Why you’re having such a hard time finding good writers

One of my biggest observations from working with clients in ’24 was just how difficult it still is for them to find and execute good writing.

• Execs can’t find the time to create for platforms like email and LinkedIn on a consistent basis but recognize that they need to.

• Internal subject matter experts’ “day jobs” typically preclude them from contributing on a consistent basis.

• Existing marketing talent (rightly or wrongly) is more focused on strategy, project management, and measurement then actually creating.

They all recognize that they need writing/writers.

But, “finding good writers is hard.”

That’s actually not the problem and it’s alarming at how commonly accepted this is amongst marketing and business leaders.

It’s not hard to find good writers.

Really.

BUT…it is hard to produce good writing.

That’s the actual problem, and runs contrary to what I often hear from marketing leaders.

This is an important distinction.

Not until we get clear on the problem can we go about the business of successfully solving it.

You might think it's hard to find good writers, but the problem, and the resulting symptoms, are self inflicted.

We hire with the wrong expectations

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reviewed a client’s job description where it wasn’t made clear that the candidate would actually, you know, write.

Contribute. Create. Record. Interview.

In one instance I was working with a team, and a content marketer, who didn’t even know it was their responsibility to write and create until after they had accepted the position.

“That wasn’t made clear. My expectation was that I’d be more involved in strategy and project management. But, I’m open to helping in the short term.”

Open to it? We needed someone who would own it.

Someone who couldn’t wait to create and put proverbial pen to paper.

This is actually more common than you think. And, when you have someone that is essentially “filling in” as a writer (until, presumably, you find or hire someone else), things fall apart. And they fall apart slowly.

• They’re not proactive in moving projects forward and trying new things.

• They’re not consistent in terms of output.

• Projects move at a snails pace. (And as a result, get shut down before they have a chance to prove successful.)

This can go on for quite a while before others begin to take notice.

It’s hard to produce good writing when the folks you hire don’t expect, or even want, to write in the first place. (A topic for another day.)

We place the burden of expertise on the writer

We’re asking writers to be columnists rather than reporters.

We expect them to be the subject matter expert, to have an opinion, interesting insights and experiences to share, as well as be the talent.

There are 2 inherent issues with this:

One, subject matter experts are typically the folks closest to the customer –– account management, customer support, product managers, etc. These folks rarely have the time to contribute.

I can’t tell you how many cases I’ve seen where these folks commit to contributing, but it never actually comes to fruition.

They might commit to a specific number of pieces per month. But, they can rarely write with any consistency or dependability. And, it’s not their fault.

If you’re relying on them to fill out your strategy, it’s yours.

And two, when we expect the writers to also be the SME, we’re actually leaving out the input and insights from the actual SME.

We’re missing the real opportunity –– to shift the burden of expertise from the writer to an actual expert. This can be someone internal (a member of one of those aforementioned teams) or people out there living the actual life, i.e. your ICP.

Ideally, it’s a mix of both.

When we task our writers with being reporters, not columnists/experts, their job shifts from having the answers to finding the answers.

How? By talking to and/or interviewing the actual market and/or folks inside of your company.

This is where you'll see the true mettle of a writer –– it's in their ability to take stories and insights from others and tell a bigger story.

That's how you can determine whether a writer is good or not. It's in their ability to deliver an output from various inputs. Not be the input (and output) themselves.

If you’re having a hard time finding good writers, I can confidently refer a dozen or more to you right now.

But, if you’re not set up for actually producing good writing, you’ll be doing yourself, and the writer, a disservice.