Yes, You Probably Should Hire a Professional Writer

Okay, I'll admit. I'm biased.

I'm going to be really biased in this post.

Clearly I am. Because I am a professional writer.

...But, in my defense, since I am a professional writer, I also have a pretty good grasp on why you should, in fact, pay for someone like me to write the thing you need written.

First of all, let me acknowledge the fact that we are no longer in the heyday of blogging. There were a few years - around that 2011-2013 time frame - when everyone and their mother had a blog. It was pretty much mandatory to have a blog. There were blogs for literally everything, about everything, with advice for everything. But then, thanks to a number of factors, not least of which was the rising popularity of bite-sized consumption of media on platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook, blogs - and the era of writing at least 400 words every time you wanted to tell people something - fell a little out of favor.

Still, I think writers are needed. Descriptions, captions, text boxes in Instagram or YouTube posts, Facebook pages... all of it still needs to be conveyed, and now, words count more than ever (literally: there are still word count limits on platforms like Twitter). The platforms may have changed, the word count requirements may have dropped, but concise, clear, comprehensible pieces of writing are still needed. Earlier this year, a study was released that said adults spend 12 hours and 7 minutes per day consuming media. All of that media (well, most of it, at least), probably has some writing attached to it somewhere, whether in a Facebook post advertising it or a description box attached to it.

That is a lot of media being consumed - and even more media being put out there to be consumed.

So why hire a writer?

One of the biggest roadblocks I encounter as a professional writer trying to justify my occupation is people simply believing that because they can speak English, and know English, they can write. To an extent this is, obviously, true. I mean, you can write. You can probably even write decently well.

But this is a bit akin to saying something along the lines of because you can talk, you should become a broadcaster on tv. Or because you can dribble a basketball, you could easily be an NBA star. There is a little more that goes into it than just writing some words down and hitting "post." Below, I want to share a few of the top reasons why it I believe it is important to have a professional writer on your side, especially if you are a business owner, a marketing or sales professional, or basically any person who is trying to market anything, including yourself.

1. Writers are Grammar Pros. I trust that many of you have good grammar. You may have even been a superstar in English class back in your high school days. But the reality is, we have busy lives, and unless you grew up to be an English teacher, a translator, editor, writer or other language professional, your day to day interest in keeping up on grammar and style has probably fallen by the wayside. Writers and editors, on the other hand, live and breathe this kind of stuff. In the same way that an accountant might be really fast and efficient at crunching numbers, or an athlete stays in shape and thinks about their physical well-being every single day, writers are experts at grammar and can spot an error from a mile away. It's just easier and quicker and more efficient for us to write well because we do it all day, every day. We also probably keep up with grammar blogs, have several style guides sitting on our desk (or bookmarked in our browsers), and enjoy dissecting nuances in language. It's quick and easy for us to write technically well because we do it constantly, and are continuously perfecting this ability. If it has been 15 years (or more) since you last cracked open a style guide or a grammar textbook, you may be a little rusty and it might take longer for you to edit your own work... or, worse, you won't even notice when you make a mistake. And even if you don't notice an error, trust me, others out there will. I mean, there are entire blogs dedicated to making fun of grammatical mistakes. You don't want your piece to end up there.

2. Different Writing Styles are Required, and they Change All of the Time. Here, I mean style as in the general feel that a piece of writing has. One of my favorite aspects of being a writer is that there are different styles of writing for different applications. The style I use when writing a sales presentation is so different than what I would use when writing a blog, which is also a different style than I use when promoting something in a Tweet... and so on. As a writer, I basically carry around a toolbox of different writing styles and I pull out the right one for whatever application I am working on. And again, since I do this professionally, it's like second nature. I can switch up my style of writing at the drop of a hat. An individual who is not used to writing in different styles may struggle to get the tone or voice or nuances of a piece just right for the intended application. I should also add that the tastes of readers (or consumers, or whomever your audience consists of) is constantly evolving, and thus styles of writing tend to constantly change. As a writer, it's my job to stay on top of what is trendy at the moment. The voice I used on Twitter 5 years ago, for instance, is not really the same voice I would use to compose Tweets today. Just like fashion, tastes evolve over time. Readers may not really consciously notice the difference, but it's there. Just take a look at a 1960s advertisement vs. the copy in an ad from today, and you will see a dramatic difference. Sure, it's been 50 years, but the seemingly dramatic change happened slowly, in increments over time, every year from then to now.

3. Writers Know How to Get the Point Across. I can't tell you how many times I've stumbled upon a blog post or even an article and wondered what the point was. There is definitely a structure that needs to be followed when writing. Not that it is complicated: usually it just involves a clear introduction, a "thesis" statement, several supporting pieces of information or facts, and a conclusion and maybe a call to action. But so often, I find people get lost along the way, and an article meanders or doesn't really ever get to the point, and can be difficult to follow or make much sense of. I can only imagine that the author behind the article got excited by a little detail and lost sight of the big picture, or perhaps forgot that they needed to provide some sort of structure to a piece in the first place. That's where a writer is important: they will consider the overall structure of the story, or article, or piece, and be able to make sure that the point is getting across clearly and concisely.

4. Time. Writing is a time consuming thing. You many not realize it, because you probably send multitudes of text messages every day, or write emails all day long and don't think much of those words you are pushing into the world. But writing a quality piece, one that will grab (and hold) the attention of readers, a work that is clear and reads well, something that is flawless and totally error-free as far as grammar goes... that is what is difficult and time-consuming to produce. Since writers are incredibly well-versed at different types of writing and write all day (and in some cases, all night), they can probably polish off a piece 20 times faster than you. It's just not worth agonizing over a block of text when a writer can do it quickly, efficiently, and accurately. In addition, I often offer research and interviews with my writing services, because I have gotten pretty good at that over the years, too, and having background information beforehand that I gathered on my own often makes the job of writing the final piece much easier and quicker to do. Writing is a process, and it can be time-consuming to do it right. Getting from the blank page to the finished piece is a less time-consuming (and agonizing) process when done by a pro.

I would never discourage someone from exploring the joys of writing: it can be therapeutic, fun, relaxing, and even a wonderful way to explore new concepts and ideas. But when it comes to professional writing that will be seen by the world, it is so beneficial to have someone who knows what they are doing, do it. A piece of writing is way more likely to be clear and grammatically flawless, and be produced in a shorter amount of time, with a professional writer in charge.

As with most things in life, you really do get what you pay for. Writers are not just writing for fun (although they typically love their craft... at least I know I do!). Writing is definitely a precise art and very much a process, from gathering research, building out drafts, revising, editing, and finalizing a piece. Whether it's a 140 character tweet, an Instagram description, or a full-on blog post, it will probably be consumed by a lot of people, and it may be their first impression of you or your business. Presenting quality writing on social media, a website or blog, is more important than ever before, considering the endless barrage of media that is being pushed into the world on a daily basis.