Finding the right writer for your business is not an impossible task, but it’s not an easy one either.
If you want your business to succeed in today’s increasingly competitive digital world, finding the right copywriter for your business is essential. From website copywriting, social media captions, product descriptions, advertisements, articles, to email marketing — a great writer can provide you with not only quality writing, but also higher awareness and conversion rates for your business.
It’s also critical to find a writer that possesses the skills and knowledge of your industry.
Step #1: What is your goal?
Before you even start hiring, you need to figure out what it is that you’re trying to accomplish by hiring a professional writer. Do you want the writer to help you produce more content that will drive traffic to your website? To help you improve your conversion rate through sales copy? Or to increase the engagement of your social media?
Figuring out your main goal is essential in ensuring that you will be looking for the right person and they can deliver work that aligns with your expectations.
Step #2: What kind of content do you want?
After defining your goal, it’s time to think about what kind of content you’re looking for. Is it website copy, social media content, blog articles, or something more industry-specific?
Think about your current channels (website, social media, e-commerce) and how you can grow them to achieve your business goals.
Step #3: What kind of a writer are you looking for?
Different writers specialize in different aspects of writing.
Question #1: What type of writer do you need to achieve your business goals?
SEO Copywriters
SEO copywriters are trained to write targeted copy and drive traffic to your website through specific industry-related keywords. They are perfect if your goal is to rank on the Google search engine. On the downside, they might not be the best at storytelling. SEO copywriters tend to do a lot of research before writing.
Sales Copywriters
Although the name says “sales” copy, they are doing so much more than just persuading people to buy your products. These writers can use their words to sway their target audience into taking specific actions. This includes subscribing to your newsletter, signing up for a webinar, following your social media, and so much more.
Ghostwriters
As the name suggests, they work behind the scenes. Ghostwriters will do all of your writing and pass all the credit to you. They are able to match your language, tone, and voice ensuring that no one notices it wasn’t you who wrote the piece. Ghostwriters can write anything from an article piece to full-fledged books.
UI/UX writers
UI stands for User Interface and UX stands for User Experience. Their main job is to ensure that users can go through the product or service seamlessly by making sure that the copy is clear, concise, and easy to understand. A strong UI/UX writer will also understand their readers journey through a website, product or service.
Scriptwriters
A scriptwriter’s line of work is to creatively write stories intended for the silver screen. This could be for cartoons, video games, sit-coms, films and even online web series. However, due to the rise of video content, a scriptwriter’s role has expanded significantly. They also do the script for motion graphic videos, company profile videos, advertising videos, and so much more.
Copyeditors
Are you able to write your copy but feel the need for another person to edit it? That’s the job of a copyeditor. Copyeditors will make sure that your copy is free from grammatical errors, improve your structure, and also do fact checks.
Question #2: Are you looking for a full-time or freelance writer?
PROS
| Full-time Writer | Freelancer |
| – More focused – Allocate more time for your business – Better understanding of your company – Master your brand personality – Content might be more relevant to your industry | – More flexible – Open to one-off projects – Might be more budget-friendly – Experienced in writing for different kinds of industries – Need less supervision |
CONS
| Full-time Writer | Freelancer |
| – Expect employee benefits – Monthly salary payment required | – Not always available all day long. – Lower sense of company loyalty |
Step #4: Where can you find your writer?
After you have taken all of the factors above into consideration, it’s time for you to spread the word that you are looking for a writer.
Post a Job Opening
Be specific when you’re posting the job opening. Be sure to include the specific skills and requirements that you’re looking for in your writer.
Aside from using platforms like LinkedIn, don’t forget to make use of your own social media such as Facebook, Instagram or even Twitter. A great tip is to share your job opening to writer communities such as Writer’s Den and Problogger.
Ask Around
The world’s your oyster – you may find this elusive writer in a place you didn’t think of. For example, take advantage of your friend group and connections. Whether it be your high school classmates or university friends or business associates, they might know someone who is a writer. There is no shame in using your connections!
If you’re interested in this one particular writer and you feel like he/she might be the one you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to approach them and ask them directly.
Step #5: Are they the right person for the job?
Writing Portfolio
When it comes to hiring a writer, it is crucial to ask for a writing portfolio. Ask them to provide you with a portfolio of different kinds of writing, tone of voice, and industries so you can gauge their writing skills and knowledge.
Writing Assignment
Aside from a portfolio, we highly recommend giving them a writing assignment. In this writing assignment, assess their writing style, tone, use of words, and their attention to detail when it comes to writing.
Give them an assignment that reflects the kind of work they will be doing in the future. For example, if you’re looking for a social media copywriter, ask them to write a caption based on a picture.
Interview
After you’ve done a thorough screening and made an assessment based on their written assignment, it’s time to interview to get to know your future writer a little better.
During the interview, ask questions such as:
- What’s your writing and editing process like?
- How comfortable are you with deadlines?
- What kind of writing types and styles do you enjoy crafting?
- What kind of industry do you feel the most comfortable writing for?
- How willing are you to write content outside of your comfort zone and/or skill set?
And so on.
You and your future writer must be on the same page, meaning that they understand what kind of content that you expect and you understand the writer’s expertise and ability.
In the end, finding a suitable writer for your business can take a lot of time and effort — yet it is definitely a worthy investment.
If you don’t have the time to find the right writer for your business, why not hire our team of seasoned writers instead?
Click here to start a project with us!
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