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Annual Reports = Annual Income
By Jessica McCann
Year-round work, year-over-year work, and four-figure projects:
these are just a few significant benefits to annual report
writing. Establishing yourself as a freelance annual report
writer can help secure long-term income, even in uncertain
economic times.
Corporations and nonprofits operate on different fiscal years
(Jan. - Dec. vs. July-June). If you can land a couple annual
report clients in each sector, you will have year-round
writing work. Meeting all deadlines, generating creative copy
and presenting a professional attitude will help ensure the
reports become annual assignments. Perhaps the most enticing
benefit of writing annual reports is the pay scale. This work
garners higher pay than article writing and many other
freelance markets (expect between $2,000 and $8,000 or more
per report, depending upon the company or organization).
Getting your foot in the door is the hard part, of course.
It takes preparation, professionalism and persistence. Here
are a few key points to consider if you decide to go for it:
Understand the market: Readers of annual reports range from
investors and market analysts to employees and industry
journalists. Thus, companies essentially publish two annual
reports – the “back of the book,” which is written by the
financial experts and which details the nitty-gritty of the
financials; and the “front of the book” or “fluff,” which is
designed to present a company’s best qualities to its many
constituencies. Freelancers write the fluff.
The so-called fluff must pack a punch in spite of its name.
It must engage the reader and accurately represent the company.
Study annual reports in the industry or sector you want to
target. Become familiar with the typical style and tone, as
well as the prevailing design themes.
In-depth financial expertise isn’t necessarily a requirement
(unless you’re writing for companies in the financial industry).
In fact, a layperson’s perspective can be a strong selling
point when marketing annual report writing to many organizations.
Still, it’s important to know the basics. Make sure you
understand the definition of financial terms and acronyms
like earnings, losses, net vs. gross, adjusted earnings,
EBITDA, price per share, ROI, dividends and shareholders/
stakeholders.
Be positive and creative. In challenging economic times, many
companies struggle with whether to publish the “fluff” portion
of their reports this year (“We have no good news to report.”
“We don’t want to make light of a difficult economic
environment.”). To counter this rejection, emphasize the
benefits of maintaining ongoing communications with one’s
constituencies in both good times and bad. The recession
won’t last forever. It’s important to hold the attention of
your shareholders or donors (depending on whether you’re
talking corporate or nonprofit).
Make sure to pitch creative concepts and design approaches.
For example, more than one nonprofit organization created a
12-month photo calendar as their annual report this year.
Brief copy each month highlighted their good work in 12
distinct areas. It was a piece likely to be kept and
displayed by stakeholders all year long (presumably after
the economy begins to rebound), rather than filed away or
recycled after only a few weeks. Unique approaches like this
can bring a greater return on the company’s investment in
the annual report production.
The following Web site includes PDF links to nonprofit
annual report samples.
http://www.nonprofitannualreports.net/annual_report_samples.htm
This link will lead you to a list of award-winning corporate
and nonprofit annual reports.
http://www.mercommawards.com/Astrid%20pages/Winner%20pages/astrid_2009_winners.htm
Be sure to request a few hard copy samples by mail in
addition to viewing reports online. Unique design, trim
size and paper treatments will often factor into the
copywriter’s job.
BIO:
Jessica McCann is a full-time professional writer based in
Phoenix. She works for both corporate and nonprofit clients
on a variety of freelance writing projects.
www.jessicamccann.com
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