You’ve probably come across plenty of examples of bad writing on the internet. How many times have you seen blog posts full of grammar mistakes, excessive passive voice usage or incorrect comma placements? What about ineffective headlines and practically invisible CTAs? If you own a business or are a communications manager, you might be wondering how much poor writing affects your bottom line. Author Josh Bernoff says that lousy writing costs businesses plenty — around $400 billion dollars a year!
Bernoff was one of the speakers at this year’s Content Marketing Conference in Boston. He is the author of Writing Without Bullshit: Boost Your Career by Saying What You Mean (HarperBusiness, 2016). Bernoff says that American workers spend more than 25 percent of their day reading. However, much of that is wasted time as the material is poorly written.
Stop Wasting My Time With Bad Writing!
Bernoff points out how vague emails, poorly organized business reports, and senseless blog posts serve to waste workers’ time. Meaningless phrases are often used in business communications. Starting off an email with the words “I was wondering,” doesn’t say much. How many times have you noticed company emails that start with similar phrasing?
Why is there such a plethora of bad writing in business today? According to Inc., many employees lack necessary writing skills. As much as $2.9 billion a year is spent on remedial writing training for current employees. Even college-educated workers lack essential writing skills. Experts blame the rise of technology for the poor writing skills. Many Gen X and Gen Y workers are used to communicating via text and shorthand. They might not have received as much writing instruction as previous generations. This is very problematic in a modern workplace that requires a variety of written materials every day — from marketing brochures to customer emails.
No matter where your poor writing is coming from, it makes your company look bad and less-than-credible, and it’s not compelling enough to drive action in the form of new leads or conversions…it just kind of “sits there.”
Say “No” to Bad Writing and Hire Some Effective Content Writers
High-quality content is a must. It is what Google looks for and what naturally attracts your audience’s attention. So, how do you get it? If you don’t have the writing talent in-house, that’s ok! Let your non-writing employees focus on what they do best (which isn’t writing, right?) The best way to get great content is to hire professional freelance writers. They know great writing. They know what makes great content. It’s what they do!
Find one with the industry-specific and technical know-how to communicate your company’s information clearly and beautifully — and with the skills and experience to know what works. They can work with as much or as little guidance as you want to provide to ensure your blog posts, brochures, and social media posts are on-the-mark and working to improve your company image, support sales efforts, and engage customers. There’s simply so much a talented writer can do!
Hiring freelance writers through WriterAccess offers many advantages. It is a cost-effective way to get great writing that will deliver results. When you use the WriterAccess platform for your content needs, you gain access to high-quality United States-based writers who have all passed rigorous writing tests and have been thoroughly vetted.
In addition to being linked with professional writers, you gain access to a variety of tools that are designed to optimize your content strategies, such as content analytics and keyword optimization tools. Plus, you can order the type of content that you need from case studies to social media posts.
Don’t let bad writing ruin your business. Contact WriterAccess today and start creating excellent content that helps your company rise above the competition.
Emily M is a former private practice psychotherapist by trade and began her freelance writing career developing psychology and medical-related content. She discovered a passion for writing and has since created a broad range of content, including press releases, product descriptions, blog posts, website content, SEO articles and a number of other articles.