The Best Freelance Writers Won’t Know your Products as well as You
March 9, 2007 by Eric Eggertson
Filed under Marketing
I’ve been on both sides of the client-freelancer relationship.
I have to admit it’s easy to get shirty about a freelancer’s choice of words. When you eat and breathe your company’s products, you get into the mindset where everything about the products is obvious, and anyone who doesn’t ‘get it’ is somehow obtuse.
Agency owner John Wagner talks about his experience: Clients, don’t be surprised if you have to edit a free-lancer’s work.
Word to clients: few people in the world are as immersed in your company culture and product line as you are. Don’t be surprised if an outside resource makes some incorrect assumptions, or uses some wording that has been outlawed inside your shop.
Taking the time to set your freelancers straight is a good exercise in getting clarity around the way you describe your products/company.
You spend time giving new employees orientation. Don’t expect a non-employee to be a mind reader.
Kevin Behringer comments - “I think that the correct response to a vendor by the client in this situation is not only to understand that they aren’t as ingrained in your product but to also explore WHY their assumptions are incorrect (if they really are) and WHY certain wording has been outlawed (if it should be). It seems that if someone from the outside perceives you a certain way you need to explore why and if your current views are still valid.”
Edit: I moved the John Wagner link higher up, to make it clearer that my post is a continuation of the discussion he began.
Tags: freelance writers, business, clarity, expectations, work relationships, clients, mind reading
Eric:
Well said. While I’m not a freelancer and I work inside a corporation, one thing you said really stuck with me. You mentioned that, “Word to clients: few people in the world are as immersed in your company culture and product line as you are. Don’t be surprised if an outside resource makes some incorrect assumptions, or uses some wording that has been outlawed inside your shop.”
I think that the correct response to a vendor by the client in this situation is not only to understand that they aren’t as ingrained in your product but to also explore WHY their assumptions are incorrect (if they really are) and WHY certain wording has been outlawed (if it should be). It seems that if someone from the outside perceives you a certain way you need to explore why and if your current views are still valid.
Sage advice, Eric. I will often review a client’s web site to obtain information about the company and to get a feel for what they are all about. Sometimes I will write something and the comment will come back, “we don’t say/believe that sort of thing.”
I’ll then politely rejoin that this is information I obtained straight from their site. I catch a problem for them, they fix it, and we all learn from the experience.