The Top 8 Concerns of Prospective Writing Clients and How to Put Them at Ease

Hiring a solid freelance writer presents a daunting challenge for any business owner, especially if unschooled in the intricacies of the web. As the poor, oppressed wordsmiths on the other side of the proverbial stick, however, we naturally possess a biased perspective on the matter, seeing only the hardheaded and ungrateful clients we sometimes take them for.

But your biases can damage your business if left uncontrolled.

To succeed as a freelancer, get inside the mind of your prospects and see the industry from their point of view. Address concerns before clients bring them up (many will not have the gumption) and you will drastically improve your acceptance ratio. Empathy separates you from the pack.

So what concerns take precedence in a client’s mind when hiring new writing help?

1. Poor English

As bizarre as this might sound, a huge proportion of online freelance writers don’t speak or write English very well (and yes, I’m referring to writers of English content). I know it sounds absurd, but ambitious third-world (mostly) citizens seeking new ways to bring in extra cash somehow decided writing articles in English fits the bill perfectly.

Don’t get me wrong – I commend anyone looking to better their situation, but much more sensible options exist for these people, like web design or secretarial work, for instance…

“Professional” writers often send in articles full of grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and awkward phrasings, causing tremendous frustration to clients. Many more-experienced buyers even state in their bids that they only want writers from the UK or the US, though the statement rarely dissuades foreigner writers from bidding.

Confront the issue by just being blunt when bidding jobs, stating your status as a US or UK born, native English-speaking writer. Why let them wonder? After all, being an English-speaking writer in a market overrun by non-fluent writers creates a huge advantage in your favor.

I wish I was joking, but this is the actual condition of the market.

Also, put your address and location on all freelance writing profiles, as well as your website. If, like me, you run your online writing business from the road, maintain an address back home for this reason. You can even get an online number with an area code of your choice through Skype.

Of course, I explain on my website that I run my business from various global locations, as I don’t want to mislead clients, but the extra measures taken to maintain a U.S. presence ease their minds.

2. Fake Examples

These same non-native writers sometimes rely on fake examples to bypass the challenge of, well, lacking English writing skills. They steal these article examples off other writers, or in other cases they may even pay a better writer to provide them (typically not telling them the purpose).

Therefore, when you show a client work and it comes up as written by another author, a huge red flag goes up. So never use examples that are posted elsewhere under another name, which might be the case if you ghostwrite them for a previous client (by the way, you cannot use ghostwritten articles as examples without permission).

Also, when you submit articles to directories, publishers post them on their own sites (as that’s the whole point). But if a prospect searches for your example article, finds it in another location, and doesn’t take the time to read down to the resource box, they may get the wrong idea.

For further reassurance, tell clients you’re available for a chat via Skype or phone – they might not take you up on the offer, and I honestly prefer they don’t as it eats up my time, but the willingness shows you have nothing to hide.

3. Failure to Meet Deadlines

Clients deal with a lot of writers who cannot make deadlines to save their lives. For some reason, lack of punctuality is a defining characteristic of wordsmiths – even well-paid writers push due dates to the last minute.

I personally state in all bids that I understand and value the necessity for deadlines. Voicing your assurance helps a lot, and when stressed enough in marketing materials, punctuality offers an excellent unique selling point.

Follow through on your promise by turning in the articles a day or two early for the first couple jobs, and as you build trust with clients, their concerns will dissipate.

Not to mention word of a reliable writer spreads fast.

4. No Expertise

Being a qualified writer doesn’t make you qualified to write on every client’s behalf. Many clients would rather find an okay writer with expertise in their niche than the best writer out there. Always tailor your bids specifically for each job – don’t use a bland, template bid without personalizing it first, unless the job description gives no hint to the subject at hand.

Bid on jobs in niches where you really do have some insider knowledge, and explain why you’re the right candidate for the job; sell yourself. When you get the bidding right, your prospects, upon discovering you, should express excitement at their fortune in coming across the perfect candidate for the project.

Specialize in a select few niches and become that perfect candidate.

5. Lack of Editing

Anyone who has so much as written an essay for a high school English class can tell you the drastic difference between raw writing work and a final draft given a few once-overs. But the cheapest content writers don’t take the time to edit their work, and I can’t say I blame them either.

They simply don’t have the time to edit their work when writing 10 articles per hour just to make a half-way decent living.

If you miss any, and I mean any, typos in your bids or emails when prospecting, the recipient will run the other direction. A serious businessperson hiring a writer does not overlook carelessness in this department.

Take a fine-toothed comb to everything you send out, including your business website, and treat these materials as your most important works.

6. Plagiarism

Other online writers have the audacity to just rip articles off the Internet and send them over to fill orders, somehow thinking they won’t eventually get caught. I suppose there is little recourse on the web, though, so they profit until the show is over and then move on to the next sucker.

To confront the concern, tell prospects articles are Copyscape guaranteed. Don’t assure them that you check all articles in Copyscape before sending them over because they might wonder why you would doubt your own work.

Perhaps the best thing to say is something like, “Of course, all articles will be 100% original.”

Or, instead of pointing out a risk and worrying them, maintain a solid presence online. Sprinkle your name all over Google. Network to make your name known online, and build up a web presence that people can trust.

7. Losing Their Money

New clients also fear a writer will just run off with their money and therefore hesitate to pay for work ahead of time (writers, on the other hand, worry about clients burning them on payments). Any reason for hesitation may become a reason to never pull the trigger at all…

As mentioned above, establishing a thorough web presence helps alleviate these fears, but other measures may be in order.

For instance, suggest using Elance escrow for the first couple jobs until you establish some trust. You can also use credibility indicators like Visa and PayPal logos on your site to indicate you have been approved by credible third parties – not exactly the case, but using these logos lends an “implied credibility.”

8. Making a Profit

Finally, never forget a client’s number one concern when hiring a freelance writer online. Paying good money for high quality articles represents an investment, and they want that investment to show a return.

Work language into your bids and emails that reveals your understanding of the business nature of your transaction and the goal of turning a profit. Make it clear that you know they want traffic, conversions, and profits from your articles.

Note: don’t promise these things, though, because you can’t control how they leverage your work.

To go further, offer up-sells and cross-sells designed to help your clients meet their goals. Not only do these add-ons communicate your investment-oriented understanding but also significantly add to your income per article, often with little additional work.

Again, nothing goes further to ease a prospect’s mind on all the above concerns than building a rock-solid reputation online and leveraging that reputation for credibility purposes.

Go above and beyond for all clients you land and always ask for feedback and testimonials. Plaster those testimonials all over your website and launch an extensive marketing campaign to spread word about your business.

Of course, you have to land some clients first to build that reputation, but by understanding why your prospects hesitate to hire you, an unknown writer, in the first place, you can confront their concerns and address them at face value.