Whether you are working for a small business, large corporation, or are a
student, there are numerous sources that you can turn to for help with writing.
Businesses need to be able to effectively communicate with their customers,
their employees and their potential customers. Effective verbal communication is
equally important, but nonverbal communication in the form of copy writing,
article writing, press release writing, and more requires a certain level of
expertise and experience. The typical small business wants to focus their efforts
on their core business activities without spending too much time on projects that
can easily be outsourced to consultants or freelance professionals. Many small
businesses turn to freelancers to help them save time and money. For example,
a certified public accountant opened his own accounting practice after working in
another accounting firm for the last ten years. One of the ways he decided to
search for new clients was to embark on an advertising and promotional
campaign. Although some of his previous clients followed him to his new
practice, he wanted to increase the number of accounts he currently handled.
These accounts included various individuals and small businesses from around
the town. Rather than hire new employees or handle the projects himself, he
decided to hire a consultant through a freelance web site to work on copy writing
for a local newspaper ad campaign as well as to help with press releases and
company news distribution. By outsourcing these non-core business activities to
an independent consultant, he is able to save himself time and money and also
gets the expertise of an established professional who specializes in the types of
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writing that he needs assistance with. He decides to list his writing projects in a
freelance marketplace and receives bids from independent consultants and
freelance writers. He was able to choose a service provider based on factors
related to cost, the service provider’s experience, references, and previous
feedback from clients. All small businesses have a decision to make about
whether to outsource certain projects or to complete the work in house. Using
economics as a deciding factor, it makes sense economically for businesses to
outsource writing projects when the projects are non-core business activities that
do not contribute to the company’s bottom line.
Small businesses also need to be able to effectively communicate with
their current customers. Some of the more effective ways to get help writing
effective communication for current customers involve using tools such as
newsletters, email lists, and articles written by outsourced consultants.
Newsletters are very effective ways to keep customers informed of current
events and happenings within the company. They also offer you the opportunity
to gain new clients as the newsletter gets passed around and is often seen by
more than one person during its life cycle. It makes sense and is a smart move
to outsource corporate communications instead of keeping it in-house. Hiring a
separate professional will save your business money and time. For less than the
cost of hiring a full time employee, and because it will contribute to allowing more
concentration on the activities that will earn your business money, contracting
with a consultant or freelancer for your corporate communications (writing of
press releases to distribute company news, getting publicity through pieces in
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newspapers and magazines, and getting help writing newsletters or articles)
simply makes sense. An expert in the field who has amassed many years of
experience with business writing, persuasive writing, and copy writing in addition
to having experience writing press releases, articles, essays, and possibly
academic or technical research and term papers will have a lot to offer you and
your business.
Large corporations use writing to effectively communicate on all levels of
business. Business writing and corporate communications are essential
elements that keep the public informed and give companies their corporate
image. A company’s image, or its publicly perceived notion of credibility and
reliability is extremely important to its bottom line. For example, upon its
introduction many years ago an American car company introduced a car known
as the “Nova”. After some time, it was discovered that the car was not selling
well in many Spanish speaking countries. Because in Spanish, “No va”
translates to “doesn’t go”, the car sales in these countries were dismal. Effective
corporate communication can have far reaching effect. Ineffective corporate
communication can result in lower sales as shown in the car sales example.
Large corporations also need to be effective communicators with their current
employees. Internal corporate communications are equally important and keep
your employees abreast of company accomplishments, events and human
resource issues.
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Finally, students also need to be able to write effectively as well. Writing
assignments can include writing essays, writing term papers, report writing, and
thesis writing not to mention having to demonstrate writing ability in other
subjects outside of English class. For example, law students need to be able to
write not only persuasive but argumentative writing as well. Foreign language
students need to be able to translate into their native language and then back
again. Science and technology students need to be able to demonstrate
scientific writing ability. Taking writing tips from college professors that teach
correct formatting and usage, including APA style, and improving your
proofreading and editing skills will result in quality writing assignments. For the
student that is looking for writing help and homework assistance for their
assignments, freelance marketplaces that allow you to hire a consultant or tutor
could be a productive and time saving solution.
From a freelance or independent consultant’s standpoint, marketing
writing skills to potential service buyers is important to keeping any consulting
business thriving. Registering with freelance marketplaces will enable you to
showcase your writing skills, talents and abilities. Previous experience with all
kinds of writing ranging from grant writing, fiction writing and interactive writing to
writing short stories, articles and ebooks or even technical pieces, in addition to
all forms of business writing will enable you to prove your varied background and
skills. All of which can be showcased in your freelance marketplace profile.
Creating and managing a profile is important to make you stand out from the
crowd of freelance writers competing for new writing projects. All in all, those
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looking for writing help can find a vast array of resources in the form of
consultants who are more than willing to lend a helping hand.
About the Author: Jack Thompson is a freelance writer, business
consultant and entrepreneur. He has helped thousands of individuals
and businesses across the world realize the benefits of outsourcing.
Independent consultants, freelance service providers, and companies
looking to outsource service projects can post or bid on projects at
www.smartylance.com.