Top Reasons Why Every Company Needs to Hire a Technical Ghostwriter
May 6, 2022
Organizations invest significant resources in building products, research, and creating innovative solutions. Often, the information that emerges from these advancements involves highly technical and particularly specific content.
As a result, general audiences may struggle to comprehend the valuable information presented fully.
It is crucial to translate decidedly specific information into a more digestible format to facilitate technical content for a broad audience. Nevertheless, doing so requires writers with a combination of writing skills and a keen understanding of the subject matter.
In this article, we will explore how a technical ghostwriter can take complex technical content and translate it into an easily consumable form. In addition, we will take a look at five key reasons why hiring a technical ghostwriter can be beneficial for any company.
Hiring a Technical Ghostwriter
Technical content is everywhere. Folks consistently come into contact with overly specific information such as installation guides and technical manuals.
However, interacting with this type of content may become frustrating for a broad audience due to their lack of technical expertise.
Organizations, therefore, face a challenge when producing technical documentation. The documentation must reflect its content accurately while simultaneously making it accessible to a general audience.
This challenge requires the intervention of a skilled professional with specific technical expertise and writing ability.
Consequently, a professional technical writer can solve this conundrum.
A technical ghostwriter can help any organization take complex material and mold it into an accessible format. Thus, a technical ghostwriter’s job is to present content so a general audience can take advantage of the information at their disposal.
For example, a well-written and easily digestible installation manual facilitates user interaction with a product. As a result, users will rely less on customer service, thereby alleviating pressure on the product manufacturer.
When to Hire a Technical Ghostwriter
In essence, organizations, corporations, academic institutions, or publishers can hire a technical ghostwriter when they need someone to produce high-quality technical materials. In particular, hiring a technical writer is often part of the final step in a process.
Consider this situation:
A research team has concluded a study. The team has carefully curated the data and must now proceed to write their report.
However, the research team aims to reach as many people as many as possible. Naturally, this aim requires the research team to produce a comprehensible report to anyone without highly specialized knowledge. At this point, a technical ghostwriter can greatly facilitate this stage of the process.
On the whole, technical writers are useful when staff in an organization lack the writing skills or time to draft materials for public release.
Researchers are great at reporting their findings. However, their language use generally focuses on industry-specific jargon. As a result, a mainstream version is necessary for public dissemination.
Hiring a technical ghostwriter is also crucial when time constraints represent a serious consideration.
For instance, product launches are commonly time-sensitive matters. Documentation needs to be ready in time for the product launch. However, delays in manufacturing, issues with suppliers, or unforeseen matters might create additional pressure on in-house staff. Thus, hiring a technical ghostwriter can alleviate the pressure while making up for the lost time.
Lastly, hiring a technical writer saves needless effort down the road.
Unfortunately, initial documentation releases reveal issues with readability.
Users frequently complain that the material is too complex or confusing to understand. As a result, the documentation must go through further revisions and modifications, thus leading to unnecessary time and effort.
A technical ghostwriter can solve that matter from the first documentation release.
Specifically, technical writers understand the target audience. Therefore, technical writers can adjust the material accordingly.
Ultimately, a reputable technical ghostwriter helps optimize time and effort.
Hiring a Technical Writer for Specific Projects
Generally speaking, a technical ghostwriter’s skill set is valuable in any project. Nevertheless, it helps to contextualize precisely what a technical writer brings to the table. As such, it is worth considering two potential scenarios.
First, a corporation has concluded an internal audit of its financial statements. The auditors have issued their reports and highlighted their main recommendations. Now, the corporation’s management needs to get an executive summary and letter to investors and shareholders explaining the audit’s findings.
In this situation, a technical ghostwriter can take the decidedly technical materials and translate them into a more digestible format for investors. The technical writer must possess superb writing skills coupled with a deep understanding of financial literature to achieve this aim.
Second, a non-profit organization intends to launch an environmental awareness campaign. The organization has based its campaign on a study underscoring the effects of climate change on America’s ecosystem. The study presents its information in a highly technical format. However, the organization wants to disseminate this information to the general public.
In this scenario, a technical writer can take the material in the study and transform it into an easy-to-read layout. As such, the technical ghostwriter needs to combine solid scientific knowledge with outstanding writing skills.
The previous examples indicate how a technical ghostwriter can help any organization take specific content and convert it into a suitable form for a wide audience.
Most importantly, organizations may lack staff with the skills needed to achieve this objective.
As a result, having a trusted technical writer on call can greatly facilitate disseminating complex information.
5 Reasons Why Hiring a Technical Writer Can Be Beneficial for Any Company
Hiring a technical ghostwriter can greatly enhance an organization’s objectives. On the whole, hiring a technical writer represents an overall investment by transforming complex materials into easily digestible formats. As such, there are five key reasons why hiring a technical ghostwriter can be beneficial for any company.
1. Improved communication
Companies and organizations need to communicate with their target audience. However, it is not always easy to do so. After all, there might be markedly technical materials that may exceed a general audience’s scope. As a result, this disconnect between audience and material may lead to communication breakdown.
