How To Find Talented Writers To Fuel Top Quality Content Creation via @sejournal, @gregjarboe

For contented marketers, it is the champion of times, it is the worst of times.

They cognize that creating top-quality contented volition substance their success, but uncovering talented writers seems to beryllium getting harder.

With much radical than ever spending clip online owed to lockdowns and work-from-home mandates, galore organizations discovered past twelvemonth that contented selling presented a premier accidental to get and enactment successful beforehand of their people audiences.

But, astir two-thirds of B2B marketers person been asked to bash much with the aforesaid resources implicit the past year, according to probe by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.

In tiny organizations, the contented selling unit is typically conscionable 1 person.

Even astatine medium- and large-sized companies, the contented selling squad is often successful the 2 to five-employee range.

This explains wherefore 50% of contented marketers accidental their organizations outsource immoderate contented selling activities adjacent though their organizations worth creativity and trade successful contented instauration and production.

So, How Do You Find Talented Writers To Fuel Top-Quality Content Creation?

I asked a mates of contented selling pioneers and thought leaders to tackle this question.

This dynamic duo has an bonzer magnitude of Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T).

The archetypal is Rebecca Lieb, who wrote “Content Marketing (Que Publishing, 2011)”, 1 of the archetypal books connected that topic.

As a precocious illustration and good respected analyst, educator, practitioner, strategist, advisor, writer and speaker, Rebecca has been astatine the forefront of integer advertizing and media since the beginning.

She’s besides published a important assemblage of archetypal research, including a ample assemblage of enactment connected the topics of contented marketing, contented strategy and converged media.

The 2nd was Robert Rose, the Chief Strategy Advisor for the Content Marketing Institute (CMI).

Robert is simply a sought-after consultant, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and 1 of the world’s astir recognized integer contented strategy and selling experts.

He is the writer of 3 best-selling books including “Killing Marketing (McGraw Hill, 2017)”, “Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing (CMI, 2015)”, and “Managing Content Marketing (CMI, 2011).”

Here are my questions and their answers.

Who truly needs top-quality contented creation?

Rebecca Lieb: “It’s hard to deliberation of a brand, product, oregon work that doesn’t request fantabulous contented – and hunt is lone the beginning.

Content tin assistance customers determine that they request you, it tin found thought enactment and authorization successful your industry, oregon it tin simply beryllium truthful fun, amusing, and delightful that it makes customers and prospects similar you more.

Perhaps they’ll adjacent stock it, amplifying your brand, reach, and message.”

Robert Rose: “In a word: Everyone. It matters not however large your concern is, each concern that seeks to make worth for customers is arsenic overmuch a media institution arsenic they are successful immoderate concern they started as.

But this is nary concealed of course, and truthful arsenic I’ve said before, not each institution volition person a large contented strategy – but each palmy institution will.

What should they look for successful talented writers?

Lieb: “The quality to constitute successful the benignant and code of dependable of the brand, arsenic good arsenic immoderate taxable substance cognition and experience.

They don’t person to beryllium PhDs connected your taxable substance – a bully writer is adaptable – but by the aforesaid token, you astir apt wouldn’t prosecute a subject writer to merchantability brushed drinks, for example.”

Rose: “Answering this question with “writers that are talented” seems some unhelpful and circular, truthful I’ll possibly reply the question [of] what you should prioritize.

I’m a steadfast believer successful endowment implicit taxable substance expertise.

There’s an aged saying (I don’t cognize if it’s true) that UPS didn’t prosecute drivers and thatch them however to supply lawsuit service. They hired large lawsuit work representatives and taught them however to drive.

The aforesaid is existent with writing.

In my business, I’ve ever had overmuch amended occurrence with hiring talented contented creators and teaching them the business.”

How should they measure a penning portfolio?

Lieb: “Do you similar the benignant and tone? Is it cleanable and professional? Is it broadly aligned with your taxable matter, voice, and tone?

For example, if you’re a tech company, person they had different tech clients? If they chiefly bash CPG work, it mightiness not beryllium the close fit.”

Rose: “To me, a large penning portfolio is erstwhile I’m funny successful reading, adjacent erstwhile I don’t attraction astir the topic. When I look astatine a penning portfolio, I privation large stories, compelling world-building, and coagulated characters – not conscionable a neatly formatted presumption of the “facts.”

This is wherefore I ever urge against idiosyncratic reviewing a portfolio, and past saying, “Okay, present constitute maine a illustration for my industry.” Nope.

If they’re bully astatine what they do, past they’ll lone beryllium bully erstwhile they tin bash the aforesaid level of probe for your business. And for that, they should beryllium paid.”

Do you person immoderate tips for interviewing writers?

Lieb: “Ask astir their work: was probe required, however did they spell astir it? How galore rounds of edits are included successful their price? Can they crook the task astir connected your deadline?

Ask deeper questions astir samples of their enactment that you’ve read. Do they look professional? Are they asking you questions? (They should!).”

Rose: “Yes, my favourite question is to inquire writers to archer maine their root story. I find large writers person thought astir their ain communicative and tin archer it well.”

Would you stock a fewer places to find apical writers?

Lieb: “To find freelance writers, commencement by asking: What are the sources of written accusation connected your topic? Trade publications? Scholarly oregon world journals? Blogs connected the taxable matter?

Go wherever the experts are and get successful interaction with them. If they won’t oregon can’t constitute for you, it’s apt they tin marque bully recommendations.”

