If you want engaging, effective content that sells then the best way to get it is to hire a professional content writer. But before you go ahead and hire a content writer here are eight things you need to be able to tell them:

1. Full details of the product or service you’re endorsing …. and a list of benefits.

Obvious maybe, but it’s all too often overlooked and sketchy info. can mean sketchy copy. Provide samples if possible.

Try to provide a list of your strongest product benefits – 5 or 6 is a suggested minimum. Aim to place these in order, strongest benefit first.

2. What makes your product or service, and the way you do business, great.

And why and how is it different …. what’s your USP or unique selling proposition?

Strong USPs help make a compelling piece of copy.

3. Who are your competitors. And what do you like/admire/dislike about the way they do things.

Make a list. Collect a clippings file of pieces of copy which you admire.

4. What the drawbacks of your product or service are.

You may be afraid to admit it but be brutally honest …. even good products and services have them.

As well as offering your own solutions, allow your content writer to make suggestions as to the best way to address these issues.

5. What the purpose of this piece of content is.

Is it for an offline ad,, leaflet, sales letter, website copy or whatever? They’re not all the same.

6. Who your intended audience is.

Give your content writer a quick potted profile of your typical reader. What do you already know about them …. and what don’t you know?

It can be a good idea to create a persona or persona for your typical reader. This article explains how to create and make use of personas.

7. What does your audience think about you.

Reviews or survey results can be helpful here.

8. At the end of the day …. what do you want this piece of copy to achieve.

Is it a sale …. or enquiry …. or are you looking to generate leads for use in future?

Also tell your content writer what your long term strategy is. (If you don’t know now is the time to come up with one!)

REMEMBER G.I.G.O …. garbage in, garbage out! Although a good content writer will be able to choose what information about your product to use, and fill in any missing gaps, the better information you give your content writer the better your copy will be.

For more information about my copywriting and content marketing services drop me a line at mark @ markhempshell.com