Writer Career Path #5: Content Writing

How to escape your fate as a glorified freelance writer.

Dear Writer,

So you want to be a Content Writer?

Over the past 20 years, the title of “Content Writer” has become a sort of umbrella term for all types of business-related writing: blog posts, SEO content, branded social content, website copy, newsletters, sales emails, even SMS campaigns, you name it. In many ways, the title of Content Writer is no different than the title of Freelance Writer, except for the fact that Freelance Writers typically work for themselves, whereas Content Writers are typically hired to do the same work for a company on a full-time basis.

Put simply, a Content Writer is someone who creates and manages written content for businesses and organizations.

Since many of these titles get used interchangeably (Content Writer, Freelance Writer, Copywriter, and Ghostwriter being the Big 4 most people refer to incorrectly), here’s how I differentiate between each of these different career paths—listed in order of perceived value:

Freelance Writer

This is the lowest perceived value title.

Freelance Writers typically operate in a mindset called “I’ll write anything, for anyone, in any industry, at any time.” As a result, they have zero pricing power and zero leverage. They have one client paying them to write short-form LinkedIn content for a dog food brand. They have another client paying them to write weekly newsletters about liposuction. And they have another client paying them to rewrite the website copy for their enterprise software solution.

Since most Freelance Writers charge per hour (or worse, per word), this creates a negative feedback loop cycle: to land clients and beat-out other Freelance Writers applying for the same gigs, they think they have to compete on price; since they compete on price, they earn less and less from each client; since they earn less, they need to say “Yes” to any and all new clients, every any industry, requesting any service; all of which crushes their ability to create efficiencies, let alone become known for a niche they can own, keeping them stuck in a churn-and-burn business model.

I discourage every writer I meet from calling themselves a Freelance Writer.

Content Writer

Content Writers are, in many ways, glorified Freelance Writers.

Instead of doing “anything” for “anyone” in “any industry” and working for yourself, Content Writers are typically hired by one company and then asked, as a full-time employee, to write “anything” for “any initiative” inside the company. This is more efficient (for the writer) than being a Freelancer—who is not only juggling different clients in different industries, but is also responsible for finding clients to begin with—but not by much.

But let’s clarify this even more:

There are two types of content all companies create (or should create):

• Brand Content: This is content designed for reach, with the goal of “reaching” as many qualified customers as possible—introducing them to you, your business, and most importantly, your position in the larger category.

• Marketing Content: This is content designed for people to take action, click on something, and put themselves in a position to buy (or sign-up, depending on the end-goal metric of the business). We can boil this action down to one word: sales.

The vast majority of people—from Freelance Writers to executives of publicly traded companies—think these two types of content are the same thing, and they’re not. Worse, they call it all “marketing” or all “content,” not realizing Brand and Marketing Content fulfill different goals, and require very different skill sets in order to be executed well. Which ultimately means hiring different types of writers.

As a Content Writer, most of the assets a business hires you to write fall on the Brand Content side.

Things like:

• Brand blog posts (including SEO and/or thought leadership)

• Brand website copy (Home page, About page, etc.)

• Brand daily/weekly/monthly newsletter

• Brand social accounts & content

• Etc.

Again, the goal of these assets usually leans more “reach” and educational, and is written from an all-encompassing Brand Voice.

Which is different than writing things that sell.

Copywriter

Copywriters are not Content Writers.

If Content Writers are responsible for Brand Content, then Copywriters are responsible for Marketing Content. But when I say “marketing,” I am using that word with nuance. Marketing Content is not about amplifying reach (that’s what Brand Content is for). Marketing Content is specifically designed to get a reader, listener, viewer, follower, website visitor, etc., to take action.

And this is a very, very different skill than writing educational Brand Content intended to increase the reach of your business’s digital footprint.

Copywriters are more valuable than Content Writers, who are more valuable than Freelance Writers. And the reason for the hierarchy should be clear, but let’s recap it one more time:

• Freelance Writers write “anything” for “anyone” in “any industry,” meaning they have zero pricing power and zero leverage.

• Content Writers write “anything” for “any initiative” inside one company, usually as a full-time hire—meaning they have some leverage and opportunity to build efficiencies for themselves, but incrementally so.

• Copywriters write “specific things” for “specific initiatives”—either working for themselves, or as a full-time hire—with the “specific goal” of getting potential customers to take action (sales). As a result, Copywriters are usually paid more than Content Writers, who are usually paid more than Freelance Writers.

It’s the specificity that creates the pricing power and leverage.

As a Copywriter, most of the assets a business hires you to write fall on the Marketing side. For industry veterans, this is usually clarified further and called Direct Response Marketing—meaning marketing that leads to some sort of directly measurable customer response:

• Emails (or email campaigns) that drive sales

• Promotion or product-specific landing pages that drive sales

• Social content CTAs or viral loop strategies that drive sales

• Digital ad copy (Google PPC, Facebook, Instagram, etc.)

• Analog ad copy (billboards, magazines, direct mail, etc.)

• VSL (video sales letter) scripting

• Etc.

It’s rare that a Copywriter will be hired to write things like company SEO blog posts or social content, just like how it’s rare that a Content Writer will be hired to script a VSL. And that’s because these two types of content—Brand (Education) and Marketing (Sales)—require very different skill sets, and as a result, require hiring two very different types of writers.

Ghostwriter

Ghostwriters are the top of the hierarchy.

For a couple reasons:

1. The term “Ghostwriter” has the highest perceived value. When you hear the term Freelance Writer, you probably imagine an unemployed twenty-something sitting at a coffee shop hacking away at another blog post nobody is going to read for minimum wage. When you hear the term Content Writer, you probably imagine the same sort of person, except they work for one company and have years of experience writing about one niche topic (liposuction, for example), making them slightly more valuable. And when you hear the term Copywriter, you probably imagine a shifty fellow who you wouldn’t necessarily trust to babysit your kids, but who is a ninja with words and can get people to buy via email. But when you hear the term “Ghostwriter,” what comes to mind? Someone who works behind the scenes? Someone who is selective, and an expert in their craft? Exactly. This is high perceived value.

2. The term “Ghostwriter” implies working with one individual. More specifically, it implies working with a very powerful, very successful individual. You don’t associate the term “Ghostwriter” with your local bike shop. You associate it with a celebrity who wants to write a book, or a CEO who wants to build their personal brand on the Internet. Again, high perceived value.

3. Ghostwriters work with industry leaders, who are the gatekeepers to all other opportunities. This is the real reason Ghostwriters are more highly valued than all other writing roles within companies—even if the work itself is the same. When you get hired as a Ghostwriter, you usually start out working directly with the founder, CEO, etc. And if you can earn their trust, who do you think they are going to ask first for additional help writing… anything? The Ghostwriter. It doesn’t matter if the business needs 800-word blog posts, or a 60-minute VSL script. If the founder/executive/leadership team enjoys working with a Ghostwriter, they are always going to give the next opportunity to that writer, first.

Which means calling yourself a Ghostwriter gives you the most pricing power, the most leverage, and the ability to unlock opportunities on both the Brand (Educational) Content side, as well as the Marketing (Sales) Content side.

Whereas Content Writers and Copywriters are typically siloed to one or the other.

The Art of Content Writing

Now, all of that said, Content Writers can still be extremely valuable to a company—and can be an amazing career path if monetized correctly.

For example, a 2024 CMI report found that 80% of survey respondents said creating brand awareness was their number one goal, with 72% of respondents wanting to build credibility and trust, and 68% saying educating audiences with their content is a top priority.

So let’s talk about the skills required in order to be a prolific Content Writer.