The Content Jedi Blog

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The desire to operate a lean and mean business is understandable. No one can blame you for budgeting judiciously and wanting to maximize your margins. In their pursuit to lower costs, business owners make the mistake of taking on functions that they shouldn’t, like content writing. “If you want something done, do it yourself,” is not the right approach. It worked for Napoléon, who coined the phrase, but he was a dictator and rubbed civilization and world history the wrong way. False equivalency aside, here are 5 reasons you shouldn’t write your own content.

You Aren’t a Professional Writer
If you don’t write for a living, it will show in your writing. Professional content writers earn their bread and butter by crafting clear and compelling stories that communicate your value to your audience. They’ve invested the 10,000 hours into their craft and are experts at conceptualizing your value proposition, products, and services and creating effective messaging that will resonate with your customers and prospects. You’ll do best if you leave it to the pros.

You Can’t Get Out of Your Own Way
Business owners who are dead set on DIY content marketing may give writing the old college try. That’s a plan better suited for learning the oboe, not building your business. The inevitable pattern is: you’re on a roll until you experience the pitfall of stopping several meters before the finish line. Besides not being a professional writer, you’re the business owner and subject matter expert, and you’re too close to the content. Consequently, you can’t get out of your own head or your own way. You’ve eaten time and decided to cut your losses by using what you’ve got, which is poor or average writing that lacks effective keywords and continuity. 
 
Time Spent on Writing Means Time Lost Working on Your Business 
Similar to, “They grow up so fast,” “Time is money,” is an incredibly accurate cliché. Any non-billable time spent during your work day means dollars subtracted from business development. Let’s say you’re a consultant or attorney who bills by the hour, and you decide to devote three hours to write the copy for a sell sheet for an upcoming conference. Those hours are now squandered for something you could have outsourced at a lower cost.  
 
You Don’t Have a Clear Marketing Strategy 
Writing content is the first step. It will only make an impact if you have a strategic marketing plan that at the very least includes promoting on social media, via newsletters and organized email distribution lists, and direct mail, if appropriate. Without multiple touchpoints, no one will read your content because they won’t know it exists. If this sounds overwhelming and time-consuming, guess what? It sure is unless you’re a content marketing professional.     
 
It Makes You Look Unprofessional 
When you write your own content, you increase the risk of making mistakes with your copy. Grammar, punctuation, and usage errors, along with typos turn off readers. An accounting firm’s website that toots its own attention-to-detail horn will lose all credibility with missing periods and misspelled words. Inconsistent messaging across your marketing platforms--such as your website, blog posts, e-newsletters, social media channels, and brochures--can signal inconsistent service to your audience. If a mission statement appears on your brochure but not your website, what is a prospect to think about your solutions? 
 
No one knows your business better than you, and therefore, it makes sense to want to write your own content. Don’t. The risks of poor writing far outweigh the rewards of investing in a seasoned professional.