What to Look for When Hiring a Freelance Writer

Business owners tend to go through a common experience when they need written copy. They try to do the job in house, maybe have a few successes. Then, they get caught up in running the business, allowing writing goals to fall behind. They later realize that they need to fire up their content machine again—and then the cycle repeats. Hiring a freelance writer is the key to breaking that cycle.

Freelance writers take on the job of content creation for you. This means you can focus on the other things that make your business tick. Working with a freelance writer is efficient for your business, since it lets you and your team focus on the work that utilizes your skills the best. Plus, you’ll get content that is crafted by a professional. Figuring out how to hire a freelance writer is the toughest part for many businesses, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. If you know what to look for, finding the right freelancer may be easier than you think.

The Benefits of Hiring a Freelance Writer

Hiring a freelance writer can save time for your business, but there are other benefits you may not have considered. Here are some of the ways that working with a freelance writer will boost your business:

Your content will be better.

Even if you consider writing to be among your skill set, the content produced by a freelance writer will likely be better. Freelance writers write for a living. They aren’t distracted by all of the other things that demand your attention in the workplace. Thus, they are free to concentrate on one thing: creating great content for your company. Poor content can do more harm than not having any content at all. Your customers may see the quality of your content as indicative of the quality of your products or services.

You know too much about your business.

That might sound counterintuitive, but your closeness to your business makes you an expert—and that’s a problem. With your inside knowledge, you may find it difficult to step back and understand what your customers really need to know about your business, products, services, and industry. A freelance writer will be better prepared to create content that speaks to the laypeople that are your customer base in a clear, concise way that they can understand.

You’ll get more results from your content.

The point of creating content for your business is to draw attention to your business, and of course, to sell. Freelance writers not only understand how to create great content, but also what makes content sell. Your writer will know how to use a voice that gives your brand a clear identity and how to write content in a way that it shows up in searches, ahead of your competitors’ work. If you don’t get these kinds of results from your content, it’s not really worth creating.

You’ll save money.

The reason most businesses try to create content in-house is to save money. It may seem like hiring a freelancer is an additional expense. In reality, the lost productivity your business experiences as you try to create content on top of your existing workload, and the lost sales caused by content that doesn’t represent your brand effectively, can be costly. Paying for an expert to write content for you will save you money in the long run.

What to Look for in a Freelance Writer

Before you can hire a freelance writer, decide on exactly what kind of writing you need. This will help you evaluate writing portfolios and resumes, search for freelance writers online, and create job postings.

Your writing needs will likely evolve over time, as your business grows and changes, and that’s OK. Focus on what you need right now, and then tweak your approach as needed in the future. You can narrow down a shortlist of things that matter to you in a freelance writer by asking yourself these questions:

What goal do I want to achieve with my content?

Decide if your priority is attracting more people to your site, increasing awareness of a certain product or service, or building the visibility of your brand. This will help you choose writers who are skilled in the kind of writing you need.

What is my budget?

Freelance writing costs vary from writer to writer. Knowing what you can afford to invest will help you narrow down your writing candidates. Keep in mind that simply hiring the cheapest writer is not always the best strategy. Writers with higher rates may have more experience or may have specialist knowledge that could be helpful.

Do I need a one-off project or ongoing content creation?

When you’re hiring a writer, decide if you want someone to work on one specific project or ongoing work. For example, you may want a writer to create an eBook for your business. Or, you might want to look for a writer to create content for your company blog three times per week. Some writers may only take on certain kinds of projects, and the volume of the work you need could affect your rates.

How research-intensive is the work?

Do you need someone to write content that requires a significant amount of research? If so, this could affect the budget and timeline for the project.

What is your timeline?

Writers have varying availabilities, and some are not willing to work on tight deadlines. If you have work that needs to be done quickly, factor your timeline into your hiring decision.

By answering these questions, you’ll get a clearer picture of the freelance writer you want to hire. Knowing the answer to these questions will also help you provide accurate information to the writer you hire. This can prevent confusion that would delay your project or compromise the strength of the content you receive.

