One of our local employers was on the front page of the Monadnock Ledger last week regarding a $400,000 settlement with OSHA for worker safety violations. Ouch! They not only have to pay the fines, but they also must take corrective actions & improve the safety of their workplaces for all of their employees. They have agreed to get a full time safety &...
Questions about Hiring a Writer
Submitted by TWP on Sat 2/4/12 6:35 pm
When business owners first consider hiring a freelance professional writer, they confront the following questions:
- Who owns what the writer writes? Any work a writer produces for hire belongs to the company who pays for it. But if the company does not pay for it, the work belongs to the writer.
- Who is liable if the company is sued because of what the writer writes? If the company owns the work, the company is liable. Some contracts require the writer to share liability and maintain a certain level of liability insurance. Bottom line: make sure you read what the writer writes.
- How does a freelancer figure out what to charge? Rates vary depending on how much expertise, research, interviewing, and other background work goes into the project; the length of the piece; the number of review cycles; and other factors. Most writers provide a project estimate, based on their years of producing similar projects; but hourly and per word rates are also used.
- What credentials should a freelance writer have? Every freelance writer should have a portfolio, a resume, and references. Some have earned college degrees in marketing or technical writing, business communications, and similar subjects. The portfolio is the most important credential, however. If you don't like what the freelancer wrote for other companies, you won't like what the freelancer writes for you.
- Is there any way to keep other people/companies from copying content that appears on the internet? No.
- Since internet content is available to everyone, is it okay to copy it without citing a source? No.
- Does it matter if your marketing copy is in English and the writer learned English as a second language? Usually, it does matter. English may not be difficult to learn but it is difficult to master. For example, English is filled with synonyms with slightly different meanings and connotations that can make a big difference in a marketing message.
Do you have other questions about freelance writing that I can help with? write [at] twriteplus [dot] com (Contact me )today and I'll be happy to share my expertise.