Chances are good that you started your business because you’re good at what you do. Hopefully you love it too, but there is no doubt that you have qualities that help you excel in your particular field, which is why you decided to take the often difficult journey to business ownership and sell your services or products to the rest of the world.
And there is also no doubt that somewhere along the way, you’ve had to hire more than a few things out to get them done in an effort to grow your business and increase your sales. Maybe you didn’t have enough time to do them yourself, or perhaps you didn’t know how to do them so you had no choice but to do hire someone else to take care of them for you.
Hiring a Writer to Increase Your Sales
Creating effective content for your website, marketing emails, and other word-based materials is the same. If you don’t know how to craft words that draw your target market in like metal to a magnet, then you should find someone that does.
Basically, you want to hire someone who has the ability to make you irresistible to your consumer. Someone who can help your clients see themselves doing business with you and being happier because of it. How do you find this someone?
Here are some guidelines to follow:
- Ask around. If you’ve never hired a writer before and don’t know where to start, talk to other businesspeople in your area and see who they use. Word of mouth costs nothing and you’ll be surer of the person you’re getting because you’ve been referred by someone that you trust.
- Use a reputable service. Another option is to find a freelance writer on your own. But, if you’re going to take the time to hire a writer, only post your project with a reputable freelance service. For instance, I get a lot of my jobs on Elance.com and have worked with top people in industries such as dentistry, motivational speaking, racing, and health/fitness, just to name a few.
As a freelance writer on Elance, I am rated by past clients, giving you the ability to see what others have thought about working with me before deciding to hire or offer me the job yourself. So, if you’re using a site that doesn’t offer any feedback on the writers on it, you may want to find a different one.
- Don’t take the lowest bid. Surely, we all want to save as much money as possible in business, but at what cost? Remember that the freelance writer you hire has the ability to increase your sales and your income. Therefore, it may cost you a little money to make money. Of course, you don’t have to take the highest bid either, but this is definitely one case where you typically get what you pay for.
- Be clear about what you want. One of the best ways to find the right freelance writer for you is to be clear about what you want. The more information the freelancer has about your particular needs, the more they’ll know whether you may be a good fit.
What are some things that you’ll want to include in your post? Ideally, you’ll want to share how many words you expect (or how many pages), how quickly you want the project completed, who your target market is, if you have a budget, any keywords you want to use, and what sets you apart from your competitors. It is a lot of information but it helps give potential writers a clue as to what you’re about, increasing the odds that you’ll find someone who is a good fit.
- Ask for samples. The best way to know whether a writer has a style that you’d like is to view their past work. This will give you an idea as to their particular writing qualities, such as whether they tend to be more dry and factual or conversational and witty.
Personally, I tend to direct clients to my website so that they can get a big picture image of me and pick content that interests them most. This isn’t always an option if your freelance writer doesn’t have a website set up, but a bonus if they do.
- Run a trial with them. Before hiring a writer to do any major work for you, it may benefit you to hire them for a small trial project. This allows you both to try each other on for size and will tell you whether you can work together as a team.
They may be the best writer in the world, but if you can’t communicate with each other or if you want a style that they can’t pull off, then you’ll only be wasting your time trying to mesh. Even if you pay a couple bucks for a blog that you’ll never use, at least you’ll know not only how they write, but also how they are going to be to work with.
These are just a few guidelines that will help you in your pursuit to help you find a freelance writer that will help you turn prospective clients into paying customers. That’s a pretty picture, don’t you think?
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