What Does It Take to Be a Content Writer

If you want to make money writing articles, traveling the world, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance, there are a few sacrifices. There are certain things you need to do or be capable of to reap the aforementioned advantages of this career.

The primary objective is to be good at your job and keep improving and adjusting to the dynamic nature of this profession. Whatever you need to achieve these goals is all it takes to have a rewarding content writing career.

As long as your articles get read and motivate the audience to perform a desired action, you will be in demand within the industry. Of course, you need to deliver professional quality drafts before the deadline to separate yourself from the others.

Finally, there are always new tools, content types, styles, and writing workflows that will enhance your performance. It is critical, especially in this day and age, to hone your hard skills over time to beat the competition.

But how can you ensure the same?

In this chapter, let’s look at the core components of the writing profession that lay the foundations for long-term career development.

Consistency and Correctness

Write good articles every day.

Professionals that deliver top-notch drafts, on time, every time, secure their careers by establishing themselves as a reliable partner. I’ve encountered a few writers like myself who meet a high-quality standard regularly.

Consistency refers to upholding a level of writing in your work. I am aware that your content quality can fluctuate throughout a particular week, for instance. However, the lowest limit of that fluctuation should easily exceed the minimum threshold of quality.

And you need to ensure that daily.

A pivotal component is the accuracy or correctness of the text. The subject matter within the draft must be factually correct (as per the client or publisher guidelines) and the flow of content should adhere to the editorial policies.

While starting out, creative writers, in particular, may produce great literature that can’t be published because they disrespect the preferences of the publication or journal or whatever.

It doesn’t matter if your content is objectively good if no one wants to publish it and distribute it among their audiences. Sometimes you must concede and mold the draft based on how the client or editor prefers it to get approval (and paid).

From a creative standpoint, it sucks, at least initially, especially if the blog post or whatever is impactful. At the same time, you must realize that the best article is the one that increases your bank balance.

Diversity and Volume

Professionally, I’ve primarily written blog posts and articles. Other types of written content include eBooks, landing pages, newsletters, and LinkedIn posts. The topics vary but usually, it is technology, business, and marketing.

If you stick to the professional stuff, you can make decent cheddar. Moreover, the more you write, the better you get, which will happen effortlessly if you simply show up to work every day.

Although it will make you good, you will fall short of greatness in this game.

When you write just the professional, politically correct, and enterprise-compliant crap that is advertiser-friendly, you are limiting your creative power. Down the line, your content will lack the ability to evoke emotions, thereby limiting your persuasive power.

Keyword-rich, SEO-friendly, generic slop is good enough to keep a regular writing job because most brands measure content efficacy through search engine rankings and organic traffic. 

However, most of the content you write in this category will be for search engines, not humans. 

Humans prefer content, regardless of the format, that makes them feel informed, educated, valued, and entertained. Unfortunately, the vast majority of professionals writing for the internet will rarely write for humans.

And it’s not their fault. We’ve been programmed to only value the skill or work that gives us direct monetary value, not indirect or long-term skill improvement.

Hence, the second element that will make you a great writer is to walk on the road not taken.

Personally, on this website, I’ve written on many topics, ranging from my memoirs and journal entries to spirituality and more. In many of those pieces, I’ve gone on rants, often using profanity. And speaking of volume, just check the publishing dates of my blog posts.

While they may never generate any kind of measurable revenue, they certainly do help me express myself better. Consequently, my professional content has become spicier with seasoning.

To Summarize: Take One Day At a Time

The core principle behind the above career advice for content writers is to keep improving in all aspects. On the surface, it will appear in the ways of increased production volume, better quality of drafts, and the ability to write anything for any audience on any platform.

Note that these gains will come with time. You need to develop a strategic training program where you evaluate your progress in each of the aforementioned aspects and fix the kinks to elevate your skill set.

Furthermore, and arguably more crucial, is understanding the art of persuasion and the psychology of the readers. This is essential for motivating your audience to act.

Last but not least, you must understand the nuances of the industry. In the age of AI automation, cheap overseas labor, and layoffs, it is important to navigate the administrative aspect of the content writing career to make pimp decisions.

Until next time,

Tara

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Next Chapter: What to Expect From My Content Writing Book

Previous Chapter: Why Become a Content Writer

Index (Prologue): What is Content Writing