Last updated on July 11th, 2023
The service sector in Indian economy is growing, and growing for almost three decades since early 90’s. India’s annual GDP is over $2 trillion now, and growing rapidly. 53.8% of the GDP came from service sector last year. For a developing country, this is a huge number; and is only expected to grow in the next few years.
There is another angle to this story, a complementary one though. India can be considered the freelance capital of the world. It’s because, out of every 4 freelancers in the world, 1 is Indian. The community of Indian freelancers and the freelance content writing platform has increased by over 20 million. Over 20 million Indians are providing services in Event Management, Language Training, Animation, Software Development, Design, Content Writing and what not. Just type “Freelance..” on Google Search box and put any alphabet after that, you’ll find a plethora of freelance service options to choose from.
Of course, it has its advantages, and sometimes you have to make a few compromises as well. But life is about choices. And it’s you, who has to decide what suits you and what doesn’t.
Talking about such a huge community, and trying to fit it into a single context won’t be justifiable. In fact, even if I decide to stick only to freelance content writers, it is still such a diverse group of people that defining them in a single statement may be fine, but describing what they are in one sentence can be a huge mistake.
I accept this fact, and with complete honesty, that I wasn’t completely aware of the impact and potential of freelance content writing in India before joining WittyPen. From the number of writers involved, the number of businesses working alongside them to the amount of content created and the impact it has on the audience – everything is on such an unprecedented scale. From where I see it, it’s massive and growing. Freelance writing is in its early stage in India, but you cannot deny the scope of its growth.
There is one aspect of freelance content writing in India if overlooked for a long time can hamper its growth, and that is the lack of organization in this industry. Because the market is not very organized and there are almost no standards set, writers have to settle sometimes for a really low cost for their services. The scenario is equally challenging for the businesses dealing with the freelance writers, as they struggle to ensure the quality of the content, simply because there are no standards.
That’s where WittyPen comes into the scene. When I was planning to join WittyPen, Anshul Motwani (CEO and Founder, WittyPen) told me:-
“We are trying to solve a unique problem here. We are not acting simply as a middle-man. We are trying to ensure the desired quality of content to the businesses and justified and timely payments to the writers. Our ultimate goal is to eliminate this problem, and make it smoother for both, with efficient processes and brilliant communication.”
Over time, working with numerous freelance content writers, strategizing with WittyPen, and communicating with the team and the writers, it became clear to me that the way we work and the processes we follow provide a sense of security and freedom to the writers, which in turn help produce a great quality content that a business would be willing to put on their website.
This is what sets the freelance content writers working with WittyPen apart from other freelance writers. The organization of processes, sense of security, and the freedom of creativity is what allows the writers to focus on their primary jobs-how to become the best content writers– only. Let’s look more into it, and try to evaluate every aspect of it:-
Organization
As I’ve mentioned earlier, we bring in the organization of processes. It does not only help the businesses to get quality content smoothly but also helps the writers. From an order being placed on the platform and its allocation to a writer to the delivery of the content and feedback – everything is seamlessly designed and discussed.
The whole process is transparent to both the customers and the writers. The idea behind keeping the entire process well organized and transparent is to avoid reinventing the wheel for each order placed on the platform. But, don’t confuse the process as being completely mechanical. We know that we are working with humans and not machines. Automating the processes have their own benefits but adding a human touch makes it complete.
We often take initiatives on our side to ensure that the writer has everything needed before getting started on a task. We ask our writers to approach us freely if something is not clear or needs any clarification.
One of our writers once mentioned it to me,”The best thing about working with WittyPen is that I personally don’t have to negotiate with customers for the amount and don’t have to run behind them to get paid.”
This is what organization brings in- the freedom to focus on just a single aspect of the job and not worry about others.
Credibility
This is another direct benefit of organization. Because this industry is so unorganized, it is difficult for a writer to have faith in the customer sitting at the other end, and vice versa. That is what we bring in – credibility.
In my early days at WittyPen, I received a message from one of our writers that the task allocated to her was dropped for unknown reasons. She asked,”Does it mean I am not going to get paid for the work done?” I told her that there might have been some technical issues behind the message. Those were really early days but I went ahead and said,”Even if it is dropped for any legitimate reason, you’ll be paid your due amount.”
It wasn’t instantaneous. This was the result of the kind of credibility I witnessed in the actions of everyone working at WittyPen that I didn’t have to double check before making such a bold statement.
