When you hire a blogger, you may think that you can just give them free creative control. They know what they’re doing right? Well, before you start, there are a few things your blogger for hire will need from you.
Before taking on a new client, I will organise a Skype call. This gives me a chance to chat about all the things I need to know about the site and the business. I get the chance to find out more about the potential client and the target audience.
So, before you decide to give creative control to your blogger for hire, make sure they have the following from you.
An Idea of Your Blogging Goals
What do you want to get out of your blog? You know that blogging is an excellent form of marketing. All the big businesses have a blog now and regularly update with fresh content. But your blog will mean nothing if you don’t have an end goal.
Think about the things you want to achieve. If your blogger for hire puts you on the spot with this question, you’ll need to think again about why you’re setting up your blog in the first place.
Remember that there’s no wrong or right answer to this. Your potential blogger isn’t asking you to trick you. They just want to know so they can tailor blog posts to suit your needs. There’s no point blogging with the aim of updating about your business if you want a blog as an answer space for your customers.
Still not too sure? Your blogger will be able to offer some ideas, but really it’s your business. Your goals matter.
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Who Your Target Audience Is
As well as knowing your blogging goals, a good blogger will want to know who your target audience is. This is essential to tailor the blog posts. There’s no point in writing content for a mom of four when your blog posts are aimed as single, middle-aged men! The content won’t resonate with your right target audience and those readers don’t turn into sales.
Consider who the target is carefully. Your blogger for hire may be able to help you create a persona for each blog post. This will help them create blog posts that always speak out to the right people.
Don’t worry if your target audience changes over time. Look at your products and determine who they are for.
If you haven’t got a target audience yet, now is the time to think about it. Your blogger will create more compelling and useful content with this information!
How Often You Want to Blog
Some people want to blog weekly and others want to blog daily. There really isn’t a right or wrong answer. You can even try out both options to see how your blog grows.
I suggest starting with two blogs per week. This gives you around eight posts a month and helps you continually add new content to your website. I definitely don’t recommend anything less than a month and very rarely take up projects with that amount.
Your marketing budget will affect the amount of posts you hire from your blogger. You may only have enough available at this moment for one post per week. As your business grows and you can afford more, you can add more into the schedule. Your blogger will happily work with you on this.
This is something that can change regularly. You may decide you need to cut back on content or you may want to do a month where you blog daily. Talk to your blogger about all your options.
Whether Content Needs Rewriting
You may already have content on your website. This could have been written by you or by another blogger for hire. The person you are currently looking to hire will want to know if this content needs rewriting.
This will be extra work. Your potential blogger will want to be able to quote you as perfectly as possible. Different type of content will also require different skills and can cost more. It depends on how long it has taken a blogger to gain the skills for the content types.
Just because your blogger will want to know if content needs rewriting doesn’t mean they think your current content is bad. They want to know what you think! You can say no without judgment.
If Anything More than Blogging Is Needed
Do you just need content writing for your site? Many bloggers for hire will offer a range of other services, including formatting, image creation, and social media posting. When finding out if it’s just the blogging you need, they just want to make sure you have everything else covered. If you’re getting content written by them, some bloggers will offer a discount on other services. It becomes a bulk package and you end up saving money in the long term.
Think about all your needs for your blog. Do you want the blogger to just send you Word documents or do you want them to post directly on the website? If so, you’ll need to give them a way to post on the site. You’ll also need to make sure they’re aware of the technology you’re using (I love WordPress by the way!) and find out if they’re familiar with it.
Once your blogger has all the things you need, they’ll be able to create a package for your needs. You’ll get a full quote and all your tasks from one place.
If you decide you want to go to someone else for social media and images, there’s nothing wrong with that. Your blogger is just inquiring for quoting.
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That You’re Happy with the Contract
Bloggers should always have a contract. If you don’t get a contract from a blogger, question them about it. This protects both of you should there be a problem.
Before starting work, bloggers for hire will want to make sure you’re happy with the contract. If you are, make sure you get a signed copy sent back to them. They can then put the copy in their records. I don’t know many professional bloggers who don’t start work without a contract in place.
It’s time to find a blogger for hire. Before you hand over creative control, make sure you offer all the information they need. This will help you get the content you need to drive people to your site and buy your products.
Would you like to hire a blogger for your content writing needs? Need someone who can handle images and social media? Look no further. Get in touch today or check out my blogging packages that will suit your needs.