What To Do When Hiring A Quality and Affordable Writer

 

Some of the best tips on hiring a writer are the most simple. Quality is priority so you shouldn't accept writing that doesn't covey your message, or content that's full or grammatical errors and less than stellar sentence structure. You get what you pay for so it's wise to look at outsourcing your writing projects as an investment rather than as an expense. Readers come first - what you write ought to be a reflection of their wants and needs. Content isn't just about writing; it's a conversation, a two way street.

Knowing what to look for when hiring a freelance writer requires a careful look at the content marketing strategy across all channels, but particularly your website. Then get an understanding of the writer and how they operate. Sure you can go to large content mills or freelance platforms like Upwork, Problogger, and Scripted and find a writer, bur it makes more sense to build a rapport with a writer, or check out their content portfolio and website in order to get a feel for what kind of content they're use to writing. That's the game in a nutshell, but let's take a bit of deeper look into the process of hiring an affordable and quality writer.

How To Hire Good Writers

Keep in mind that the following tips apply whether you're hiring one or several writers. You'll want to establish a healthy, productive relationship with all of them as you'll play manager and curator.

Be Intentional

It's usually best to be as specific as possible about what you expect. Let the writer know who you are, what the company does, or what you do etc,. If a writer were to begin making content on your behalf, what are the most favorable outcomes? Go over how many words they're expected to produce per week or per month. Talk about the types of articles that need to be done according to a schedule (if you haven't come up with a schedule, make sure to do so). Are you coming up with keywords? Are they coming up with keywords?

Money is its own issue all together. The more specific you are about the pay-rate beforehand, the more likely it is that you'll attract the writer that you need. The more you know and understand, the more can be relayed to the writer. Explain whether you need someone on Stephan King's level or someone who is more of a novice.

Make A Template

This is recommended for all projects, be it an article or a white paper even. No matter how many writers you need, a template ensures that a standard is set and kept across the board. Without this, writers will feel have to ask more and more questions - so much so that it may delay the actual work. Here's what a template or an outline of general article examples looks like so you get an idea:

Purpose

• Write engaging and informative web content for the provided business.

 Target Audience

• The target audience will vary slightly for each business. Please visit each business’s existing website to ensure your content is relevant to the appropriate audience.

 

Tone / Style

• Professional - Remember this is content for a business.

• Engaging - Content should be appealing to readers and encourage the audience to learn more about products and services.

• Informative - Provide valuable information about the topic/keyword rather than promotional content about the business itself.

Voice

• 2nd Person (You, Your) when speaking to the reader 

• 3rd Person (They, Them, He, She) when speaking about the company

 

Format

• Check the order briefing for word count and any order-specific instructions.

• Mask: Please use this mask to ensure proper formatting. 

• Enter your text in the fields in the mask.

• You must still include HTML for hyperlinks and subheaders in the text fields.

• Ensure that the requirements on the left side of the screen are met.

• Title - Begin with a well-optimized, engaging, and catchy unique title.

• Each title should be between 60 to 75 characters including spaces

• Do not just use the keyword as the title

• Titles should be in title case.

• Titles should only contain locations if the order text is specific to that location.

• Titles may not contain promotional language.

• Body 

• Body text may not contain promotional language.

• You may use the following HTML to format text:

• Bold <b></b>

• Strong <strong></strong>

• Italic <i></i>

• Underline <u></u>

• Ordered list/Unordered list <ol><li>/<li></ol>  or <ul><li></li></ul>

• Do not include the company name, brand name, or website URL unless the author briefing states otherwise. 

 

Your's doesn't have to be exactly like this, but this serves as a good starting point. As a writer, I know first hand how easy it is to go off the beaten path, especially after working for someone for an extended period of time. A template keeps me on track.

Feedback Is A Must

Once you've made your choice and you're testing their writing abilities by use of samples, make sure to set a precedent with feedback. Constant communication is a sign of relationship management expertise. Hiring and managing a writer is all about feedback, feedback, feedback. It's just as important in the beginning stages as it is later on down the line. At first, a commitment to the template is paramount. Make sure the writer stays on track with the basic structure of each project. Once, they've proven themselves, you can loosen the reigns a little bit because the foundation is in place. But don't let things slide, because small problems become big problems eventually. Plus, great writers are always open to feedback and realize that they can never know it all. 

Want to hire a good writer? Be specific about your desires; keep a template; and always provide feedback.