3 Ways to Know It’s Time to Outsource Your Content

Pop quiz in my best Dr. Phil voice: how’s that website workin’ for ya?

If your first inclination right now is to cringe, you’re in the right place. So many small business owners don’t feel accurately represented by what’s written on their website, and no wonder—the content is often thrown together in between meetings and core work, and it’s an afterthought in the grand scheme of a working day.

The problem is that your website has one job, and that job is to introduce you to more of your ideal customers. If yours isn’t doing it’s job, there are 3 ways to know it’s time to outsource.

1. You Hate Writing.

Think back to your school years—did you fall asleep in English class, leave your essay assignments to the last minute, or pay the front-row keener for a copy of her grammar notes? Would you rather do just about anything else for your business than sit down and write about it?

Of course you would! You started a business to help your clients and change the world, not to fiddle around with sentences and semicolons all day. If writing is a pain for you, that resistance is going to show up in whatever you write, and you risk sending the wrong message to your ideal customers. Instead, partner with a professional writer who can write in your voice without your having to be there at all.

2. Your Customers Never Mention Your Website.

Your website should make a strong statement about who you are, what you do, and how you’re different. Does it?

The best way to tell is if your customers are talking about it. Do they tell you how much they love it, or how often they visit, or that they’ve sent the link to a friend? If not, your content might be unnecessarily forgettable, and it might be time to partner with someone who can refresh your message and delight your ideal customers.

Your website should get people talking, and it should be converting leads into customers. If it’s not, it’s failing you, and you deserve better.

3. You Didn’t Spot the Typo in This Article.

There’s an old saying that goes, “We can never find our own typos, but our clients will find all of them.”

OK, no, there isn’t, but it’s true that most of us can’t see the errors in our own writing, and that the Internet masses can be unkind when they spot a poorly placed apostrophe.

You may or may not have spotted my purposeful typo above, but if you live in fear of the day a customer finds you’ve mistakenly left the out of public, know that there’s a way to eliminate that particular stressor entirely. A content writer’s job is to deal with all of that so you don’t have to, and to ensure that the writing on your website is full of personality and free of typos.

I’m curious: did you write your own website? Do any of these three warning signs resonate for you? And if so, how can I help? Let me know!