Hiring a blogger
Blog writing companies are growing because it’s easy to see the value of outsourcing your blogs. You get blogs on your website quickly, and they’re written well, and it’s economical.
However, outsourcing your blogs is not a silver bullet for your content marketing.
Hiring a blogger doesn’t mean you “set it and forget it”. You still need to be involved partially. Before throwing this critical responsibility to someone outside your company, know what this service really involves.
Let’s start with the pros again.
The 5 PROS of Hiring a Blogger
- They can start writing immediately. Need a quality blog in a week? Done!
- They’ll coordinate research. Most blog writing services will spearhead the research through emails, calls & in-person brainstorms saving you time.
- Editing is done for you. Typos? Proper grammar? Fuhgeddaboudit. Done!
- They understand how blogs should be written for the Web. They get how to write and format website content
- They’ll stay committed to a schedule. When company deadlines and emergencies are imminent, new blogs will typically get put on your back burner. But, not with a hired blogger!
Wow! All those benefits sound heavenly, right? Well, consider these cons before signing any contracts.
The 5 CONS of Hiring a Blogger
- You lose some control. Putting out content for everyone to read, written by someone outside your company, could be a scary thought for leadership
- Depth of content will be limited. No amount of research from a blogger will ever be better than the years of wisdom and perspective your internal product/service experts will pour into a blog
- They add to your monthly expenses. Blog writing services range from $250 per blog to thousands of dollars for a monthly service. You will need to budget for at least 6 months to see real results
- An unhealthy focus on just quantity. Since some blog writing services charge by the blog, they have a tendency to believe “the more blogs, the better.” They are misinformed. Ensure you rise above the deluge of crappy content
- Loss of details. “Details matter, it’s worth waiting to get right.” – Steve Jobs. Key details, that should drive documented website goals (e.g. Opt-in of some sort) might not make it into the blog because of a misunderstanding or communication issue
Next steps: Evaluate pros & cons, choose an option, commit for 6 months
Spend a few cups coffee analyzing these 2 blogging options, but don’t let it paralyze you from making a decision. You’re never stuck with a choice!
Paralysis through analysis.
I love this concept (and it’s fun to say). Mostly because it’s a reminder that sometimes — especially in content marketing — you need to act (even if there are unknowns) to avoid over-thinking strategy. Action leads to progress.
If you spend months debating these pros and cons and never make a decision, you’ll be exhausted before you publish a single blog.
If it’s clear that writing your own blogs is the way to go, then maybe some our Google-loved content jumpstart is the next actionable step. If hiring a blogger is a foregone conclusion because of a lack of resources and time — Google “Blog Writing Services” and start contacting companies.
My point?
Commit yourself to the chosen option for at least 6 months and then evaluate your experience. You can always change directions depending on what works and what doesn’t.
So, jump in. Embrace your decision. At the very least, you’ll have a handful of blogs to show for it and some lessons learned moving forward with your content marketing.
