Should you outsource your content creation?

As a small business owner, you might be struggling to create content with a limited budget and resources. However, you know that the content you publish is a representation of your business and neglecting your website, blog, and social media will ultimately lead to lots of missed business opportunities. How can you keep creating valuable content without compromising quality? Outsourcing content creation to a professional writer might be the solution to your content challenges.

Benefits of outsourcing your content creation to a freelance writer

You know that the content you share determines how others perceive your business. If it isn’t relevant and valuable to your target audience and if it doesn’t answer their questions or meet their needs, they will be away before you know it, going right to your competitors. However, you might not be able to afford an in-house content writer either due to a limited budget or because of the extreme uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought. That’s why outsourcing your content creation to a freelancer is your silver bullet: it is less expensive, more flexible, and time-saving.

1. You will have more flexibility

Running a small business often means having irregular cash flows. If you hire a freelance content writer, you will get on-demand content, so you won’t have to pay for a full-time service that you don’t need.

You can easily scale up – or scale down – your content production depending on your needs: for example, at certain times of the year your marketing strategy might require a bigger workload (two blog posts a week and a bimonthly newsletter), while at others it may decrease.

2. You will get a wide breath of fresh ideas

As freelance content writers frequently work with different clients from various industries, they may have an interesting perspective on content that your customers might be interested in: they can come up with original ideas that you may have missed. Hiring a freelance content writer gives you a fresh slate of ideas and perspectives that can provide you with the edge you need in your content.

3. You will enjoy a quick turnaround

Professional content writers are dedicated to deadlines. As repeat business is one of their most important revenue sources (after all, they are running their own small business) and they aren’t on your payroll, they will strive to do their best and meet deadlines every time. A professional freelance writer will work to prove their worth with every task you assign to them to preserve the business relationship.

How to outsource your content creation successfully

1. Choose a professional content writer

The market for content writers is oversaturated as anyone can call themselves a content writer: it isn’t a protected profession and there isn’t a good system for finding the right content writer for you. Also, a huge percentage of the content writers on online marketplaces are generalists: they charge a low rate to cover a range of topics that they only have a vague understanding of. That’s why it is essential that you take your time looking for the right fit for your business.

You need to perform due diligence:

• examine the particular content writer’s skillset
• look at their past experience
• check referrals and previous clients’ feedback
• note similarities between the writer and your audience.

2. Onboard the freelance content writer as you would do with a full-time employee

You should see the relationship with the freelance content writer as a collaboration: in order for the freelancer to be able to kickstart a project properly, you need to onboard them accordingly. For example, you can repurpose existing HR content – brand videos, welcome packets, FAQs – to help the freelancer get a good grip of your company before they get to work on a project:

• introduce the content writer to the mission, vision, values and objectives of your company as well as the best practices and common concepts

• present a detailed overview of your target audience and content strategy (if you don’t have a content strategy, answer all questions they will have in order to develop one)

• share articles, infographics, case studies, and other texts that you like or were successful for your business in the past

• if you have developed a brand and tone of voice guide, share it with the content writer.

3. Go for the long term

It takes a lot of time and effort for a freelancer to understand the workings of your company: your customers, expectations, workflows and requirements, and to adopt your desired tone of voice.

That’s why, once you have established a relationship with a freelancer who you trust, nurture this relationship: he/she will become one of your most precious resources to lean on.

What’s more, going for the long term also ensures consistency of your content.

For instance, when you learn new things about your target customers, when your product or service changes, or when you are unhappy with the results or the speed at which the content is coming in, you can work with the content writer to make the necessary adjustments. When you work with different writers, making those adjustments on the fly is nearly impossible.

4. Establish a solid project workflow and communication process

Clear expectations lead to better results. Having a solid workflow in place means you can walk the freelancer through how you do things so that they know what to expect and avoid any misunderstandings that can negatively affect your team or customers. Hold an initial meeting to establish communication preferences and expectations:

• choose a communication system: Slack messages or weekly calls, progress reports or an in-person meeting once the project is complete, project management tools (like Trello)

• set expectations for attending team and client calls, meeting deadlines, and having response times to email or instant messages

• clarify the payment model and ask as many questions as you need to determine how the content writer’s pricing model works to avoid unexpected charges

• ask the freelance content writer what kind of information they will need and then connect them with the people who can provide it.

Conclusion

If you have a limited budget or want to prevent your content creation from possible future disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the best way to remain successful is to embrace flexibility. Hiring a freelance content writer is your silver bullet as:

• you can easily adapt to your changing content needs over time;
• you will benefit from fresh ideas and original viewpoints;
• you will enjoy a quick turnaround.

To ensure an optimal content creation process, you need to take the time to find – and recruit – the right content writer:

• perform due diligence to find the right fit for your industry and target audience
• onboard the freelance content writer as you would do with a full-time employee
• once you have established a relationship with a freelancer you trust, nurture it
• establish a solid workflow and communication process.

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I hope you have found these tips helpful. What stops you from outsourcing your content creation to a freelancer?

Featured image:  ZoFot, Shutterstock

Are you ready to outsource your content creation? Email me and I would love to help you.