So today I spent way longer than I usually do writing a blog post. I actually started structuring it the night before, and with the events of the day (family Zoom chat, my new air fryer arriving, food shopping, parenting etc. etc…) it has just dragged out.
It was a new type of post, and, although I have a decent team of writers, whenever I stumble across a new type of post, I like to write the first post myself. The reason for this is simple:
- This way I know exactly what is required, the scope of the post, how much time it costs me (If i am better served outsourcing it)
- I can create a post template for outsourcing and get back exactly what I want.
This whole process gave me the idea to write this post. As I talk about writing as much content as possible and scaling up but I haven’t yet mentioned when.
So if you are wondering, “when should I hire a writer for my website”, my answer is, as soon as you are confident in your ability to write a good quality SEO article.
Was that not the answer you were hoping for? Did you think I was going to say something actionable like….”NOW!”
Nah,
What I have found, after publishing a good 400 articles or so and outsourcing a chunk of those is that you really do need to know what works before outsourcing. Otherwise, how do you know what you are looking for or that you are getting a good deal?
You could just be throwing money away. It is easily done.
I have had writers who are highly intelligent, way more so than I. Some who have various degrees and have of course written thousands of academic words and highly formal content with all the references at the bottom and what not.
However, when it comes to writing a good quality, compelling and fun blog post, they just can’t nail it.
This happens a lot.
Hiring a writer for your website is trial and error. I was horrible at hiring when I first started out and that was mainly because I didn’t know what went into good content and how to direct writers.
It was only when I started editing all of their submissions that I started to think what it would be like to just not have to edit as much as I do.
Really, paying for an article and then spending an hour or two editing it and fixing it kind of defeats the issue anyway.
Hiring too soon will cost you time and money, so just make sure you know exactly what you need and communicate that through templates and screening questions.
Oh and as my unofficial mentor, Gary V, says – “hire FAST fire fast!”
Happy blogging!!
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