Web content developers are the support line of the online business industry. Even a small time blogger needs the help of an online writer ocassionally to draft blog posts, isn’t it?
Perhaps you have already been through the rigours and sometimes the nightmarish process of hiring writers on from freelance marketplaces like Freelancer, Elance and others have been regularly panned for upholding low quality – low cost projects.
Let me caution you, if you too are looking for high quality work at ‘cheap’ prices, you should’t be hiring writers in the first place.
Anyways, here I give you these 6 seldom explored ways to find excellent content writers.
(1) Find your gem in guest bloggers:
If your blog / business accepts guest posts, there are high chances to come across writers who are worth contributing regularly for your initiative exclusively. You can judge their capacity through their writing skills, obviously.
Caution: Sometimes guest bloggers too take the help of ghost bloggers and publish the blogs in their own name. If a blog post has caught your eye and you want to take things forward, I suggest you ask the writer to write another blog for you; it can be a paid gig. If both the guest post and the second paid gig have the same quality, you have a winner in your hands.
(2) Look in the comments section:
If your blog / website receives a good amount of comments, dig into them deeper and find out commentators who write really well crafted opinions. Such a commentator will not make grammatical errors, misinterpret facts and won’t just ramble off. Even their comment will have a clear direction in thought, expressed through their writng.
It is not necessary that such commentators are writers by default but there is nothing wrong with spotting new talents, right?
(3) Check blogging contests:
Blogging contests like those held in Brian’s Blog Engage are a good way to identify worthy content developers. Since these are contest-based entries, you will see the best of the bloggers contributions only.
Since such contests also include social media promotions, it is not difficult to locate the writer’s whereabouts. You can check the author bio section too for writer’s details.
(4) See the job boards:
Even online writers are moving away from online freelance marketplaces. They can be found surfing online job boards. One of my personal favorite is the ProBlogger Job Board. Google search ‘writing job boards’ and look for both the paid and free ones.
Post a requirement there and see the response. Be careful while choosing writers. Don’t forget to ask for portfolio, recommendations and samples.
(5) Craigslist classifieds:
You have the option to browse and contact both domestic and internationally based writers selling their services through Craigslist. However, I do feel its my duty to warn you that you will come across scammy writers on craigslist too but they are easy to spot like they will ask for 100% upfront money and give unrealistic work deadlines.
Go and post a requirement on classfieds or find writers through their service lists.
(6) Spend some quality time on LinkedIn groups:
LinkedIn is a really good professional website and some of its groups are very active. Find out groups in your niche and join them. If you are targeting writing-based groups, you can find members with full writing portfolio and links to websites and blogs.
Participation in group discussions are also a unique way to judge because with writing, you are looking for sound topical knowledge and discursive nature of a writer is the best way to judge.
Endnote
Content writing is a booming industry. Every new initiative online opens up more opportunities for freelance writers. You just have to find the right resource to find the right content writer.
Interesting ways to figure our who’s who. There are some good content writers around, its a matter of finding them. But once you find a good quality content writer, hang on it, like a gem.
Yes Shalu, getting good quality writers is very difficult, especially when the client themselves have no idea what quality is all about!!!! LOL 🙂
Nice to see you Chitra here. There is a another simple method to find content writers for your blog/website may just be to approach other people who are themselves experts in that area.
Simple but not always correct because unless you know them personally, you can not be sure whether the blogger is writing himself / herself or outsourcing it to a bunch of ghost bloggers, in which case the ghost blogger should get the opportunity.
Very good post and definitely can take some of this back to study. Thank you for the useful information.
Thanks for the appreciative words Michael.
Hi Chitra Nice to see you here.
I think LinkedIn is the best option to find out Excellent content writer. I myself tried on LinkedIn for guest author. Yeah Blogging Contest is also best way.
BTW Thanks for this tips. Hope now i can easily find out excellent content writer.
Thanks for visiting Amit. LinkedIn is good too, especially all the freelance writing groups.
Hi Chitraparna,
Get tips to help people find the right and better writers for them. As a blogger and a freelance writer as well, I do not hang out on Elance and other sites like that to find writing jobs. For one thing I have three blogs, over 2000 online articles and a few blog posts that can speak for me.
For any new freelance writers, I would suggest to them to build there portfolio as fast as possible and it will get easier for them.
For bloggers looking for writers, your tips are great. Look for well written comments that really mean something (make sense), and click on their link to learn what they are all about.
Thanks for your great post 🙂
You are welcome Sylviane. Not building a portfolio is one of the major mistakes committed by any writer. but to give the benefit of doubt, some writers can’t begin to make this portfolio until later because most of the freelance jobs a writer gets is of a ghost writer…and one can’t really mention ghost writing jobs in portfolio 🙁
I’m glad you mentioned the comments section as a place to highlight some new guest posters. This is how I personally was invited to write an article for one of my favorite blogs in the past. LinkedIn is also a fantastic resource, because the people there are usually top notch, especially the ones who are actively involved in groups.
Same here Steve. I am a staff writer of 2 high authority blogs because they liked by comments….and needless to say, they pay awesomely 🙂 Thanks for visiting
Blog challenges have been the reason wht I started writing in a more relaxed and creative way.
Although English is not my 1st language, it has been of a great help an dinspiration not to mention the fantastic people I have met there with whom I’m still in contact.
Thanks for these useful tips and nice to meet you on Kostas’ blog!
Hey Chitraparna, Awesome post love finding new things to talk about and this is defiantly a subject that is being discussed more and more now.
Whoever it was who coined the phrase; ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’, really did hit the nail squarely on the head. The written word has always had tremendous power and this has proved itself to be true in so many different areas; stories, poems, song lyrics, etc.
But do you realise that, even in this super high-tech society, this old adage is still just as true? In fact, since the advent of the World Wide Web, the written word will often wield an even greater degree of power…
Any website on the Net should place a huge amount of importance on its written content. Besides, this is something which will be read by each and every one of your sites’ visitors. It goes without saying then that web content should be very well-written indeed!
However, not everyone with a head for business will also have the ability to be the next Robert Ludlum, Dean Koontz or Clive Cussler… and that is why it is often a very good idea to call on the services of a professional content writer!
Fortunately, since you have the internet at your fingertips, tracking down a content writer will be a pretty straightforward business. There are numerous writing services to be found online and the chances are that you will be spoilt for choice.
However, it is not always a good idea to settle for the first content writer that you come across… after all; anyone can tell you how good they are at what they do. It is important to remember that writing is just like any other trade and you should always find out what sort of reputation an author has before you let them loose on your website!
Just how long have they been in this line of work?
What qualifications do they have?
And what type of clients have they worked for previously?
Make a point of asking to see some samples of his/her work and have a good look at their website! If they have a reputation that they are proud of, then this will be evident straight away. Look for such things as a ‘testimonials’ section, a list of happy customers, etc, etc). You can learn a great deal about a content writer if you are prepared to spend a little time doing so!
So there you go; there is no reason at all why you cannot make the written word work for you… as long as you go about it in the right way!
Mike
I used sociobid as an employer. There is no comparison with other freelance platform, very simple, active and responsive to the client. Once you hire a freelancer they keep follow up deeply. Price policy is awesome as they are not charging a single penny to employers. http://www.sociobid.com/