This is an interesting question
Because the answer is obvious isn’t it?
You need to write it yourself.
But I’m going to argue against that for four reasons.
Reason 1 – I want your work
OK let’s get this out of the way right now.
I’m after work.
I love working with SME’s and the first reason I am going to argue against writing it yourself is because I want to write for you.
If that seems a bit upfront, the fact is that I prefer to be honest and actually there’s always that elephant in the room.
So now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get onto the more important reasons.
Reason 2 – You need an expert
Now I’m a bit of a pain for tradesmen because I think I can do pretty much anything myself.
I can plumb, I can do electrics, I can decorate.
But the truth is I never do it quite as well as REAL tradespeople.
It’s never quite as quick, never quite as good quality and I never know those hidden little tricks that real professionals know that gives you an all-round better job.
Reason 3 – The money
You are going to have to pay people to write your blog.
But, here’s the thing – while they are writing your blog, you can be off doing other stuff that is probably going to earn you more money than you are spending.
Net win.
I have a client (and good friend) who always says he could write the stuff that I do for him, but what I do in an hour would take him at least half a day.
He’s right. He’s every bit as good a writer as I but he’s not as quick.
So even if we charge exactly the same hourly rate, paying me to write his blog saves him four times as much as it costs.
Reason 4 – You’re too close to it
This is a mistake I see a lot of people making.
You see you know your industry intimately.
You know all the words and phrases
You know all of those damned Three Letter Acronyms (TLAs)
So that’s what you write and truthfully anyone in your industry will love your blog.
They’ll really get it and they’ll know exactly what you are trying to say.
But your customers won’t.
And who would you prefer to understand your blog; your competitors or your customers?
You may well know your expansion tank from your PCB and your diverter valve but what your customer is asking is can you fix my boiler?
Get someone you like
Bit of a controversial one this but I’d say the first thing you need to look for is someone who you like or, more specifically, who’s work you like.
Check out their style and see if it strikes a chord.
I’m always very sceptical of writers who say they can write in any style.
Our personalities always come through in the end.
So choose a professional writer, choose someone who may well have industry experience (although this isn’t as important as you may think) but more than anything choose someone who you think will give your blog what it needs.
For the record I can write in a professional manner suitable for professional services type firms like accountants and the like, I can write fairly informally, like this blog or I can do music blogs.
But I can’t do a health and beauty blog because it just isn’t me.
So who SHOULD you get to write your blog?
Well if not me then…
Have a look at websites that you enjoy reading and ask who writes for them and if they might be available.
Bigger sites will have staff writers but SME’s will be using freelancers like me.
Check out facebook and Linkedin. Just search for copywriter, blog writer, a content marketer that sort of thing.
Check out their posts, and have a look at their website.
Ask around, do any of your business contacts have a writer they would recommend?
Get yourself down to the local networking group, there will always be one or two of us hanging around in the corner with our hunched backs and pale complexions.
And if all fails then give me a shout because I might be able to help.