Our Expertise
Our journalism-trained writers have experience reporting, editing, and teaching. They know what it takes to write about difficult issues or troubling news – and they’re experts when it comes to crafting honest, appropriate, and accurate content that tells the right story in a crisis, locally and globally.
We’ll assemble the right team of writers to develop your crisis communication plan and support you throughout any difficult and urgent situations. We act quickly to create all your crisis-specific communications, including:
- Operational crisis communications plans.
- Holding statements for the press to explain the situation and the actions taken by the company.
- Press releases.
- Crisis Q&As.
- Website and social media collateral.
- Crisis communications emails.
- Internal coordination communications.
- Any other bespoke crisis communications you may need.
Our Crisis Response Principles
At The Writers For Hire, we understand that no two crises are the same and that the very nature of a crisis is unpredictable. Our experience working with our clients through crisis situations has enabled us to develop internal procedures to deal with most eventualities. We help you take control of the messaging around a situation by quickly drafting all the necessary communications as they become critical.
We’ll work closely with you to develop your crisis content solutions, generally including the following elements:
Launching a Speedy Response
Because your response time in any crisis can significantly impact the extent of any damages, our experienced team of writers is ready at a moment’s notice to develop or deliver speedy responses.
Getting All the Facts
At The Writers For Hire, we pride ourselves on our rigorous fact-checking protocols during our writing process. We ensure your crisis content conforms to the best and most accurate standards.
Working With Your Crisis Communications Director (CCD)
When there’s an emergency, having one person with the authority and resources to manage the crisis is a must. Our team of writers and project managers quickly becomes a critical extension of your CCD. We can quickly convert any instruction into effective content to help ameliorate the situation.
Being Transparent
It is imperative to be candid, truthful, and consistent in all the messages released to the media, executive staff, the public, employees, and other stakeholder audiences. We’ll make sure everything you release meets those standards.
Being Agile and Flexible
A crisis is a fast-moving and fluid situation, and our team of writers have learned to quickly adapt to the various directions a crisis can take. We work with you as the crisis unfolds and develops, and we ensure we take the communications pressure off your hands. Our team’s combined experience allows us to react quickly, solve complex problems, and write appropriate messages.
Preparing Contact Lists
We’ll help you establish contact lists to help ensure everyone who needs to hear your messages will, including media outlets, executives, government agencies, and so on. To alleviate some additional pressure, we are also happy to liaise directly with any parties at your request.
Collaborating With Spokespersons
At The Writers For Hire, we know the crucial role dedicated spokespersons play during a crisis. We work closely with your spokespersons to capture the right tone, ensure they understand the messages we have written, and make any adjustments as needed before any statements are made public.
Preparing Q&As
Our external perspective on any crisis situation gives us a unique advantage: it enables us to anticipate the types of questions the media or other stakeholders may ask following an emergency. We’ll work with you to develop comprehensive question-and-answer assets that quickly and categorically satisfy any potential queries.
Developing Crisis Information Web Page Content
We help our clients to continuously update all their stakeholders on any developments through their dedicated crisis communication web pages or websites. We deliver the right message at the right time, and our focus is to ensure that all the content published on the website is clear, concise, factual, and easy to understand.
Using Appropriate Channels for Sensitive Communications
When you work with The Writers For Hire, you can rest assured that we understand what messages belong on what channels. For instance, certain channels are inappropriate for sensitive news. We work with you to develop the right messages for the right channels.
Tone and Messaging
At The Writers For Hire, we understand that a crisis is no time to make light of anything, even if your company is known to be more informal in its day-to-day communications approach.
During a crisis, every word we use in your communications will always err on the side of caution.
We ensure that all your communications strike the serious tone it deserves, without being over dramatic. We avoid jargon and corporate terminology that can diminish the perceived severity of the situation.
We clearly emphasize all the steps you are taking to rectify the situation. Your stakeholders must see that you have a good understanding of the situation and what needs to be done, and that you are getting on with doing it.
Where possible, we support all your decisions with guidance from experts such as, for instance, the FDA or EPA.
Where a crisis relates to human tragedy, we refrain from discussing any financial implications such as loss of profits as this will be perceived as being insensitive.
We continually consult with you to ensure your communications tell your audience exactly what you know, and more importantly, what you don’t know. Remember, in any crisis situation, you will likely get individuals who spread rumors or misinformation. We work with you to identify and counter any false accusations or misinformation/disinformation.
Because we work in teams, we’re always at full strength and never short a key person. That means the crisis communication wheels keep turning to meet every immediate deadline.
Our writing team focuses on the kind of information stakeholders are looking for after a crisis, and we create strategic messages that protect reputations. With experience in journalism and public relations management, our writers know there’s no place for “no comment” after a crisis. They’ll put the right words in place, without overpromising.
“White Label” Services for PR Agencies
Public relations agencies often avoid crisis communications work because of the staffing requirements. Under your name or ours, The Writers For Hire can provide press releases, social media content, and other support to help you expand your service offerings.
We are adept at quickly immersing ourselves into your team, your processes, and your clients’ specific needs, industry, and personality. We don’t miss deadlines, and we treat your clients with the same care and attention we would our own.
