February 27, 2022

Here’s a detail you might not have thought of when you decided to start on your affiliate marketing journey:

You need to create a ton of content. 

And I mean, a ton. 

You see, to get to the top of the SERPs and attract potential buyers to your site, you’ll need to produce a constant stream of quality content.

In fact, check out this stat by HubSpot on how often you should blog.  

How to Outsource Content Creation: A Complete Guide for the Busy Affiliate Marketer HubSpot

Source: blog.hubspot.com

Wow!

Scary, right?

For organic traffic, you’ll need to blog 3-5x a week, depending on the size of your blog. 

(WHAT?)

But things get even scarier:

You can’t just type up a mumbo-jumbo blog, post it, and hope it’ll get you the results you desire. 

To succeed, you need quality, authoritative, unique content. 

Here’s what Google itself says about it:

How to Outsource Content Creation

Source: developers.google.com

Plus, plus: you need to learn basic SEO skills, how to structure a blog, and a ton of other skills before you’re ready to rock the SERPs.  

If you’re screaming, “Help!” because you don’t have all that time, I hear you.

Don’t worry, though.

There’s a quicker, easier, less painful way to create high-quality, consistent content for your affiliate marketing blog.

It’s called outsourcing content creation.

Yup!

It’s all about finding experts who’ll do the work for you, so you can just sit back and watch your affiliate marketing business grow and take flight.

In this blog, I’ll show you exactly how to outsource content creation including:

  • How to tell if outsourcing is for you
  • Where to find savvy experts
  • What to look for in applicants 
  • How to determine if people you’re interviewing are right for the job
  • And more

Let’s dive in. 

Should You Outsource Your Content Creation? 

Ok, first things first. 

Outsourcing is not for everyone

There are those who will need a solid team of savvy content creators…

…and those who are better off winging it. 

So, which type are you?

To help you decide, I’ll show you the pros and cons of outsourcing content creation. 

Three Reasons Why You Should Outsource Content Creation 

Besides the fact that it’ll free up your time, here are three more benefits of hiring people to write content for your site:

  1. You’ll Get Variety and Expertise 

Worried you’ll run out of ideas to write content around? 

It happens. 

This is true even of seasoned writers, and if you’re a newbie content writer or don’t have any experience, things could get hard. 

When you hire expert content writers, you can tap into their experience and expertise, plus the variety of ideas they’ve gathered over the years. 

  1. You’ll Enjoy Flexibility

The truth is, not every season will be the same for you.

There will be months when your income will flow in, and you can afford to pay for more content than usual…

…and months when you’ll need to cut back.

What makes outsourcing great is that you get to decide how much content you need at any given time, and pay your writers accordingly.

  1. You’ll Always Be on Time

Struggling to get your affiliate business off the ground?

You’re probably busy.

Plus, if you’re still clinging on to your regular job to keep food on the table while you wait for your business to take flight, my guess is you don’t have a spare minute on your hands to write a single blog.

Which means, you’ll probably put off your blogging schedule for next week, then the week after, then next year. 

With professional writers, you can please Google’s algorithms with a steady stream of quality, SEO-optimized blogs. 

Two Cons of Outsourcing Your Content Creation 

Sure, outsourcing content can be your ticket out of juggling your time learning new skills and trying to publish 3-4 blogs a week.

But it also has drawbacks.

Here are two of them.

  1. You’ll Have to Balance Cost and Quality

Finding someone to write content for your blog is easy.

Finding someone with the dedication, passion, and skill to consistently write high-quality, SEO-optimized, targeted content for your blog?

Not that easy.

The truth is, talented writers don’t come in cheap. 

According to ZipRecruiter, an experienced content writer can cost up to $76 per hour. 

Ziprecruiter

Source: ziprecruiter.com  

Plus, if you’re paying per word, you can spend up to $1 per word for a world-class writer.

Of course, you don’t need to hire the most expensive writers. 

It’s up to you to balance cost and quality, and determine how much you can pay with how much quality you can sacrifice. 

  1. You’ll Be Shelling Out Cash Before You Start Earning

As I’ve said in my previous blogs, affiliate marketing isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. 

You won’t fall asleep tonight, and wake up tomorrow an instant millionaire. 

Instead, like all businesses, it’ll be a long, steady, painstaking grind. 

Depending on your strategy, your niche, and your expertise, it’ll take you around six months to earn your first dollar. 

It’ll take you even longer to earn enough to replace your full-time salary. 

Will it be worthwhile?

BIG YES.

However, you need to plan. 

If you decide to outsource content creation, you need to shell out serious cash for steady content before you earn a single cent. 

I’m not saying it’s impossible. 

I’m saying you need to set your budget and be prepared to spend a lot before you start making it back. 

How to Outsource Content Creation: Three Steps to Finding Superstar Writers for Your Blog

Ok, now it’s time to dig in.

If you’ve read the previous section, shook your head, and decided that outsourcing content creation just isn’t for you, then it’s time to walk away from this blog right now.

However, if you’ve realized that it’s the solution to your slow progress and endless nights zoning out in front of your computer until 3am…

…keep reading!

In this section, I’ll give you the three essential steps you need to find stellar writers for your blog. 

How to Outsource Content Creation Step #1: Find Great Candidates 

As much as hiring your family and friends to write for your blog is tempting, don’t do it. 

In order to succeed without the stress, you’ll need expert craftspeople who know what they’re doing. 

Here are three ways to find great candidates. 

  1. Use Freelance Job Sites

You’ll be surprised to know just how saturated the web is with skilled professionals looking for paying gigs. 

And it’s not hard to find them, either.

All you need to do is hop into a freelance job site and sign up as a business looking to hire freelancers.

Here are three sites you should try:

Once you’ve signed up for a freelancing site, all you need to do is create a job post and fill it with your job details.

