Good Business Needs Good Writing
Imagine the job vacancy which simply requested ‘writer’.
Imagine the job description that said ‘someone who can write a little, about a lot, and do it accurately, for the right audience’.
It’s not the most ‘sexy’ of job summaries, I’ll grant you that.
And yet, does it in fact sum up what a huge number of companies need in their everyday activity, across a vast breadth of their outputs and service offerings?
Earlier in the first lockdown, I was approached by a business, whose manager said they didn’t know if they needed me specifically, but they wanted to ask and find out.
Intriguing….
What the directors felt clear about, was that they were not necessarily on the hunt for masses of high profile PR, but they did feel they ‘came up short’ whenever it fell to communicating their messaging.
Whether it be letters to seriously important investors, emails to suppliers and customers, or internally conveying their new policies or situation to their own employees, they just felt they weren’t ever ‘on the money’.
And yet, the manager shared with me that they didn’t feel they could put an advert out into the ether for a broad ‘writer’, and request that that person be available for all manner of communication tasks.
It struck me how much the skills of PR professionals; those who have honed their craft in the written word and in the ability to communicate clearly and successfully on a multitude of topics, can often seem like they are ‘the wrong breed’ of candidate for a company which isn’t so sure that media coverage is its top priority.
Perhaps that’s why I so often talk about my professional ‘label’ as being a ‘communications advisor’, or that I quickly follow up the ‘PR’ description, by explaining half a dozen specific functions I deliver for firms.
Good business, in my view, as an absolute priority, needs great communication and great writing at its heart.
Yes, you might want it for your external PR and your ability to reach the media, but you might also want it for:
- Your ability to write with warmth and personality to your clients and your customers
- The skill of conveying your position to your investors and significant stakeholders
- Staying in frequent communication with your employees, and reflecting a heart and soul that goes beyond merely being the payroll machine
- Ensuring your website narrative is absolutely appropriate for the search terms you know your audience will be searching from
- Maintaining consistency and continuity in all your many social media feeds
- Developing, and adhering to, a superb tone of voice in all your marketing collateral
- Delivering the occasional uncomfortable message or update to the markets, your clientele, or your sector
- Scripting your speeches, presentations and reports in such a way that they are relayed with energy and spirit
And that’s just for starters….
If you’re looking to consider new structures, roles and skillsets within your business, I’d urge you to pay considerable attention to where the skill of communication sits.
Never underestimate the power of great writing in your professional world.
*If you’d like to know how I can assist you, email hello@debbiewatson.co.uk