i love pencils....鉛筆Image by 曼妮的閒晃世界Mani ’s lounging world via FlickrThis is a self-serving post, but what the heck. I love writing Web copy and have been doing it for years both “outside the box” as a freelancer and “inside the box” as a director of marketing. Based on that experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that any company would be wise to outsource some or all of their content development. Here’s why.

To focus on the customer. Companies tend to get wrapped up in their own products and services. But customers want to know what’s in it for them. If they believe your offering will save them money or increase their sales, customers may want to learn more about your products and services. Or they might just want to order, so it’s best to stay out of their way with unnecessary details.

To make it clear. Quite often, in-house personnel are too close to the jargon to see it. It takes an outsider to dejargonize content and make it comprehensible to outsiders (e.g., customers).

To make it credible. A Web site chock full of grammatical errors is worse than no Web site at all. Cynics might say the world has become illiterate. I say, people who read Web pages know how to read, so you ought to put your best foot forward. First impressions matter. People choose to do business with you based on the shoes you wear or the car you drive. It would be a shame to lose a million dollar opportunity because of a misspelled word or an incoherent sentence.

To get it done. Writing seems to be the lowest priority on the marketing totem pole. Far and away, the two things that stall Web site launches are collecting images and writing copy. But it makes no sense to a hold up a project for weeks and months when a professional copywriter can most likely complete the job in a matter of days.

What say you?
Have you ever outsourced Web content, or collaborated with an outside copywriter? What was the experience like?

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