lccuk.org

By Jane Sherwin

Outsourced newsletter content is, at its simplest, content that organizations hire an outside, or freelance, writer to supply. Outsourced content can also mean material purchased from a source providing generic copy that may be used by many different purchasers. It helps to know the differences between freelance writing and generic copy, and what the best ways are to make use of each of these.

Getting help from a freelance writer

A freelance writer is one who is self-employed. While some agencies are available to help you locate a freelance writer, many more can be found through a Google search, using terms such as “freelance writer” or “copy writer” or “newsletter writing.” A good freelance writer can be an enormous help to a busy marketing team. For example, instead of spending hours creating a first draft, you can rely on a good freelance writer to get it done, with only minor changes needed, while you do the tasks that only you can do.

One strength of a good freelance writer is the capacity to quickly understand who you are and what your message is. The resulting copy will be fresh, lively, and completely in tune with your brand, your goals, and your style.

Using generic copy

Generic copy is copy written to be used by any number of different newsletters. For example, if you are a hospital, you might decide to try saving time and money by hiring a service to provide you with two or three standard health-related articles for each of your newsletters. If you are a financial services company, you may be hoping to purchase an article advising your clients and prospects about the economy for the coming quarter.

Some drawbacks to generic copy

While purchasing such articles certainly saves you the time involved in writing them, there are certain drawbacks to consider:

* The article is likely to be used repeatedly for a variety of different newsletters, so the material won’t help to call attention to the work you do or the services you provide.

* Because the articles are generic, they will have none of the energy that comes from writing about a live organization and its services. For example, a generic article about heart health won’t describe your own hospital’s cardiac care center.

* Any images will also be generic, unless you decide to take photos of your own team and work them into the text, something that will cost you time.

* Readers can tell when you are using generic text, and react unfavorably. For example, suppose that you are starting an employee wellness magazine, and want to advise your associates about quitting smoking. This is a tough challenge, as any smoker can tell you. Generic language about the value of quitting can be much less persuasive than descriptions of a specific employee’s efforts and success, and the people who have helped them.

A good way to use generic copy

If you still feel that generic copy will be of help in getting your communications out the door, consider framing that copy with your own words. For example, take an article about exercise habits, put it in smaller font (but not too small), and surround it with sidebars and photos of active employees at your company or group. You won’t need to rework the generic copy to make it personal-the framing content will do that.

In other words, rather than pretending that generic copy comes directly from your company, think of it as a form of quotation-which is what it really is. Then your readers will know that you have really thought about your content and about what will be of most interest to them.

Copyright (c) 2010 Jane Sherwin. You may reprint this entire article and you must include the copyright info and the following statement: “Jane Sherwin is a writer who helps hospitals and other healthcare facilities communicate their strengths and connect with their readers.”

About the Author: Learn more about Jane at

worddrivecommunications.com/index.htm

. Subscribe to Jane’s free monthly e-newsletter at

tinyurl.com/2enrdqx

for practical tips on communicating effectively with customers, clients, employees and the public. Visit Jane’s blog, ‘Marketing with Newsletters,’ at ht

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=707028&ca=Marketing