H. is a Cambridge graduate who found writing is better for her mental health than scientific research. T. is a part-time teaching assistant who writes part-time to make ends meet. L. is a freelancer who writes digital content when her baby is sleeping. M. is a retired IT technician with a career spanning from punch cards to cloud computing who writes to keep her mind sharp and a roof over her head. These, and many other people you’ll never know, ghostwrite web content for a living.
They’re professional writers who work full-time or part-time from their home offices. They’re not doing some freelance content writing on the side while hopping around the world.
Most of the content online—LinkedIn posts by thought leaders, company blogs by marketing experts, magazine articles by CEOs, whitepapers by Fortune 500 companies, and more—was ghostwritten.
Almost all businesses that have a website are publishers, and many hire web content ghostwriters. If you own a growing business and have a presence online, sooner or later you’ll need a content writer, whether on an ad hoc basis or on staff.
If you’ve never hired a web content writer before, you might not know many things about their work. This post illustrates some less-known aspects of a freelance content writer’s job to help business owners improve their relationships with their freelance writers.
What you didn’t know about the job of a freelance web content writer
The job of a freelance content writer rarely comes with rewards like benefits, praise, credit, and productivity bonuses. They revise their work for no extra pay until it suits the clients’ needs. They have to grow a thick skin to handle unfair criticism from unprofessional editors hired to defend the client’s wishes and style guides.
Still, freelance content can derive a lot of satisfaction from their work. Some clients appreciate the writers’ genuine voice and style and give them creative freedom. In general, however, content writers need to mimic others’ writing style.
Also, typically web content writers receive no credit for their work—they remain ghostwriters. But unless they get a byline, they cannot use the content they created as writing samples to showcase their skills and attract new clients.
They cannot even rely on word-of-mouth to get more projects. Though freelance content writers sometimes get referrals from their former clients, their current clients are usually reluctant to spread the word that they found a great ghostwriter. Whoever finds a great web content writer finds a treasure.
Of course, professional ghostwriters do get paid, most of the time at least. Talented, hardworking professionals can make a decent living from writing web content. However, few freelancers who exclusively write for the web get rich. The competition among freelance writers is fierce. In the age when every business with a website is a publisher, every person who can write well and needs money can get a writing gig.
So, the job of a web content ghostwriter isn’t as easy as you may think, and it comes with fewer benefits than the job of a traditional employee.
Thank your web content ghostwriter
Successful web content ghostwriters are passionate about their craft and about helping others translate their ideas into words. Being congratulated for a job well done helps these writers take pride in their work and continue assisting business owners who have great ideas to communicate but lack the time or interest to write.
So, if the freelancers you hire for writing your company’s blogs, e-books, or whitepapers do excellent work, find ways to acknowledge their effort. Give them a byline if you can, a bonus if their work is exceptional, or just say a heartfelt thanks. Feeling appreciated is one of the biggest desires of every person: Dale Carnegie realized that back in the 1930s when he wrote the book How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Treat them as a valuable collaborator, because good freelance content writers are hard to find and easy to lose to a competitor.
Related posts:
- Tips from an editor on managing content writing projects
- Unraveling 5 content writing myths that are sabotaging your digital marketing
- Creative ways to come up with original small-business blog ideas
Last revised on 17 June 2022
