What Should I Look for in a Blog Writer?

Trying to find a blog writer?

One of the hardest things for businesses to discern is what kind of blog writer they’re going to get when they go looking for one.  Businesses these days have a lot of investment riding on their online presence, and if the business blog carries low-quality content it could destroy its entire online campaign and credibility.

The biggest thing that businesses worry about is whether their blog writer (or, writers) will be able to produce content that is consistent with the message that the company is attempting to convey.  Will it be in the company style?  What kind of voice will it have and will it be consistent with the brand?

Are You Searching for A Blog Writer for Your Business?

Outsourcing content production and hiring freelance bloggers and writers is nerve-racking.  It costs money and time to find a writer that you can comfortable with.

One of the largest problems these days is the vast amount of people and teams that are calling themselves “professional blog writers”.  It’s a pretty large pool to sort through and damn frustrating to have to do it, to be honest.

Another problem is the amount of freelance content writers online whose first language is not English.  Nothing against people who are not native English speakers and writers, but this can be a huge problem.  Your web copy and blog posts have to be pristine and clearly communicated in order to engage customers.  A potential customer that has to struggle through a poorly written blog post will be less than impressed with your business’ professionalism and may never return to your site again.

The Problem with Content Mills

The subject of blog tone and voice is a large problem, especially when going to “content mills” to hire writers for your online content needs.  Many content mills carry hundreds, if not thousands of writers, who are used to having to sludge out thousands of words per day in order to make only a “so-so” wage. (Take it from me…I’ve been there!)  With that kind of struggle to make low wages you can only imagine how much real effort is going to be given into making sure that your blog content is written exactly the way you want it.

Quick Note: What is a Content Mill?

“In the context of the World Wide Web, a content farm (or content mill) is a company that employs large numbers of often freelance writers to generate large amounts of textual content which is specifically designed to satisfy algorithms for maximal retrieval by automated search engines. Their main goal is to generate advertising revenue through attracting reader page views as first exposed in the context of social spam.” –Per Wikipedia

And, here’s another problem with content mills (and then I’ll stop because my intention here is not clobber the mills), you don’t get any real communication with the writers that are working on your content.  Why?  Well, because the content mills simply don’t allow it, to be honest.  The content mill needs to remain the broker between client and writer in order to make any profit.  If the content mills allowed real communication between writer and client then they may lose the business totally.  See?  The writer, nor the client, would have any need of the mill!

So, how can you truly convey to the writer that is doing the work exactly what it is you want PRIOR to the work being started?  The answer is: You can’t.  What usually happens is that a client receives the copy via the content mill’s submission and acceptance system and reads over the writing.  Upon finding out that is completely NOT what they wanted they usually have a choice to send it back for revisions.  At this point both parties are just wasting time and getting frustrated.  The writer wants to be done with the assignment and get paid, while the client just wants their content done to their expectations.

The Best Choice for Your Business Blog Content

So, then how do you get a blog writer to actually produce content that is consistent with the voice and tone you want?  The answer is in having a very personal communication line open from the very beginning.

What I’m going to lay out in the next few paragraphs is something that you’ll never find in a content mill (at least that I have found yet).  It is something that more and more “teams” of writers are doing and it seems to be working.

Teams of writers are usually the offspring of a successful freelance writer who started to get too busy with their clientele.  Instead of pushing business away that writer went and hired more writers now makes their money by creating a small company of writers and then “insourcing” those writing tasks.

Quick Tip: What is Insourcing?

“Insourcing is the cessation by a company of contracting a business function and the commencement of performing it internally. Insourcing is the opposite of outsourcing.  Insourcing is a business decision that is often made to maintain control of critical production or competencies. Insourcing is widely used in production to reduce costs of taxes, labor and transportation.”-Wikipedia

99% of the time, though, a professional, freelance writer will ensure that both parties are aware of each other’s wants, needs and desires.  Everything from topic, length, links, tone and much more will usually be discussed prior to any actual work agreement taking place.  A professional, freelance blogger is running their own business and they know that good communication ensures a happy customer, minimal revisions and more time to market their services and write more.

Most freelance bloggers of this sort will opt to either have a telephone call, or better yet some kind of online video chat (Skype, for instance) to have these kinds of conversation.  At that time almost everything that needs to discussed pertaining to the specifics of the job can be discussed and worked out.

This is not to say that revisions will not need to be made in these circumstances.  Not at all.  In fact, once the initial work is done and submitted to the client then the freelance writer should expect and relish feedback and further communication, and vice versa.  The freelancer can learn a lot in the way of relations and communication skills while the business client can benefit from the writers online writing, SEO and marketing experience.  This is the way business relationships are formed and nurtured.  However, with prior, proper communication between client and freelancer then both parties can expect a smoother and more profitable experience for both.

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