| You know the secret to a long-term, and profitable, | | | | themselves, they'll hire someone who knows a lot |
| client relationship is delivering effective communication | | | | about their area, but perhaps writes only a little better |
| tools. But you may not realize that the impact of your | | | | than they do. And a year or two later, they'll be looking |
| writing has more to do with your skill as a writer than | | | | for someone else to help them when they realize that |
| with your knowledge of the subject. And unless you | | | | all the copy and training content and documentation |
| help your clients understand the value of your skills, | | | | they have churned out has produced mediocre results. |
| you limit your opportunities to sell those skills again and | | | | Help yourself and help your clients. When you get an |
| again. Every business has its own specialists, people | | | | opportunity to talk to a prospect about creating |
| who know more about their products and services | | | | effective communications for them, keep pushing the |
| than you'll ever know. So why can't they produce | | | | conversation toward the skills they need to pull it off. |
| great marketing copy, clear user guides, or truly | | | | Make sure they understand their own need for |
| effective training for their employees and sales reps? | | | | someone different from the resources they already |
| Because they don't have the skills that you do, the | | | | have in house. Help them recognize that your skills |
| talent for communicating with impact to achieve | | | | complement their knowledge, that it is that combination |
| specific results. We've all met experts who "know their | | | | that produces results in the form of higher revenues, |
| stuff" but can't share their knowledge -- perhaps your | | | | more customers, or enhanced employee performance. |
| math or physics or French teacher, or an engineer or | | | | Even if you know their subject matter well, your skills |
| programmer in a company you know, or even your | | | | are more important. After all, should their product line |
| doctor, lawyer, or insurance agent. At some point, a | | | | change, or new markets open, they may be dealing |
| company realizes they need help communicating, | | | | with a new body of knowledge in a year or two. But |
| educating prospects, customers, and their own | | | | their need for effective communication will remain, and, |
| employees about the benefits and best practices | | | | if you've positioned yourself as the "communication |
| associated with their products and services. They go | | | | expert" of their team, you'll continue to have |
| looking for outside help . . . and then they forget why! | | | | opportunities for business from existing clients even as |
| Your long-term success depends on reminding them | | | | their business practices and markets change. |
| of that need for communication skills. Most of these | | | | Will Kenny has more than two decades of experience |
| experts, whether clinicians or programmers or | | | | as a freelance content developer for national |
| engineers or legal experts, are more comfortable | | | | corporations and local small businesses. Visit for free |
| talking to people just like themselves, rather than | | | | articles and case studies based on years of freelance |
| creative types like artists and writers. Left to | | | | business writing. |