I was asked to write about my experience as a new Content Writer for 2X. And to be completely honest, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. But I decided that there were only two things I wanted people to know:
- It’s the most difficult job I have ever had.
-
I have never loved a job this much.
I know, my points seem contrary. But it’s the truth.
Unlike the average writer, I never planned on writing for a living. It was just something I have always done because people assumed I could do it. It’s been happening since I interned for the first time, 8 years ago. I could have named you five other skill sets I have, but ultimately, my employers would just yell out “Hey! Can you write a funny copy for this bathtub advertisement?!”. And I always answered with a yes.
The problem was, I never got any training. When you write for “B2C brands” it’s really not about best practices or being succinct. It’s about capturing someone’s attention with amusing sentences that we assumed will work. It was great, but I didn’t learn as much about writing informative copy as I would have liked. After four solid years of writing, my takeaway was that cat puns work awfully well on Malaysian social media sites.
And then I joined 2X.
Being a writer at 2X is so much more than just amusing an audience. It’s about producing work that has an impact. Which is why I needed to have about 3 weeks of training before I could begin writing for a client. Not something I’m entirely used to. When I start a new job, I’m usually told: “this is the deep end, kindly jump into it”.
Which is why I am grateful.
Learning to be a B2B writer takes a great deal of creativity, hard work, and thinking. It’s about us using our knowledge and writing skills to persuade our selected readers to consider our clients. And our audience is not just anybody. They are CEOs, COOs, CMOs, Founders, Heads of Department, and creators of things that you’ve never heard of before.
Seems daunting, but inherently interesting.
What’s even more interesting is that while I’m being trained by a group of mentors that would make the average writer cower in a corner of insecurity, I am also being trained in a way that I never expected – with data.
Compared to “lifestyle writing”, B2B writing depends a lot of its content direction via data. We don’t write based on assumptions or perceptions…. or the latest meme. We analyze previous content, see how well it’s worked and come up with a best practice that allows us to do better in the future. Everything is calculated, which makes it far more strategic than any job I have ever had.
Besides the training, thinking and interesting aspects of my job, there is one last thing I want people to know: I love being here.
I have worked with many companies in the last few years and in a few types of roles. But I have never felt so at home. While I might need to perform regularly and under tight deadlines, I’m valued here – despite needing copious amounts of training.
The leaders and people of 2X value hard work, ingenuity, and initiative. So, despite not having 10 years of experience in B2B content writing, I am still able to contribute because they see potential and they’re willing to bring it out. Which is why I now have the best job experience I’ve had in years.