How to find and choose a good freelance copywriter?
Like many, you’ve probably realized that finding a good copywriter is not easy. However, it is not the choice that is missing. Editors, you’ll find hundreds of them available. But finding the rare pearl, without breaking the bank, is a different story. The purpose of this article is simple: to offer you an effective approach to find, evaluate and choose good freelance writers without the risk of casting errors. Let’s go!
Engage writers or write articles internally?
The first question you’ve certainly asked yourself is, “What’s the best for writing content? Hire writers or write content internally, using existing human resources? The question needs to be asked. Internal collaborators do not always have the quality of editor, but they normally know very well the subjects to be treated for the blog. Freelance web content writer Delhi and best freelance content writers in India. the problem is that writing articles takes time. Your internal resources may have more to whip than spend some of their days feeding your site’s blog. Moreover, the drafting work presupposes the will. Are your employees motivated to invest in regular content marketing work? Not to mention the writing work,
For all these reasons, choosing not to hire writers is rarely the right solution. The best solution, in our opinion, is to mix both: have 3 or 4 people internally who write articles more or less regularly, and next to build a team of writers to help contribute to the blog . This synergistic organization works very well in most cases. In any case, you will not be able to override: you will have to hire editors.
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The freelance web content writer Delhi and best freelance content writers in India blog, an emailing solution, is powered by both external editors and members of the internal team.
The qualities of the editorial director and the organization of the editorial team
A second important question is: “How to organize an effective marketing team? “. When a company starts to make content marketing or decides to start in this area, this question invariably arrives. A content marketing team, to function, must be led by an editorial manager, by someone who oversees all editorial work on the blog/site. This person must have three qualities:
It must be able to create a content strategy, which defines the themes likely to interest the target and the type of contents to be published, the axes to differentiate themselves from the contents of the competitors, the way of approaching the subjects (the angle ), the tone employed, the formal structure of the articles. In short, the editorial manager must be able to set an editorial line.
It must also be able to ensure a good promotion of the published contents, by defining channels of diffusion (the social networks for example) and the strategy of promotion on these various channels.
Finally, the editorial manager must be able to manage the team of editors (freelancers only, or freelancers and internal collaborators) and expand it when the time comes. He must therefore have qualities in recruitment, namely distinguish good writers from bad writers.
In addition to this, the editorial manager must know how to manage the publication calendar, the various accounts on social networks and the newsletter (to share the articles by email) … In short, the editorial leader must bring together many qualities and do a colossal job . It is not always easy to entrust all these missions to one person. This is why you will probably need to use a collaborative work tool to dispatch tasks to the writing team. In this case, the work of the editorial manager consists of delegating certain roles to certain editors: assignment of articles to various editors, SEO optimization of articles, posting of articles on social networks, link-building, creation newsletters …
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There are several collaborative tools adapted to manage all the content marketing part. In particular, Trello , which we use on La Fabrique. We have already published a full article on this free tool and its usefulness to manage writing: Organize writing your articles as a pro with Trello .
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From the moment your blog reaches a significant volume of traffic (roughly 25,000 unique visitors per month), you will also need to integrate a person in your team to optimize the conversion.
Employed Editors VS Content Marketing Agency VS Freelance Copywriters
Hiring editors as employees is a very interesting option, but at the same time very expensive. Unless you’re a big business, this option is hard to imagine … especially if you get started. In addition, hiring an editor limits your editorial team to … one person, one pen. When it comes to publishing quality and substantive articles, it is difficult to ask an editor to write more than 4 articles a week. This significantly limits the number of articles and the pace of publication on your blog.
Second option: use the services of a web agency specialized in content marketing. This option allows you to order large volumes of well-written articles. The problem is that the editors of the agency do not necessarily have expertise on the themes that are yours. In addition, agencies generally charge a high price for their services.
Developing the visibility and reputation of a blog costs money. Are all the sums invested in your blog profitable? To find out, find out how to calculate the cost of acquisition and the ROI of your investments on the blog .
