How To Outsource Your Content Marketing Without Sacrificing Quality
In an age where remote working and flexible hours are fast becoming a way of life for many people, to outsource your content marketing without sacrificing quality is a crucial consideration. And more and more businesses are recognizing this — from solopreneurs to six-figure online businesses.
So how do I know this?
Because I was once the online content writer (and social media consultant, trainer & manager) to whom other businesses could outsource content marketing without sacrificing quality. Hundreds of ghost written articles, relevant, entertaining posts to boost industry authority and thought-leadership. Skillfully written pieces to accurately reflect their mission and key messages. Promotion of their expertise and credibility with timely, regular posts via social media. Their second pair of eyes for spelling, grammar & punctuation errors.
You name it, I content wrote it — see what these business owners had to say about me back in 2014. But as great as this was, I spent all my time in my business not on, trading my time for money not freedom. And ultimately not leaving any headspace for planning, growth or scaling activities. And that business came to an end after three years, partly for these reasons.s.
So I can say with authority, and feeling, that online entrepreneurship second-time around (in 2020) meant I had to immediately outsource content marketing without sacrificing quality. Because I was focussed on what was essential for me to do in my business to move it forward. And sometimes that isn’t always doing something because you can. Well, not if you want to scale, anyhow.
Running your business suddenly becomes a whole lot more fun and pleasurable when you don’t have content fatigue and can focus ON your business. Instead of spending all of your time IN it.
A webmaster to oversee the management of your website, a virtual assistant to manage some of the administrative tasks in your business. A bookkeeper to crunch the numbers. So why not manage your words and outsource your content marketing without sacrificing quality to a content writer?
I personally outsource at least one post per week. And I’ve invariably used www.fiver.com or www.fivesquid.co.uk as both sites are a hotbed of quality writing. And great online portfolios of somebody’s content without you having to carry out due diligence. I personally find peer reviews extremely accurate and reliable most of the time, much as I would if I was purchasing a product online.
Having said that, freelance service websites inevitably take their commission from the person you’re outsourcing to. So, once we’ve established a good working relationship however, I’ve generally asked them to invoice me directly. To me, it’s crucial to demonstrate to the content writers I collaborate with that I value the quality of their work. Because entrusting your online business’ content writing to professionals is worth its weight in gold and will reap dividends later on.
And it will afford you the enjoyment of their skill set, experience and capabilities, without the responsibilities of an employer. For whom 2.5 times salary is the average cost of an employee. Maybe you don’t have a staff member with the capacity to write content or whose skill set lies elsewhere. Or you simply lack the budget to justify a full-time, in-house staff writer.
Having said that, for those very many online businesses in which outsourced content writers and employees co-exist quite happily — at least from the point of view of the business owner(s).
Online business entrepreneurs know they should be consistently producing content on a regular basis. Because content writing is such a powerful method of driving traffic back to their websites. Nevertheless, for content marketing to be effective it necessitates regular, consistent activity. And a constant stream of fresh, interesting and informative content at that. Articles and blog posts, social media updates, web page updated, email marketing and newsletters follow-ups, etc.
Ensure that you outsource your content marketing without sacrificing quality and reap the rewards of Google’s recognition
…and potentially attracting leads to your online business for a long time to come, minus the frustration, resentment or aggravation you may experience trying to create content yourself.
So what credentials should you look for in a content writer? First and foremost, any writer that you outsource your content creation to should be well-educated and have proven writing ability. But whilst you may harbor a preference for degree-educated outsourcers, that is no failsafe way to guarantee that they can write well. Content writing is a skill.
According to world-leading SEO expert Neil Patel, there are many considerations at play if you want to outsource your content marketing while still maintaining quality.
Look for a track record of proven professional writing experience of two years or more ideally
Not somebody who seems like they could be a flash in the pan — ask to see their portfolio or samples of writing. Or determine that they can verify their writing in another way. What writing have they had published? What have they authored? Ideally look for either a range of writing styles or specific technical writing ability if your niche is very specialized.
Establish that their grammar and spelling are up to scratch
At the absolute least. This may seem really obvious and I’m not trying to teach you to suck eggs here, but you’d be surprised how many don’t adhere to this basic writing tenet. Any type of online activity leads a permanent audit trail. The internet even more so than print media. So the content writing that is published under your name or company banner needs to be flawless.
What experience do they have of working under pressure and to deadlines in a professional capacity? Are they comfortable and au fait with the appropriate research required to produce high-quality, accurate, informative and interesting content writing for your online business?
After all, how to outsource your content writing without sacrificing quality is the most important question you should be asking, not why. Otherwise you’ll be back to square one. And wishing you hadn’t outsourced the content in the first place and just written it yourself.
