It’s clear that content is an important part of marketing. Without content, you wouldn’t be able to attract new visitors, educate your audiences, or even have words on your website. Getting that content, however, is another matter.
You want high-quality content that establishes you as a trustworthy source and an industry leader. While you can hire internally, there are also external options like writing freelancers that you should consider. A freelance writer can deliver exceptional content without costing your company a full salary and benefits.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to attract top talent and, most importantly, retain it for the future.
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Why You Should Aim for the Best Writers
No one wants poorly written content or content that falls short of the mark. That’s why finding the best writers out there is so important for the health of your content marketing. When you outsource for writers, you want to take steps to ensure that they are a good fit for your business.
Freelancers have flexibility and expertise that you don’t always find in full-time employees. They can help you streamline content production and get deliverables faster since they don’t have other office tasks taking up time. And when you can find the best writers for your brand, you have a strong, reliable source for great content whenever you need it.
How to Attract Top Writers
Here are a few tips to attract top writers and make sure you are optimizing your approach to only qualified, professional individuals.
1. Provide a Detailed Brief
When you present a project to a potential writer, you want to ensure they understand what you are asking them to do. A single-sentence description of what you are looking for likely won’t be enough to attract top writers. A great project brief includes elements like:
- Your company details
- The project objective
- A rough outline of the content
- Links that you want to be included
- Sources for inspiration
- Target audience information
- Details about style and tone
- Any CTAs you want to drive conversions
2. Offer Additional Resources
Another way to attract top writers and provide value to your projects is to offer additional resources. You might want to give writers a branding guide, content guidelines, or previously published articles to give them more direction on what you’re looking for.
You can even give freelance writers access to SEO tools or keyword research platforms. By sharing a general login, you can help them improve their writing and deliver better results for you. And this tactic will attract high-quality writers who want to create great work.
3. Show Appreciation
Everyone wants to be appreciated. Freelancers are no different. However, because you can’t give them a shout-out during office meetings or on company retreats, you need other tactics.
Showing appreciation can be done in many ways. You can increase payments for their superb work or send a special message thanking them for taking the time to work with you. Even small tokens of appreciation go a long way for freelancers who don’t get appreciation in a typical office setting like your full-time employees.
4. Offer Constructive Feedback
Another way to attract top talent is to make sure that you are offering constructive feedback. If you don’t give writers indications of what they’ve done well and what they can improve on, they might not be interested in working with you for long.
Constructive feedback should never be rude, but it should be direct so that there is no miscommunication. By offering feedback, you build value in your working relationship with freelancers.
5. Be Available and Communicate
When freelancers have questions, they can’t pop down to your office to ask you. They rely on digital communication, so you need to be available when they reach out. By giving freelancers contact information and responding quickly to questions, you demonstrate that you are committed to the relationship. That encourages top talent to be invested in working with you.
Maintaining a Good Relationship with the Freelancer
Sourcing great writers takes time. Once you’ve found a writer who understands your brand, provides excellent content, and is easy to work with, you want to keep them in your corner. If you fail to maintain a relationship with a freelancer, they might turn to other clients who take priority and turn down your projects.
It’s important that you put work into maintaining your relationships with freelancers. Be open and honest in your communication, and make sure that you praise their work so they know they are valued and appreciated.
If you suddenly stop communicating with a freelancer or don’t offer any feedback on their completed projects, it can also sour the relationship. By putting effort into your communication with freelancers and being genuine in your appreciation, you can keep them invested in working with you now and in the future.
Work with Your Industry’s Top Writers in WriterAccess
Finding top talent is a task in itself. However, once you’ve sourced great writers, you can establish an ongoing relationship where they become an integral part of your content team. By following these tips for attracting top writers and prioritizing great content, you can grow your business and establish a great working rapport with highly qualified writers.
WriterAccess is a powerful platform that connects you to top freelancers. It’s a freelance marketplace where you can post requests, search through the extensive writer database, and build long-lasting connections with highly talented freelancers. Working with WriterAccess makes it easy to get in touch with the industry’s top writers and maintain contact.
To learn more, get a 14-day WriterAccess trial to explore the platform and reach out to writers on your own. WriterAccess offers a wide variety of writing services, including editing, designing, content strategy, and translations. Click on the link above to get started today!
