What can a freelance writer do for you?
A freelance writer is an independent contractor who usually works remotely (works from home). You can hire a freelance writer for a small project or on an ongoing basis for regular, part-time, or full-time work. Freelance writers can tackle any writing or editing project you may have including: articles, reports, web content, proofreading, press releases, reviews, business plans, ghostwriting, eBooks, brochures, letters, print ads, speeches, presentations, newsletters, scripts, contracts, questionnaires, training manuals and more. Freelance writers can also do research, planning, brainstorming, organizing, and branding. Also, many modern freelance writers are very familiar with search engine optimization (SEO).
Where to find a freelance writer?
It is quite easy to find a freelance writer since the advent of the Internet. Some of the most popular websites for locating freelance writers are Elance, iFreelance, and GetAFreelancer. The way these three sites are set up is that people or companies with writing projects post what they need to do. Freelance writers who are members of the website can bid on the projects. When the desired time period ends, the buyer chooses a bidder.
Elance is probably the most established of the three sites. Elance offers dispute mediation, an optional escrow service to pay your freelancer, and allows freelancers to verify their credentials (such as previous employers or earned degrees). Elance charges a project fee of 6-8%. Iffreelance and Getafreelancer basically just provide a way for buyers and suppliers to connect (no extras like mediation and escrow). All three sites allow freelancers to create profiles where they can describe their backgrounds and skills and provide writing samples. Getafreelancer’s professionalism is, in my opinion, significantly inferior to that of the other two sites.
Don’t bypass Craigslist to post your writing project. A company called Freelance Daily compiles a list of all freelance writing jobs posted online (Craigslist, Monster, etc.) every day of the week and emails them to subscribers. The Freelance Daily goes out to thousands of writers. In addition, you can also hire a freelance writing firm to handle your project. Many companies bid for jobs on these sites, but some don’t.
How to write your project proposal?
The more details you can provide to your independent applicants, the better. A good project description, like a good job description, is comprehensive, accurate, and informative. How many pages is the project? How many words should articles have? Does the project involve research? Do you have a sample you can provide? Do you have a web address you can include? What is the topic in question? Is it double spaced or single spaced? Will the writer retain the rights to the work product or will you? Will the writer’s name be printed on the work product giving them credit?
To help you provide adequate detail, you should know that, on average, a full 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper filled with single-spaced writing in 10 or 12 point font contains about 500 words. A similar double-spaced page contains around 250. The average blog post or web content article contains between 300 and 500 words. Also, remember to ask for a resume and three writing samples in your project proposal.
Some other tips are to consider verifying your writer’s work with CopyScape. CopyScape is a website designed to check if a document has already been published elsewhere. Even if only part of the document is plagiarized, CopyScape can identify it. Also, many providers on freelance writing sites are from India or other countries where English is not the native language. If you only want to hire a native English speaker, please specify this in your proposal. Also, if you want the writer to deliver documents in a non-traditional format, make this clear in your proposal. If you expect something other than a .doc or .rtf document, please let the requesters know. If the writer will need special software, make this clear as well. Finally, if your project requires proofreading or editing, please specify whether you want the freelancer to use traditional proofreading symbols or just “plain terms.” If you want the proofreader to use a certain reference manual such as the APA (American Psychological Association) or Chicago Manual of Stylespecify this.
terminology to know
Familiarize yourself with the correct terminology. Here are some terms to help you:
Blogger/Blogging – A blog, or web log, is like an online diary or diary. Blogs may contain personal or business-related content. Blogs are often regularly updated with new content. Blogs generally provide a place for readers to leave comments and opinions. People can subscribe to blogs, like newsletters. A blogger is someone who publishes content on a blog. Blogging is the act of posting content to a blog.
Drafting: Not the same as “copyright”, which refers to intellectual property. Redaction refers to writing “copy.” Copy is any text that promotes a business, service, person or concept, that is, marketing materials. Many copywriters work for advertising agencies, newspapers, or magazines.
ghost writer: Someone who is hired to write for someone else. The writer allows the person who hired him to claim her writing as their own.
Proofreading:
light correction–Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, check references, and ensure consistency
average review–Light proofreading plus verification of tone, structure, running sentences, voice, tense, disjointed ideas
heavy correction–Medium proofing plus verbiage condensation, smoothing of paragraph transitions, readability, cliché removal, and any other corrections or comments the proofreader may notice
Write again: Many companies need to rewrite news or similar content. If this is what you need, specify that candidates will not need to create original content, but simply rework or rearrange existing content. The price of this must be less than the wording of the original copy.
Web content: Any content on your website, to include text, images, videos, or logos, is considered web content.
white books: Articles that express the position or philosophy of an organization on a topic. White papers are, in a way, reports that can provide results from a recent project or conclusions from recent research.
How to select a writer from all qualified candidates?
Chances are, any clear and concise project proposal you post will leave you inundated with applicants. Expect between 5 and 40 applicants per post. How do you determine who is the best fit for the job?
What many buyers do is ask freelance applicants to write a sample article, give 10 sample blog post ideas, proofread a sample page, etc. When creating a “sample test”, you can screen applicants in a number of ways. First of all, some applicants will be too busy to do their sample. Dedicated applicants who really want the job will make time. Second, applicants will turn in the exam after the deadline, misread the instructions, and expose their weaknesses. You may also consider conducting phone interviews late in the process. Still not sure? Hire the top 2-3 candidates conditionally for a short project and decide after that.
How to Charge and Pay for your Freelance Writer?
You have a lot of flexibility in how you pay your freelance writer: by the word, by the article, by the page, by the project, by the hour, or at a preset flat rate. As far as paying your freelancer, PayPal is probably the easiest way, unless the writer is going to be on your payroll receiving paper checks. If you use Elance, you can use their escrow system.
Other issues to consider
If you’re doing a long-term project, consider setting milestones for the project—breaking it down into a series of small projects with intermittent due dates. You can also use a website like BaseHQ to keep track of the project with the freelancer. This site provides a common workspace for two parties working remotely on a similar project.
Also, if your freelance writer is working on confidential material for your company, consider having them sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. This document will obligate the freelancer to keep their business secrets private.
Another tip is to not be so specific about what you want so that the freelancer doesn’t have room to pitch ideas or give feedback. Freelance writers have extensive experience with projects like yours and can add valuable outside opinion. Take advantage of what you are paying for.
This article was written by freelance writer Staci Márquez-Nichols. For more information, visit Staci-Marquez-Nichols.Com.