You know the secret to a long-term, and profitable, client relationship is delivering effective communication tools. But you may not realize that the impact of your writing has more to do with your skill as a writer than with your knowledge of the subject.
It would be in your best interests to make your clientele aware of your writing skills and not limit yourself to what you can do as a writer.
Companies have certain individuals in their employ who can be best termed as specialists, people who are supposed to know everything that has to be known about its products and services. So what's keeping them from creating awesome marketing tools such as user guides and advertisements, and why do they keep befuddling co-workers with their training methodologies?
Simple - because they aren't you - they do not have that ability to write with oomph and communicate effectively to achieve the best results possible. We've all met experts who "know their stuff" but can't share their knowledge -- perhaps your math or physics or French teacher, or an engineer or programmer in a company you know, or even your doctor, lawyer, or insurance agent.
At some point, a company realizes they need help communicating, educating prospects, customers, and their own employees about the benefits and best practices associated with their products and services. And when the time comes for them to enlist outside help, they scratch their heads trying to remember why they did that!
Your long-term success depends on reminding them of that need for communication skills. After all, a clinical crackerjack would rather talk to a fellow doctor, a golfing guru would rather talk shop with a fellow golf pro and a champion computer specialist would rather talk bits and bytes with somebody like-minded - you get the idea, they would rather talk to one of their own rather than people more attuned to creative pursuits, such as writers.
If left to their own devices, they will likely hire somebody who is indeed a specialist in their field, but with middling writing skills. Come a year or two after, that middling "writer" would be looking for employment elsewhere as said company would be looking for yet another person after they realized, albeit too late, that the first "writer" they got couldn't move the company with the copy and/or training materials he/she created.
If you know how to help yourself, you can help your clients out as well.
When you get an opportunity to talk to a prospect about creating effective communications for them, keep pushing the conversation toward the skills they need to pull it off. You should inculcate in them that they do need someone from the outside apart from their in-house, more technical writers. Help them recognize that your skills complement their knowledge, that it is that combination that produces results in the form of higher revenues, more customers, or enhanced employee performance.
Even if you know their subject matter well, your skills are more important. After all, should their product line change, or new markets open, they may be dealing with a new body of knowledge in a year or two.
Companies will always have an ongoing need for effective communication, and by serving as not just a freelance business writer but also as a communications expert, you can ensure that the company's business will always be fertile despite changing trends in the business climate.
It would be in your best interests to make your clientele aware of your writing skills and not limit yourself to what you can do as a writer.
Companies have certain individuals in their employ who can be best termed as specialists, people who are supposed to know everything that has to be known about its products and services. So what's keeping them from creating awesome marketing tools such as user guides and advertisements, and why do they keep befuddling co-workers with their training methodologies?
Simple - because they aren't you - they do not have that ability to write with oomph and communicate effectively to achieve the best results possible. We've all met experts who "know their stuff" but can't share their knowledge -- perhaps your math or physics or French teacher, or an engineer or programmer in a company you know, or even your doctor, lawyer, or insurance agent.
At some point, a company realizes they need help communicating, educating prospects, customers, and their own employees about the benefits and best practices associated with their products and services. And when the time comes for them to enlist outside help, they scratch their heads trying to remember why they did that!
Your long-term success depends on reminding them of that need for communication skills. After all, a clinical crackerjack would rather talk to a fellow doctor, a golfing guru would rather talk shop with a fellow golf pro and a champion computer specialist would rather talk bits and bytes with somebody like-minded - you get the idea, they would rather talk to one of their own rather than people more attuned to creative pursuits, such as writers.
If left to their own devices, they will likely hire somebody who is indeed a specialist in their field, but with middling writing skills. Come a year or two after, that middling "writer" would be looking for employment elsewhere as said company would be looking for yet another person after they realized, albeit too late, that the first "writer" they got couldn't move the company with the copy and/or training materials he/she created.
If you know how to help yourself, you can help your clients out as well.
When you get an opportunity to talk to a prospect about creating effective communications for them, keep pushing the conversation toward the skills they need to pull it off. You should inculcate in them that they do need someone from the outside apart from their in-house, more technical writers. Help them recognize that your skills complement their knowledge, that it is that combination that produces results in the form of higher revenues, more customers, or enhanced employee performance.
Even if you know their subject matter well, your skills are more important. After all, should their product line change, or new markets open, they may be dealing with a new body of knowledge in a year or two.
Companies will always have an ongoing need for effective communication, and by serving as not just a freelance business writer but also as a communications expert, you can ensure that the company's business will always be fertile despite changing trends in the business climate.
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