Do People Value What You Do?

As a freelance copywriter I spend a lot of time educating potential clients of the value of what I do.

Granted, some may already understand the added value I will bring to their company, but others have just been told they should use a copywriter without really understanding why.

A copywriter can obviously write great marketing copy, but they bring more than that to the table. Because they are not part of your company, they can see your products and services from your customers’ point of view.

That might not sound much, but what it means is that they can write benefits led copy that will resonate with your reader.

Where’s this going?

Well, the other day I came across a job advert. It was advertising a fairly junior position, looking for someone with the following skills:

  • Copywriting
  • PR
  • Events
  • Social media

That is an awful lot of skills. My question is can someone really be an expert in all of these fields to make sure the company achieves the results it wants?

As a copywriter, I can certainly create eye-catching copy that sells. But as for being a PR guru, events expert or a social media expert..?

Granted, I use social media in my business – but I wouldn’t profess to be an expert at it. I dabble in PR for my own purposes – but I don’t have the connections or expertise required to call myself a PR guru. As for events, to be honest I’d be hopeless at that.

Devaluing skills

I can understand why businesses today want to find people who are able to perform multiple tasks. For a start, they only have one salary to pay rather than four.

But lumping together these very different skill sets into one role, in my opinion, devalues the professional copywriters, PR people, events and social media experts out there.

To master all of these disciplines takes time and experience.

They may think they are being rather canny creating such a complex and multidiscipline role, but in reality they are heading for a fall.

By not bringing in experts in each field (either on permanent contracts or on a freelance basis), the company is running the very real risk of not being represented well in any of the fields.

  • Its copy won’t resonate with the reader or sell
  • Its PR efforts are unlikely to generate the coverage they want or need
  • Its events won’t shine
  • Its social media activities won’t generate the buzz they’re looking for

Much of the problem stems from the company not understanding the value and importance of each of these fields.

Yes, we can all write, but writing copy that resonates with the reader, sells to them and with SEO in mind is a tall order.

As with PR, most people can put together a press release, but how many understand how to place it? How many people understand the nuances of getting a company in front of the people it wants to impress and attract?

Most of us dabble in Facebook and Twitter, but how many people understand how to engage with people, how to combine the power of the social media sphere (blogs, Facebook, Twitter and forums) to get the most out of it.

How many people could organise a truly stunning event?

When you look at it that way, you begin to understand the true value of each skill set.

Have your say

If you are a copywriter, PR, event organiser or social media person, what is your take on this?

Do you think it’s possible to find all these skills within one person?

Leave a comment below and let’s get a debate started.

 

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3 comments ↓

#1 Lucy Smith on 09.19.11 at 12:21 am

You know the saying, ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’…

You need to be a particular type of person to excel at any one of those roles – I mean, I’m sure one person could do okay at them all, but there’s bound to be one thing they’re better at. Take me: I used to work in PR, and I was acceptable at it, but didn’t enjoy it much. I’m much, much better at copywriting (and like it a whole lot more), but if I tried to organise a big event I’d probably forget to order the canapes, or book the venue, or something 😉

#2 admin on 09.19.11 at 10:10 am

Hi Lucy,

Thanks for your comment. You’re right about the Jack of all trades element. But if businesses want to get ahead, that approach isn’t going to get the results they want. After all, you wouldn’t ask your plumber to also knock you up a quick house extension and decorate your living room…

Sally

#3 Richard Moldovanyi on 09.19.11 at 8:15 pm

I’ve found that more and more often companies are looking to have one person do the job of many. Like you said, it’s easy to see why from a salary standpoint, but it’s difficult to see how one person doing four jobs could be better than four people doing four jobs. Maybe companies figure that the one person can do the four jobs “good enough” that the savings are worth it?

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