Hire the Right Person to Write Your Blog Posts
When you don’t have the time or inclination to write your own — buyer beware..
It’s now quite evident to most business owners that one of the best ways to reach your intended customers is with well-placed, timely, pertinent, informative and entertaining blog posts. Thing is — you’ve got a business to run and no time to sit down and think of topics, let alone write 400 to 2,000 words on a subject. So you want to hire a blogger.
4 Things to Look For
Someone in your organization may have good writing skills and be able to take on the extra work. Maybe you have a student in your family or circle of friends who’d love to write and get published online. Whether you hire a blogger who writes professionally (like the team at Ray Access) or decide to give an amateur a break, there are a few things you should look for in a blog writer:
- A good listener hears what you want and gives you just that. It doesn’t matter how well someone writes; if they don’t listen well, you won’t get the blog posts you hope for.
- Creativity is hard to define until you hire a blogger who doesn’t have it. A creative mind will be able to come up with original and lively topics that fit well with your industry and attract attention from potential customers.
- A good writer is willing to take criticism. Good writing relies on good editing. If your blog writer can’t handle a correction or a suggestion, you end up with more problems than solutions.
- All blog writers must understand deadlines. If you don’t get an assignment back until weeks after you need to post it online, you might as well not even have a blog. Consistency is one of the hallmarks of a successful blog.
Go Professional
- Ask the perspective blogger if their blog posts are edited. Your paid posts should be ready to go as soon as you get them.
- Find out how many (if any) revisions you’re allowed before incurring extra charges. Your constructive feedback can help your writers become more in tune with your requirements.
- Request a discount for a long-term commitment. A blog works when it runs for six months to a year. Only then will you see measureable results, although we’ve seen results in as little as a month. Make a commitment and then ask for a discount; it ties you both into a relationship-building pattern.
- Read the blogger’s blog. Too often, professional business writers are like the cobbler whose kids had holes in their shoes. But writers should keep an active blog for their own company, kind of like we do at Ray Access.
- Offer to pay for a trial month to find out how well you work together. Don’t hire a blogger until you’re ready and willing to make a long-term commitment. That extra month may cost you more, but it’s worth the expense so you can be sure your relationship works.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