How to Find a Freelance Writer

Most freelance writers look for jobs and promote themselves online. This is why the web is the best place to find them. There are a few different ways to hire writers online, from posting job listings to contacting them directly with a project. The right approach for you depends on a number of different factors, from your preferences to the kind of writing you need.

By asking yourself the questions in the previous section, you should be able to come up with most of the information you need for your ad. Your ad to solicit writers should be:

• Concise. Give a general overview of the project, and wait to share details later.
• Clear. If you need a writer with experience or knowledge in a particular field, say so in the ad. You should also provide clear instructions about how writers can apply.
• Correct. Don’t overstate your budget, the kind of exposure the writer may get from the content, or your projections about future work. Writers frequently share information about freelance clients who overpromised on these things.

Ideally, your post should state the rate for the project. If you can’t commit to a specific budget, give a range of how much you are willing to pay. The post should also state the process you plan to use to choose a freelance writer, such as phone interviews, reviewing samples, or trial assignments.

Job posts typically generate a large number of responses, so be sure you have a plan for sorting through them. This plan might look like this:

1. Rule out writers who didn’t follow the application instructions.
2. Rule out writers whose samples are filled with errors or are not well written.
3. Make a short list of writers whose samples resonated with you.
4. Conduct phone, video, or email interviews to discuss the assignment in depth.
5. Select the writer who best fits your needs, budget, and project.

If you don’t want to vet too many samples or have a specific idea in mind about the kind of freelance writer you want, you may want to approach writers yourself. A great way to do this is to browse online writing portfolios. The Writers Marketplace on Writers Work allows writers to set up portfolios of their work so people who want to hire a freelancer can browse these samples. By soliciting freelance writers in this way, you can control the flow of applications.

Searching for freelance writers is easiest when you have a specific need, such as for a technical writer or medical writer. For work that doesn’t require specialist knowledge, you’ll be looking for a freelance writer who is a generalist. This can add more of a needle-in-the-haystack feel to the search process. Unless you are looking for a writer with a specific kind of information, you may find it more helpful and faster to use job postings.

Tips for Working with a Freelance Writer

Freelance writing is a competitive field, and in many ways, it is a buyer’s market. However, to attract and keep the best writers to your project, it can help to think like a freelancer. Approaching your project from this perspective is especially helpful if you hope to build an ongoing relationship with one or more freelance writers. When you’re planning your job posting and your freelance writing project, consider what you would need to do a freelance project successfully. Then, build the job around that idea. You can help your freelance writer help you by keeping these tips in mind:

• Make sure your project has clear expectations. The freelance writer should know things like formatting requirements, style requirements, word counts, and deadlines up front.
• Provide all materials. Make sure the writer has everything he or she will need to complete the project, such as information about the company and product or keywords you want to target.
• Set up a clear plan for communication. Who should the writer contact with questions? Do you need to read and approve drafts at any stage in the process? If so, who should receive them and how long will it take to provide feedback?
• Make a plan for payment. When will you pay the writer, and how will you pay—check, bank transfer, PayPal, or another method? Tell the writer who should receive any invoices.
• Set reasonable deadlines. Your project timeline should be clear up front. However, if you need to make any adjustments or want to send future work to the writer, set deadlines that provide enough time for him or her to do good work.
• Make budget adjustments when necessary. If you need to change the guidelines for the project in a way that creates unexpected work for the writer, offer additional compensation.

On the other hand, since you are a client, the freelance writer you hire should be responsive to communication from you. They should submit work in a timely fashion, and follow the guidelines of the project. He or she should also accept feedback professionally and honor requests you make for the work. If you’re not getting these things, then there’s another freelance writer who is a better fit for your company out there.

At Writers Work, we take the confusion out of hiring freelance writers for businesses and publications alike. Posting a job ad on our site is free, and it puts your project in front of our entire network of professional freelance writers. Our freelance writers have access to the latest technology that corrects spelling and grammar, allows for easy formatting, judges tone, and scores readability, so you can be confident that the piece you get is exactly what you need. Submit your job posting today to make sure your project is seen by experienced, professional freelance writers.