Freelance Copywriting, marketing and social media tips

Kevin Cain of OpenView Blog has kindly agreed to allow me to re-post his blog Deploying the Troops: 5 Tips for Using Freelancers Effectively in Content Marketing on Freelance Copywriter’s Blog.

Kevin Cain oversees content strategy at OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital firm that invests in expansion-stage technology companies. With expertise in corporate communications and content marketing, Kevin has spent the past ten years working with large international financial services companies and consulting firms. Learn more by checking out his content marketing blog or following him on Twitter @kevinrcain.

In my last blog post, I described the important role that freelancers can play in executing a content marketing strategy and provided some tips for building a freelance team. Of course, assembling a team of great freelance talent is just the first step. You then need to figure out the best way to use that talent to get the results you need. While there’s no single right answer, following these rules of the road will help:

1) Put them to the test, onboard the best

Any time you’re working with new freelancers — no matter how impressive their credentials or how highly they’ve been recommended — always start off with a test assignment. The idea is to start them off with a small project that either isn’t a high priority or that you have the time to redo if necessary.

This approach may seem a little counter-intuitive at first — after all, if you’re paying for their time, you want to get something out of it. Even so, you’re much better off testing the waters, rather than finding out that the very important content you’ve entrusted a new freelancer to write needs to be completely redone at the last minute. Your strongest freelancers will quickly prove their worth, and from there it’s easy to start engaging them on meatier projects.

2) Go broad, then get organized

Always try to have a variety of freelancers in your network with different backgrounds, skills, and expertise. Doing so will make the team much more valuable and allow you to create a broader range of content.

Use a spreadsheet to help not only keep track of important logistical details, such as your freelancers’ rates and availability, but also to catalog the types of projects they are best used for and any specific strengths or weaknesses they may have. This is also the place to keep tabs on their performance. I assign a grade to every freelancer I work with, so I know who to send my most important projects to (the A-listers), who are best suited to handling the low-hanging fruit (the B-listers), and who I probably won’t use again (everyone else). Unlike in school, when it comes to creating great content, a C isn’t a passing grade.

3) Provide Structure and Guidance

Freelancers aren’t mind readers or magicians. If you want them to create good content, you have to position them to do so. Set clear expectations, ensure that they have access to the right tools and resources (such as your company’s editorial style guidelines), and make yourself available to talk through ideas and answer questions. While you don’t want to micro-manage, any time you engage a freelancer, be collaborative and invest the time necessary to ensure that you are both on the same page from the start.

4) Use Flat Fees if Possible

Negotiating flat fees for specific projects often makes the most sense. Doing so, rather than simply letting your freelancers bill you for however many hours they work, encourages them to manage their time more effectively and keeps everyone’s expectations in check. That said, there can always be unexpected hiccups that significantly increase the time it takes to complete a project, so offer to adjust fees accordingly. Trying to nickel and dime your freelancers, even when budgets are tight, is rarely a winning strategy.

5) You’re the Boss, Act Like It

It’s up to you to enforce deadlines and standards, provide honest and constructive feedback, and to take action when a freelancer isn’t performing. It’s important to build great relationships with your freelancers, and one of the best of ways to do so is by always providing leadership and direction.

The social media landscape is constantly changing.

The latest offering is Pinterest, a virtual pinboard that allows you to organise and share things you find on the web.

If, like me, you’re not really up to speed with this yet and can’t really see how it would benefit you, this handy post on SocialMediaExaminer.com might help.

It takes a look at 26 tips for using Pinterest for your business.

Grab a coffee and have a read –26 Tips for Using Pinterest for Business

Over to you

What do you reckon?

Is it going to be the next big thing?

Are you already using it?

Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.

Marketing your business involves a lot of writing.

Whether you do this in-house, or by hiring in the expertise of a copywriter, you’ll need one very important thing – lots of ideas for content.

Ideas can come from anywhere at any time, so here are a couple of tips to make sure your ideas keep flowing.

1. Paper and pen

Because you never know when inspiration will strike, make sure you have a pen and paper with you at all times (or a digital voice recorder).

During your working day, ideas will come at you from all directions:

• Comments from customers
• An article you’ve read
• A news item
• Mail shots
• Emails…

So when an idea strikes, write it down. It could be the start of a blog post, article or newsletter item.

Customer feedback is particularly important. If you’re scratching around for an idea for your next blog post, or newsletter, where better to look for inspiration than your customers?  If they contact you with a question, you could create a ‘how to’ or ‘top tips’ article based around their enquiry.

By keeping a record of ideas like this, you’ll never be scratching around for inspiration.

2. Swipe file

One word of warning – a swipe file doesn’t mean you are free to plagiarise other people’s work.

Every day you are subjected to hundreds of sales messages. You probably subscribe to several newsletters, receive loads of direct mail and read magazine and newspaper articles. Some of which you’ll read and some you’ll ignore.

But with the ones you read, think about what it was that made you take notice of them:

• What was in the headline that made you read on?
• How was it written?
• What type of information did it contain?
• What tone was used?

In other words, what was it that captured your attention? Once you discover that, you can reproduce that effect in your own marketing materials.

