Frequently Asked Questions
Company
RedShift Writers is a content writing company driven by the principle that Stories Change History. We help you find your voice and tell your story. We capture the spirit of who you are and develop content writing and content strategies so you can build a relationship with your audience. We work with businesses to achieve their objectives, and we work with authors to finish the book they’ve always wanted to write. We care about how you sound to other people and make you sound fantastic.
Usually when you brainstorm names, you wind up either hitting the perfect name and knowing it immediately or looking through a seven-page list of names you drew up until one stands out. RedShift Writers was chosen by the second route. It was one of a cluster of space-related names on our list. (Pro tip: Space words and god and goddess names stand out as brand or product names).
RedShift is to light what the Doppler Effect is to sound. According to Physics Classroom, The Doppler Effect is observed whenever the source of sound waves is moving either toward or away from an observer. An example of this you may relate to is when you are standing on the street and a wailing ambulance is driving in your direction. The pitch of the siren sounds like it’s getting higher as it’s moving towards you and lowering in pitch as it moves further away from you.
RedShift is the same principle but with light waves instead of sound waves. As a light moves further away from an observer, it appears to shift towards the red end of the color spectrum.
Learn more about how our name applies to who we are and what we do.
We offer content writing, content strategy, ghostwriting, and author consultation. We write websites, blogs, articles, guides, books, press releases, and anything else that tells your story. We research competitors, interview experts, analyze the market, assess SEO metrics, develop voice guidelines and build out schedules, calendars, and idea sheets for your venture. Our services drive traffic, gain visibility, connect with your audience, and accomplish your goals, whether that means ranking at the top of Google, building a community, gaining press, converting leads, writing your book, or changing the world for the better.
We help businesses, individuals, and organizations. We want to help people with interesting projects that can really make a difference. We have helped startups, worldwide conglomerates, Inc. 500s, and more find their voice and shape their brands. We’ve worked with all kinds of industries, including technology, home services, energy, retail products, stores, industrial hardware, healthcare, property, and more.
Our authorship services help individual authors find their voice, break through creative blocks, and tell their stories.
We specialize in a trade not an industry. We have written on everything from natural dry dog shampoo to industrial bolting to UAV technology, virtual reality, omni-channel enterprise systems for retailers, glass windows, software as a service, social networks, energy commodities, root cause analysis, medicine, alcohol brands, and more.
We no longer work on oil and gas projects.
Yes. We have assisted clients coast to coast and hemisphere to hemisphere. While the majority of our clients are based in the United States, we have helped clients compete in markets in almost every world region. The power of writing well in English is a highly respected skill in almost all international markets.
Content Writing
Content writing is crafting language that helps you market. It can mean writing slogans, taglines, websites, landing pages, brochures, articles, blogs, press releases, sales letters, and other mainstream business materials. Content writing can also mean writing video scripts, books, clever social media posts, and any other language used to communicate to an audience.
Content writing is an important part of content marketing. Online content takes on many forms, including writing, graphic design, video, and sound. When you’re on your phone or computer, you are often switching seamlessly between these forms of content. We focus entirely on the language aspect of this while working closely with teams of developers, designers, and executives to ensure the end result is one harmonious, engaging, online experience.
Learn more about our content writing services.
A content strategy is your plan to determine how you will use various forms of content to achieve your specific business objectives. For example, if you want to people to link back to your website, your strategy may include the tactic of reaching out to other sites that may find your content writing useful, or producing an in-depth guide that no one else has written so people naturally link to it as a useful resource.
Learn more about about our robust content strategies.
Sort of. Depends on who you ask. “Copywriter” is an older term. It’s a bit antiquated to some, but it has an old-fashioned goodness and truth to it. It represents the Ogilvy days, when “Mad Men” (and women!) created snappy copy. It also refers to direct sales writers (“direct sales copywriters” is a fairly common term).
“Content writer” is a newer term. It typically refers to a writer in the internet era; “content” is a word in a subset of language associated with social media and search engine optimization (SEO).
That’s a good option for some people. However, many of our clients are very happy they came to us instead of trying to take on content writing themselves. For people who don’t write professionally, it can be hard to get started and there may be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to some of the more technical aspects of writing marketing content or learning strategies to break through creative blocks. Writing takes time, and some writing performs better than others, so hiring writers can pay off for a lot of people and businesses.
Marketing Strategy
Yes. The traditional 4Ps of marketing are price, place, product, and promotion. Over time, other people have added Ps such as processes, people, etc. These elements tend to make up a marketing plan. There are other tools that help determine pieces of that plan. That’s how strategy comes together. Everyone has a slightly different process for accomplishing this. That’s marketing.
RedShift Writers offers hourly consultation. During this time, we can weigh in on any content, ongoing marketing efforts, or general strategy you may have developed. We also help brainstorm, adjust language, and train people in what we do. Most of our consulting and training happens in planned chunks so customers can ask us questions and get full value for their dollar.
Thanks!
Website Writing
Yes, it is.
We highlight it because it’s our bread and butter within content writing and we want you to think of us when you are considering whether or not you would like us to assist you in rewriting your site. Websites are essential to most modern brands, but they can be tricky. RedShift Writers brings a level of professionalism to websites that is nearly unmatched in our market. We interview all key decision makers, transcribe those interviews, and use those transcriptions as a building block for any and all content. At times, this can include us getting involved in building your site map. Other times, we partner with developers to talk through the best way to approach your site.
It depends; no two sites are identical. Writing microsites can take as little as a few days if it’s only a landing page and the content is not complicated. Some websites are so robust that they can take six months or longer to complete.
Typically when we write the first version of a website, we produce at least a home page, an about page, a company page, a contact page, and pages outlining your products and services.
Factors that may affect the timeline for your initial website draft include:
- The complexity of the content
- The amount of content you would like to feature on your website at launch
- You and your team’s availability for interviews, revision rounds, and other informational needs
- How quickly you need the site launched
- How much you’re willing to pay to get it done
Just because a site is written doesn’t mean you’re ready to go live. You still need design and development in order to get your website online.
Also keep in mind that a website should never finish being entirely written. Updating your content on a regular basis shows your customers that you are active and consistently providing them with updated information, which improves web traffic and conversion.
Probably. Most businesses and professionals have them. If you are a private investigator or run another very private business, you may not need one, but most businesses do.
You probably need a website even more. Your department or branch should definitely embrace technology in order to better communicate with the public. The People are counting on it!
Of course! Writing blog posts and other ongoing content for websites is one of our key services because regularly updating your website drives traffic and gets you on top of Google’s search pages. It also demonstrates authority so leads are more likely to come in and customers are more likely to convert.
Employment
We are always interested in talented writers. If you are interested in joining our team, please send a resume, samples, and cover letter to [email protected].
We look for good writers with good communication skills, open minds, research capabilities, and a strong work ethic, particularly when it comes to deadlines. We also look for self management skills; this job provides lots of flexibility, but writers must make the most of it. Inquisitive people have an advantage in this profession. Bringing that creativity in to meetings is a positive attribute. The ability to interface with multiple stakeholders and clients and draw information out of others is essential to our job. We prefer to seek those who are bold, educated, and intelligent. We also offer in-house training, so we are happy to help those who are new to the profession.