If you hire freelance copywriters to write content for your website, newsletter, blog, and/or social media pages, you may be working with one of the many online platforms like WriterAccess that match writers and copywriting clients. Having that third party involved offers a lot of advantages for both writers and clients. However, not having direct, face-to-face contact with a writer can cause some clients to adopt bad communication habits, habits that can cause the platform’s best writers to block or avoid your orders.
How to Avoid Being “Blocked” by Your Freelance Writers
1. Be polite. Writers are people too…and they can be kind of sensitive when somebody criticizes their writing. If you wouldn’t speak to a colleague the way you’re addressing your freelance copywriter, you’re likely turning away some talented writers without even realizing it. It’s also important to be specific in your comments. Saying that an article or a phrase is “boring” isn’t helpful. The writer doesn’t know what you don’t like about it and won’t know how to revise it to better suit your taste.
2. Take some time with your instructions. Clear order instructions make copywriting easier for both you and the writer. If the writer has to put the order on hold or guess what you want, you’ll likely have to wait longer for the finished article. Some instructions are just ridiculous. Just this past week, I received a request for an “About Us” page for a new website. The only instructions were that the company was new and that they were a tech company. Try stretching that information into 400 words!
3. Look at the deadlines you’re setting. If you don’t like working on Sunday or at 2:00 a.m., it’s likely that the writer you’re hiring doesn’t like working at those times either. While it’s easy to just set up your orders and leave the office for the weekend, you’ll have a better relationship with your writers if you consider when your articles are going to be due.
4. Don’t send the order back for easy-to-fix mistakes. Yes, the writer should have typed “their” instead of “there” or “its” instead of “it’s.” However, is anything really gained by sending the article back to the writer to be revised? There’s a 99.9% chance that the writer knows the difference; he or she just made a mistake.
Working with a freelance copywriter is like any other relationship. It takes effort from both parties. If you’re snarky, vague, and inconsiderate with your deadlines, you may just be placing yourself on writers’ “avoid” list without even knowing it.
Sandy M has been a full-time freelance copywriter, blogger and author for more than a decade. She tries to give her clients the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes she just has no other option but to block them.
