There are many benefits of hiring freelance writers rather than having full-time in-house writers. However, if you have never done that before it might sound a little bit complicated as you may not know what exactly you should be looking for in your perfect freelance writers.

To make things easier for you, I have decided to share a few tips on how to hire freelance writers for the first time and establish a long-term collaboration with them.

So let’s get rolling!

Provide Freelance Writers as Many Details for Your Project as You Can

Writers usually don’t like writing for someone they have no idea what their brand or project is all about. This is because they don’t know what is your goal and, thus, what exactly they should focus on.

Moreover, they also don’t know what style they should follow while writing because they are not familiar with your brand’s tone and voice.

What is a brand voice?

Brand voice refers to the personality you inject while writing or speaking in the name of your company. It starts from the language you use and goes to the personality and image you portray when communicating with your target audience. In fact, it is mostly the target audience that determines your brand’s voice. In other words, your brand should always express itself in the same way your target audience expresses itself.

This is why it is super important for you to provide as much information as possible to the writer you select before they start working, even if it’s just test work.

By the way, in order to find out whether you need content writing or copywriting, check out our blog post that covers the fundamental differences between the two.

Test Them before Placing a Bulk Order

In the previous paragraph, we mentioned test work – another important thing you should do before choosing to hire freelance writers for your project.

What does this mean? This means that you should select one or few freelance writers, provide them as many details as possible and pay them for writing one or two pieces of content. If they do a great job then congrats! You can place a bulk order and establish a long-term collaboration with them.

Before Hiring Freelance Writers Check Their Portfolio

If you don’t feel like paying for test work (that sometimes doesn’t turn as you expect), you can simply check their portfolio. If you like their writing style then you can just go ahead and place an order.

One thing you should keep in mind is that writers always write according to the requirements of their customers. Therefore, their writing style might vary from one piece of content to another.

In addition, keep in mind that some writers are complete newbies and they also deserve an equal chance as experienced writers do because remember that everyone should start from somewhere. Thus, if they don’t have a portfolio, it is best to test them by paying them to write a small piece of content on a topic of your choice.

Don’t Forget to Let Their Creativity Flow

Writers pride themselves on having immense creativity and it would be a shame if you hire one and don’t leave them space to use their creative juices.

Yes, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t provide them with any requirements, of course, you should. However, aim to create a balance between your brand’s voice and their creativity.

Keep in mind that they are professional writers with extensive experience and knowledge in writing so why not take advantage of that, right? After all, it might leverage your content strategy to levels you couldn’t even imagine.

Set a Deadline

Setting a deadline is a must if you want to get your project done as soon as possible. Therefore, before placing an order, talk with the writers or the content agency and ask for a specific deadline.

Freelance writers always work with deadlines which is why it is imperative for them to respect your deadline. If they don’t respect it then that’s a red flag that you shouldn’t ignore. This is especially important if they haven’t contacted you to apologize and explain their reasons for the delay.

Provide Them a Constructive Feedback

After completing the writing process, make sure to check it out carefully and provide your constructive feedback. This is super important because it will help them gain an insight into how you like your content and push them in the right direction.

Remember that constructive feedback and easy-going communication are essential for establishing a good and long-term collaboration with your writers. The best thing is that real professional writers like ours in Boho Writing Factory, value the clients’ feedback as it helps them to refine a better understanding of their requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Where to find freelance writers?

There are many platforms where you can find freelance writers. Some of the best are Fiverr, Upwork, Problogger, etc. However, you can also hire a professional content writing agency such as Boho Writing Factory where you can get free editing considering that professional content writing agencies always have editors in their team.

2. Which skills you should look for when hiring freelance writers?

This truly depends on the nature of your project. However, the most basic skills that every writer should have (besides great writing skills) are being good in research, basic on-page SEO knowledge (if you are a blogger or content marketer), and the ability to adapt quickly to your requirements.

3. How much should you pay for freelance writing services?

Every freelance writer and content writing agency have their own rates. However, one thing to keep in mind is that in most cases freelance writers charge per word. The majority of intermediate and advanced freelance writers charge from $0.5 to $1 per word.

4. How many words your blog posts or articles should be?

Despite that, the most common word count for blog posts or articles is somewhere between 500 to 1000 words, for better results is recommended to make the word count somewhere between 1500 and 2000 words. Another important thing is to make market research and discover the most optimal content word count in your particular niche.

5. Should you only hire writers who have experience in your niche? 

Not really. Professional writers usually have great research abilities and are great at adapting their writing skills to a new niche. In fact, most of them usually accept jobs in a variety of niches.

Bottom Line

Hiring freelance writers isn’t that hard even if you have never done that. Make sure to follow the previously mentioned tips in order to find the most suitable freelance writers for your project.

However, if you don’t feel like you have the time and patience for “writer-hunting”, then perhaps it’s a good idea to go with a content writing agency such as ours and have it all sorted out in no time. Good luck!

Kristina Laskova

Pursuing the dream of becoming a recognized writer, Kristina decided to dive into freelancing during her student days. After gaining a Bachelors’s degree in English language and literature, she continued working towards gaining new skills in the field of content writing and digital marketing.

In 2017, she published her first poetry book, while in 2018 she started a travel blog that she named The Destinationship. After gaining enough knowledge and skills, she decided to gather “the last bona fide writers standing” and established Boho Writing Factory.

Just like many writers, Kristina likes the bohemian lifestyle and always follows her heart. Besides writing, she also loves reading, painting, and anything art-related. She appreciates genuine friendships, loves animals (has 5 cats), strives to learn more about the human psyche, and dreams of exploring the world.

Recommended Posts

Best Time to Post on Social Media to Boost Exposure

June 10, 2021

Hiring a Ghostwriter: Your Ultimate Guide

April 2, 2021

Fundamental Differences Between Blog Posts and Articles

March 30, 2021