Writer Wrangler

by Carson Brackney

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way…

In terms of online success, content is critical. That’s why people are willing to pay you to write.

Furthermore, good content is important. We can all come up with a nice long list of reasons why businesses should invest in high quality material. No matter how sick you may be of hearing it, that “good content is king” thing is true.

Finally, none of us have a convincing way of defining the amorphous concept of “quality content”. We try, but at least four things prevent us from constructing a clear, brightline definition:

1. The inherently subjective nature of “quality”
2. The nearly infinite assortment of variables that determine content’s utility
3. The fact that quality is comparative
4. The buyer’s return on the content investment

That can put writers in one helluva situation. It makes sense to sell “quality” and it’s essential to provide “quality”, but those factors can make it nearly impossible to do either.

It’s hard to sell something you can’t clearly define and it’s extremely difficult to hit the “quality” bullseye with the amount of information freelance writers (especially new ones) generally have at their disposal.

The client says she wants “10 articles, 500 words per article, on the following keywords…”

You could hand that assignment to a writing team of Nobel laureates and still end up with content that doesn’t do a damn bit of good.

In order to deliver the right goods, the writer needs to understand the intended use of the finished product. He or she needs to know the preferred editorial “slant” of the material. It’s a good idea to know how other existing material (if any) reads and what ground it covers. If the writer wants to clear the comparative hurdle, he or she needs to have an idea of the topic area’s marketplace and what others in that space are offering. What will the actual host site for the content look like? What’s the site’s target demographic and assumed level of expertise? Does the client know how to best use what you produce? Does their product have a snowball’s chance of even moderate success?

Etc., etc., etc. We could go on for hours.

In the world of content writing, however, most writers won’t have that information. If they do have a chance to secure it, the time required to uncover and synthesize it will make it virtually impossible to offer a competitive rate.

In other words, you’re selling your skills as a commercial pilot but your job requires strapping into a single engine plane and flying through a thunderstorm at night–without an instrument panel. How are you supposed to pull that one off?

While you’re probably going to end up in a tough situation more often than not, there are a few things you can do to increase your odds of delivering “quality”.

Ask critical questions. Most clients aren’t going to be interested (whether they should or not is irrelevant) in answering a litany of quiz questions. They want to place their orders, get the goods and call it a day. And, as noted, it isn’t practical for you to swim through an ocean of data to generate a fistful of keyword articles.

That doesn’t mean you can’t ask a few questions that may spell the difference between creating gems that will glimmer with quality and complete garbage. At the very least, you should have some idea of the intended purpose of the content and the necessary editorial direction.

Do a little homework. Your client probably did a little research on you, now it’s your turn. Google is your friend. Take a few minutes to see what the client is doing online and how they’re doing it. That will give you a much better chance of creating something that will measure up to the buyer’s expectations.

While you may not be able to determine exactly what your client needs, every shred of information helps.

Learn the business. This is the big one. If you want to produce content that deserves the “quality” label, you need to understand the industry inside and out. You need to develop the background and instincts that will allow you to better understand what buyers want and why they want it.

While it may not be a perfect substitute for information emanating directly from the horse’s mouth, having a broad and deep understanding of web content and Internet marketing is the next best thing. When you know the terrain like the back of your hand, you can start hitting the right buttons for just about every project.

Remember M*A*S*H? You want to develop Radar O’Reilly skills. You want to be able to complete Henry Blake’s sentences for him. When you’re client starts talking about a certain project, you need to know the likely story before he or she has finished the introduction. Keep your ears open–we all know that ass/u/me problem that can come along with filling in the blanks–but knowing your client’s business from the get-go is powerful stuff.

If you want to be an in-demand writer with a nice big client base, you need to find a way to do the seemingly impossible. You need to fly that plane in the dark through gale force winds without a single working gauge, coming in for a feather soft landing. You must supply “quality”, even if you can’t define it and even when you don’t have critical information.

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Carson Brackney works with entrepreneurs, marketers and small businesses to utilize the Internet to maximum advantage. As a veteran content supplier and copywriter, his consultancy specializes in creating content-based online business solutions.

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