When I first started writing content for Seattle-area professionals and small businesses, I thought I had it all figured out. I had excelled in English during college and grad school, and I was working as a technical writer at Microsoft. Writing was my thing—how hard could it be to write for local businesses?
Turns out, a lot harder than I expected.
Writing for business isn’t just about being good with words. It’s about capturing the voice of your client in a way that feels authentic and elevated at the same time. That takes time. Years, in fact. And with all due respect to the clients I worked with in the early days of my freelance career—thank you for your patience while I figured that out.
What makes this kind of writing so tricky is the listening. To write well for someone else, I have to get to know them: their voice, their story, their values, the language they naturally use when they talk about their work. This isn’t something you can fully capture through a generic intake form. That’s why I still meet with clients one-on-one—whether in person at a Seattle coffee shop, on Zoom, or over the phone. Those conversations give me the raw material to write something that actually sounds like them, not like ChatGPT’s best guess at what a CEO should sound like.
Now that I work as an AI consultant through my firm, Avanzar, I often get asked if AI can replace a skilled writer. The answer? Not even close. AI can help you write faster, sure—but only if you already know what you’re doing. If you don’t have a solid understanding of your subject matter or a good ear for language, you’ll just end up with fluff. Generic, lifeless content. The kind of writing that sounds like it was written by a bot. Because it was.
But in the hands of an experienced writer, AI is a golden goose. Not just because it lays golden eggs (fast drafts, sharper headlines, repurposed content in seconds), but because it keeps laying them—consistently, reliably, and with surprisingly little overhead. It can transform a writing process that once took 10 hours into one that takes two. And that time savings means I can do more for my clients, more affordably, and with no dip in quality.
Here’s a concrete example: I recently worked with a regional logistics company that had no online content strategy at all—just a static homepage and a contact form. I helped them build a lightweight content management system that fit their needs, then used AI to accelerate the production of blog articles that boosted their discoverability on Google. To make the content stand out, I interviewed the CEO personally—several times—to capture their vision for the industry, their long-term priorities, and the unique ways they were navigating supply chain challenges. We turned those insights into thoughtful, forward-looking articles that positioned the company as a leader in their space.
Some companies might turn to an internal comms specialist or a PR agency to do the same thing, and that’s a valid approach. But those teams are often stretched thin. That’s where I come in. I build AI-powered systems that support internal teams, automate parts of the content workflow, and enhance what your staff is already doing.
So no, AI won’t replace the art of good writing. But it can make great writing more accessible, more efficient, and more powerful—if you know how to use it. That’s the sweet spot where I work.
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