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You may have never hired a writer before, much less built a content team. Understandably, the thought of doing either seems overwhelming to you right now. According to Benji Hyam of the website Grow & Convert, you need to ask yourself a few questions before you start looking for writers. First, decide how much industry experience you require from your content team. Do they need to have deep experience in your particular niche or is it enough to have decent writing and research skills?

After answering the first question, the next thing to decide is the type of writers you need for your content. Some potential possibilities include:

  • Journalist: This type of writer has strong research and interview skills as well as a good grasp of current trends. It is less common for journalists to also be freelancers since major media outlets typically employ them directly.
  • Non-Fiction Writers: This type of writer excels at in-depth research and interview-style articles. He or she would be a good match if you regularly publish whitepapers, eBooks, and other types of longer non-fiction.
  • Copywriters: Most writers registered with Content Runner fall into this category. They can produce online content in a quick and concise manner that meets your SEO requirements. Although their education and experience levels vary, copywriters are accustomed to working with client specifications to write articles, blog posts, and other shorter content to inform or persuade the reading audience.

One last thing to do before hiring writers for your project is to decide on your content marketing strategy. How will you attract readers to the articles, blog posts, eBooks, whitepapers, and other content that your new writers will produce for you?

Why Hiring Freelancers is in Your Best Interest

Hiring a team of in-house writers is usually only a good option for large corporations. These companies have the resources and the demand to keep full-time writers on staff. However, this is not the case with the majority of companies that require the ongoing or occasional services of freelance writers. Most organizations that need writers also lack the time or the skill to locate them. That is why they turn to outsourced content marketing agencies. These agencies make up the majority of the clients here at Content Runner.

Whether you are here representing a client or trying to find writers for your own company, consider building a team of writers with varying degrees of industry experience and skillsets. The advantages of doing this is that it gives you or your client a range of writing voices as well as types of content. After all, the work of a single writer is unlikely to speak to all of your readers. By building a diverse team, you can reach and influence as many people as possible.

Reduced cost is another clear advantage to hiring freelance writers from Content Runner. You may pay more per assignment than you would a permanent employee, but consider all of the ways that you’re saving:

  • Not having to pay full-time wages when the workload goes through slow periods.
  • No requirement or expectation to pay benefits such as health insurance, paid vacation, 401K, paid holidays, short-term disability, workers’ compensation, and several others.
  • No contract with writers so you can easily move on if someone doesn’t meet your expectations.

Now that we have discussed the benefits of outsourcing your content writing, we will cover best practices for evaluating and paying writers over the next two articles in this series.