Outsourcing Your Blog Content

Outsourcing your blog? Does it make you feel uncomfortable because you cannot help thinking about the cost, the delivery time, and the bad quality of the product? The good news is that you are not alone. Content outsourcing has become a necessary evil. Think about the pain of writing quality content to feed your insatiable blog. The best solution would certainly have others do the chore instead of you.

However, content outsourcing may take a wrong turn if you don’t outline correctly your project. Failing to specify your requirements would inevitably lead to unexpected results. Ensure during the hiring process to request minor revisions. This won’t be a problem and most writers won’t care about small rectifications. But, in case you want a complete rewrite brace yourself for an extra. Revision and rewrites are diametrically opposite.

So where can you start? This is a good question. Before you hire you need to find the outsourcing service first. Below is a short list of content providers where you can pick worldwide candidates, depending on your budget. Remember the person you hire must have a good command of English. You don’t want to ruin your blog reputation or spend your time editing your manuscript.

• Elance
• WriteSwaps
• Freelancer
• Odesk
• People Per Hour
• Freelance Switch
• iFreelance
• Freelance Writing

As a matter of fact, you can test the applicants by having them write something new for free so that you can judge the quality of their writing skills. They may offer samples of their writing, but this is not enough. Make sure they write a short blog post so that you can check it using one of the free plagiarism services before hiring.

Once you settle for an applicant, there is more to consider. You have never worked together, therefore what guarantee can you provide for your chosen candidate regarding payment? The best compromise is to pay a deposit up front and once you work is completed and you are satisfied with the results you pay the balance.

This will go a few times until you partner with a good content provider with whom, once trust is established, payment in advance, or even in arrears, wouldn’t be a worry.

Yet, make sure you pay via paypal as it is today omnipresent in most countries, if you consider hiring someone from the developing world, and on top of being secure, it gives you the possibility to open up a dispute if the product is not received.

Final Considerations:

• Try to stick with good content providers and give them regular work.
• Start small. Outsource a small project first to evaluate its overall quality.
• Try to be kept updated regarding any project you outsource.
• Forge a good relationship with the people you work with.