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7 Things to Consider Before Hiring a Writer





Writing is a sensitive vocation and thus requires certain skills for one to be able to create outstanding contents. Any form of written content, whether for academic or business purposes, will lose its credibility if they are not properly composed, and that could be very costly too in terms of lost revenue or credits.  Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that whoever is given the task of handling your writing projects is highly experienced.

It is important to emphasize that a highly skilled and professional writer can help you to gain trust, generate leads, sales and ultimately increase your revenue while using incompetent hands could have devastating consequences.  

This article will guide you in the hiring process and ensure you don’t make any mistake. Below are the 7 critical things you should consider while doing so.

1. Skills/Proficiency Level
Firstly, does the writer understand the basic rules of English? By this I mean grammar, tense, spelling, structure, how to use punctuation etc. You can check their skills by self-evaluation i.e. asking your potential writers to provide samples of their works in a particular niche that is relevant to your field. You can then go through their contents to ascertain their skill level. Remember there are apps you can use to run such checks if for any reason you can’t do it yourself.
In addition, it is important for the writer to be knowledgeable in the field they would be working on. Is the task going to be about lifestyle, health, politics, sports, technology or any technical niche then inquire how much they know about that area.

2. Check for Enthusiasm
How passionate or otherwise is the person you’re hiring in writing about the niche? Do they have any reservations? If they don’t have a considerable level of interest in your offerings then they will not have the passion to promote it. In other words, they should be on the same page with you!
You should interact with them and ask questions about key issues/topics and listen to what they have to say about them. Do they appear eager or reluctant? Are they passionate or having reservations? 

3. Are they well informed about the niche?
During your interactions with them, what did you observe about them? Did they appear conversant, well informed or barely informed about the niche? Having knowledge of the field they are going to be creating contents on is vital in terms of how successful they will be in the long run. The danger inherent in hiring someone that lacks the basic knowledge is that:

They will be prone to mistakes
They will not exude confidence and professionalism
They may not understand the psychology of your target audience
They may not be able to create viral contents
It will be difficult for them to work independently without direct supervision
They will lack the requisite expertise needed to help you stay ahead of competition

4. How much is their fee?
The cost of hiring content writers can be wide. The major determinant factor here is how much you’re willing or comfortable to pay your writer and if such price would be acceptable to them. Similarly, one thing to note about the fees charged by content writers is that the more experienced a writer is, the higher fees such a writer is likely to command. Although this is true in most cases but there are exceptions to this rule. You can still get a premium writer who charges less fees as well as an average writer who charges premium fees. However, your motive should be on hiring a good writer and never compromise quality because you don’t want to spend much. Ensure you’re getting absolute value for money. Hiring a poor writer because the person is cheap can be counterproductive considering that they may not be able to convert your target audience into paying clients. 

5. What is their turnaround time?
Creating contents is time sensitive. Is the writer prolific? Can they get your contents reader within the shortest possible time? Would they be able to respect strict deadlines or even work at odd times such as late periods or weekends as the case may be? These are issues you will have to discuss with them prior to hiring them. You may consider providing incentives or bonuses too as a way of encouraging them.

6. Is there any terms and conditions?
The job description should be clearly stated. If you decide that a particular content is no longer needed or for it to be adjusted, will you accept to pay for it? Will they working independently or under your supervision? Would they be able to create contents at very short notice and would there any extra charges for it? These issues should be discussed during the hiring process so there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding along the way.

7. The best place to hire a content writer
Firstly, you have determine if the writer will be working under the same roof with you or remotely. If the writer will be working with you, then you can place adverts in your local community but if the writer will be working remotely, then it would be best to hire a freelancer from sites such as Fiverr, Upwork etc. or equally consider getting premium contents from sites like Essaysupply. The good thing about hiring freelancers is that you can get good writers from countries where cost of living is not so expensive, thus making it possible for them to charge relatively less fees.  
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