Like this:

How to Outsource Content Creation

Source: upwork.com 

  1. Ask Your Network for Recommendations    

No, I don’t mean your family and friends (unless they’ve got some serious experience).

I mean other affiliate marketers you’ve connected with.

When asking them, make sure you understand the bigger picture of their processes including:

  • Where they find their hired writers
  • How much they pay
  • How they communicate with them
  • Their content guidelines and any training they provide

Once you get a clear picture of how your competitors do it, it’ll be easier for you to find the right process for yourself.

  1. Search for Professionals on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a huge professional social media network with over 800 million users across 200 countries.

This makes it an excellent place to look for writing talent. 

The best part is, it’s super easy to locate professionals on LinkedIn.

All you need to do is type your keyword into the search field, and you’ll be flooded with results. 

Check out the results for the keyword “writer.” 

LInkedIn

Source: LinkedIn

Scroll through the list, separate the writers who have profiles you’re interested in, and reach out to them to see if they’re interested in working with you.

How to Outsource Content Creation Step #2: How to Vet Your Writer Candidates

Ok, so you’ve found a handful of potential writers for your blog.

Awesome!

Now it’s time to start handing out the articles to write. 

Right?

Not so fast. 

Because the truth is, an awesome profile on Upwork or LinkedIn doesn’t 100% equal a strong writer. 

Before hiring anyone, you first need to see if they have the talent and commitment you’re looking for. 

Here are two steps to help you reach this goal.

Step #1: Find Out if They’ll Fit with Your Business

Not all writers are created equal.

Sure, there are a ton of amazing ones. 

But not everyone will fit your business. 

For example, if you hire an English teacher, you can be sure she’ll have excellent grammar, superb composition skills, and unbounded creativity.

However, she won’t fit your affiliate marketing business. 

What you need is someone trained to write for the web, a professional who knows how to hold the online scanner’s attention and compel them to keep reading. 

To help you, here are five questions to ask when interviewing a new writer:

  • What’s your background, and which industries have you previously written for?
  • Do you have any experience with SEO writing?
  • Which content formats do you consider your strength?
  • Which content formats do you consider your weakness?
  • Do you have experience working with editorial collaboration tools? 

Once you have the answers to these five questions, you’ll have a better idea of whether or not the person you’ve interviewed is the right one for the job. 

Step #2: Vet Their Writing Skills

Ok, so writer X says he’s an amazing writer. 

But it’s all just words. 

What’s more, “amazing” for someone else might not be amazing for you.

To help you reach a decision, you can ask for writing samples

If they don’t have any, you can ask them to do a paid test. 

How this is done:

  • Give them a writing assignment similar to the content they’ll be writing for you in the future.
  • Pay them for this assignment, whether or not you decide to hire them.
  • If you decide not to hire them, make them know in a polite, professional way.

How to Outsource Content Creation Step #3: Come Up with a Workable Process

Now that you have your team of savvy writers, it’s time to come up with a process of working together. 

You don’t want to deal with guesswork and any blinding headaches as roadblocks pop up unexpectedly down the road. 

To help you, here are three aspects to look into.

  1. How Much You’ll Pay Your Writers

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to balance between price and quality when hiring writers. 

While you’ll save money when hiring a $0.02/word writer, you might not get the kind of quality you want. 

And while you can get world-class quality with a $1/word writer, you probably can’t afford 3-4 articles of this type of work per week. 

To end the dilemma, it’s best to decide on a price that’s right for you, and inform your writers about this before letting them take your test. 

What that price is, depends on you. 

However, here’s an idea of how much freelance writers get paid:

Graph

Source: clearvoice.com

  1. How You’ll Communicate with Your Writers 

If you’re an affiliate marketer, chances are your business will never own a fancy glass office down the block (which is great!).

This means you can hire talent from across the globe.

While it sounds great, there’s a caveat. 

Communicating with them can become a challenge. 

To avoid this, subscribe to a project management tool and create a streamlined process.

Here are three awesome project management tools to try:

With them, you can assign tasks, upload and download projects, and keep your workflow organized. 

Google Docs and Google Sheets are also great free tools you can use to collaborate on projects and keep track of payments. 

  1. What You Expect of Your Writers (And What They Can Expect from You) 

I’m mentioning this here, but the truth is that it belongs in the beginning. 

Before you even start looking for your first writers, you’ll need to prepare a briefing document for them.

This is akin to a contract, and it’ll include all your expectations (and theirs).

You can include: 

  • Rules around deadlines 
  • Rules around your content (style, point of view, tone, links, SEO optimization)
  • Writer payment and bonuses
  • Anything you feel will be important for your writers to know

Before you accept anyone on your team, make sure they’ve read and understood your briefing document. 

How to Outsource Content Creation: What It Boils Down To

I know, I know. 

You dream of becoming a successful affiliate marketer. 

You imagine yourself sitting by the beach, sipping a tropical cocktail while your bank account floods with affiliate commissions. 

If so, then great!

Take it from me: this is 100% possible. 

However, it won’t take overnight.

You can’t decide to become an affiliate marketer today…

…and expect to be a millionaire tomorrow.

And the truth is, it’s hard work.

It’s demanding. 

If you want your content to succeed and make it to the top of the SERPs, you’ll need consistent quality writing. 

This takes time. Which you don’t have.

The solution?

Outsourcing to experts writers. 

The truth is, this costs money and isn’t as easy as hiring the first writer you find on your network.

But it’ll be worth it.

All you need to do is set your budget, build your process, and hire the right people.

Simply follow the steps I mention above, and you’ll be on your way to a fully-outsourced content creation process that eliminates the burning headache you feel behind your eyes every time you worry about the blogs you never get to write. 

Trust me. 

Your business will thank you for it.

 

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