3 Qualities of a Good Freelance Content Writer

What are some of your worst views on freelancers? Surely some of them may sound like, “they are only money minded”, “and they simply lie in their beds and write their work”, “they only think of themselves rather than their clients”.

You’ll be surprised to know that all these assumptions are rather false.

Excellent freelance writers actually do exist and are actually easy to come across. In order to find one, you simply have to make sure that your business needs are known and your content will be tailored for you. To top it all up, you not only need to know what your industry needs, but also what you are looking for.

An incredible freelance writer is not a mythical creature. Freelance writers are experienced people, that have a strong desire to create amazing content. Just like you, they want to make sure your business grows and succeeds.

So, as you are searching for a perfect freelance writer, focus on qualities like professionalism, exceptional writing, and marketing skills. With these qualities in mind, you’ll be able to find a content writer that is a good fit for your business and can assist you to boost it through inbound marketing, which is basically creating content that is not only eye-catching content but is also informative.

For inbound marketing to be deemed successful, it needs to be complemented by great content. With a professional content writer by your side, you’re just a step ahead from boosting your business.

An excellent freelancer is characterized by impeccable writing skills, a wide knowledge of the industry, marketing skills coupled with a freelancer mindset.

1.  INCREDIBLE WRITING SKILLS

It comes without surprise that your next freelance writer should possess excellent writing skills. So as you are trying to hire an amazing freelancer, make sure to carry out an extensive evaluation as far as their writing experience is concerned. Once all this is done, you can then hire them so that they can start writing for you.

FACTORS TO HELP YOU GUAGE A FREELANCER’S WRITING SKILLS.

a) Samples of pieces they have written. This is especially important because you’ll be able to tell whether they will fit in your industry basing on their content. It can be in the form of articles, blog posts emails, among others.

b) You can take a look at the freelancer’s personal blog or existing website. Here you can look out for important qualities like the type of content posted and how often it’s updated.

c) Previous and current email communications with you.

d) References from previous clients are equally important, especially for those in a similar industry as yours.

All the above materials will assist you to find your potential freelance writer as you take note of their English language, writing techniques and previous projects they have worked on. Having a variety of writing samples at your table is great because, with them, you can gauge if the freelancer can tailor your voice basing on your clients and audience.

2.  INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE

It doesn’t go without being mentioned that anyone going to write for your industry needs to have deep knowledge and understanding of the competitive environment in which your industry falls. For marketing writers to be successful, their audience has to be considered and this can only be achieved when they have a good knowledge of the industry.

National Research Council of Canada properly defines the meaning of industry knowledge and how successful freelance writers should embrace it.

HOW CAN YOU KNOW WHETHER THE WRITER YOU WANT TO HIRE HAS THE REQUIRED INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE?

You’ll need to first ask yourself questions such as:

Do their provided writing samples exhibit expertise in your competitive environment?

Does the freelancer have current or previous clients within your industry that won’t cause a conflict of interest?

Do you have critical areas in your industry which the writer needs to know about?

Can you ask the writer some industry-related questions before hiring them in order to gauge how much they know?

AND WHAT ABOUT JARGON?

Jargon in the marketing industry has been so much avoided. You will find however that in some industries like technical industries, jargon is important especially when trying to convey certain information. You will find that some jargon will help you show how much you know about a certain topic or subject.

Give it some thought: Some of the audiences outside the digital marketing area may not be able to understand certain terms like nurturing email, lead nurturing among others. So how can you put your trust in a marketing vendor who doesn’t use such terms when explaining how to grow relationships with potential clients?

Still though, when using jargon, it is important not to overuse them. Well-selected jargon may still be able to push forward your intended information if done well especially by an expert. Also, in case your audience isn’t well informed about a certain topic, the use of jargon here will become very beneficial because you will now be making it much easier for the “common man” to understand. If overused though it may come off as you simply being pretentious and some of your readers may not be able to understand your content.

So, always look at the kind of jargon a freelancer uses, from there you can gauge if it can also work for your industry.

WHAT IF I SPECIALIZE IN A DIFFERENT INDUSTRY?

It’s well known that expertise is a very essential requirement in any industry. However, it would be very unrealistic to expect a freelance writer to know as much information as you know about your industry. This applies especially if you specialize in a different industry.