This is why, in our opinion, the best option is to look for freelance writers. This will allow you to find writers who have expertise on the topics to be dealt with as part of your blog. In addition, this option is the most “scalable” and the most flexible: you can easily expand your team as your content needs increase. Finally, last advantage, the economic model is more advantageous. You pay the editor to the article. This is cheaper than paying a full-time salaried writer or an agency. So, how do you find, test and choose editors for your blog?
How to find, evaluate and choose editors for your blog
If you want to build a team of freelance writers, freelance web content writer Delhi and best freelance content writers in India you must first know how to find them. Once you have found them, you must test them. And finally recruit them, based on the test results. There are therefore three successive phases: identify ==>
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Operation varies from platform to platform. On some, you choose, from a list proposed, the freelancers you want to contact (Hopwork model). On others, you post an ad and it is freelance to contact you by message (model of the tender, used on Encoder in particular). In the second case, you must write an offer. It must be simple and go straight to the point. A few lines are enough. Example:
“Are you passionate about startup and open-minded culture?
You know how to tell stories?
You know how to do the day before?
You are force of proposal and autonomous in your work?
Do you agree with this vision of marketing content: (link to an article)?
Contact us! “
How to evaluate freelance writers?
Once you have found interesting profiles of editors, you will have to evaluate them, test them, to make sure they meet your needs and expectations. We offer a unique method that has already paid off. The idea is to create a standard evaluation document and submit it to each selected profile. You can create it in Word format, but then convert it to PDF. This document contains 5 sections.
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These first four sections allow writers to learn more about your expectations and the work you are doing. Those interested in your offer are invited to complete the evaluation test, which occupies the fifth section of your document. The test is divided into two parts.
Part 1. You ask the editor to send you an email with 4 blog postings, based on the elements you provided in the first four sections. For each proposal, the editor must propose a title and a semi-detailed plan. This test assesses the writer’s autonomy (his ability to find ideas for articles himself) and his understanding of your needs.
Part 2. The second part of the test is to write an article, corresponding to one of the proposals made in Part 1 of the test. Only candidates who have passed the first part of the test are concerned by this second part, of course. The deal is as follows: if the copywriter passes the essay test successfully, the essay article will be paid for and published, and the writer recruited. If this is not the case, the article is not paid but the editor remains the owner of his text. Be clear on this subject. The writer must be aware of this clause. This second part assesses the editorial skills of the writer.
This process of recruitment by evaluation makes it possible to avoid many casting errors and to find good editors. This document can of course be adapted or structured a little differently. But it is important to keep this division in section, which works like a tunnel. The first four sections can eliminate a lot of editors – those who realize that their skills are not compatible with your requirements, or those who are not interested in your vision of the blog. The first phase of the test eliminates writers who are not force proposal and / or have not understood your expectations. Finally, the second phase of the test eliminates the editors who do not write according to your expectations. In the end, only good writers remain.
Discover our complete guide on the art of writing a “good” article of 2000 words on any subject .
Recruitment of freelance writers: remuneration
Third step: recruitment. You must now formalize a working relationship with the selected editors. This is the most important step, if you want to build a healthy and lasting working relationship. One of the most sensitive points is of course the remuneration. If you pay your freelance writers too little, you will get poor quality content because sloppy. And you risk losing quickly your editors, attracted elsewhere by offers more attractive. At the same time, you do not necessarily have enough budget to pay your editors 400 euros per article. If writing content costs you several thousand euros a month, you will not have many resources left over for the rest. In these conditions,
First of all, we advise you to pay your editors for the article. It is the most interesting economic model, and at the same time it is the most motivating for the editors. Regarding the tariff per item, it depends on many factors. The fair price averages around 150 euros, or a little more for the most important items that require more research work upstream (200-230 euros). If you want real quality items, do not go below 120 euros.
In conclusion, let’s remember our three main tips:
Hire freelance writers. This is the best option.
Evaluate freelance web content writer Delhi and best freelance content writers in India by testing them and using the proposed template.
Pay your editors properly for quality articles and a lasting and fruitful working relationship.