To improve communication, organizations can employ a technical ghostwriter to bridge the gap in communication.
Example: A company plans to pitch a new product to investors. However, the product’s technical specifications require specific knowledge to grasp the product’s usefulness fully. Therefore, the company hires a technical ghostwriter to produce an information kit so investors can get a clear picture of the product’s specifications. Consequently, the company can lure investors into its new venture.
2. Awareness of the target audience
Often, organizations produce materials from their perspective.
In other words, the information considers the organization’s point of view leading to decidedly complex materials.
This approach may leave the target audience without a clear sense of how the information offer value to them.
In contrast, a technical writer’s expertise can help organizations take materials and flip them into the target audience’s perspective.
As such, a technical ghostwriter can repurpose information taking the target audience’s understanding, or lack thereof, to produce relevant materials.
Example: An insurance company wants to inform its customers about changes in the applicable legislation. Company lawyers have issued a legal opinion stating the changes’ implications on the company’s services. Nevertheless, the legal opinion exceeds a general audience’s understanding of legal matters. As a result, the insurance company hires a technical ghostwriter to translate the documentation from legalese into plain language. This approach allows customers to comprehend the implications of legal changes on their policies fully.
3. Investment in time and effort
Hiring a technical ghostwriter is an investment in time and effort. In particular, hiring a technical ghostwriter allows company staff to delegate writing tasks to a trusted partner.
This benefit is pivotal, especially when current staff members lack the time or experience needed to produce written documentation. As such, a technical writer can tackle content production while the company’s staff continues to focus on their core functions.
Example: A software design firm has recently completed a new product release. Along with the software, the design team has produced the relevant documentation. However, none of the software design team members have had much experience writing documentation for public release. As such, tasking one or multiple team members implies taking time away from core functions to focus on writing. This approach creates the need to work overtime, increasing workload and pressure on team members.
By hiring a technical ghostwriter, the company invests in alleviating pressure on its design team. The team can confidently continue to produce software and its technical documentation while the technical writer produces the material for public release. As a result, the increase in productivity offsets the financial cost of hiring a technical writer.
4. Objectivity
Typically, technical ghostwriters are external third parties. As such, a technical ghostwriter does not have a direct stake in the company’s work.
This condition makes a technical ghostwriter an impartial third party when producing documentation.
In contrast, in-house staff may have a bias due to their stake in a project or endeavor. As a result, in-house staff may consciously or inadvertently skew documentation to reflect information in a favorable light.
In contrast, a technical ghostwriter can produce materials with a clear, objective mindset.
Example: A company launching a new service needs to produce documentation for its clientele. In-house staff members have produced documentation extolling the benefits of this service. The technical documentation sounds more like marketing copy, thus creating unrealistic expectations in the service’s offering. This situation is the result of the company staff’s natural bias. After all, they have a vested interest in seeing their new service become successful.
In contrast, a technical ghostwriter frames the technical information from an impartial, third-party perspective. Of course, the technical writer wants their client’s services to be successful. Nevertheless, the technical writer does not have a natural bias. As a result, the technical writer can be forthright, thus building realistic expectations of the service’s offerings.
5. Scalability
Most organizations have an occasional need for writing services. The need for writers is often part of specific endeavors that require content creation. Under these circumstances, employing full-time, in-house writers may become an unnecessary expense for the company. While technical writers can certainly collaborate in other areas, their specific expertise may be underutilized. This approach may lead to employing resources sub-optimally.
Hiring a technical ghostwriter or contracting a ghostwriting agency remedies this situation. In particular, having a trusted ghostwriter partner (individual or agency) provides organizations with the flexible scalability it needs based on requirements.
Example: A company needs to produce substantial amounts of documentation on a tight turnaround. As such, the company can employ the services of a ghostwriting agency to meet its deadline. The ghostwriter agency can furnish a team of writers to get the job done within the expected timeline. Moving forward, the company can employ individual writers as needs arise. Moreover, the company can hire technical writers only when needed. This flexibility allows organizations to use their resources optimally based on their current needs.
Making the Decision to Hire a Technical Ghostwriter
Hiring a technical ghostwriter or ghostwriting agency can be one of the most valuable decisions any organization can make.
The benefits ghostwriters represent an investment in time and effort while boosting productivity and output quality. Consequently, deciding to hire a technical ghostwriter boils down to finding the right match.
Finding the right technical ghostwriter may seem like a complex task. Nevertheless, choosing the best professional ghostwriters depends on their experience and skill set.
Therefore, organizations should strive to meet with technical ghostwriters before employing their services.
During these interviews, decision-makers can accurately gauge the specific skills these writers bring to the table. In doing so, organizations can find the ideal writer for their specific needs.
Lastly, companies must look beyond the project at hand.
Fostering an ongoing relationship with a professional ghostwriter will take the guesswork out of producing documentation moving forward. As a result, both organizations and writers can develop a mutually beneficial partnership.
