How to hire a writer: what you want and what they need
Step 1: Finding a writer to hire
So you have a marketing project, and you decided to hire a writer to crank out the words for your content. Maybe it's because you're too busy to sit down and fill in all that white space, or maybe it's just because you don't trust your own abilities. Either way, you have about half a million writers swearing they would be the best candidate.
You can search for copy and freelance writers online. Or you can go through a service like Elance or Rent-A-Coder (I must be some sort of idiot to link to other writing sources). Or (my personal favorite) you can use our service. But choosing is always the hardest part, because it's not like you can see the final product before making your choice (unless you use Copy For Sale).
But you do have one advantage, and this also helps the writer. You don't have to ask for samples of the writer's work. If you want to hire a great writer, just look at how well they present themselves in their own ads. If the writer's ads don't convince you, they probably wouldn't convince your prospects. Notice their writing styles, and decide if you would want it in your project.
Pay attention to other details like how clearly they define their terms and conditions. Many writers require an upfront fee (Copy For Sale doesn't). Some writers want a signed contract before beginning (Copy For Sale doesn't). Some writers work solely on the trust system (Copy For Sale does).
Perhaps you need a lot of content and you're afraid of getting poor copy and then having to pay for it. Break the project up into segments. When you decide on a writer, submit a small portion of the project. Once you're confident in the writer's abilities, submit the rest of the project..
Step 2: Defining your project
In my years as a freelance copywriter, I've learned that there are two major difficulties to overcome when starting a project. Not enough information and too much information. After a while, I began to understand that it isn't always a matter of communication. I realized that when a customer doesn't give me specifics, it's because they don't have any. Here's a checklist of things to consider before contacting the writer.
- Know Your Audience: I don't mean know how to communicate with your audience (that's the writer's job). But think about which gender, age group, and region you want to target. Make sure to tell the writer whether you need content for a technical or non-technical crowd. The writer can only produce appropriate material when he or she knows who to write for.
- Determine Where You'll Publish: Writing content for an online newsletter is a lot different from writing content for a printed newsletter. Writers decide how to use effective styles according to how readers see the content. If you're publishing online and desire search engine friendly content, but will also print the material, you should consider separating the project into two parts.
- Decide on Subject Material: Many of our customers want general articles on a subject, and rely on us for ideas and headlines. If this is the case, tell the writer up-front...but give several examples of what you expect. If you have very specific instructions, don't assume that the writer will automatically know what you want. The more vision you have, the more you need to spell out for your writer. Otherwise, you're likely to end up with something you didn't expect.
- Define the Length and Price: Decide how many words you want (keeping in mind the size of the idea you want explained and the KISS principal). Ask for a specific price from the writer. This will avoid confusion in the future.
- Let the Writer Write: If your project is so well defined in your mind that you'll reject every non-conforming detail, you're wasting your own time and the writer's time as well. Just write it yourself. Writers specialize in how to communicate through the written word. If you can't trust them to accomplish this, then why would you waste your money?
How to Hire a Writer |
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