There are a lot of folks out there who aren’t sure if hiring a consultant is the best fit for their company. I get that. And truly, it might not be. But if you’re on the fence, I offer these five reasons to consider a contract writer.
1. It can be cheaper than hiring new staff. Some of the companies I work with have enough work that keeping it all in-house would burn out their current staff. But it’s still not enough to justify a full-time — or even a part-time — staff member. That’s where a contractor can help fill the gap. And in a lot of cases, you don’t have to guarantee the number of hours, so if it ebbs and flows, your contractor will ebb and flow right along with you.
2. A fresh perspective is often welcome. Maybe you’ve been doing things the same way for years. “That’s just how we do it,” you’ll say. And it’s not out of laziness or a fear of change. It’s just that it’s worked, and you have plenty of other things on your plate. But what if a consultant could come in and work on your project with you for a few hours and help you see fresh, easy ways of updating language, tweaking design or waking up your creative approach. People in the trenches are sometimes too busy to search for a new angle, but a contractor can come in with a fresh perspective.
3. It’s a stopgap. When a staff member goes on maternity leave, has to take a leave of absence or even just goes on vacation, the absence can cause some unrest — even panic. If you operate at full capacity all the time, there’s not much room for weeklong vacations or disability leave. The right contractor, though, can be a temporary fix. I’ve gone into client sites for short-term assignments, and enjoyed the opportunity to change the way I work with clients — even if just for a week. And don’t think you have to pay a full 40 hours a week. You can probably identify the three of four most important projects that must be kept afloat. And a contractor can do that. So, your staff doesn’t get overloaded, and your employee doesn’t come back from vacation to a huge pile of overdue work.
4. It’s not your area of expertise. Just because you work in communications, PR or marketing doesn’t mean you have aced every facet of the field. Master creative strategists who lead teams might not be the best copywriters. And the best media relations pros might need an editor from time to time. It’s OK. We all have our strengths. That’s why I hire designers and Web programmers and accountants. I know my strengths and my weaknesses. So, if you don’t know social media, hire a social media consultant to get you started. If your copy is fraught with typos, hire an editor a few hours a month.
5. It frees you up to think about other things. A small businessowner trying to keep up the company Twitter account, get the latest enewsletter out and write press releases is spending time on marketing functions when he could be focusing on the business. I’m a small business owner, too, so I get it. You want to be in your business. You’re the face, the voice, the everything. But at some point, you can’t do the work, do the marketing, secure the new business, attend the functions, do the accounting, etc., etc. You can’t be everywhere. And if you’re trying to truly strategize how to build business and grow, you can’t be in the weeds. That might mean hiring a bookkeeper, while you focus on the big financial numbers and what they mean. Maybe you give direction on marketing strategy, but hire a writer to draft enewsletter content. As you grow, outsourcing smaller, detail-oriented tasks pulls you above the fray so you can see the big picture and work like a CEO should.
Whether a contract relationship is something you’re comfortable with is something you have to explore for yourself. Not everyone is. But if you find the right one, you just might be able to find peace of mind for you and your staff.