Yesterday we talked about several ways to get blog content, and I mentioned that you could hire a ghost writer. One of the things that drives me crazy is when Internet Marketing Gurus say “you can just do blah blah blah” but they fail to tell you anything about how to do it.
Well, I did not want to be guilty of that.
So, here are a few tips for outsourcing your writing — whether it be for blog posts, articles or information product creation:
- Get samples from any writer you’re considering before committing to the job. You should also have them write a set number of “test” pages (or a small section of the book if you are outsourcing a product) before fully committing. You should expect to pay them for this. That means you may lose some money if you are not happy with the work. That is just part of the deal. Better to find out early on in the project than when you’ve fully committed.
- Visit online forums and ask for recommendations. There are various online marketing discussion forums (warriorforum.com, etc) where you may be able to find recommendations for writers. Just keep in mind everyone’s opinions vary. You need to look at samples of work and form your own opinion.
- Start with research. If you don’t feel up to fully outsourcing the whole task you can simply outsource the research side of things or even the product outline or both the outline and the research. Keep in mind that the writing part will usually be the most expensive and time consuming. So, if you’re on a budget perhaps you could outsource the first two and do the writing yourself.
I like to use Virtual Assistants, and you can certainly outsource research and product outlines to a virtual assistant. Again, you can visit online marketing discussion forums and ask for recommendations. You can also do a search under “virtual assistant” and you should find a number of different services, but recommendations are always best, especially when working with people online whom you won’t see face to face.
As an aside, if you are interested in learning more about virtual assistants for these types of tasks, I recommend this course. If you want to hire a full time person (particularly if you are interested in offshore help, I recommend this product.
Visit places like elance.com or guru.com. In these places you can post a project and freelancers will bid on different projects. This is how I got started outsourcing. You can also view samples of the person’s work (in many cases) and read past reviews and feedback they’ve been given.
Outsourcing your writing and research is a great idea, especially if you’ve been holding back on getting started.
Hope that helps!
photo credit: Daquella manera
Thanks Mark. Admittedly, I could have used this a few months ago, but better late than never!
I hired a writer in the Philippines from CraigsList Manila about 3 months ago and thought I’d share my experience. The only thing I requested during the “application process” was three writing examples and a traditional resume. This could be sent in .doc format or hyperlink.
I barely look at the resumes. I did read the article submissions and paid attention to the email correspondence in particular. The back and forth conversation with applicants is where I feel you can truly gauge 1.) the applicants understanding of English and their writing style. 2.) how ambitious they are. If the applicant responds quickly and accurately to questions via email, I’d say your odds are pretty decent they’ll be a great employee.
So far my first full-time employee Mike has worked out great!
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