Four factors to help you hire the right writer the first time around
The best freelance writers are also strategists and project managers
Hello friends,
Many of you operate with lean marketing departments.
It's the nature of startup life, and don’t we love it.
But for those of you prioritizing a content marketing funnel to
attract, educate, and convert your prospects, allocating the resources necessary to see results from your efforts can be a challenge.
Sometimes a full-time hire is the way to go. A content writer with a complete understanding of your product and full immersion in your company culture is incredibly valuable.
On the other hand, freelance support comes with its own set of benefits: namely cost savings, access to specialized talent, and flexibility for project-based or variable work.
This week we’ll walk you through what to look for when hiring a freelancer writer — so you can get it right the first time and save time and money in the long run.
Factor #1 — Process
Whether you’re hiring a writer for an ongoing content retainer or a one-off website copywriting project, the best writers will have processes they can speak to with confidence.
You’ll want to ask them about two things in particular:
Their onboarding process and their writing process.
Freelancers with a solid onboarding process are organized, provide positive client experiences, and understand that there’s a certain level of pre-work knowledge needed for them to do their job properly. Thoughtful onboarding makes for a solid foundation and an efficient working relationship.
Freelancers’ writing processes will vary depending on project and individual preference. So long as they have a system in place for acquiring needed information and ensuring stakeholders are aligned on the purpose and direction of a piece before submitting a draft for review, that’s sufficient.
For example, many writers will ask that you sign off on a content brief (if not provided by you, the client) and a content outline before starting work on any actual writing.
Factor #2 — Subject matter expertise
While you want your writers to have a broad understanding of the climate tech sector, we urge you not to discount a writer for not having deep expertise in a narrow sub-niche. This can be extremely limiting.
And after all, any writer worth her salt will do the research necessary to give a topic its due diligence.
Hiring such a writer can actually work to your advantage. Writers who put in the legwork to understand a new topic are more likely to bring a fresh perspective. They’re also in a better position to speak about said topic in an accessible way, without alienating less technical audiences.
Instead of assessing whether a writer has written about a specific topic (say, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), or ocean-based carbon removal) why not assess the depth and quality of articles they’ve written about adjacent subjects? Chances are, they’ll give the same care and attention to your project.
(Disclaimer: we’re not advising you to turn away an experienced writer in favor of one with less subject matter expertise. If you have access to a unicorn, all the better! But if you’re shopping around, or if a promising writer with adjacent experience is within reach — consider making your deciding factors their quality of writing and ability to understand a complex subject, not a checklist of niche topics.)
Factor #3 — Style
Ideally, a writer will flex to your brand’s tone and style. And hopefully, they’ll be creative enough to make dry content interesting and complex information accessible.
That said, if your brand leans heavily to one side (corporate, highly technical, serious tone) or the other (B2B with B2C flair), you probably won’t want to hire a writer who tends to play on the other side of the spectrum.
Ask your prospective freelancer what styles and kinds of work they most like to do, and have a peek at their portfolio to see if it reflects that.
Factor #4 — Vibe
Vibe check? Yup. Bear with us. Second only to process (see #1), the most important factor to consider is whether you’ll like working with this person.
Jump on a call with prospective freelancers before you even think about signing a contract. Some things to pay attention to:
Do they show up on time?
Do they seem like someone who will be pleasant to work with?
Do they ask the right questions?
Seem like they have emotional intelligence?
Can they speak to their process?
Do they lead the conversation when appropriate?
Does it feel like they care?
Remember — hiring a freelancer should make your life easier, not more complicated.
Final thoughts
Trusting an external writer with your content needs can be stressful. How can you know they’ll spend the time necessary to understand your product and audience deeply?
Hiring a freelancer may be less expensive than hiring a full-timer, but it’s certainly not cheap — so you don’t want to waste resources on someone who won’t deliver. Choosing the right writer is a blend of art and science; you’ll want to assess the depth and quality of their previous writing projects, but some intuitive judgment is necessary, too.
Just know this — the best freelancers are also strategists and project managers. They’ll ask you questions about the problems you want to solve, and they’ll want to know how projects fit into your bigger-picture marketing goals.
And most importantly, they’ll have an established process for doing things.
That’s where quality comes.