The Society of Professional Consultants

We’ve all had to wrestle meaning out of poorly written material. Perhaps it was a report that highlighted a series of problems but failed to provide a clear and actionable path forward. Or maybe it was that email from a client responding to what you thought was a simple question with an ambiguous and only vaguely related answer. Or that blog post that promised a solution but only added to the confusion.

Poor writing costs time and money.

According to The State of Business Writing, a report published in 2016, bad writing costs businesses an estimated $396 billion a year. That has undoubtedly increased along with the popularity of asynchronous communication tools such as Slack. More recently, Erica Dhawan, author of Digital Body Language, found that the average employee wastes up to four hours each week on poor, unclear, and confusing digital communication, most of which is written. As an independent consultant, your writing has a direct and immediate impact on your reputation and income.

There are two types of business writing: traditional business writing and marketing communications. Below we’ll define each type of writing, examine its purpose, and give you a few tips on how to increase the effectiveness of both your traditional business writing and marketing communications.

What Is Traditional Business Writing?

Traditional business writing includes everything you write in the course of business, such as proposals, reports, emails, and messages in Slack. The purpose of this type of writing is typically to convey information about a specific topic. In many companies, traditional business writing is the engine that drives the day-to-day activities of the business. To increase the effectiveness of your traditional business writing:

• Write with the reader in mind. Tailor the tone of the message to your intended audience. Avoid using jargon and abbreviations unless your audience is particularly savvy. Be clear, not clever.
• Use the right communication tool. Email and Slack are good notification tools, but they are rarely effective communication tools. If you need to convey something important and want to avoid confusion and miscommunication, schedule a phone call or meeting.
• Cut the fluff. Keep it short and simple.

What Is Marketing Communications?

Marketing communications is writing that is in service of business development, such as websites, email newsletters, case studies, white papers, social media posts, blogs, and articles on third-party platforms. Its purpose is to demonstrate your unique value proposition to your prospective, current, and former clients. To increase the effectiveness of your marketing communications:

• Know your audience. Who is reading your marketing communications? Where are they in the buyer’s journey? Are you writing to the decision maker or to someone tasked with vetting a larger list of prospective consultants?
• Focus on what’s in it for them. Why should a prospective client work with you? What does each segment of your audience want? Someone vetting prospective consultants wants to impress their boss. A decision maker wants to minimize their risk and know that they’ve made the right decision. How can you provide them with what they want most?
• Show your impact. Your prospective clients care more about the results you achieve than the methods you use. Share examples of how you’ve helped your clients achieve their goals instead of describing your methods.

If you truly want to be of service and improve the effectiveness of your business writing, treat your reader’s time as more valuable than your own.

Next month, we’ll talk about the importance of knowing your audience and dive in to how your brand influences your writing.

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Sophie Michals is a writer, editor, and writing coach who helps brainy, image-conscious subject matter experts deliver clear, concise writing with a consistent brand voice. Learn more at (SM) Edits LLC.

Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, a collaborative of writers and editors partnering with executives, consultants, and coaches to transform their ideas into published articles.

Everyone writes. Whether you’re writing an email to a client, putting together a proposal, preparing a report, or crafting an article for publication, your writing reflects your company’s brand and either builds your credibility and authority or diminishes it.

Everyone writes. But not everyone writes effectively.

In this series of articles, we will share tips for effective business writing, including practical tools you can apply immediately to improve your written communications and guidance on how to find the help you need.

We’ll cover one tip each month — and, as a special bonus, we’ll share a list of our favorite writing resources to help improve your writing:

• Tip 1: Acknowledge the Need for Effective Business Writing — different types of business writing and the purpose of each type
• Tip 2: Understand Your Brand and Your Audience — how your brand influences your writing and why you must know your audience to write effectively
• Tip 3: Write Clear and Compelling Copy — advice on writing clear and compelling copy and how different platforms and purposes impact your writing
• Tip 4: Edit, Edit, and Edit Again — why editing and consistency are crucial to effective writing and how to establish a good relationship with your editor
• Tip 5: Don’t Go It Alone — what to look for when hiring a writer or editor and why the writer or editor you hire doesn’t need to be an expert in your field
• BONUS — a list of resources for writing and editing advice, reference tools, and where to find quality freelance writers and editors

Check back in early October for Tip 1: We will talk about the differences between traditional business writing and marketing communications and the goals of each type of writing.

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Sophie Michals is a writer, editor, and writing coach who helps brainy, image-conscious subject matter experts deliver clear, concise writing with a consistent brand voice. Learn more at (SM) Edits LLC.

Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, a collaborative of writers and editors partnering with executives, consultants, and coaches to transform their ideas into published articles.

How do you set priorities when you start a solo consulting business? If you focus on these three tasks, you’ll improve the chances of making your business successful.

Building Authority

It’s difficult for a new consultant to compete in a crowded field. Thought leadership activities will help you establish authority and get clients to find you. Creating blog posts, magazine articles, YouTube videos, and newsletters will help position you as an expert. If you produce content that’s relevant to your potential clients, you’ll establish authority and be able to win contracts over more experienced consultants.

Outsourcing

When you start a solo consulting business, you become the director of sales, marketing, finance, contracts, IT, and PM. The more time you spend on these tasks, the less time you can spend providing consulting services. Outsourcing some of these business responsibilities will give you more time to do the consulting work you enjoy. You can end up hating consulting if you try to do all the required operations tasks yourself.

Asking for Help

The Society of Professional Consultants offers networking, mentoring, and education to new consultants from around the world. We’re a diverse group of new and experienced consultants that encourages our members to collaborate, share best practices, and learn from each other. The SPC provides a supportive environment where new consultants can ask questions about launching and growing their practice. You can view our free resources for people considering a career in consulting at https://spconsultants.org/consultant-resources.

Rick Pollak is president of the Society of Professional Consultants. He’s also the founder of Presentation Medic, a consulting company specializing in curing boring presentations. He specializes in coaching speakers for TEDx talks, executive presentations, and technical workshops.