Rose: “There are plentifulness of large contented selling agencies – particularly those that person been formed wrong (or adjacent to) accepted publishers that person apical writers available.

CMI really has a directory of them here. Otherwise, my favourite happening to bash is to place the writers astatine magazines, newspapers, oregon different publications that I truly enjoy, marque a list, and interaction them directly.

Many of them connection up freelancing services – oregon are freelancers themselves. This is usually a much costly concern – but good worthy it.”

5 Must-Read Articles About Content Creation

In summation to the large proposal above, you should besides work 5 articles astir contented instauration by my colleagues astatine Search Engine Journal, who besides person an astonishing magnitude of E-A-T:

• 13 Must-Have Elements of an Exceptional Blog Post by Kayle Larkin.
• 8 Must-Haves successful Your Content Guidelines: What Your Writers Need To Know by Maddy Osman.
• 7 Ways To Use AI Writing Tools To Generate Content Ideas by Marcelo Beilin.
• 4 SEO Copywriting Tips For Sharper, More Effective Copy by Tony Wright.
• 7 Ways To Tweak Your Content For Better SEO by Loren Baker.

10 Specific Places To Find Top Writers

What tin I adhd to each of this advice? Well, you tin ever cheque retired freelancing platforms and writer occupation boards like:

• Fiverr: A planetary level connecting businesses with on-demand freelancers successful the simplest mode possible.
• Guru: A level wherever professionals tin connect, collaborate, and get enactment done.
• LinkedIn ProFinder: A freelancer recruitment level for helping radical prosecute freelancers.
• ProBlogger Job Board: A starring marketplace for blog-related jobs.
• Upwork: A enactment marketplace that enables companies and endowment to enactment unneurotic successful caller ways.

And, you tin besides cheque retired contented selling platforms like:

• Contently: Powers the contented selling programs of immoderate of the world’s astir invaluable brands done their implicit contented selling solution: Expert contented strategy, an industry-leading contented selling platform, and 1 of the highest-rated originative networks. They’ve received galore honors, including G2’s #1 Enterprise Content Creation Solution and Gartner Peer Insights’ Customer Choice.
• Scripted: A starring supplier of archetypal written contented for thousands of customers – ranging from tiny businesses to ample enterprises. Their curated user-base of writers and editors collaborate with clients to nutrient a wide assortment of engaging content, including archetypal blogs, newsletters, web copy, video scripts, societal media posts, and overmuch more.
• Skyword: A solution recognized by customers and analysts twelvemonth aft year, having been named a 2020 Gartner Peer Insights “Customers’ Choice,” ranked arsenic a person successful the Gartner 2021 Magic Quadrant for Content Marketing Platforms, and consistently rated a person successful contented creation, experience, and organisation by their customers via G2.
• Textbroker: A apical online level for custom-made, unsocial written content. The online marketplace brings unneurotic customers looking for unsocial and exclusive textual contented with much than 100,000 U.S.-based freelance authors who tin constitute astir virtually immoderate topic. Their genitor institution was founded successful Germany and offers its services successful 36 languages.
• WriterAccess: A endowment marketplace with astir 2,000 clients, and much than 500 bureau partners. The level offers streamlined workflow tools to empower marketers to easy spell from the ideas signifier to publishing connected their websites. Acquired successful April 2022 by Rock Content, a planetary person successful contented selling solutions.

Whichever attack you instrumentality to uncovering talented writers oregon freelancers, retrieve that they request to make high-quality contented successful bid make results.

Why? There are 3 cardinal reasons:

• You request to make valuable, relevant, and accordant content to pull and clasp a intelligibly defined assemblage — and, ultimately, thrust profitable lawsuit action.
• Google has been reducing the rankings of low-quality content since the archetypal Panda update backmost successful February 2011.
• Millions of articles and blog posts are published daily, truthful cranking retired much mean contented won’t assistance you basal out.

And, erstwhile you migrate to Google Analytics 4, you’ll beryllium capable to measurement chiseled idiosyncratic interactions with the articles and blog posts connected your website by utilizing enhanced measurement events, including:

• Scrolls: The archetypal clip a idiosyncratic reaches the bottommost of each leafage (i.e., erstwhile a 90% vertical extent becomes visible).
• Video engagement: For embedded videos with JS API enactment enabled, the pursuing events are triggered: When the video starts playing, erstwhile the video progresses past 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% duration time, and erstwhile the video ends.
• File downloads: erstwhile a idiosyncratic clicks a nexus starring to a record (with a communal record extension) of the pursuing types: document, text, executable record oregon program, presentation, compressed file, video, audio.

And, you tin people immoderate of these events arsenic conversion, adhd a monetary worth to your conversion events, and commencement measuring the economical worth of your contented selling program.

This volition alteration you to place the writers, topics, and posts that are generating the champion bang for your bucks.

This volition beryllium a crippled changer.

Up to now, uncovering talented writers to substance top-quality contented instauration has been what Avinash Kaushik, the Digital Marketing Evangelist astatine Google, calls “a faith-based initiative.”

Soon, it volition go a mean outgo of doing business.

So, you volition privation to cognize however to bash it earlier your competitors drawback up the champion ones.

More resources:

• Managing Freelance Writers: How To Find, Train & Retain Top Talent
• Does Content Marketing’s Love For AI Make Writers Obsolete?
• Content Marketing KPIs: Your Guide to Picking the Right KPIs for Content

Featured Image: Khakimullin Aleksandr/Shutterstock