The online platform is, by far, the easiest way to reach customers and prospects. However, with the increasing number of online businesses, your brand needs to stand out among the rest. The best way to do this is by ensuring that your website content is optimized so that it can attract and retain as many customers as possible. Right from the landing page to the blog entries, everything has to be engaging.
Freelance writers are the best
For online businesses whose profit margin keeps changing, hiring a full-time writer isn’t the best move. Remember that in business, the demand for content isn’t steady. Therefore, outsourcing such services will save you a lot of money. Additionally, your website content has to be SEO-optimized. You’ll, therefore need to hire SEO agencies such as Click Intelligence, which demands extra cash. Generally, freelance writers will save you time and money that can be channeled towards other business areas.
• Freelance writers are normally paid per word.
• Copywriters may be paid per page written.
Businesses leverage freelance writers for some ghostwriting articles, sales letters and other technical writings. However, due to the increased demand, writers are becoming scarce as days go by. Therefore, you need to know where and how to get the best content writers for your project. Most importantly, you should know how to retain writers who prove to be worthy by motivating them. There are seven common ways to find good content writers online.
1. Social media
With some little knowledge in the writing industry, a Twitter or LinkedIn search can give resources for finding writers and agencies. Additionally, it offers you the chance to go through a writer’s portfolios before contacting them thoroughly. If you decide to use LinkedIn, the first results will be people close to you in some way. If you decide to go the Twitter way, consulting your followers will be your best take.
• Twitter handles
• Facebook adverts in groups
• Instagram posts
• LinkedIn profile
2. Write a creative job description
The first thing you need is to write down what you are looking for clearly. You can only find the perfect writer if you understand what you exactly need. You should define the type of writer from the very beginning. Writers range from SEO copywriters and ghostwriters to web writers. Secondly, you need to define your budget clearly. You don’t need to attract higher rates while your budget is small.
3. Google search
Sometimes people lack ideas on where to start when they need writing services. They have already posted a job, but nobody seems to notice it. In such a case, you are running out of choices. The only thing left is to Google. Many people may try to despise this step, but it yields good results. Google is the best resource to use if you are looking for freelancers who specialize in certain niches.
4. Agencies
If your budget is considerably high, you can hire agencies to find writers for you. Big companies offer a hybrid solution, providing both writers and the tools to manage them. However, before you choose to work with a particular agency, check their reviews on the internet. Some have a bad reputation for delivering low quality work. Therefore, it is advisable to work with a reputable company to avoid unnecessary drama. If you intend to do more than just content creation and you hire an agency that will help you in generating and nurturing leads, consider a firm that specializes in inbound marketing.
5. Content mills
These are companies or websites that provide cheaper website content by offering extremely low rates to freelance writers. They act as brokers to link a client to a writer and earn some cash. Sadly, most of them tend to get the highest pay compared to the writer who did the work. However, as a client, you need content and therefore, how the content mills deal with freelance writers shouldn’t bother you.
If your budget is quite low, you can get huge volumes of work done at a considerably lower price in content mils. There are numerous content mills, and their charges differ. Notably, the quality of the work you get solely depends on the price you pay. Therefore, if you pay more, expect high-quality work, and if you pay less, expect low quality work. Examples of content mills are Upwork and Fiverr.
6. Blogs and newspapers
Most articles on blog and magazine websites like FastCompany have a section for “contributing writer” among the lines. These prove beneficial when a reader finds the piece quite thrilling and would like to know who the writer is. They help both the writer and the prospective clients. As the writer, you can source more clients, and as a client, you can contact the writer so that they can handle some of your projects.
Sometimes an email or the writer’s contact information may lack. This is where Google comes in. You can google their name and find a website, or a social media name linked to them. However, you might need to pay more than you probably anticipated because these writers sail higher in the writing industry. Most importantly, not all writers whose work has been published give A+ work. Dig deeper on the writer’s work before contacting them.
7. Referrals
Many times, we ask for friends’ recommendations when looking for online stores, doctors or babysitters. Writers shouldn’t be an exception. Consult people in your network. Know if they’ve worked with a particular writer in the past. If they have, ask how the experience was. Friends and family are the best people to trust since most of the time; they don’t lie to us. Therefore, if a writer satisfied your friend, he/she will be your best take.
Conclusion
Today’s businesses need a constant flow of clean, well-written content in the form of landing pages, blog posts, eBooks, and many more to attract new customers retain existing ones and stand out from the crowd. If you are a business owner, investing in content marketing will boost your business more than anything else could do. Writers are easy to find but finding one that writes compelling, high-quality, and authentic content is rare.
