Want Quality Content? Then Remember the Relationship
What are the defining characteristics of robust, reciprocal, fully functioning relationships? Generally, they include at least these three: 1) they form over time, 2) they require effort on both sides, and 3) they are never static. And this applies no less when it comes to quality content and the writer-client relationship.
Time
As we all know from our own experience, any working relationship doesn’t come into being spontaneously. Even though it may sometimes seem that way in the beginning, it is, nevertheless, usually an illusion engendered by infatuation or enthusiasm. Real relationships take time.
In retrospect, we realize that what seemed to be love at first sight or the sudden serendipitous finding of the one-and-only best friend was only a mere seeming after all. It all seemed so sudden because at some point along the relationship continuum, we suddenly became aware of the already forming relationship. And from there it goes on and builds for years, maybe even decades. But the point is that relationships always form, develop, grow, mature, and alter over a considerable period of time.
So, when, as website owner and content buyer, you’re seeking a good marketing content writer, keep in mind that you aren’t really. That is, you’re not just trying to find a writer, but you are, rather, trying to find a writer with whom you can form and sustain a relationship. And for the following reasons:
- In the beginning, there will be much trial and error and back and forth on both sides. You will be getting to know each other – abilities, expectations, communication styles, and so on.
- You will be finding out whether you want to continue the incipient relationship. Sometimes they just don’t work out.
- You will need to determine whether this writing relationship fully and satisfactorily meets your business needs.
- And, as is always key, you will be on the lookout to see whether your partner in the relationship is capable of unwavering fidelity.
Effort
Now if you’re married, you know all about this one, which is implicit in the above. Relationships have to be worked at – fed, maintained, supported, adjusted. Otherwise, they shrivel and weaken at best, and fester and become diseased at worst. And these same requirements obtain in the writer-client relationship – that ongoing partnership between content producer and consumer.
Here are just a few of the many tasks involved in sustaining a healthy, productive content and copywriting partnership/relationship.
- Communicating clearly – both early on and throughout – expectations and desired outcomes.
- Stating tactfully but unequivocally areas of disappointment and working together, sometimes compromising, to achieve desired results.
- Remaining willing to work through the rough spots so you don’t have to go through the whole arduous process again.
- Staying committed to the relationship so that you don’t bail at the first sign of difficulty or hardship.
- Being always prepared for and ready to adapt to the inevitable permutations in the relationship throughout the course of its lifetime.
And this last one brings us to the third characteristic.
Change
Glibly expecting relationships to remain forever the same can be disastrous. At the very least, it’s unhealthy and usually counterproductive. The thing to keep in mind, then, is that the writer-client relationship you form in the beginning isn’t what will exist a year hence.
A writer’s writing style, for example, often changes over time. Your content needs as an online business owner are likely to change as your business grows and branches out. And, of course, what Google does will affect your SEO content tactics and strategies. Plato was right about most things, but Heraclitus had it right when it comes to content writing and the relationship between writer and client: Given enough time, you can’t step into the same content river twice.
Finally, the good news is that a good content writer realizes all this. This kind of writer not only writes well, but also knows that he is entering into a relationship when you hire him. And this could save you loads of work and make you more money in the long run.
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