Next day, when I discussed it with Anshul, we sorted it out, went ahead with the task and paid the writer her due amount after the completion of the task.
Payment
Payment is the biggest concern in this industry. Not only the amount generally paid is too low, but not getting paid at all is also a sad possibility. I often receive messages from writers regarding the payment. Sometimes customers take their time in evaluating the content, accepting it or suggesting any changes. We, on our part, always try to make this process as smooth as it can be but sometimes despite all our efforts it takes time, and that is when writers get impatient and anxious.
Neeraj Kadam, Sales & Digital Marketing Head of WittyPen, has a great experience of working with freelance writers and he explained it to me-
”The anxiousness you witness is not entirely because of the payment delay. It is also because of the underlying fear of not getting paid at all. The market is so unorganized that it is not rare to not get paid at all.”
This is one thing we can ensure at WittyPen — that as a freelance writer, you will get paid for your services. We pay an average of 1 INR per word, which is significantly higher than the industry average.
Turn Around Time
Quality takes time and we understand it. More than anything else, creativity is one thing that requires time. Thankfully, even the businesses we work with understand it and allow us to take as much time as needed to draft a brilliant piece of content.
The average turn-around time for a content piece is 48 hours at WittyPen. It is because a significant amount of drafting a quality content piece goes in research and understanding the in’s and out’s of the requirement. If we force our writers to deliver the content in a shorter span of time, chances are that the research would be compromised. We don’t want that.
Every writer has their own style of writing and even the research style varies but cutting short on time is not going to help anyone. At times, writers have promised to deliver the content before the estimated deadline. Well, as a writer if you can manage that’s well and good but if you are compromising on quality, delivering before the deadline won’t make any sense.
The turn around time of 48 hours may seem short, and at times we do extend deadlines for research-intensive projects, but offering that for basic content pieces will only make you lethargic. However, having a set deadline is always helpful, and that is why in most of the cases, we stick to 48 hours mark.
Information Accessibility
Writing without adequate information is like shooting in the dark. You might miss, you might hit. This is also one problem with the content industry that sometimes even the customers are not very clear about what they want. And, in order to get even the slightest detail, writers have to follow them like crazies.
We solve this problem at the very beginning. We make sure that we ask all the relevant questions to the customer right at the time of placing an order. It sometimes may feel quite overwhelming but it compels you to think and have a rough idea as to how the final draft should look like.
If something is not clear even with the details on the form, we often get in touch with the customers to understand the whole requirement.
My colleague, Sharan Ahluwalia, has conducted numerous interviews with the representatives in different fields on behalf of the customers and conveyed the information to the writers. At times, we connect our writers to these representatives as well to have well-formulated information.
Professional Assistance
We always make sure that we are available to our writers for any assistance. At times, it is not possible to reply instantaneously and the response gets delayed, but we make sure that we do answer all their queries.
Sometimes requirements aren’t very clear and sometimes the writers need more information. Sometimes our process becomes a little complex for them to handle. We are always there to help in any form and encourage feedback to improve wherever we can.
Creative Independence
This is by far the best perk of working with WittyPen as a freelance content writer. We provide all the requirements and necessary guidelines to follow. After that, the ball is in your court.
You are always invited to bring in your personality and creativity to the content. We often advise our writers to not restrict themselves to the standard norms followed by the industry. If anything is beneficial to the reader and conveys the message that the business wants to convey, just go with it.
If you think that a particular framework would make more sense to the readers, go with it. Pictures, videos, graphs, charts, stats, data, external links or anything that you find relevant and interesting, and it goes with the target audience – include it in the draft.
Conclusion
WittyPen is a young organization, a bunch of vibrant passionate people. Surely, we are not perfect, but we always look to improve. Same goes for the freelance content writers working with us. They are professional but passionate as well. They are open to new challenges and to improve their niche. Our responsibility, as a platform, is to allow them the access to sufficient information and the hold of creative independence and let the magic happen.
The story of WittyPen is not simply about a group of people sitting in front of their computers, gazing and typing some random words on a screen in an office chamber, it is the story of multiple talented professional and freelance content writers taking pride in what we do. And the joy of working along the lines of one’s creative liberty is ineffable.
Of course, no organization has a single story and neither do we. It is a web of stories crafted meticulously by hundreds of freelance writers who have made this journey possible and enjoyable. We cherish every moment of it and hope to continue doing so in the future.
