You really want to concentrate on your business and take it to the next level. You know it has the potential to take off. You need to make sure you have a good content marketing service. Content marketing is a big piece of the inbound marketing strategy that you have. The only problem is that running a CMS and creating content and then promoting that content and sharing it is a big, big time drain.
You should be concentrating on the business aspects more and writing less, right?
Yup…
Writing engaging content is a skill. It’s time consuming for skilled people. It’s really frustrating for those who don’t favor writing or figuring out how to get legal images embedded just right in their text.
Some people have the “I don’t want to pay for content” attitude. This hurts many businesses. Some people get lazy and start stealing content and then poked in the forehead by Google. That wastes time and money. Others just try to write content themselves and, while the effort is respectful, they’re just not really that good at it. That wastes time and money as well.
Hiring freelance writers and bloggers will actually save you money by freeing up your valuable time to work other aspects of your business.
But, let’s face it. Let’s get real. Let’s cut the shit.
If you are going to pay for content, why would ever purchase mediocre content from content mills and bidding sites?
Some sites like Elance and Constant Content actually do run their content through Copyscape after it is submitted to their system. That’s great. That’s responsible. But that only checks for uniqueness and to make sure some writer isn’t just copying and pasting.
The only way to make sure that your content has the quality of writing that you want, the tone that fits your company and the possibility for engagement and interest is by working closely with a freelance blogger.
Make sure that you’re hiring the right freelance blogger, though.
Some things to consider when hiring a writer are:
- Rates: You may have to pay a little more for the quality writing but you don’t want to break entire content marketing budget on a single post.
- Experience: Like I said before, just because I have a “content for blogs” websites doesn’t mean that I’m the right blogger for you? What are the writer’s specialties? How much blogging experience does he/she have? Any reviews from other clients on that writing site?
- Availability: Is the writer available throughout the day to discuss ideas, topics and the latest submission. How does the writer feel about revisions? Are they free?
- Dependability: This is something that happens a lot: A client contacts a blogger with their needs. The writer and client agree on a work load and price. And the writer doesn’t ever write the blog posts or does not ever answer another call or email from the client. You don’t need that kind of hassle. Freelance bloggers should be professionals. You’re not a babysitter, after all.
There may be other values and characteristics that you’re looking for in a freelance blogger. You may have particular needs because of the business you’re in. I mean, you probably wouldn’t want to hire a blogger for your religion blog if he or she has done adult writing before. I’m just saying… Ask the tough questions!
