Communication is one of the most important parts of outsourcing. It doesn’t matter who you’re outsourcing to. You need to communicate well. I’m going to share all about how not communicating well will your freelance blogger can cause problems.
One thing you can’t do is expect a writer to be able to read your mind.
You wouldn’t do that, would you?
Most clients don’t think they would, but then realize that they have left too much open to interpretation. There may be aspects that you don’t want to discuss for privacy reasons, even though your freelance blogger for hire needs to know the information. You may have aspects that you’re not too sure about, and the blogger is left guessing.
I can’t stress just how many problems lack of communication causes. I’ve had major headaches, all because I didn’t know the tiniest detail–and a detail I wouldn’t even think about asking for.
Here are just four reasons to communicate opening with your freelance blogger.
Discuss All Your Project Terms
One of the biggest benefits of open communication is that you can discuss all your project terms and needs. You can be clear about what you want from the freelance blogger, or whether you are giving full creative license.
Let me be clear that if you don’t know exactly what you want from your freelance blogger, that’s fine. I can work with you from the ground up. I know the questions to ask to get the answers I need. And if you’re happy with handing me all the creativity for your blog, that’s great!
But if you know what you want, then please do tell me.
Open communication about the project terms will also give you the chance to find out about my own terms. I can share my rate, timelines, and specific requirements I need from you to be able to create amazing content.
If you’re not sure about anything, you should ask. And you should make it clear you want the blogger to ask if she’s not sure about something.
Update If There Are Changes
Your requirements may change during the project, or something may change that affects the details of the content. Your blogger needs to know this during and not after.I’m never happy if a whole piece has to be changed because a change to the instructions or needs didn’t come through before delivery. I do charge extra for this type of change.
It may seem like you’re pestering by changing things, but the freelance blogger would rather know sooner rather than later. This is especially the case when it comes to the products available or the bonus gifts on sales copy.
Get the Content You Need Right Away<
You want the content right away and you certainly deserve it by the deadline. Open communication is essential to make sure this happens. This allows the writer to ask you questions when necessary, and you can discuss your terms clearly and calmly.
If you don’t give all the details and aren’t willing to share some information, you’re not going to get perfect content right away. You will need to ask the freelance blogger to make changes and that takes more time.
While she will factor in some minor modifications, she will not factor in complete rewrites because of points you missed, whether on purpose or by accident. If the lack of information was an accident, I’m more lenient. If there’s a deliberate change then I’m not going to be as understanding.
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Keep the Cost to a Minimum
So many people are struggling financially, even businesses. You want to keep your outgoing costs to a minimum, but the cost of content can seem extremely high. But did you know a lack of open communication could increase the cost further?
Think about it from a craft or art point of view. If a customer didn’t ask for something and then wanted it once it was all finished, you would expect him to pay for the extra work. Now put it back under a writing view. It takes time to add more information and make sure the content flows. If that’s because you didn’t communicate all your wants or you changed your mind afterwards, you should expect to pay the extra. It’s not the fault of the writer that this happened.
Lack of communication has led to my projects going on much longer than necessary. It wastes time (both yours and mine). Have what you want ready and we can chat. This is why I offer a FREE 20 minute discovery call. You can get the initial questions out of the way and you know what I need when you book me for your freelance blogging needs.
Remember to keep the communication with your freelance blogger open. This will help you in the long run. You will get the content you want, at a price you can afford.
Have you had experiences where a lack of communication with a freelance blogger or client has led to problems? Share your experiences below.
Note: This content was published on July 1, 2014. It was updated on May 25, 2017.
I never knew there were freelance bloggers. But in any thing in life, communication is key. Dropping by from UBC.
Yes, there are quite a lot of us now! Thanks for stopping by, Suzy.
Communication is the key definitely otherwise how do we know what the client wants or needs, great post x
Thanks, Rachel. Yes, that is very true. It definitely goes both ways too.
Communication is very important between the blogger and the client since it enables exchange of adequate information with a view to coming up with the desired content.
It really does. Not everyone sees it that way, unfortunately–and that applies to bloggers and clients.