Why You Need to Hire a Freelance Writer Today

We all hear the reports and media coverage about how the economy is not doing very well.  Additionally, last week, there were discussions that the unemployment rate has dipped down to 10.1%.  This is due to companies and organizations not being able to keep their in-house staff because of not business not running to the full speed that it had before the economy got worse.

Even though you have to unfortunately reduce your work staff, it doesn’t mean that you do not have to provide the same amount of work as before.  One of those areas are your documentation.  Documentation is usually vital in many industry-best practices processes, such as CMMI, ISO9001, and SDLC.  Therefore, you still have to ensure that you have the same quality of work that you had before you had to let go or your writing experts.

One way to resolve this is by hiring a Freelance Writer to handle this for you.  How do you do this? I’m in the middle of interviewing a few contractors for some home improvement projects, so I know how stressful and tedious it can be. You do not know their work, and you don’t get the chance to really know them, like you would someone who is working for you on a full-time basis. However, let me just say that usually, the good outweighs the bad.

Reasons for Hiring a Freelance Writer

1. Save money by saving time – If you have ever read “The 4-Hour Workweek,” one of the things that Tim Ferriss says is that people tend to think that what a consultant is charging is ridiculous. However, take a step back and really think about it. You are now free to handle tasks that are more up your alley, while a writer, who is an expert on that kind of service, can work on documentation.  Also, you aren’t paying this person benefits, so that is another way that you are saving.  Additionally, instead of it taking you twice as long, and not be the same quality, to write a document, you can hire someone who will save you time and money.  I can’t imagine trying to work some DYI projects.  It would take me double or even three times as long as a professional, and so I would actually have to spend more money and time than just outsourcing.
2. Good quality work that you could not have done yourself – Writers, who have been doing this for longer than five years, know what they are doing.They will provide you top-rated work that you would have probably done a shoddy job doing it yourself. I don’t know how to put tile down, so why even try?  To save money?  I will probably need to spend money on fixing the work that I did.  Therefore, I’d rather pay someone to do it right the first time.  Can you imagine trying to do something you are not an expert in perfectly the first time, and not have to keep redoing it? Hiring a freelance writer will the best bet for creating documentation that will aid your project and your team.
3. They want you to hire them when you have a next project, so usually they will do the job right – Freelancers will work twice as hard as in-house employees because they want your repeat business. If they are smart, and usually they are, they will do such an amazing job the first time that you will want to hire them again. Do not forget about how important Word-of-Mouth Marketing is. This is something that freelancers know.

If you have tons of proposals or technical documentation to write, and your in-house employees are already up to their noses with work, hire a Freelance Writer. If you just need someone to ensure that you are on the right track, there are writing consultants, like me, that will gladly help you in anything that you need.

Starting a Business Is About Taking Risks

Yesterday, I decided to update my writing goals. I made them more short-term than I usually do because I am thinking about January 2010. It’s the day that I go from being a part-time freelance writer to a full-time one. Last week, I told my boss that I had to follow my heart, be true to myself, so I was leaving at the end of January. He asked me to stay and told me that he will give me time to reconsider, but I don’t think that I will. I realize that money is great, but it isn’t everything. This job has practically taken over my life, and I don’t have time to do much of anything, except work, work, and work. I thought that it would only be a crazy time til the end of October, but I have no found out that when one crazy phase ends, another one commences.

In October, I didn’t get to enjoy my son’s birthday or mine because all I could think about was work. I didn’t even get to really enjoy my Halloween. When my daughter came up to me and said, “Mom, you missed my Pumpkin Day. I was so sad,” The more involved I get in this project, the more I realize that it isn’t for me.

One of the problems in DC is how career obsessed many people are. They work 80-hour a week, they take work home with them, and they are constantly taking clients out. If I am going to do this, I want it to be for my business. Not for someone else. I think it’s fear why I remained at this job. The first time I launched my business, it didn’t work out. The main reason was my co-founder. She wasn’t doing much of anything, and it caused the business to fail.

However, one thing you hear from many people is that in business, you have to fail and fail in order to succeed. Last week, was Startup School, and I decided to watch the videos that were created that day. The stories and advice given were very inspirational, and so I decided that I needed to take the leap. I feel this time is different (no co-founder helps), so I will do better.

Photo Detail: Edge of the Earth, originally uploaded by Zack Schnepf.

Exercising Combats Writer’s Block

Reston Diabetes Tour de Cure 2009, originally uploaded by dreamingindc.

This morning I had the worst case of writer’s block. My daughter kept crying over any little thing; I was super tired; and I couldn’t find the keys. We were 15 minutes late leaving the house, and I was hyperventilating before I got in the car. My creative juices were blocked, and I couldn’t even write a single word. After two hours of staring at the computer screen, I headed to my spin class.

It seemed like the heat from the outside had seeped into the spinning room.  Before the instructor started the class,, I was already sweating.  Also, the instructor doesn’t like putting on the fans, so I knew I was in for a treat.  It was grueling and sometimes painful (left leg hurts a little).  Even with all that, I’m glad that I went.  The writer’s block is gone.

Writing and exercising go hand-in-hand.  It helps clear your mind of any stress that you have, so you can begin writing the next chapter of your book, a user manual, press release, etc. My preference is running or biking; however, yoga and pilates are also great ways to alleviate writer’s block. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it alleviates the blocks that prevent you from writing. If you have children, then take them out for a walk, or go to the pool and swim laps while they are in the shallow area.

The next time you are unable to write, go outside (or to the gym) and get physical.

Freelance Writers Need a Writing Plan

june writing goals, originally uploaded by madame.furie.