Frequently Asked Questions

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Unlimited means all types of pieces can be requested every month without a limit on the number of items. However, we do have rules around our approach and how we deliver items back to you (to ensure the highest quality). The number of pieces you can get per month varies by word count.

 

We have standard turnaround times for short form writing (fewer than 1200 words) and custom turnaround times for long form writing (more than 1200 words) - but all is included in the monthly fee.

 

Our packages work with you to optimize our partnership. For example, clients on the Freedom plan manage their own content calendar. On Freedom Plus, we can manage it for you and this can help speed up the planning process to deliver more writing to you. Clients on the Total Freedom package ask us to drive their entire content marketing function, from content strategy to writing all the outlines/briefs for them and coming up with ideas.

 

Generally, the more comprehensive and complete the outlines you send along, the more we can write for you and deliver back. We can also help you manage your content calendar and plan ahead. And with our Total Freedom package, we can also take on your content strategy and suggest items to write - driving all forward for you.

We wanted to create a seamless, time-saving process to produce high-quality, industry-focused content and reduce a marketer's workload overall when completing written work. We also wanted to help teams plan their budgets with transparent pricing and help marketers create more written content for their audience.

 

Our clients succeed when they work together with us over longer periods of time. We are able to streamline processes, build consistency, and learn more about our clients' industries and target audiences. This saves time and effort, delivering written content faster. It also improves quality because we work closely with you to provide options. Revisions are also included.

 

You can publish more content, focus on your own KPIs, promote consistency and avoid administrative tasks associated with hiring various external contractors. You can focus on other tasks to be more productive at work while using our streamlined process.

A retainer means you are paying in advance for a set amount of work that is pre-defined. If additional work is needed, there are extra charges. For example, you suddenly need the help of a lawyer. The lawyer estimates 40 hours of work and asks for a retainer of 40 hours. However, if the work is more complex, it might take more than 40 hours. So, for the additional hours, the lawyer charges you more money as a result.

 

A subscription is not for a pre-set number of pieces or hours, it is a monthly fee that is fixed. At HeadStart, there are no additional fees if significant time is spent writing on our side or if revisions are needed. Another example of a subscription service is Netflix. They bill you monthly as a subscription, but don't charge extra fees, no matter how many hours of Netflix you watch.

We need three full business days to work on each piece so it is a four (4) day turnaround time. For example, if we get a request on Monday, we will schedule it for delivery on Friday (after three full business days). We often deliver pieces sooner, depending on the type of content required, and get faster over time.

 

We work on pieces one after another like a "to do list" to ensure consistency with a writer who is dedicated to your account. If you send us more than one request per day, we ask for your priorities and stagger the start dates by two business days. Please contact us for more information about how we schedule items.

Yes, please contact us and we will send you specific samples related to your industry.

Yes, it is an unlimited plan, so revisions and copy editing is included. You work with your writer directly on revisions and timing may vary, depending on the revisions required.

Long-form writing and editing is included with all packages. We assign custom delivery dates based on the scope of the work involved.

Our writers work in many different industries and are top-notch researchers and subject-matter experts themselves because they work side by side with our clients.
 
In our experience, tone of voice, style, quality and consistency for your audience becomes the priority when you hire a writing service. This is why we work closely with clients on an ongoing basis - monthly or yearly - to deliver the right tone, style, quality and consistency for your audience.
 
We also record calls to pull phrases directly from subject matter experts to capture their tone and style.

Yes, we schedule interviews for you and our writers interview subject matter experts on a regular basis when requested. Our writers then use the interview material to write articles, blog posts, case studies, and thought leadership pieces.

To ensure that we can maintain our promised delivery dates, we conduct a single interview for each piece and prefer that there be no more than two interviewees on the call. We do not do any cold outreach to find interview subjects. 

Yes, we research every piece when appropriate and often we go above and beyond. All our writers are skilled at finding the information needed to write high-quality pieces. If we don't find what you may have requested, we will ask you for additional instructions or discuss a workaround. 

In addition to publicly available sources, we have access to Statista, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and The Globe and Mail.

We cannot access paywalled sources such as academic articles or industry-specific research reports (e.g., Gartner, Forrester). If you would like us to refer to these materials when writing your pieces, please send them to us with your outline.  

For nearly all blog posts and articles under 1200 words, we can deliver pieces within our standard delivery times (the day after 3 full business days have elapsed or sooner). For longer pieces (e-books and whitepapers over 1200 words) or for pieces that require specific research, custom delivery dates apply. 

Yes! You can send a list of keywords when you send us a request and we will incorporate them.

Yes, for shorter pieces such as social media, press releases, selected revisions, and copy editing. Rush work is delivered back within 24 hours and clients can request two (2) pieces per month for rush service included in their package. This service is available Monday to Thursday only (not Friday).

We can get on an outlining call to help you write them. We also provide an online portal, called Nectar, to help you send us the instructions we need. Please visit our services page for package information or contact us about our packages.

Avoiding 3rd party apps, such as Google Docs, helps us with tracking changes, version control, eliminating workflow bottlenecks, and maintaining security.
  
In MSWord, we can preserve the content, comments and changes and they are compatible with Google Docs. You can still use it if you like as part of your process, just download and send us the file when you are ready for us to edit/write.

By avoiding logging into to other company sites, we can also keep reference material on file for easy and fast reference for all writers, plus our Managing Editor for quality control.

Also, working with MSWord doc files ensures that you can retrieve your library of content at any time for your own peace of mind and business continuity.

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HeadStart is an extension of your team to help you finish your content projects. Call 1.416.712.4440 or contact us.