What it comes down to is this – online marketing is a continual process. We’re talking about newsletters, emails, web copy, blogs and articles – all things that have to be done regularly to keep your business in your customers’ line of sight.

By regularly jotting down notes, you’ll never be short of ideas for your online marketing.

Guest Post: Ella Davidson of couponing website Coupons.org provided this article. Coupons is a leading savings and deals site that strives to save consumers money. They offer electronic coupons, Amazon coupons and many other retailer coupons.

The author’s views are entirely their own and may not reflect the views of FreelanceCopywritersBlog.com. If you are interested in producing a Guest Post for this blog, please get in touch with your ideas.

Starting out as a freelancer in any industry (such as copywriting) can be daunting. In her post, Ella shares her tips on how to get your freelance career started.

When a person is a freelancer, they are self-employed, and do not have any long-term alliance with any specific employer. Sometimes freelancers work entirely on their own, while a company represents others. There are many different fields that people freelance in, such as website development, writing editing and journalism. Freelance positions have the benefit of being very flexible, where the freelancer has more control over their work and commitments than is normally present. Landing a freelance position can sometimes be difficult, as there are many people competing for the same work. Here are four tips to help you in securing the position that you desire.

1. Read the ad

Read it twice and make sure you understand what the employer is asking for. Many people applying for freelance jobs use the same format, or the exact same text for every job that they apply for. While this is a means of saving time, employers are often looking for specific things, and no one wants to hire someone who couldn’t take five minutes to find out exactly what the work they were applying for entails. Reading the ad also gives you a good indication of what approach to take with the employer. For example, sometimes a formal approach is best, while on other occasions a casual application may be more suitable.

2. Follow the instructions

Follow even the silliest instructions to the letter. Employers are often inundated with responses to their positions, and they do not want to hire someone who will not follow their instructions. After all, if a potential employee won’t do what they are told before they are hired, how likely are they to do so after they get the position. Often employers will ask for samples within the application, if this is the case, don’t tell them you will send samples if they request them, they already did.

3. Take a chance

If you don’t have exactly what the employer is asking for, but you are very good at what you do, it is worth making the effort and applying. Often the level of experience and training that employers ask for is an ideal level rather than an absolute minimum. Present yourself well and tell the employer why they should choose you, what your strengths are and show them that you can do the work well.

4. Be confident, but realistic

The level of confidence that you show when applying for a position is often a key factor in whether you land the position. If you approach the employer by saying that you hope you have what it takes and you think you can fulfill the role, odds are, they won’t be very interested in you. If you don’t have confidence in what you can do, why should they? Rather, tell employers exactly what you can do and what your strengths are. However, don’t oversell yourself. Don’t tell employers that you can do something that you can’t, because if you do get the position, it won’t last if you can’t live up to the expectations you have created.

Landing a freelance position can often be difficult, and you may experience many rejections before you are successful. However, as you develop your skills both in your field and in applying for positions, your success rate should increase. Keep trying, and be optimistic. It may take time, but eventually you will find what you are looking for.

In the wonderful world of website marketing, there are a number of things you must have if you are to leave your readers fulfilled rather than frustrated.

As an avid online shopper and researcher, I’ve come across a number of websites over the years that have simply left me cold.

There’s nothing worse than landing on a site and having no idea what to do next; or finding a site that makes you go round and round in circles just to find the simplest of information.

So, I decided it was time to form a list of website must-haves. 

Below are 5 things that your website must have, but I am sure you can come up with many more, so please leave a comment below with your list of website must-haves.

Website Must-haves

1. Photo

Whether you’re a freelancer, sole trader, partnership or larger company, make sure you get some photos of you and your team on your website.

People like to know who they are dealing with, especially as they will be (more than likely) doing business with you remotely. It helps to add a personal touch and makes your company appear more approachable and accountable.

2. Contact details

The FAQ page on a website is very useful, but it shouldn’t replace the contact page.

It is so frustrating to click on a ‘contact us’ link only to be taken to a forum or FAQ page. Don’t make your readers jump through hoops just to get in touch with you. Make sure your phone number, email and postal address are plainly visible.

If you use a contact form, make sure you have staff monitoring the incoming enquiries. I’ve lost count of the number of companies I’ve wanted to contact, filled out the form and never heard from.

3. Benefits

If there’s one thing your readers want to know, it’s what are you going to do for them.

They don’t really care about you or your company; they just want to know that you can solve the problem they have.

Your website copy should be firmly focused on your reader, their needs and the solutions you can offer.

4. Clear navigation

 There’s nothing worse than being on a website and having no idea where to go next.

Make sure your navigation is very clear and that your users can move between pages easily.

5. Call to action

If your web pages don’t include a call to action, your reader will simply wander off and look at a competitor’s site that does tell them to ‘buy now’, ‘call now’ or ‘sign up now’.

You might think that any intelligent person would know that you want them to get in touch, but if you don’t spell it out, it’s unlikely to happen.

Over to you

So they are my 5 website must-haves – what are yours?

Let’s see how many we can come up – leave a comment below listing your top 5 must-haves.