This article will help you choose a freelance writer to create content for your website. The guide is relevant for searching any freelancer able to finish the job in time and with appropriate quality. I used to benefit from the tips when hiring writers to write my essay UK, but you can also take them into account while choosing copywriters, programmers, or any other workers able to work remotely with no problems and delays.
So, here below are five aspects you should consider when hiring a content writer or any freelance worker to do tasks for you.
1. Market Data Collection
To find a good freelance writer, you obviously need to deal with the writing market to understand it. It is not obligatory to become an epic expert. You should only learn the basics, it will be enough.
For example, those who plan to order some copywriting services should check Internet articles about kinds of texts, what is SEO, and what texts will suit their particular case the most. This is the knowledge that will help you explain the task to a hired freelance writer precisely and clearly.
Gather information about the cost of the job you need and how they estimate the prices between professionals in general. To do that, check market reviews, average salary data for required specialists in agencies or companies, hourly rates of freelance stock workers, etc.
At this stage, your main tasks are:
- To understand the approximate cost of the project.
- To indicate the precise requirements for a specialist or a team you need.
- To define if you need a beginner, a middle-class expert, or a freelance writing “star.” The hiring strategy will depend on that in the future. Let’s discuss freelancer classes in detail.
2. Freelance Writer Types
Searching and choosing a freelance writer for a project depends on the difficulty of the job to complete. After you estimate the budget and state requirements in a task document (terms of reference), it is time to find out how skilled your perfect writer should be.
All freelancers in the market can be divided into three groups:
Beginners
Beginners with little experience and small portfolios. They work well when controlled by more qualified colleagues and can do simple projects themselves. In case your writing task is simple with pretty low requirements, a beginning writer is a solid choice. For example, a newbie can write a basic article on a certain topic without external control. Just show them a lot of text samples likely to the one you expect to get.
Middle Class
Middle-class specialists with at least 2-3 years of experience as an office or freelance writers. They are good to do typical tasks, projects of low and medium difficulty. Before choosing this writer, it is good to check their portfolio attentively, ask for a CV, look through client feedbacks, talk to the writer via Skype or phone call to make sure they know the deal. As a rule, middle-class freelancers have appropriate education diplomas or quality professional courses finished earlier.
Freelancing Stars
“Stars” are highly qualified specialists with immense job experience and good portfolios. As a rule, freelancing “stars” have personal websites, write blogs, can be tutors, hold speeches at conferences, etc. These people usually have reputation and authority among colleagues. “Stars” mostly work with either big budgets or interest projects (mostly, both, though). In return, the client gets high-quality services with minimum risks of deadline delays or project failures. In case your project is complicated and non-standard, hire a freelance writing “star” for the appropriate salary.
3. Searching the Freelancer
There are many different channels to use when you search for a freelancer.
First of all, it would be great to ask people from your contact list about writers. Maybe, your business partners or friends had experience with someone they could recommend. Try checking it out before expanding the search area.
The next step would be the Internet, of course. There are thousands of freelance websites on the web. They suit well if you need a beginner or middle specialist to complete your project.
“Stars” are usually available in professional communities and forums. In case you need a high-skilled writer, check accounts with a high reputation and authority there. “Stars” are most probably active participants of the club.
Traditional recruiting and job searching sites may also be helpful. Just register there and analyze CVs published by candidates. This channel is great if you need a specialist for long-term cooperation.
After you select a few candidates, it will be useful to gather some additional info about them:
- Try looking for their social media profiles. They let you check the personality of every potential freelance worker. In case a profile seems to be fake – consider refusing to work with that person.
- Checking their portfolio is critical. You shouldn’t be too shy to contact clients and ask them about their experience of working with a particular specialist. Moreover, there are freelancers adding someone else’s jobs to their portfolios. Checking that moment out might save you a lot of time, nerves and money.
- Try finding blogs of your potential freelance workers. It is great to read articles published there. Professionals usually write about their work in an interesting and involving way. If the specialist has a YouTube channel – that’s great.
These were only some of the ways to use when looking for freelance writers. Experimenting and going in for non-standard solutions is always a plus.
4. Freelancers: Things to Know Before Hiring
A freelancer is neither a standard office employee nor a remote full-time worker. There are some points you should know and keep up with to build successful cooperation with freelance writers.
The small project is easy here, you just set the comfortable deadline and wait for the results.
The big project is different. Here, it would be optimal to divide the entire project into several stages with clear milestones and deadlines. Optimally, it would probably be comfortable for you and a freelancer to get in touch every 2-3 days and look through intermediate work results.
That is the way to control the process and see the completed part of the work. You should let the freelancer know if there is anything not suitable for you or your requirements at once. Try not to wait for the freelancer to proceed in that case, and there will be fewer things to rework for him or her.
Also, use a softer manner if there is a need for criticism. Rough critics may demotivate the freelancer, and the lack of motivation will influence the quality of the final result. Your goal here is to get a good piece, so try being polite and correct when it comes to issues and errors.
In case there is something to do beyond the previous agreement, you can ask a freelancer about it. Just offer additional payment for additional working time.
Treat freelancers in the way you would like people to treat you. Build constructive and even friendly relationships. This is how you may become a “VIP client.” Many freelancers offer discounts and special prices for such partners.
5. General Recommendations on Working with Freelancers
These are common moments also working for writers and any other specialists. Keeping up with the following tips will help you get a stable partner always ready to do some necessary job for your projects in the future.
Don’t Disappear
Seriously, try to stay in touch all the time without making a freelancer wait for your answer for more than 24 hours. In case the freelancer thinks the client “disappeared,” they can switch to another project causing a delay of your task.
Pay in Time
Freelancers get nervous if clients delay sending them money after the projects are done. Well, that’s pretty fair, isn’t it? By paying in time, you earn the freelancer’s trust. As a result, they’ll offer you better prices and the highest job quality with bonuses.
Stay Polite
Freelancers appreciate clients pleasant to work with. They’ll always have time for you, they’ll be more likely to adjust prices to your budget and to treat you politely in return.
Avoid Saving Too Much
Your saving goals are understandable, but too much economy demotivates the worker. Consequently, the quality of performance becomes worse. Offer the sum a good work is worth, and the freelancer will put 100% effort for you.
There are many good specialists working as freelancers. Finding good experts is easy if you try keeping up with the recommendations above. Have a good luck! We wish you to work only with reliable freelancers!
