“It is just one blog post. It shouldn’t take you more than a few hours.”
“It is only one line, no? Why can’t you send it immediately?”
“We need this post to go up right now.”
WhatsApp message at 10 PM: “Please give me a bio for Instagram. We are launching it right now.”
“That is how much you charge? This is easy work!”
The Woes
Apparently writing is a piece of cake or so I have been told zillion times. Friends think I have the easiest job in the world, maintaining a team of writers and many clients are under the impression that we somehow have content stuffed in our brains, which flows out at the push of a button.
In fact, being able to write fast has turned into a negative for me because I get replies such as, “It took you only X minutes/hours to write this. Why are you charging this much?” I am tired of explaining that it took years of effort to be able to do something in X minutes/hours.
The Efforts
I run a startup with a handful of writers who are dedicated to what they do. When we acquire a client, we go all out to impress because each client means the world to us. We own their business and sweat it out for it. After a point, though, our efforts are taken for granted and we are expected to do things “right now” despite clear deliverables. Once in a while, such anomalies are manageable but it hurts that clients fail to understand that we have other clients too. Each client expects us to deliver immediately and it all comes crashing down for us.
Content is the need of the hour and that is why (touch wood), my business has been doing well since the day of establishment. Yet, I do not understand why something so important is so under appreciated and why writers even today are told they have the best/easiest job in the world! Even designers, I have heard, face the same.
To write “just one blog post” that will help your website’s rankings, we put in hours into research, understanding, and writing. The same goes with proofreading and editing a copy. Another misconception is length. Many think it is easy to write one-liners. The fact is that, the shorter it is, the harder it gets.
The Appeal
I know I speak on behalf of all writers (and artists) when I say that writing and creativity are very difficult. Giving us time is the best way to help us blossom, making it the best way to make your business blossom! No, I am not requesting you to accept unreasonable deadlines that we put forward or to accept breach of the deadlines already agreed upon. My only request is that you understand that we hate compromising on our work. When you repeatedly push us unreasonably and/or slander our work, it exhausts us and that directly affects our output.
Me
I am Kritika Ponia, a 2-year-old entrepreneur and 1-year-old Rodinhooder. I run a content writing startup in Hyderabad, which is my bread, butter, heart, and soul.
Please reach out to me on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter
Twitter: @kritikaponia