It’s the very reason as to why a journalistic research focused attitude is necessary for a successful freelance writer. Research skills are always mentioned among the top characteristics of an excellent freelance writer. For instance, if you need certain content created and a writer knows so little about it, they should be able to carry out some research on it and come up with the content, of course in a reasonable time.

Their research needs to go far beyond our everyday Google search. It should involve other strategic methods:

Properly understand and formulate the underlying problem that requires research.

Design a basic plan which includes important sources and questions.

Answer every question. This can be done by involving third parties or through first-hand experience and research.

Include research in your writing process.

A researcher who understands the research process is an extended advantage, and they could be very important for the growth of your business. With their expertise, you will have great content at your disposal and even the quality of their work will improve on quality over time.

The 2017 State of Freelance Writing Report notes that many companies look for writers that are able to work independently during their own time.

The report also showed that the best freelance writers work for more than 40 hours per week. Despite them being independent they are self-motivated and commit themselves until the work is completed.

The best freelance writers gain their expertise over the years as a result of their past work. With most of them specializing in different industries, they continue to grow in their areas of expertise as they advance in their profession. Expertise grows with time.

The greatest freelance writers show a degree of recognizable confidence.  These writers believe in themselves and their work. This confidence, coupled with capability unbelievable things can happen for your marketing content.

3.  MARKETING KNOWLEDGE

What do you need your content writer to achieve? The answer to this question should be able to convey the kind of writer you are about to hire and what kind of marketing they need to know.

Are you looking to post more engaging social media posts? If this is what you are looking for, you will need to hire a freelance writer that has a good knowledge of the networks and target audience for which to publish the audience. The same applies to other pieces of marketing content to be produced starting from white papers to emails.

IMPORTANCE OF SEO TOOLS.

SEO is undoubtedly a very important skill for freelance writers in the digital area. For instance, if you want to hire a professional in the web content department, they should know how to optimize it for your important keywords and phrases.

The way in which the keywords are incorporated in the content and how the content is structured, can either build or destroy your SEO successes. A number of characteristics have also been highlighted by Search Engine Land, that every SEO-optimized content should have:

Primary keywords that appear often should remain natural without keyword stuffing.

Different repetitions and synonyms of the keywords.

Observable content that links to reputable sources.

Keyword appearances in the content titles, body copy, headers, image alt text….and more.

When you hire a web content writer who understands the importance of modern SEO and writing for the web, your organic search efforts will be greatly improved.

SEO TO INBOUND MARKETING.

Gaining SEO knowledge is a good way to start. However, your freelance writer needs to also demonstrate a deeper understanding of inbound marketing. For instance, if you want to write content to attract, close, convert, and delight, the content creator needs to understand what your audience wants to see and then make sure to fulfill those wants in inbound marketing.

A survey, conducted last year, shows that 7 of the top ten skills that companies look for in freelance writers are connected to inbound marketing. So a freelance writer that has a working knowledge of the philosophy can be of much help in coming up with conversion-optimized content.

Do all these mentioned requirements give you the feeling that you are looking for a mythical creature? If so, you should consider connecting your freelance writer with a content strategist that understands inbound marketing methodology. When working with a marketing agency or trying to understand the inbound marketing methodology yourself, then you have to yourself both options. A blog like Verblio gives you the chance to work with some of the best inbound-certified content strategists.

FIND A WRITER THAT WRITES FOR YOUR NEEDS.

To sum all this up, you can end your search for the best freelance writer with one simple question: Is this writing expert able to help you write the content that you need to enable your business to grow?

You will realize that not every good writer is skilled in all areas of writing. Now an incredible novelist like George William R.R.M would have a hard time writing a 150-word email that doesn’t include “butchering” the primary product before the end. Mr. George is an expert in writing difficult complicated storylines, long-form narratives, and an extensive list of characters. While email writing should be focused, sweet, and short.

Successful novelists will not be accused by anyone for being terrible writers. However, writing novels doesn’t qualify you for writing high-quality marketing content.

The most important thing you need is a freelance content writer who can write for your needs. So before you even set out to hire an expert writer, you need to first formulate your business needs. With your needs now known, you can start the process of finding a writer that can assist you in building your business through amazing marketing writing.