When I started as a content writer, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew how to write but, I didn’t know how to do it for my clients and their target market. I knew of the subject-verb agreement but not of pillar content. Additionally, I had a variety of misconceptions when I went into content writing. I’ve written down some content writing myths so you’ll have a better idea of what it’s like to be a content writer.
Let’s debunk some myths surrounding content writing, shall we?
Myth #1 Being A Content Writer Is Easy
I always thought that content writing would be easy because all I needed to do was write about whatever a client was selling. Little did I know that it would prove to be a difficult job requiring technical, creative, and people skills. Aside from creating a content plan that perfectly suits your client’s needs, you need to be able to interpret data and present it to them to help them understand your work’s importance and results.
Myth #2 To Start As A Content Writer, You Need To Be A Good Writer
Going into content writing, I always thought that I had to be a good writer. This isn’t necessarily true. For some, a background in writing and knowing the basics of grammar can score them some jobs. But to perform and charge at a higher level, you need to be constantly improving yourself and your writing. Learn on the job and augment it with a lot of reading and daily writing practices.
Being a content writer is a job that will have you learning and keeping your brain sharp for the rest of your life.
Myth #3 Content Writers Only Write for Blogs
This had to be one of the content writing myths that made me hesitate before starting this career. I thought that I would only be limited to writing for blogs and websites. Little did I know that this job can be so much more than what meets the eye. There are content writing opportunities in podcasts as scriptwriters, Youtube videos to write descriptions, and even in writing captions for social media posts.
Content writing is a profession that seems to have no bounds! You can explore all kinds of media through your work. If you want to find out more about the different jobs a content writer can do, click here.
Myth #4 Content Writers Can Write About Whatever They Want For The Client
Initially, I thought that content writers could write whatever they wanted for their clients as long as they aligned with their business and goals. However, now that I’ve studied content writing further and practiced, I learned that you have to plan out your content to make it more cohesive with your campaign. For example, a pillar content can be divided into different sections. Planning your content will keep you from getting burned out and will also give a sense of continuity to your posts.
A content writer must work hand-in-hand with their client to establish a plan that best suits their needs and their market’s needs.
Myth #5 Copywriting And Content Writing Is The Same Thing
A common misconception is that content writing and copywriting is the same. Although they do overlap in some parts, it’s important to remember that the goals of these two differ from one another.
Content writing focuses on creating brand new relationships with customers and keeping them engaged. In contrast, copywriters are focused on generating sales for the company while enticing customers to make a purchase.
You can click here for a more in-depth discussion of the difference between the two.
Conclusion
There are a lot of content writing myths. For example, I’ve always thought it would be as easy as picking a topic and writing to my heart’s content. Little did I know that it would require a world of patience and countless backspaces. You’ll be able to find many things throughout your journey as a content writer, but the most important one is not to forget your “why” and also to have a community that you’ll be able to rely on.
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