Entrepreneur | Posted on
The idea that if you can speak, you can write has plagued the manpower scene with literally thousands and thousands of unskilled writers out there bugging the clients. In fact, today, the marketplaces and freelancing platforms are plagued with “expert content writers” (*sense sarcasm here*). They are more in number than any other professional. This has made hiring the read good ones extremely difficult. However, there are still some decent ways to comb through the crowd and find some gems.
(I) Don’t post your requirement: That ‘Looking to hire content writer’ message will only attract a pool of cheap, poor-quality writers. If 10 of them are bidding, you can expect 9 of them are outright poor. So, don’t post your requirement open and waste your time going through so many non-sense applications.
(II) Keep away from the forums: Indeed, you can find some very good content writers on large forums and open marketplaces. However, even here you’re going to have to waste plenty of time going through many stupid applications and write-ups. Also, these are also the places where agencies hunt clients. If it’s not a very big project and you want a long-term writer, it’s best you keep away from such agencies who usually charge high.
(III) Research and Research: If you have competitors, see where they are sourcing their contents from. Then you hire a content writer just like how they have managed to hire a good one. Also, Google ‘content writers’ with plenty of variations in your search queries. You can easily come up with a list of many good writers whose portfolio is right up-front. Go through their write-ups, understand their pricing, get to know about their expertise and then make a hiring decision.
(IV) Look at bloggers: Bloggers make up some of the finest online content writers. What’s your niche? Find some good bloggers in the same niche and hire them. Most of them are fairly open to writing opportunities. Plus, with good writing experience and a decent social media presence, they can bring much more than your regular contents on the table.
(V) Be clear on your needs: One of the biggest problems of clients/business owners is that they are not always very clear about what they want. Don’t be one of them. Know exactly what you’re looking for and convey that to the prospect writers in the clearest form. Tell them what you want, what you expect them to do and what are the things that WON’T work for you.
(VI) Stay away from ‘too good to be true’ bids: It’s not hard to find writers who are ready to work at meager 1ppw,and even offer ‘multiple revisions’. Sure, it might suit your pocket very well, but these are also the writers who offer poor quality service and they are never reliable. So, keep away from the writers who are promising you too many things in pennies.
(VII) Have a decent budget: Just like you’re expecting the best from your writer, they also expect much from the clients. So, don’t try to hire a content writer of high-quality with the peanut-size budget. Pay them competitively and deservingly for their hard work and commitment. You will only get good returns if your investment is good.
These are 7 simple tips that will help you hire a content writer who better suits your needs and requirements. Hope this helps. Good luck!
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