. Whether they write for online journals or for specific companies, Web writing is highly associated with building up digital campaigns for clients.
- Intrigued by social media. Social media plays a big role as well. Blogs need to weave their way through Facebook and Twitter in order to pick up readers.
- Inclined to investigate. These experts are the 21st century equivalent of nose-in-a-newspaper journalists with flashy press passes as featured in every political movie from the 1950s. Instead of a news room and bar, however, they have the Internet. This means Web writers need to be up to date on new trends and actively create a network of like-minded writers.
- Able to adapt. The online writing professional is constantly evolving to meet new trends and overall demand. What may be the blogging norm one day will likely disappear the next.
Web writers, of course, also need to be good editors. They are the grammar/spelling authority over clients, and what they say goes, which, from time to time, isn’t such a good thing. Explaining sentence structure to a business owner isn’t easy unless the writer has extensive copyediting experience and authority on the subject.
Which Web Writer Should I Hire?
From the client’s perspective, it’s just as challenging to hire and locate a Web writer as it is to become one. Prominent freelancers often have websites devoted to their resumes with clips and samples. Do these fit your needs as a company?
Experience is important as always, but an innate willingness to write content over a breadth of subjects is just as crucial. As a marketer of business owners, you want to find Web writers who are unfazed by daunting tasks such as writing website copy, blogs, social media posts, and press kits on complicated topics that they most likely do not have experience writing about.
Web writers come in all shapes and sizes. Bigger businesses with dollars are able to hire a single firm to handle all things online marketing or individual writers to handle different domains. In this vast online world there exists…
- Social media experts who excel at managing Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other media-related assets for businesses.
- Writers who specifically buffer websites with content that pertains to clients.
- Bloggers who write for various organizations in order to reach more readers.
- Journalists who focus on reporting news for huge websites. This includes Examiner.com-style articles and those on similar platforms.
A business owner may say, “So, I need one of each?” The answer: Absolutely not. Serious Web writers excel at every one of these areas because of their versatility. You likely need to build up your website, social following, and readership; the funny thing is that all of these elements overlap and play off of one another.
Your task is to find Web-based publishers or freelancers who are able to explain what they are doing and why they are doing it. Or, you can just contact Grammar Chic, Inc. by calling 803-831-7444 or visiting www.grammarchic.net.
Amanda E. Clark founded Grammar Chic in 2008. She is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and holds degrees in Journalism, Political Science, and English. She launched Grammar Chic after freelancing for several years while simultaneously leading marketing and advertising initiatives for several Fortune 500 companies.